913 lines
50 KiB
Plaintext
913 lines
50 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: BRAINWASHING - CIA REPORT FILE: UFO2681
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SEE NOTES AT END FOR INFO ON SOURCES OF THESE DOCUMENTS
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
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OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
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25 APR 1956
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MEMORANDUM FOR: The Honorable J. Edgar Hoover
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Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
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SUBJECT : Brainwashing
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The attached study on brainwashing was prepared by my staff
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in response to the increasing acute interest in the subject
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throughout the intelligence and security components of the
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Government. I feel you will find it well worth your personal
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attention. It represents the thinking of leading
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psychologists, psychiatrists and intelligence specialists,
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based in turn on interviews with many individuals who have had
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personal experience with Communist brainwashing, and on
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extensive research and testing. While individuals specialists
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hold divergent views on various aspects of this most complex
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subject, I believe the study reflects a synthesis of majority
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expert opinion. I will, of course, appreciate any comments on
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it that you or your staff may have.
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(signed)
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Allen W. Dulles
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Director
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ENCLOSURE
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OA 53-37
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--------------------------------------------------------------
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A REPORT ON COMMUNIST BRAINWASHING
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The report that follows is a condensation of a study by train-
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ing experts of the important classified and unclassified
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information available on this subject.
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BACKGROUND
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Brainwashing, as a technique, has been used for centuries and
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is no mystery to psychologists. In this sense, brainwashing
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means involuntary re-education of basic beliefs and values.
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All people are being re-educated continually. New information
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changes one's beliefs. Everyone has experienced to some degree
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the conflict that ensues when new information is not
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consistent with prior belief. The experience of the
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brainwashed individual differs in that the inconsistent
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information is forced upon the individual under controlled
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conditions after the possibility of critical judgment has been
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removed by a variety of methods.
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There is no question that an individual can be broken
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psychologically by captors with knowledge and willingness to
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persist in techniques aimed at deliberately destroying the
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integration of a personality. Although it is probable that
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everyone reduced to such a confused, disoriented state will
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respond to the introduction of new beliefs, this cannot be
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stated dogmatically.
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PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN CONTROL AND REACTION TO CONTROL
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There are progressive steps in exercising control over an
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individual and changing his behaviour and personality
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integration. The following five steps are typical of behaviour
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changes in any controlled individual:
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1. Making the individual aware of control is the first stage
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in changing his behaviour. A small child is made aware of
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the physical and psychological control of his parents and
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quickly recognizes that an overwhelming force must be
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reckoned with. So, a controlled adult comes to recognize
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the overwhelming powers of the state and the impersonal,
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"incarcerative" machinery in which he is enmeshed. The
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individual recognizes that definite limits have been put
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upon the ways he can respond.
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2. Realization of his complete dependence upon the
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controlling system is a major factor in the controlling
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of his behavior.The controlled adult is forced to accept
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the fact that food, tobacco,praise, and the only social
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contact that he will get come from the very interrogator
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who exercises control over him.
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3. The awareness of control and recognition of dependence
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result in causing internal conflict and breakdown of
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previous patterns of behaviour. Although this transition
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can be relatively mild in the case of a child, it is
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almost invariably severe for the adult undergoing
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brainwashing. Only an individual who holds his values
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lightly can change them easily. Since the brainwasher-
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interrogators aim to have the individuals undergo
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profound emotional change, they force their victims to
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seek out painfully what is desired by the controlling
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individual. During this period the victim is likely to
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have a mental breakdown characterized by delusions and
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hallucinations.
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4. Discovery that there is an acceptable solution to his
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problem is the first stage of reducing the individual's
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conflict. It is characteristically reported by victims of
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brainwashing that this discovery led to an overwhelming
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feeling of relief that the horror of internal conflict
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would cease and that perhaps they would not, after all,
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be driven insane. It is at this point that they are
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prepared to make major changes in their value-system.
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This is an automatic rather than voluntary choice. They
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have lost their ability to be critical.
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5. Reintergration of values and identification with the
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controlling system is the final stage in changing the
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behaviour of the controlled individual. A child who has
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learned a new, socially desirable behaviour demonstrates
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its importance by attempting to asapt the new behaviour
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to a variety of other situations. Similar states in the
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brainwashed adult are
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(SECTION DELETED BY CIA)
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pitiful. His new value-system, his manner of
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perceiving,organizing,and giving meaning to events, is
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virtually independent of his former value-system.He is no
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longer capable of thinking or speaking in concepts other
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than those he has adopted. He tends to identify by
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expressing thanks to his captors for helping him see the
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light.Brainwashing can be achieved without using illegal
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means.Anyone willing to use known principles of control
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and reactions to control and capable of demonstrating the
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patience needed in raising a child can probably achieve
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successful brainwashing.
