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Background ( from CNN )
The following document is an instructional guide on assassination found among
the CIA's training files for "Operation PB Success" -- the agency's covert 1954
operation that overthrew the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz
in Guatemala in June 1954. The CIA released it to the public on May 23, 1997, in
response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Assassination was indeed a part of the CIA's plans in Guatemala. According to an
internal CIA history, the agency drafted lists of Guatemalans "to eliminate
immediately in event of [a] successful anti-communist coup." Planning for
assassination included budgeting, training programs, creation of hit teams,
drafting of target lists of persons, and transfer of armaments. The CIA history
states that "until the day that Arbenz resigned in June 1954 the option of
assassination was still being considered."
According to the official history, the assassination plans were never
implemented. But names of the targeted individuals were deleted when the
documents were made public, making it impossible to verify that none of them
were killed during or in the aftermath of the coup.
In the 1970s, revelations about CIA assassination plots led to strict
prohibitions against U.S.-sponsored assassinations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A STUDY OF ASSASSINATION
DEFINITION
Assassination is a term thought to be derived from "Hashish", a drug similar to
marijuana, said to have been used by Hasan-Dan-Sabah to induce motivation in his
followers, who were assigned to carry out political and other murders, usually
at the cost of their lives.
It is here used to describe the planned killing of a person who is not under the
legal jurisdiction of the killer, who is not physically in the hands of the
killer, who has been selected by a resistance organization for death, and who
has been selected by a resistance organization for death, and whose death
provides positive advantages to that organization.
EMPLOYMENT
Assassination is an extreme measure not normally used in clandestine operations.
It should be assumed that it will never be ordered or authorized by any U.S.
Headquarters, though the latter may in rare instances agree to its execution by
members of an associated foreign service. This reticence is partly due to the
necessity for committing communications to paper. No assassination instructions
should ever be written or recorded. Consequently, the decision to employ this
technique must nearly always be reached in the field, at the area where the act
will take place. Decision and instructions should be confined to an absolute
minimum of persons. Ideally, only one person will be involved. No report may be
made, but usually the act will be properly covered by normal news services,
whose output is available to all concerned.
JUSTIFICATION
Murder is not morally justifiable. Self-defense may be argued if the victim has
knowledge which may destroy the resistance organization if divulged.
Assassination of persons responsible for atrocities or reprisals may be regarded
as just punishment. Killing a political leader whose burgeoning career is a
clear and present danger to the cause of freedom may be held necessary.
But assassination can seldom be employed with a clear conscience. Persons who
are morally squeamish should not attempt it.
CLASSIFICATIONS
The techniques employed will vary according to whether the subject is unaware of
his danger, aware but unguarded, or guarded. They will also be affected by
whether or not the assassin is to be killed with the subject hereafter,
assassinations in which the subject is unaware will be termed "simple"; those
where the subject is aware but unguarded will be termed "chase"; those where the
victim is guarded will be termed "guarded."
If the assassin is to die with the subject, the act will be called "lost." If
the assassin is to escape, the adjective will be "safe." It should be noted that
no compromises should exist here. The assassin must not fall alive into enemy
hands.
A further type division is caused by the need to conceal the fact that the
subject was actually the victim of assassination, rather than an accident or
natural causes. If such concealment is desirable the operation will be called
"secret"; if concealment is immaterial, the act will be called "open"; while if
the assassination requires publicity to be effective it will be termed
"terroristic."
Following these definitions, the assassination of Julius Caesar was safe,
simple, and terroristic, while that of Huey Long was lost, guarded and open.
Obviously, successful secret assassinations are not recorded as assassination at
all. [illegible] of Thailand and Augustus Caesar may have been the victims of
safe, guarded and secret assassination. Chase assassinations usually involve
clandestine agents or members of criminal organizations.
THE ASSASSIN
In safe assassinations, the assassin needs the usual qualities of a clandestine
agent. He should be determined, courageous, intelligent, resourceful, and
physically active. If special equipment is to be used, such as firearms or
drugs, it is clear that he must have outstanding skill with such equipment.
