Operation CHAOS, also known as MHCHAOS, was a covert espionage project ran by the Central
Intelligence Agency. It begain under President Lyndon Johnson in 1967 and was further expanded by
President Richard Nixon.
The project's primary directive was to monitor and eradicate U.S. citizens and groups suspected
of foreign influence, particularly those that spread anti-war and civil rights sentiments. This was
a similar yet separate program to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's
COINTELPRO
.
From its inception, agents of Operation CHAOS would conduct illegal surveillance and intelligence
gathering of domestic citizens on a wide scale through breaches of privacy, group infiltration via
informants, and electronic wiretapping.
The program came to an end amid the Watergate Scandal in 1973, but gained public exposure through a
1974 The New York Times article written by Seymour Hersh. Subsequently, the Rockefeller
Commission launched to investigate the level of surveillance committed by operation CHAOS.
In 1967, the CIA launched Operation CHAOS at the behest of President Lyndon Johnson in response to
growing anti-Vietnam War sentiment and the fear of communist propaganda from China and Russia on
U.S. citizens.
In 1968, Operation CHAOS aimed to amass files on 300,000 individuals through the surveillance of
mail, travel records, and wiretaps. Agents in Sweden intercepted U.S. deserters and draft-dodgers
seeking to flee the war. The CIA began coordinating with the FBI's COINTELPRO program to monitor
perceived domestic threats such as anti-war activists and Black Power movements under the auspice
of national security.
In 1969, the operation intensified under the presidency of Richard Nixon. Surveillance and
intelligence gathering widened to include women's liberation movements, domestic Jewish groups, and
left-wing sympathisers such as Jane Fonda and Abbie Hoffman. The operations' international
activities increased, with U.S. citizens abroad also coming under CIA surveillance. Around this
time, the White House received approximately 1,000 intelligence reports each month.
It was in 1970 that Operation CHAOS hit its peak, with dossiers of over 10,000 U.S. citizens
compiled from gathered intel that was shared with the FBI and NSA. On July 23, Nixon approved the
controversial Huston Plan, a series of security operations that would have allowed the U.S.
government to commit electronic surveillance, mail interception and burglary of perceived domestic
threats. The plan was revoked on July 28, though a number of its proposals were implemented.
In 1971, the operation took a downward turn due to growing civil unrest. The exposure of sensitive
documents after the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI field office puts
Operation CHAOS indirectly under pressure, with internal reviews following soon after.
In 1972, the Watergate Scandal took place, revealing that Nixon was using intelligence agencies to
spy on domestic groups. CIA Director Richard Helms ordered the destruction of classified CIA
documents to limit further exposure. Amidst the controversies, Operation CHAOS begins phasing out
while still illegally collecting information.
On March 15, 1974, Operation CHAOS was officially dissolved. The CIA stated that their findings
proved that there was no evidence of foreign influence on domestic dissent. In total, the operation
amassed a computer index of around 300,000 citizens and files on 7,200 U.S. citizens.
Later that year, on December 22, The New York Times published an article written by Seymour
Hersh, entitled "Huge CIA Operation Reported in US Against Antiwar Forces, Other Dissidents in
Nixon Years." which kicked off a series of congressional investigations.
In 1975, both the Church Committee and Rockefeller Commission conducted investigations into
Operation CHAOS. Their final report condemned the CIA for violating constitutional rights and
recommended reforms.
In their attempt to quash any domestic dissent to U.S. values, the CIA conducted a number of projects and operations, similar to Operation CHAOS:
Beginning in 1952, HTLINGUAL, originally named SRPOINTER/SGPOINTER, was a secret CIA mail
interception
program.
The program would gather foreign intelligence by intercepting mail addressed to or from the Soviet
Union, China, and other communist countries. Intercepted mail would be analysed to identify
defections, espionage or subversive activities. Perceived domestic threats, such as anti-war
activists and civil rights leaders were also targeted in violation of U.S. law. It's estimated that
the program intercepted 28 million letters and opened over 215,000 pieces of mail.
The program suspended its operations in 1973 with its termination taking place in 1975 following
public exposure after the Church Committee investigations into the CIA.
Possibly beginning in 1967, Project MERRIMAC concentrated its efforts domestically, striving to
gather intelligence on anti-war movements located within Washington, D.C. specifically.
In order to protect integral CIA facilities and personnel across the city, the program planted
spies within dissident groups, such as anti-war movements, in the metropolitan area to gather
intelligence on their activities, finances and infrastructure. Information gathered would be shared
with Operation CHAOS to assist in their goal of assessing foreign influence on domestic dissent.
Beginning in 1967, Project RESISTANCE worked alongside its twin program, Project MERRIMAC to
prevent threats to CIA facilities and personnel across the U.S.
The project focused on dissent rising from student radical groups, utilising college staff, campus
security and police department officials as informants to monitor their activities. Information
gathered would be shared with Operation CHAOS to assist in their goal of assessing foreign
influence on domestic dissent.
A program with few details, Project 2 was believed to have began around the 1960s and 1970s,
focusing on training CIA agents to infiltrate foreign intelligence targets.
CIA agents would be placed within U.S. radical organisations, such as anti-war movements, to
gain experience domestically in dissident activities before being deployed internationally into
communist networks.