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COMMUNIST CONTROL TECHNIQUES AND THEIR EFFECTS
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A description of usual communist control techniques follows.
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1. Interrogation. There are at least two ways in which
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"interrogation" is used:
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a. Elicitation, which is designed to get the individual to
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surrender protected information, is a form of
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interrogation. One major difference between elicitation
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and interrogation used to achieve brainwashing is that
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the mind of the individual must be kept clear to permit
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coherent, undistorted disclosure of protected
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information.
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b. Elicitation for the purpose of brainwashing consists of
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questioning, argument, indoctrination, threats, cajolery,
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praise, hostility, and a variety of other pressures. The
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aim of this interrogation is to hasten the breakdown of
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the individual's value system and to encourage the
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substitution of a different value-system. The procurement
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of protected information is secondary and is used as a
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device to increase pressure upon the individual. The term
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"interrogation" in this paper will refer, in general, to
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this type. The "interrogator" is the individual who
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conducts this type of interrogation and who controls the
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administration of the other pressures. He is the
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protagonist against whom the victim develops his
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conflict, and upon whom the victim develops a state of
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dependency as he seeks some solution to his conflict.
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2. Physical Torture and Threats of Torture. Two types of physical
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torture are distinguishable more by their psychological effect
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in inducing conflict than by the degree of painfulness:
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a. The first type is one in which the victim has a passive
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role in the pain inflicted on him (e.g.,beatings). His
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conflict involves the decision of whether or not to give
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in to demands in order to avoid further pain. Generally,
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brutality of this type was not found to achieve the
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desired results. Threats of torture were found more
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effective, as fear of pain causes greater conflict within
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the individual than does pain itself.
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b. The second type of torture is represented by requiring
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the individual to stand in one spot for several hours or
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assume some other pain-inducing position. Such a
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requirement often engenders in the individual a
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determination to "stick it out." This internal act of
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resistance provide a feeling of moral superiority at
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first. As time passes and his pain mounts,however, the
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individual becomes aware that it is his own original
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determination to resist that is causing the continuance
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of pain. A conflict develops within the individual
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between his moral determination and his desire to
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collapse and discontinue the pain. It is this extra
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internal conflict, in addition to the conflict over
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whether or not to give in to the demands made of him,
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that tends to make this method of torture more effective
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in the breakdown of the individual personality.
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3. Isolation. Individual differences in reaction to isolation are
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probably greater than to any other method. Some individuals
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appear to be able to withstand prolonged periods of isolation
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without deleterious effects, while a relatively short period of
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isolation reduces others to the verge of psychosis. Reaction
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varies with the conditions of the isolation cell. Some sources
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have indicated a strong reaction to filth and vermin, although
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they had negligible reactions to the isolation. Others reacted
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violently to isolation in relatively clean cells. The
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predominant cause of breakdown in such situations is a lack of
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sensory stimulation (i.e.,grayness of walls,lack of
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sound,absence of social contact,etc.). Experimental subjects
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exposed to this condition have reported vivid hallicinations
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and overwhelming fears of losing their sanity.
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4. Control of Communication. This is one of the most effective
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methods for creating a sense of helplessness and despair. This
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measure might well be considered the cornerstone of the
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communist system of control. It consists of strict regulation
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of the mail,reading materials, broadcast materials, and social
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contact available to the individual. The need to communicate is
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so great that when the usual channels are blocked, the
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individual will resort to any open channel, almost regardless
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of the implications of using that particular channel. Many POWs
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in Korea, whose only act of "collaboration" was to sign
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petitions and "peace appeals," defended their actions on the
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ground that this was the only method of letting the outside
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world know they were still alive. May stated that their morale
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and fortitude would have been increased immeasurably had
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leaflets of encouragement been dropped to them. When the only
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contact with the outside world is via the interrogator, the
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prisoner comes to develop extreme dependency on his
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interrogator and hence loses another prop to his morale.
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Another wrinkle in communication control is the informer
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system. The recruitment of informers in POW camps discouraged
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communication between inmates.POWs who feared that every act or
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thought of resistance would be communicated to the camp
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administrators, lost faith in their fellow man and were forced
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to "untrusting individualism." Informers are also under several
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stages of brainwashing and elicitation to develop and maintain
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control over the victims.
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5. Induction of Fatigue. This is a well-known device for breaking
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will power and critical powers of judgment. Deprivation of
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sleep results in more intense psychological debilitation than
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does any other method of engendering fatigue. The communists
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vary their methods. "Conveyor belt" interrogation that last 50-
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60 hours will make almost any individual compromise, but there
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is danger that this will kill the victim. It is safer to
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conduct interrogations of 8-10 hours at night while forcing the
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prisoner to remain awake during the day. Additional
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interruptions in the remaining 2-3 hours of allotted sleep
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quickly reduce the most resilient individual . Alternate
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administration of drug stimulants and depressants hastens the
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process of fatigue and sharpens the psychological reactions of
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excitement and depression.