Except in terroristic assassinations, it is desirable that the assassin be
transient in the area. He should have an absolute minimum of contact with the
rest of the organization and his instructions should be given orally by one
person only. His safe evacuation after the act is absolutely essential, but here
again contact should be as limited as possible. It is preferable that the person
issuing instructions also conduct any withdrawal or covering action which may be
necessary.
In lost assassination, the assassin must be a fanatic of some sort. Politics,
religion, and revenge are about the only feasible motives. Since a fanatic is
unstable psychologically, he must be handled with extreme care. He must not know
the identities of the other members of the organization, for although it is
intended that he die in the act, something may go wrong. While the assassin of
Trotsky has never revealed any significant information, it was unsound to depend
on this when the act was planned.
PLANNING
When the decision to assassinate has been reached, the tactics of the operation
must be planned, based upon an estimate of the situation similar to that used in
military operations. The preliminary estimate will reveal gaps in information
and possibly indicate a need for special equipment which must be procured or
constructed. When all necessary data has been collected, an effective tactical
plan can be prepared. All planning must be mental; no papers should ever contain
evidence of the operation.
In resistance situations, assassination may be used as a counter-reprisal. Since
this requires advertising to be effective, the resistance organization must be
in a position to warn high officials publicly that their lives will be the price
of reprisal action against innocent people. Such a threat is of no value unless
it can be carried out, so it may be necessary to plan the assassination of
various responsible officers of the oppressive regime and hold such plans in
readiness to be used only if provoked by excessive brutality. Such plans must be
modified frequently to meet changes in the tactical situation.
TECHNIQUES
The essential point of assassination is the death of the subject. A human being
may be killed in many ways but sureness is often overlooked by those who may be
emotionally unstrung by the seriousness of this act they intend to commit. The
specific technique employed will depend upon a large number of variables, but
should be constant in one point: Death must be absolutely certain. The attempt
on Hitler's life failed because the conspiracy did not give this matter proper
attention.
Techniques may be considered as follows:
1. Manual.
It is possible to kill a man with the bare hands, but very few are skillful
enough to do it well. Even a highly trained Judo expert will hesitate to risk
killing by hand unless he has absolutely no alternative. However, the simplest
local tools are often much the most efficient means of assassination. A hammer,
axe, wrench, screw driver, fire poker, kitchen knife, lamp stand, or anything
hard, heavy and handy will suffice. A length of rope or wire or a belt will do
if the assassin is strong and agile. All such improvised weapons have the
important advantage of availability and apparent innocence. The obviously lethal
machine gun failed to kill Trotsky where an item of sporting goods succeeded.
In all safe cases where the assassin may be subject to search, either before or
after the act, specialized weapons should not be used. Even in the lost case,
the assassin may accidentally be searched before the act and should not carry an
incriminating device if any sort of lethal weapon can be improvised at or near
the site. If the assassin normally carries weapons because of the nature of his
job, it may still be desirable to improvise and implement at the scene to avoid
disclosure of his identity.
2. Accidents.
For secret assassination, either simple or chase, the contrived accident is the
most effective technique. When successfully executed, it causes little
excitement and is only casually investigated.
The most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or
more onto a hard surface. Elevator shafts, stair wells, unscreened windows and
bridges will serve. Bridge falls into water are not reliable. In simple cases a
private meeting with the subject may be arranged at a properly-cased location.
The act may be executed by sudden, vigorous [excised] of the ankles, tipping the
subject over the edge. If the assassin immediately sets up an outcry, playing
the "horrified witness", no alibi or surreptitious withdrawal is necessary. In
chase cases it will usually be necessary to stun or drug the subject before
dropping him. Care is required to insure that no wound or condition not
attributable to the fall is discernible after death.
Falls into the sea or swiftly flowing rivers may suffice if the subject cannot
swim. It will be more reliable if the assassin can arrange to attempt rescue, as
he can thus be sure of the subject's death and at the same time establish a
workable alibi.
If the subject's personal habits make it feasible, alcohol may be used [2 words
excised] to prepare him for a contrived accident of any kind.
Falls before trains or subway cars are usually effective, but require exact
timing and can seldom be free from unexpected observation.
