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From: "Aftermath News" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [apfn-1] CIA Psychological Operations and Us
Killing the Political Animal:
CIA Psychological Operations and Us
by Heather Wokusch
A CIA instruction manual entitled "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla
Warfare" provides some clues. Written in the early 1980s (coincidentally,
soon after Bush Sr. headed the Agency) the document was part of the US
government's crusade to bring down Nicaragua's leftist government, by
providing training and weapons to the Contra rebels. Detailing how to gain a
community's support through propaganda and selective violence, the manual
begins "In effect, the human being should be considered the priority
objective in a political war ... Once his mind has been reached, the
'political animal' has been defeated, without necessarily receiving
bullets."
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1016-06.htm
Published on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 by CommonDreams.org
Killing the Political Animal:
CIA Psychological Operations and Us
by Heather Wokusch
Dysfunctional Bush and his anachronistic cronies are leading us right into a
catastrophic Middle Eastern blowout. That much is apparent. But what's not
so clear is why we're allowing it to happen.
Analyzing Dubya's psychological challenges is not enough - he's the symptom
not the cause, and while the rapidity of societal decline has seemed to
accelerate since 2000's farcical US presidential election, the framework for
rollback was in place long before. If it hadn't been, citizens quite simply
wouldn't have tolerated the rigged results.
But what mechanisms could have been used to facilitate the rollback? How can
an unwilling population be trained to blindly accept a new, repressive
social order?
A CIA instruction manual entitled "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla
Warfare" provides some clues. Written in the early 1980s (coincidentally,
soon after Bush Sr. headed the Agency) the document was part of the US
government's crusade to bring down Nicaragua's leftist government, by
providing training and weapons to the Contra rebels. Detailing how to gain a
community's support through propaganda and selective violence, the manual
begins "In effect, the human being should be considered the priority
objective in a political war ... Once his mind has been reached, the
'political animal' has been defeated, without necessarily receiving
bullets."
The following are quotes from the original psyop textbook, along with
contemporary examples-
PSYOP quote: "It is appropriate ... to guide the discussion of a group to
cover a number of points and to reach a correct conclusion." The people
"should feel it was their free and own decision."
Interesting to note that up until early 2000, military personnel from the
Fourth Psychological Operations Group based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
were active at CNN's Atlanta-based headquarters - and left only after public
outcry when CNN admitted to employing them. Their presence was perhaps not
surprising given former CIA director William Colby's boast that "the Central
Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any major significance in the major
media."
So much for a democratic free flow of information.
Also striking is how the "discussion" around attacking Iraq is being guided
"to reach a correct conclusion." After both the House and Senate agreed to
give Bush his blank check to attack Iraq (requesting only that Bush report
to Congress every 60 days if he does decide to take action) Senate Majority
Leader Tom Daschle called the endorsement of war "a statement of American
values and resolve." Apparently Daschle was unaware of the large anti-war
street protests taking place across the country, and the overwhelming number
of anti-war phone calls flooding House and Senate offices.
Now that the vote is finished, the media will no doubt bombard with messages
echoing Daschle's myopic observation, and assuring the American population
the vote for war was their "free and own decision."
PSYOP quote: "Always be prepared with simple slogans in order to explain to
the people, whether in intentional form or by chance, the reason for the
weapons." Reasons such as: "The weapons will be for winning freedom; they
are for you," or "Our weapons are, in truth, the weapons of the people,
yours."
The Bush administration proposes to increase its annual military budget by
$120 billion (over one third) by 2007, which would bring the total annual
budget to $451 billion; this while the economy crumbles and social services
get left behind. The justification?
George W. Bush "Nothing is more important than the national security of our
country. So nothing is more important than our defense budget. The price for
freedom is high, but it's never too high as far as I'm concerned.�
Donald Rumsfeld �The defense budget is cheap when one compares it to putting
our security at risk, our lives at risk, our country at risk, our freedom at
risk.�
PSYOP quote: "In places and situations wherever possible ... explain the
operation of weapons to the youths and young men."
A endless war requires an endless supply of cannon fodder; lucky for the
military if enough recruits succumb to the sexy hype about weapons and
enlist. If they don't though, there's always the Universal Military Training
and Service Act (H.R. 3598) which, aiming to bring back the draft, states:
"ALL males residing in the U.S. between the ages of 18-22 (must) receive
military training for at least 6 months" and imposes additional time on high
school dropouts.
Chew on that quote for a second. The high school dropout part is
self-explanatory; longer military sentences would effectively be forced on
poor kids and minorities, those most likely to drop out of school. The
"residing" part is odd though - apparently, even citizens of other countries
who happen to live in the US will be obligated to complete military service
for Uncle Sam.
So it appears every trick in the book will be used to get our youth on the
battlefield, but once those boys come home wounded or in body bags, they and
their families will be abandoned, at least if Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld has his way. Addressing the Armed Services Committee, Rumsfeld
recently claimed he had no knowledge of the US having ever shipped any
biological weapons to Iraq; Rumsfeld said he had no knowledge despite the
existence of substantial proof, including a widely-distributed 1994 Senate
Report documenting the US sale of bacteria and viruses to Iraq.
The medical issue becomes even more serious when considering the fact that
biological warfare agents don't affect only those service members directly
exposed: they can lie undetected and later be transferred to family and
friends back home. This is the stuff of epidemics, and the DOD's
head-in-the-sand handling of the physical maladies of Gulf War veterans has
only exacerbated the danger to us all.
Small wonder that, unlike hawkish politicians who have never seen battle,
many Gulf War vets oppose an attack on Iraq. And Rumsfeld had better take
notice: the American Gulf War Veterans Association (AGWVA) is so appalled by
his claim of ignorance about the weapons sale - and attending denial about
the dangers of a new war with Iraq - they've officially called for his
resignation.
PSYOP quote: "Established citizens ... will be recruited initially as
'Social Crusaders' in typically 'innocuous' movements in the area of
operations. When their 'involvement' with the clandestine organization is
revealed to them, this supplies the psychological pressure to use them as
'inside cadres' in groups to which they already belong or of which they can
be members."
Operation TIPS, US Attorney General John Ashcroft's plan to enlist citizens
in spying on one another is down, but definitely not out. Due to public
outcry, postal and utilities workers may have been exempted but employees of
"industry associations and groups" in the broadly-defined transportation
sector are still being "invited to receive information" on the program. It's
anyone's guess who the invitation will be extended to next...
PSYOP quote: "Bring about uprisings or shootings, which will cause the death
of one or more persons, who would become the martyrs ... in order to create
greater conflicts."
In "Body of Secrets," respected journalist James Bamford explores official
government records in which the Pentagon "called for innocent people to be
shot on American streets, for boats ... to be sunk on the high seas, for a
wave of violent terrorism to be launched in Washington D.C., Miami and
elsewhere," for "people to be framed for bombings they did not commit" and
for planes to be hijacked, all in the name of convincing Congress and the
American public to support a new war. Bamford writes about the early 1960s,
but many of the Pentagon's proposals then seem uncomfortably reminiscent
today.
So whatever happened to the basic foundations of "life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness"? Have we really gone so far astray that independent
thought is a thing of the past, trampled in the dirt by an artificial psyop
reality?
Time to read through those Amendments once again, slowly. Then take a
careful look at the insidious ways we're being controlled, and throw off the
shackles.
Heather Wokusch is a free-lance writer. She can be contacted via her web
site: www.heatherwokusch.com
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