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Fatigue, in addition to reducing the will to resist,also
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produces irritation and fear that arise from increased "slips
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of the tongue." forgetfulness, and decreased ability to
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maintain orderly thought processes.
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6. Control of Food,Water and Tobacco. The controlled individual is
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made intensely aware of his dependence upon his interrogator
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for the quality and quantity of his food and tobacco. The
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exercise of this control usually follows a pattern. No food and
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little or no water is permitted the individual for several days
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prior to interrogation.When the prisoner first complains of
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this to the interrogator, the latter expresses surprise at such
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inhumane treatment. He makes a demand of the prisoner. If the
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latter complies,he receives a good meal. If he does not, he
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gets a diet of unappetizing food containing limited
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vitamins,minerals, and calories. This diet is supplemented
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occasionally by the interrogator if the prisoner "cooperates."
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Studies of controlled starvation indicate that the whole value-
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system of the subjects underwent a change. Their irritation
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increased as their ability to think clearly decreased. The
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control of tobacco presented an even greater source of conflict
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for heavy smokers. Because tobacco is not necessary to life,
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being manipulated by his craving for it can in the individual a
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strong sense of guilt.
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7. Criticism and Self-Criticism. There are mechanisms of communist
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thought control. Self-criticism gains its effectiveness from
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the fact that although it is not a crime for a man to be wrong,
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it is a major crime to be stubborn and to refuse to learn. Many
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individuals feel intensely relieved in being able to share
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their sense of guilt. Those individuals however, who have
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adjusted to handling their guilt internally have difficulty
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adapting to criticism and self-criticism. In brainwashing after
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a sufficient sense of guilt has been created in the individual,
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sharing and self-criticism permit relief. The price paid for
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this relief, however, is loss of individuality and increased
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dependency.
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8. Hypnosis and Drugs as Controls. There is no reliable evidence
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that the communists are making widespread use of drugs or
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hypnosis in brainwashing or elicitation. The exception to this
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is the use of common stimulants or depressants in inducing
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fatigue and "mood swings."
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9. Other methods of control, which when used in conjunction with
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the basic processes, hasten the deterioration of prisoners'
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sense of values and resistance are:
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a. Requiring a case history or autobiography of the prisoner
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provides a mine of information for the interrogator in
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establishing and "documenting" accusations.
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b. Friendliness of the interrogator , when least expected,
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upsets the prisoner's ability to maintain a critical
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attitude.
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c. Petty demands, such as severely limiting the allotted
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time for use of toilet facilities or requiring the POW to
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kill hundreds of flies, are harassment methods.
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d. Prisoners are often humiliated by refusing them the use
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of toilet facilities during interrogator until they soil
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themselves. often prisoners were not permitted to bathe
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for weeks until they felt contemptible.
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e. Conviction as a war criminal appears to be a potent
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factor in creating despair in the individual. One
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official analysis of the pressures exerted by the ChiComs
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on "confessors" and "non-confessors" to participation in
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bacteriological warfare in Korea showed that actual trial
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and conviction of "war crimes" was overwhelmingly
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associated with breakdown and confession.
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f.
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Attempted elicitation of protected information at various
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times during the brainwashing process diverted the
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individual from awareness of the deterioration of his
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value-system. The fact that, in most cases, the ChiComs
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did not want or need such intelligence was not known to
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the prisoner. His attempts to protect such information
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was made at the expense of hastening his own breakdown.
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THE EXERCISE OF CONTROL: A "SCHEDULE" FOR BRAINWASHING
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From the many fragmentary accounts reviewed, the following
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appears to be the most likely description of what occurs during
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brainwashing .
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In the period immediately following capture, the captors are
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faced with the problem of deciding on best ways of exploitation of
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the prisoners. Therefore, early treatment is similar both for
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those who are to be exploited through elicitation and those who
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are to undergo brainwashing. concurrently with being interrogated
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and required to write a detailed personal history, the prisoner
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undergoes a physical and psychological "softening-up" which
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includes: limited unpalatable food rations,withholding of
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tobacco,possible work details,severely inadequate use of toilet
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facilities, no use of facilities for personal
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cleanliness,limitation of sleep such as requiring a subject to
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sleep with a bright light in his eyes. Apparently the
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interrogation and autobiographical ,material, the reports of the
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prisoner's behaviour in confinement, and tentative "personality
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typing" by the interrogators, provide the basis upon which
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exploitation plans are made.