Automobile accidents are a less satisfactory means of assassination. If the
subject is deliberately run down, very exact timing is necessary and
investigation is likely to be thorough. If the subject's car is tampered with,
reliability is very low. The subject may be stunned or drugged and then placed
in the car, but this is only reliable when the car can be run off a high cliff
or into deep water without observation.
Arson can cause accidental death if the subject is drugged and left in a burning
building. Reliability is not satisfactory unless the building is isolated and
highly combustible.
3. Drugs.
In all types of assassination except terroristic, drugs can be very effective.
If the assassin is trained as a doctor or nurse and the subject is under medical
care, this is an easy and rare method. An overdose of morphine administered as a
sedative will cause death without disturbance and is difficult to detect. The
size of the dose will depend upon whether the subject has been using narcotics
regularly. If not, two grains will suffice.
If the subject drinks heavily, morphine or a similar narcotic can be injected at
the passing out stage, and the cause of death will often be held to be acute
alcoholism.
Specific poisons, such as arsenic or strychine, are effective but their
possession or procurement is incriminating, and accurate dosage is
problematical. Poison was used unsuccessfully in the assassination of Rasputin
and Kolohan, though the latter case is more accurately described as a murder.
4. Edge Weapons
Any locally obtained edge device may be successfully employed. A certain minimum
of anatomical knowledge is needed for reliability.
Puncture wounds of the body cavity may not be reliable unless the heart is
reached. The heart is protected by the rib cage and is not always easy to
locate.
Abdominal wounds were once nearly always mortal, but modern medical treatment
has made this no longer true.
Absolute reliability is obtained by severing the spinal cord in the cervical
region. This can be done with the point of a knife or a light blow of an axe or
hatchet.
Another reliable method is the severing of both jugular and carotid blood
vessels on both sides of the windpipe.
If the subject has been rendered unconscious by other wounds or drugs, either of
the above methods can be used to insure death.
5. Blunt Weapons
As with edge weapons, blunt weapons require some anatomical knowledge for
effective use. Their main advantage is their universal availability. A hammer
may be picked up almost anywhere in the world. Baseball and [illegible] bats are
very widely distributed. Even a rock or a heavy stick will do, and nothing
resembling a weapon need be procured, carried or subsequently disposed of.
Blows should be directed to the temple, the area just below and behind the ear,
and the lower, rear portion of the skull. Of course, if the blow is very heavy,
any portion of the upper skull will do. The lower frontal portion of the head,
from the eyes to the throat, can withstand enormous blows without fatal
consequences.
6. Firearms
Firearms are often used in assassination, often very ineffectively. The assassin
usually has insufficient technical knowledge of the limitations of weapons, and
expects more range, accuracy and killing power than can be provided with
reliability. Since certainty of death is the major requirement, firearms should
be used which can provide destructive power at least 100% in excess of that
thought to be necessary, and ranges should be half that considered practical for
the weapon.
Firearms have other drawbacks. Their possession is often incriminating. They may
be difficult to obtain. They require a degree of experience from the user. They
are [illegible]. Their lethality is consistently over-rated.
However, there are many cases in which firearms are probably more efficient than
any other means. These cases usually involve distance between the assassin and
the subject, or comparative physical weakness of the assassin, as with a woman.
(a) The precision rifle. In guarded assassination, a good hunting or target
rifle should always be considered as a possibility. Absolute reliability can
nearly always be achieved at a distance of one hundred yards. In ideal
circumstances, the range may be extended to 250 yards. The rifle should be a
well made bolt or falling block action type, handling a powerful long-range
cartridge. The .300 F.A.B. Magnum is probably the best cartridge readily
available. Other excellent calibers are .375 M.[illegible]. Magnum, .270
Winchester, .30 - 106 p.s., 8 x 60 MM Magnum, 9.3 x 62 kk and others of this
type. These are preferable to ordinary military calibers, since ammunition
available for them is usually of the expanding bullet type, whereas most
ammunition for military rifles is full jacketed and hence not sufficiently
lethal. Military ammunition should not be altered by filing or drilling bullets,
as this will adversely affect accuracy.
