I knew It

I have this book. It's one of the books that I'll never give up. It's that good. My copy is much older and with a different cover.
In my copy the Phoenix progrm is never mentioned anywhere. Not on the cover, not anywhere inside.

If you know your Vietnam history it's obviously the Phoenix program that is being described, but it is told from the perspective of the U.S. Soldiers helping the Vietnamese people. And help them, they did.

The success of the Pheonix program is one of those things that the Left wants to supress, much like the accuracy of Senator McCarthy's charges against the communist agents working in our government.

A hidden nugget of wisdom in "The Advisor" is that the Vietnam War was really a political war and that much greater gains were made by eliminating one or two key enemies (tax collectors or recruiters) than destroying a multitude of enemy troops.

If one assumes a political war is currently going on the US, then Hollywood is full of recruiters for the other side. It's time to send the Green Berets to Rodeo Drive.

UPDATE:

When I say it's a good book, it's not action packed. It's tales of a soldier happy to improve the lives of the Vietnamese people. If you're a decent person, it's easy to share in his joy. It's a little infectious. Some of the projects discussed are military in nature, some are civilian side efforts to improve the infrastructure and empower the hamlets and provinces to make their lives better.

You'll also share in his wonder and surprise at how they locate a number of key enemy personel. You'll be surprised at how they do it, till you stop and think about it.

On the surface it's a book about a guy making the world a better place and taking pride in it. The author writes well. Beyond that, it's an idea book that'll make you look at the world a little different. I like the book, but it's the ideas in it that clinch it for me.