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There is a major difference between preparation for elicitation
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andfor brainwashing .Prisoners exploited through elicitation must
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retain sufficient clarity of thought to be able to give
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coherent,factual accounts. In brainwashing , on the other hand,
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the first thing attacked is clarity of thought. To develop a
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strategy of defense, the controlled individual must determine what
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plans have been made for his exploitation. Perhaps the best cues
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he can get are internal reactions to the pressures he undergoes.
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The most important aspect of the brainwashing process is the
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interro-gation. The other pressures are designed primarily to help
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the interrogator achieve his goals. The following states are
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created systematically within the individual . These may vary in
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order, but all are necessary to the brainwashing process:
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1. A feeling of helplessness in attempting to deal with the
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impersonal machinery of control.
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2. An initial reaction of "surprise."
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3. A feeling of uncertainty about what is required of him.
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4. A developing feeling of dependence upon the interrogator .
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5. A sense of doubt and loss of objectivity.
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6. Feelings of guilt.
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7. A questioning attitude toward his own value-system.
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8. A feeling of potential "breakdown," i.e.,that he might go
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crazy.
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9. A need to defend his acquired principles.
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10. A final sense of "belonging" (identification).
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A feeling of helplessness in the face of the impersonal
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machinery of control is carefully engendered within the prisoner.
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The individual who receives the preliminary treatment described
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above not only begins to feel like an "animal" but also feels that
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nothing can be done about it. No one pays any personal attention
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to him. His complaints fall on deaf ears. His loss of
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communication, if he has been isolated, creates a feeling that he
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has been "forgotten." Everything that happens to him occurs
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according to an impersonal; time schedule that has nothing to do
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with his needs. The voices and footsteps of the guards are muted.
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He notes many contrasts,e.g.,his greasy,unpalatable food may be
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served on battered tin dishes by guards immaculately dressed in
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white. The first steps in "depersonalization" of the prisoner have
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begun. He has no idea what to expect. Ample opportunity is
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allotted for him to ruminate upon all the unpleasant or painful
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things that could happen to him. He approaches the main
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interrogator with mixed feelings of relief and fright.
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Surprise is commonly used in the brainwashing process. The
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prisoner is rarely prepared for the fact that the interrogators
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are usually friendly and considerate at first. They make every
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effort to demonstrate that they are reasonable human beings. Often
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they apologize for bad treatment received by the prisoner and
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promise to improve his lot if he, too, is reasonable. This
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behaviour is not what he has steeled himself for. He lets down
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some of his defenses and tries to take a reasonable attitude. The
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first occasion he balks at satisfying a request of the
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interrogator , however, he is in for another surprise. The
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formerly reasonable interrogator unexpectedly turns into a furious
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maniac. The interrogator is likely to slap the prisoner or draw
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his pistol and threaten to shoot him. Usually this storm of
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emotion ceases as suddenly as it began and the interrogator stalks
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from the room. These surprising changes create doubt in the
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prisoner as to his very ability to perceive another person's
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motivations correctly. His next interrogation probably will be
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marked by impassivity in the interrogator 's mien.
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A feeling of uncertainty about what is required of him is
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likewise carefully engendered within the individual . Pleas of the
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prisoner to learn specifically of what he is accused and by whom
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are side-stepped by the interrogator. Instead, the prisoner is
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asked to tell why he thinks he is held and what he feels he is
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guilty of. If the prisoner fails to come up with anything, he is
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accused in terms of broad generalities (e.g., espionage,
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sabotage,acts of treason against the "people"). This usually
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provokes the prisoner to make some statement about his activities.
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If this take the form of a denial, he is usually sent to isolation
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on further decreased food rations to "think over" his crimes. This
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process can be repeated again and again. As soon as the prisoner
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can think of something that might be considered selfincriminating,
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the interrogator appears momentarily satisfied. The prisoner is
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asked to write down his statement in his own words and sign it.
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Meanwhile a strong sense of dependence upon the interrogator is
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developed. It does not take long for the prisoner to realize that
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the interrogator is the source of all punishment , all
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gratification,and all communication. The interrogator ,
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meanwhile,demonstrates his unpredictbility. He is perceived by the
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prisoner as a creature of whim. At times, the interrogator can be
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pleased very easily and at other times no effort on the part of
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the prisoner will placate him. The prisoner may begin to channel
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so much energy into trying to predict the behaviour of the
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unpredictable interrogator that he loses track of what is
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happening inside himself.