The rifle may be of the "bull gun" variety, with extra heavy barrel and set
triggers, but in any case should be capable of maximum precision. Ideally, the
weapon should be able to group in one inch at one hundred yards, but 2 1/2"
groups are adequate. The sight should be telescopic, not only for accuracy, but
because such a sight is much better in dim light or near darkness. As long as
the bare outline of the target is discernable, a telescope sight will work, even
if the rifle and shooter are in total darkness.
An expanding, hunting bullet of such calibers as described above will produce
extravagant laceration and shock at short or mid-range. If a man is struck just
once in the body cavity, his death is almost entirely certain.
Public figures or guarded officials may be killed with great reliability and
some safety if a firing point can be established prior to an official occasion.
The propaganda value of this system may be very high.
(b) The machine gun.
Machine guns may be used in most cases where the precision rifle is applicable.
Usually, this will require the subversion of a unit of an official guard at a
ceremony, though a skillful and determined team might conceivably dispose of a
loyal gun crew without commotion and take over the gun at the critical time.
The area fire capacity of the machine gun should not be used to search out a
concealed subject. This was tried with predictable lack of success on Trotsky.
The automatic feature of the machine gun should rather be used to increase
reliability by placing a 5 second burst on the subject. Even with full jacket
ammunition, this will be absolute lethal is the burst pattern is no larger than
a man. This can be accomplished at about 150 yards. In ideal circumstances, a
properly padded and targeted machine gun can do it at 850 yards. The major
difficulty is placing the first burst exactly on the target, as most machine
gunners are trained to spot their fire on target by observation of strike. This
will not do in assassination as the subject will not wait.
(c) The Submachine Gun.
This weapon, known as the "machine-pistol" by the Russians and Germans and
"machine-carbine" by the British, is occasionally useful in assassination.
Unlike the rifle and machine gun, this is a short range weapon and since it
fires pistol ammunition, much less powerful. To be reliable, it should deliver
at least 5 rounds into the subject's chest, though the .45 caliber U.S. weapons
have a much larger margin of killing efficiency than the 9 mm European arms.
The assassination range of the sub-machine gun is point blank. While accurate
single rounds can be delivered by sub-machine gunners at 50 yards or more, this
is not certain enough for assassination. Under ordinary circumstances, the 5MG
should be used as a fully automatic weapon. In the hands of a capable gunner, a
high cyclic rate is a distinct advantage, as speed of execution is most
desirable, particularly in the case of multiple subjects.
The sub-machine gun is especially adapted to indoor work when more than one
subject is to be assassinated. An effective technique has been devised for the
use of a pair of sub-machine gunners, by which a room containing as many as a
dozen subjects can be "purifico" in about twenty seconds with little or no risk
to the gunners. It is illustrated below.
While the U.S. sub-machine guns fire the most lethal cartridges, the higher
cyclic rate of some foreign weapons enable the gunner to cover a target quicker
with acceptable pattern density. The Bergmann Model 1934 is particularly good in
this way. The Danish Madman? SMG has a moderately good cyclic rate and is
admirably compact and concealable. The Russian SHG's have a good cyclic rate,
but are handicapped by a small, light protective which requires more kits for
equivalent killing effect.
(d) The Shotgun.
A large bore shotgun is a most effective killing instrument as long as the range
is kept under ten yards. It should normally be used only on single targets as it
cannot sustain fire successfully. The barrel may be "sawed" off for convenience,
but this is not a significant factor in its killing performance. Its optimum
range is just out of reach of the subject. 00 buckshot is considered the best
shot size for a twelve gage gun, but anything from single balls to bird shot
will do if the range is right. The assassin should aim for the solar plexus as
the shot pattern is small at close range and can easily miss the head.
(e) The Pistol.
While the handgun is quite inefficient as a weapon of assassination, it is often
used, partly because it is readily available and can be concealed on the person,
and partly because its limitations are not widely appreciated. While many well
known assassinations have been carried out with pistols (Lincoln, Harding,
Ghandi), such attempts fail as often as they succeed, (Truman, Roosevelt,
Churchill).
If a pistol is used, it should be as powerful as possible and fired from just
beyond reach. The pistol and the shotgun are used in similar tactical
situations, except that the shotgun is much more lethal and the pistol is much
more easily concealed.
In the hands of an expert, a powerful pistol is quite deadly, but such experts
are rare and not usually available for assassination missions.
.45 Colt, .44 Special, .455 Kly, .45 A.S.[illegible] (U.S. Service) and .357
Magnum are all efficient calibers. Less powerful rounds can suffice but are less
reliable. Sub-power cartridges such as the .32s and .25s should be avoided.
In all cases, the subject should be hit solidly at least three times for
complete reliability.
(f) Silent Firearms
The sound of the explosion of the proponent in a firearm can be effectively
silenced by appropriate attachments. However, the sound of the projective
passing through the air cannot, since this sound is generated outside the
weapon. In cases where the velocity of the bullet greatly exceeds that of sound,
the noise so generated is much louder than that of the explosion. Since all
powerful rifles have muzzle velocities of over 2000 feet per second, they cannot
be silenced.
Pistol bullets, on the other hand, usually travel slower than sound and the
sound of their flight is negligible. Therefore, pistols, submachine guns and any
sort of improvised carbine or rifle which will take a low velocity cartridge can
be silenced. The user should not forget that the sound of the operation of a
repeating action is considerable, and that the sound of bullet strike,
particularly in bone is quite loud.
Silent firearms are only occasionally useful to the assassin, though they have
been widely publicized in this connection. Because permissible velocity is low,
effective precision range is held to about 100 yards with rifle or carbine type
weapons, while with pistols, silent or otherwise, are most efficient just beyond
arms length. The silent feature attempts to provide a degree of safety to the
assassin, but mere possession of a silent firearm is likely to create enough
hazard to counter the advantage of its silence. The silent pistol combines the
disadvantages of any pistol with the added one of its obviously clandestine
purpose.
A telescopically sighted, closed-action carbine shooting a low velocity bullet
of great weight, and built for accuracy, could be very useful to an assassin in
certain situations. At the time of writing, no such weapon is known to exist.
7. Explosives.
Bombs and demolition charges of various sorts have been used frequently in
assassination. Such devices, in terroristic and open assassination, can provide
safety and overcome guard barriers, but it is curious that bombs have often been
the implement of lost assassinations.
The major factor which affects reliability is the use of explosives for
assassination. The charge must be very large and the detonation must be
controlled exactly as to time by the assassin who can observe the subject. A
small or moderate explosive charge is highly unreliable as a cause of death, and
time delay or booby-trap devices are extremely prone to kill the wrong man. In
addition to the moral aspects of indiscriminate killing, the death of casual
bystanders can often produce public reactions unfavorable to the cause for which
the assassination is carried out.
Bombs or grenades should never be thrown at a subject. While this will always
cause a commotion and may even result in the subject's death, it is sloppy,
unreliable, and bad propaganda. The charge must be too small and the assassin is
never sure of: (1) reaching his attack position, (2) placing the charge close
enough to the target and (3) firing the charge at the right time.
Placing the charge surreptitiously in advance permits a charge of proper size to
be employed, but requires accurate prediction of the subject's movements.
Ten pounds of high explosive should normally be regarded as a minimum, and this
is explosive of fragmentation material. The latter can consist of any hard,
[illegible] material as long as the fragments are large enough. Metal or rock
fragments should be walnut-size rather than pen-size. If solid plates are used,
to be ruptured by the explosion, cast iron, 1" thick, gives excellent
fragmentation. Military or commercial high explosives are practical for use in
assassination. Homemade or improvised explosives should be avoided. While
possibly powerful, they tend to be dangerous and unreliable. Anti-personnel
explosive missiles are excellent, provided the assassin has sufficient technical
knowledge to fuse them properly. 81 or 82 mm mortar shells, or the 120 mm mortar
shell, are particularly good. Anti-personnel shells for 85, 88, 90, 100 and 105
mm guns and howitzers are both large enough to be completely reliable and small
enough to be carried by one man.
The charge should be so placed that the subject is not ever six feet from it at
the moment of detonation.