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After the prisoner has developed the above psychological and
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emotional reactions to a sufficient degree, the brainwashing
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begins in earnest. First, the prisoner's remaining critical
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faculties must be destroyed. He undergoes long, fatiguing
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interrogations while looking at a bright light. He is called back
|
|
again and again for interrogations after minimal sleep. He may
|
|
undergo torture that tends to create internal conflict. Drugs may
|
|
be used to accentuate his "mood swings." He develops depression
|
|
when the interrogator is being kind and becomes euphoric when the
|
|
interrogator is threatening the direst penalties. Then the cycle
|
|
is reversed. The prisoner finds himself in a constant state of
|
|
anxiety which prevents him from relaxing even when he is permitted
|
|
to sleep. Short periods of isolation now bring on visual and
|
|
auditory hallucinations. The prisoner feels himself losing his
|
|
objectivity. It is in this state that the prisoner must keep up an
|
|
endless argument with the interrogator . He may be faced with the
|
|
confessions of other individuals who "collaborated" with him in
|
|
his crimes. The prisoner seriously begins to doubts his own
|
|
memory. This feeling is heightened by his inability to recall
|
|
little things like the names of the people he knows very well or
|
|
the date of his birth. The interrogator patiently sharpens this
|
|
feeling of doubt by more questioning. This tends to create a
|
|
serious state of uncertainty when the individual has lost most of
|
|
his critical faculties.
|
|
|
|
The prisoner must undergo additional internal conflict when
|
|
strong feelings of guilt are aroused within him. As any clinical
|
|
psychologist is aware, it is not at all difficult to create such
|
|
feelings. Military servicemen are particularly vulnerable. No one
|
|
can morally justify killing even in wartime. The usual
|
|
justification is on the grounds of necessity or self-defense. The
|
|
interrogator is careful to circumvent such justification. He keeps
|
|
the interrogation directed toward the prisoner's moral code. Every
|
|
moral vulnerability is exploited by incessant questioning along
|
|
this line until the prisoner begins to question the very
|
|
fundamentals of his own value-system. The prisoner must constantly
|
|
fight a potential breakdown. He finds that his mind is "going
|
|
blank" for longer and longer periods of time. He can not think
|
|
constructively. If he is to maintain any semblance of
|
|
psychological integrity, he must bring to an end this state of
|
|
interminable internal conflict. He signifies a willingness to
|
|
write a confession.
|
|
|
|
If this were truly the end, no brainwashing would have occurred.
|
|
The individual would simply have given in to intolerable pressure.
|
|
Actually, the final stage of the brainwashing process has just
|
|
begun. No matter what the prisoner writes in his confession the
|
|
interrogator is not satisfied. The interrogator questions every
|
|
sentence of the confession. He begins to edit it with the
|
|
prisoner. The prisoner is forced to argue against every change.
|
|
This is the essence of brainwashing. Every time that he gives in
|
|
on a point to the interrogator, he must rewrite his whole
|
|
confession. Still the interrogator is not satisfied. In a
|
|
desperate attempt to maintain some semblance of integrity and to
|
|
avoid further brainwashing, the prisoner must begin to argue that
|
|
what he has already confessed to is true. He begins to accept as
|
|
his own the statements he has written. He uses many of the
|
|
interrogator's earlier arguments to buttress his position. By this
|
|
process,identification with the interrogator's value-system
|
|
becomes complete. It is extremely important to recognize that a
|
|
qualitative change has taken place within the prisoner. The
|
|
brainwashed victim does not consciously change his value-system;
|
|
rather the change occurs despite his efforts. He is no more
|
|
responsible for this change than is an individual who "snaps" and
|
|
becomes psychotic. And like the psychotic, the prisoner is not
|
|
even aware of the transition.
|
|
|
|
DEFENSIVE MEASURES OTHER THAN ON THE POLICY AND PLANNING LEVEL
|
|
|
|
1. Training of Individuals potentially subject to communist
|
|
control.
|
|
|
|
Training should provide for the trainee a realistic appraisalof
|
|
what control pressures the communists are likely to exert and
|
|
what the usual human reactions are to such pressures. The
|
|
trainee must learn the most effective ways of combatting his
|
|
own reactions to such pressures and he must learn reasonable
|
|
expectations as to what his behaviour should be. Training has
|
|
two decidedly positive effects; first, it provides the trainee
|
|
with ways of combatting control; second, it provides the basis
|
|
for developing an immeasurable boost in morale. Any positive
|
|
action that the individual can take, even if it is only
|
|
slightly effective, gives him a sense of control over a
|
|
situation that is otherwise controlling him.
|
|
|
|
2. Training must provide the individual with the means of
|
|
recognizing realistic goals for himself.
|
|
|
|
a. Delay in yielding may be the only achievement that can be
|
|
hoped for. In any particular operation, the agent needs the
|
|
support of knowing specifically how long he must hold out
|
|
to save an operation, protect his cohorts, or gain some
|
|
other goal.
|
|
|
|
b. The individual should be taught how to achieve the most
|
|
favorable treatment and how to behave and make necessary
|
|
concessions to obtain minimum penalties.