A large, shaped charge with the [illegible] filled with iron fragments (such as
1" nuts and bolts) will fire a highly lethal shotgun-type [illegible] to 50
yards. This reaction has not been thoroughly tested, however, and an exact
replica of the proposed device should be fired in advance to determine exact
range, pattern-size, and penetration of fragments. Fragments should penetrate at
least 1" of seasoned pine or equivalent for minimum reliability.
Any firing device may be used which permits exact control by the assassin. An
ordinary commercial or military explorer is efficient, as long as it is rigged
for instantaneous action with no time fuse in the system.
The wise [illegible] electric target can serve as the triggering device and
provide exact timing from as far away as the assassin can reliably hit the
target. This will avid the disadvantages of stringing wire between the proposed
positions of the assassin and the subject, and also permit the assassin to fire
the charge from a variety of possible positions.
The radio switch can be used to fire a charge, though its reliability is
somewhat lower and its procurement may not be easy.
EXAMPLES
([illegible] may be presented brief outlines, with critical evaluations of the
following assassinations and attempts:
Marat
Hedrich
Lincoln
Hitler
Harding
Roosevelt
Grand Duke Sergei
Truman
Pirhivie
Mussolini
Archduke Francis Ferdinand
Benes
Rasputin
Aung Sang
Madero
[illegible]
Kirov
Abdullah
Huey Long
Ghandi
Alexander of Yugoslavia
Trotsky
CONFERENCE ROOM TECHNIQUE
-----------------------------
ascii conversion addition
(?) = start position
[?] = end position
==== = door
o = chair
oval = table
-->- = movement paths
(1)* = facing
-----------------------------
1.
_________________________________________
| |
| o o o o |
| _________________ |
| / \ |
| | | |
| o | | o |
| | | |
| \_________________/ |
| |
| o o o o |
| |
| *** |
| [2]|->-[1] |
|----------------=|=|=------------------|
(2) ------>--| |
(1)------>--|
(1) Enters room quickly but quietly
(2) Stands in doorway
2.
_________________________________________
| |
| o o o o |
| _________________ |
| / \ |
| | | |
| o | | o |
| | | |
| \_________________/ |
| |
| o o o o |
| |
| ***** ****** |
| [(2)] [(1)] |
|----------------=====------------------|
(2) Opens fire on first subject to react. Swings
across group toward center of mass. Times burst
to empty magazine at end of swing.
(1) Covers group to prevent individual dangerous
reactions, if necessary, fires individual bursts of 3
rounds.
3.
_________________________________________
| |
| o o o o |
| _________________ |
| / \ |
| | | |
| o | | o |
| | | |
| \_________________/ |
| |
| o o o o |
| |
| ******** |
| (2) [(1)] |
|----------------=|===------------------|
|
*[2]*
***
(2) Finishes burst. Commands "Shift." Drops
back thru [sic] door. Replaces empty magazine.
Covers corridor.
(1) On command "shift", opens fire on opposite
side of target, swings one burst across group.
4.
_________________________________________
| |
| o o o o |
| _________________ |
| / \ |
| | | |
| o | | o |
| | | |
| \_________________/ |
| |
| o o o o |
| |
| *** |
| *[2]*-<-(1) |
|----------------=|=|=------------------|
| |
(2) ->-*[1]*
***
(1) Finishes burst. Commands "shift". Drops
back thru [sic] door. Replaces magazine. Covers
corridor.
(2) On command, "shift", re-enters room. Covers
group: kills survivors with two-round bursts.
Leaves propaganda.
5.
_________________________________________
| |
| o o o o |
| _________________ |
| / \ |
| | | |
| o | | o |
| | | |
| \_________________/ |
| |
| o o o o |
| |
| |
| (2) |
|----------------=|===------------------|
| *
|-*[2] (1)---->--[1]*
** *
(2) Leaves room. Commands "GO". Covers rear
with nearly full magazine.
(1) On command "GO", leads withdrawal,
covering front with full magazine.
6.
_________________________________________
| |
| o o o o |
| _________________ |
| / \ |
| | | |
| o | | o |
| | | |
| \_________________/ |
| |
| o o o o |
| |
| |
| |
|----------------=====------------------|
ASCII CONVERSION: MRF
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