|
|
|
|
c. Individual behavioural responses to the various communist
|
|
control pressures differ markedly. Therefore, each trainee
|
|
should know his own particular assets and limitations in
|
|
resisting specific pressures. He can learn these only
|
|
under laboratory conditions simulating the actual pressures
|
|
he may have to face.
|
|
|
|
d. Training must provide knowledge of the goals and the
|
|
restrictions placed upon his communist interrogator. The
|
|
trainee should know what controls are on his interrogator
|
|
and to what extent he can manipulate the interrogator. For
|
|
example, the interrogator is not permitted to fail to gain
|
|
"something" from the controlled individual. The knowledge
|
|
that, after the victim has proved that he is a "tough nut
|
|
to crack" he can sometimes indicate that he might
|
|
compromise on some little point to help the interrogator in
|
|
return for more favorable treatment, may be useful indeed.
|
|
Above all, the potential victim of communist control can
|
|
gain a great deal of psychological support from the
|
|
knowledge that the communist interrogator is not a
|
|
completely free agent who can do whatever he wills with his
|
|
victim.
|
|
|
|
e. The trainee must learn what practical cues might aid him in
|
|
recognizing the specific goals of his interrogator. The
|
|
strategy of defense against elicitation may differ markedly
|
|
from the strategy to prevent brainwashing. To prevent
|
|
elicitation, the individual may hasten his own state of
|
|
mental confusion; whereas, to prevent brainwashing,
|
|
maintaining clarity of thought processes is imperative.
|
|
|
|
|
|
f. The trainee should obtain knowledge about communist
|
|
"carrots" as well as "sticks." The communists keep certain
|
|
of their promises and al-ways renege on others. For
|
|
example, the demonstrable fact that "informers" receive no
|
|
better treatment than other prisoners should do much to
|
|
prevent this particular evil. On the other hand, certain
|
|
meaningless concessions will often get a prisoner a good
|
|
meal.
|
|
|
|
g. In particular, it should be emphasized to the trainee that,
|
|
although little can be done to control the pressures
|
|
exerted upon him, he can learn something about controlling
|
|
his personal reactions to specific pressures. The trainee
|
|
can gain much from learning something about internal
|
|
conflict and conflict-producing mechanisms. He should learn
|
|
to recognize when someone is trying to arouse guilt
|
|
feelings and what behavioural reactions can occur as a
|
|
response to guilt.
|
|
|
|
h. Finally, the training must teach some methods that can be
|
|
utilized in thwarting particular communist control
|
|
techniques:
|
|
|
|
Elicitation. In general, individuals who are the hardest to
|
|
interrogate for information are those who have experienced
|
|
previous interrogations. Practice in being the victim of
|
|
interrogation is a sound training device.
|
|
|
|
Torture. The trainee should learn something about the principles
|
|
of pain and shock. There is a maximum to the amount of pain that
|
|
can actually be felt. Any amount of pain can be tolerated for a
|
|
limited period of time. In addition, the trainee can be fortified
|
|
by the knowledge that there are legal limitations upon the amount
|
|
of torture that can be inflicted by communist jailors.
|
|
|
|
Isolation. The psychological effects of isolation can probably be
|
|
thwarted best by mental gymnastics and systematic efforts on the
|
|
part of the isolate to obtain stimulation for his neural end
|
|
organs.
|
|
|
|
Controls on Food and Tobacco. Foods given by the communists will
|
|
always be enough to maintain survival. Sometimes the victim gets
|
|
unexpected opportunities to supplement his diet with special
|
|
minerals,vitamins and other nutrients (e.g.,"iron" from the rust
|
|
of prison bars). In some instances, experience has shown that
|
|
individuals could exploit refusal to eat. Such refusal usually
|
|
resulted in the transfer of the individual to a hospital where he
|
|
received vitamin injections and nutritious food. Evidently
|
|
attempts of this kind to commit suicide arouse the greatest
|
|
concern in communist officials. If deprivation of tobacco is the
|
|
control being exerted. the victim can gain moral satisfaction from
|
|
"giving up" tobacco. He can't lose since he is not likely to get
|
|
any anyway.
|
|
|
|
Fatigue. The trainee should learn reactions to fatigue and how to
|
|
overcome them insofar as possible. For example, mild physical
|
|
exercise "clears the head" in a fatigue state.
|
|
|
|
Writing Personal Accounts and Self-Criticism. Experience has
|
|
indicated that one of the most effective ways of combatting these
|
|
pressures is to enter into the spirit with an overabundance of
|
|
enthusiasm. Endless written accounts of inconsequential material
|
|
have virtually "smothered" some eager interrogators. In the same
|
|
spirit, sober, detailed selfcriticisms of the most minute "sins"
|
|
has sometimes brought good results.
|
|
|
|
Guidance as to the priority of positions he should defend.
|
|
Perfectly compatible responsibilities in the normal execution of
|
|
an individual's duties may become mutually incompatible in this
|
|
situation. Take the example of a senior grade military officer. He
|
|
has the knowledge of sensitive strategic intelligence which it is
|
|
his duty to protect. He has the responsibility of maintaining the
|
|
physical fitness of his men and serving as a model example for
|
|
their behaviour. The officer may go to the camp commandant to
|
|
protest the treatment of the POWs and the commandant assures him
|
|
that treatment could be improved if he will swap something for it.
|
|
Thus to satisfy one responsibility he must compromise another. The
|
|
officer, in short, is in a constant state of internal conflict.
|
|
But if the officer is given the relative priority of his different
|
|
responsibilities, he is supported by the knowledge that he won't
|
|
be held accountable for any other behaviour if he does his utmost
|
|
to carry out his highest priority responsibility. There is
|
|
considerable evidence that many individuals tried to evaluate the
|
|
priority of their responsibilities on their own, ut were in
|
|
conflict over whether others would subsequently accept their
|
|
evaluations. More than one individual was probably brainwashed
|
|
while he was trying to protect himself against elicitation.
|
|
|
|
CONCLUSIONS
|
|
|
|
The application of known psychological principles can lead to an
|
|
understanding of brainwashing.
|
|
|
|
1.
|
|
There is nothing mysterious about personality changes resulting
|
|
from the brainwashing process.
|
|
|
|
2.
|
|
Brainwashing is a complex process. Principles of motivation,
|
|
perception, learning, and physiological deprivation are needed
|
|
to account for the results achieved in brainwashing.
|
|
|
|
3. Brainwashing is an involuntary re-education of the fundamental
|
|
beliefs of the individual. To attack the problem successfully,
|
|
the brainwashing process must be differentiated clearly from
|
|
general education methods for thought-control or mass
|
|
indoctrination, and elicitation.
|
|
|
|
4.
|
|
It appears possible for the individual,through training,to
|
|
develop limited defensive techniques against brainwashing. Such
|
|
defensive measures are likely to be most effective if directed
|
|
toward thwarting individual emotional reactions to brainwashing
|
|
techniques rather than to ward thwarting the techniques
|
|
themselves.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15 August 1955
|
|
|
|
SECRET
|
|
|
|
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
|
|
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
|
|
|
|
19 JUN 1964
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Commission No. 1131)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MEMORANDUM FOR: Mr. J. Lee Rankin
|
|
General Counsel
|
|
President's Commission on the
|
|
Assassination of President Kennedy
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUBJECT : Soviet Brainwashing Techniques
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. Reference is made to your memorandum of 19 May 1964,
|
|
requesting that materials relative to Soviet techniques in mind
|
|
conditioning and brainwashing be made available to the Commission.
|
|
|
|
2. At my request, experts on these subjects within the CIA
|
|
have prepared a brief survey of Soviet research in the direction
|
|
and control of human behavior, a copy of which is attached. The
|
|
Commission may retain this document. Please note that the use
|
|
of certain sensitive materials requires that a sensitivity indicator
|
|
be affixed.
|
|
|
|
3. In the immediate future, this Agency will make available
|
|
to you a collection of overt and classified materials on these subjects,
|
|
which the Commission may retain.
|
|
|
|
4. I hope that these documents will be responsive to the
|
|
Commission's needs.
|
|
|
|
(SIGNED)
|
|
|
|
(DECLASSIFIED) Richard Helms
|
|
(By C.I.A.) Deputy Director for Plans
|
|
(letter of ___________)
|
|
(---------------------)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attachment
|
|
|
|
|
|
CD 1131 SECRET
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MEMORANDUM
|
|
|
|
SUBJECT: Soviet Research and Development in the Field of
|
|
Direction and Control of Human Behavior.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. There are two major methods of altering or controlling
|
|
human behavior, and the Soviets are interested in both. The first
|
|
is psychological; the second, pharmacological. The two may be used
|
|
as individual methods or for mutual reinforcement. For long-term
|
|
control of large numbers of people, the former method is more
|
|
promising than the latter. In dealing with individuals, the U.S.
|
|
experience suggests the pharmacological approach (assisted by
|
|
psychological techniques) would be the only effective method.
|
|
Neither method would be very effective for single individuals on a
|
|
long term basis.
|
|
|
|
2. Soviet research on the pharmacological agents
|
|
producing behavioral effects has consistently lagged about five
|
|
years behind Western research. They have been interested in such
|
|
research, however, and are now pursuing research on such chemicals
|
|
as LSD-25, amphetamines, tranquillizers, hypnotics, and similar
|
|
materials. There is no present evidence that the Soviets have any
|
|
singular, new, potent drugs to force a course of action on an
|
|
individual. They are aware, however, of the tremendous drive
|
|
produced by drug addiction, and PERHAPS could couple this with
|
|
psychological direction to achieve control of an individual.
|
|
|
|
3. The psychological aspects of behavior control would
|
|
include not only conditioning by repetition and training, but such
|
|
things as hypnosis, deprivation, isolation, manipulation of guilt
|
|
feelings, subtle or overt threats, social pressure, and so on.
|
|
Some of the newer trends in the USSR are as follows:
|
|
|
|
a. The adoption of a multidisciplinary approach
|
|
integrating biological,social and physical-mathematical research
|
|
in attempts better to understand, and eventually, to control human
|
|
behavior in a manner consonant with national plans.
|
|
|
|
b. The outstanding feature, in addition to the inter-
|
|
disciplinary approach, is a new concern for mathematical
|
|
approaches to an understanding of behavior. Particularly notable
|
|
are attempts to use modern information theory, automata theory,
|
|
and feedback concepts in interpreting the mechanisms by which the
|
|
"second signal system," i.e., speech and associated phenomena,
|
|
affect human behavior. Implied by this "second signal system,"
|
|
using INFORMATION inputs as causative agents rather than chemical
|
|
agents, electrodes or other more exotic techniques applicable,
|
|
perhaps, to individuals rather than groups.
|
|
|
|
c. This new trend, observed in the early Post-Stalin
|
|
Period, continues. By 1960 the word "cybernetics" was used by the
|
|
Soviets to designate this new trend. This new science is
|
|
considered by some as the key to understanding the human brain and
|
|
the product of its functioning--psychic activity and personality--
|
|
to the development of means for controlling it and to ways for
|
|
molding the character of the "New Communist Man". As one Soviet
|
|
author puts it: Cybernetics can be used in "molding of a child's
|
|
character, the inculcation of knowledge and techniques, the
|
|
amassing of experience, the establishment of social behavior
|
|
patterns...all functions which can be summarized as 'control' of
|
|
the growth process of the individual." 1/Students of particular
|
|
disciplines in the USSR, such as psychologist and social
|
|
scientists, also support the general cybernetic trend. 2/ (Blanked
|
|
by CIA)
|
|
|
|
4. In summary, therefore, there is no evidence that the
|
|
Soviets have any techniques or agents capable of producing
|
|
particular behavioral patterns which are not available in the
|
|
West. Current research indi-cates that the Soviets are attempting
|
|
to develop a technology for controlling the development of
|
|
behavioral patterns among the citizenry of the USSR in accordance
|
|
with politically determined requirements of the system.
|
|
Furthermore, the same technology can be applied to more
|
|
sophisticated approaches to the "coding" of information for
|
|
transmittal to population targets in the "battle for the minds of
|
|
men." Some of the more esoteric techniques such as ESP or, as the
|
|
Soviets call it, "biological radio-communication", and psychogenic
|
|
agents such as LSD, are receiving some overt attention with,
|
|
possibly, applications in mind for individual behavior control
|
|
under clandestine conditions. However, we require more information
|
|
than is currently available in order to establish or disprove
|
|
planned or actual applications of various methodologies by Soviet
|
|
scientists to the control of actions of articular individuals.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
References
|
|
|
|
1. Itelson, Lev, "Pedagogy: An Exact Science?" USSR October 1963,
|
|
p. 10.
|
|
2. Borzek, Joseph, "Recent Developments in Soviet Psychology,"
|
|
Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 15, 1964, p. 493-594.
|
|
|
|
The first letter and attachment are from DECLASSIFIED
|
|
DOCUMENTS 1984 microfilms under MKULTRA (84) 002258, published
|
|
by Research Publication Woodbridge, CT 06525. Some original
|
|
markings were not retyped, but the content is the same.
|
|
|
|
The second letter and attachment are from the Warren
|
|
Commission documents. Notice should be paid to the different
|
|
tone Helms gives to his letter, keeping in mind he was found
|
|
guilty of lying to Congress. He places greater emphasis on
|
|
"Soviet" practices and tries to diminish breakthroughs gained
|
|
by Americans. Some thought should be given as to WHY the
|
|
Warren Commission sought such documents (remembering that
|
|
ALLEN DULLES was a member of that Commission). They were
|
|
exploring the Manchurian candidate theory. It was revealed
|
|
during the Church Committee hearings of 1975 that Helms had
|
|
been in charge of Project AMLASH, a program to assassinate
|
|
Castro (Cuba),Trujillo (Dominican Republic), Diem (RVN),
|
|
Schneider (Chile) using MAFIA figures John Roselli and Santos
|
|
Trafficante to do the job.
|
|
|
|
Care was used to insure lines appear in same length and order.
|
|
Page length will have to be adjusted if you desire to print
|
|
this. Look for other specials soon. David John Moses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
**********************************************
|
|
* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
|
|
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