Recently, the CIA got ahead of schedule and completed an initial upload of over 13 million documents spread over 800,000 files. These documents are not new; however, they were only previously accessible on four computers at the National Archives in Maryland. Thanks to the work of a non-profit freedom of information group known as MuckRock, the files are no longer relegated to four physical computers and is now available for every and anyone to read at their leisure.

The information that has been uploaded covers a wide gamut of topics ranging from Extra-sensory Perception (ESP), Remote Viewing, to manuals such as the one referenced in the title of this post "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare". The significance of this event should not be understated and already around the interwebs there are those who are diving right into the rabbit hole to see this information treasure trove holds.

My intention with this series of post is not to express my personal opinion but only to assist in propagating this information. The following review examines the CIA's operational guidelines when conducting psy-ops in Guerrilla Warfare.

Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare - Preface

As in most books there is a preface that outlines what the subsequent text will cover in more detail. What stands out in the preface is the identification of the human mind as the ultimate psychological warfare target. It states that it is only through control at this level that psy-ops in Guerrilla Warfare can be most effective.

Positing that Guerrilla Warfare is more of a political war, they see Psychological Operations as the determining factor of success. For the purposes of the manual, they use the "Christian and democratic crusade being conducted in Nicaragua..".

In Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare, everyone is the target

Introduction 1 - General Background, 2 - Propagandist Combatant Guerrillas

1. General Background

The text specifies again that this manual is intended to "introduce the guerrilla student to psychological operation techniques, which will have an immediate and practical value in guerrilla warfare." Stressing the nature of the political environment in which guerrilla warfare takes place, the manual concedes that sophisticated psychological operations are not practical and that, instead, this type of warfare demands that groups, detachments, squadron leaders etc are able to execute psychological operations with little to no guidance from "upper echelons".

2. Propagandist Combatant Guerrillas

These kind of combatants are not just average soldiers. The text states that these kind of soldiers have to be willing to conduct face-to-face propaganda, and do it as well as they fight. As most soldiers are not trained to conduct this type of warfare, the manual indicates some approaches to developing the guerrilla forces in a way that will prepare them to conduct psychological warfare. Some of these techniques include:

• Group Dynamics:

By conducting group discussions a unit can increase the sense of unity of thought and the spirit of the squad, while also identifying the weaker members who may need social pressure from the rest of the "group" to help improve their performance training.

• Self-criticism:

Encouraging this behavior in regards to one's contribution or failure to contribute helps foster a more personalized attachment to the group and the mission overall.

The goal is to have the soldier form a deep-seated relationship with the cause, one that will enable him to communicate with the local population in a more persuasive manner that helps to create identification between the people and the guerrillas. In keeping with the idea that it is the entire population that takes part in Psychological Operations, they point out that the training helps them communicate with the locals, but it also helps them keep each other in line.

Done correctly, they believe that once the identification between population and guerrilla outfit is cemented, no amount of oppositional propaganda will be able to turn the people against the guerrillas.

3. Armed Propaganda

Contrary to how it may sound, armed propaganda is not propaganda through the use of force. Quite the opposite, it is a psychological technique that aims to improve the behavior of the people towards the guerrilla group. Guerrillas in rural areas, for example, are instructed to integrate into a town and to work alongside the people.

This means field work but also conducting public relations with the young men through allowing them to handle unloaded weapons and teaching them the basics of their operation. An important component of this is the use of slogans that describe how these same weapons will help "liberate" the people from the oppression the opposition has thrust upon them. Another important facet is co-opting the political desires of the people "for hospitals and education, a reduction of taxes, etc."

This section ends with the reaffirmation that the objective is to link the population with the weapons and the handlers of the weapons in a positive manner that allows the guerrilla outfit to exist in the midst of the people.

4. Armed Propaganda Teams

These teams are comprised of those guerrillas who are the most persuasive and motivated. Their purpose is to drum up support for the guerrillas while encouraging resistance to the "enemy". It is interesting that combat ability and their powers of persuasion is of more import than their educational background.

This section is made up of only two paragraphs.

5. Development and Control of "Front" Organizations

To facilitate the development and control of these "fronts," high value citizens are first recruited as "Social Crusaders" essentially without their knowledge. Among those considered high value are doctors, attorneys, businessmen, teachers and "etc," which insinuates that others could fit this bill as well.

In developing a front organization it is not immediately disclosed to these citizens who they are working with and the goal is to solidify their support and involvement before they are told. After they are told, further training and instruction in persuasion ensues, and the groups to which these high value citizens belong to become the control target. The desire is that these assets will help secure control of important groups in society that will support the political goals of the guerrillas.

Also by keeping these groups unaware of each other, the guerrillas can then work towards fusing all the disparate groups together into a national front when the time is appropriate.

6. Control of Meetings and Mass Assemblies

This section is short but very interesting, as it deals with ideas that we can see used around the world and even in our own backyard.

After infiltrating various social organizations, these soldiers can help shape the narrative of the group they are infiltrating. They must attempt to steer the "mental attitude" of the group so that they can be used to initiate "justified violence." The guerrillas, using a modest 200 or 300 hundred agitators, should be capable of producing demonstrations of up to 10-20k people.

7. Support from Contacts Who are Rooted in Reality

At this stage in the mission, all parts of the guerrilla structure should be in place in the target society. The propagandist-combatant guerillas, armed propaganda, armed propaganda teams, front organizations and mass meetings coalesce at this point into a national front of rebellion against the standing regime. It's at this time that the guerilla works the most to gain sympathy and shared identification with the rest of "the people".

The goal is to remove support for the existing regime by increasing support for the guerrillas who have captured the ideology of the masses. Through armed propaganda they can continue to create commonalities between the guerillas and the people, and with the propaganda teams, they can maintain a spy network throughout the country. The final stage before open rebellion comes with the meetings and mass assemblies:

The manual stresses that this kind of warfare must happen in concert with the weakening of the standing regimes military capabilities. In order for the Psychological Operations to be successful when the rebellion begins, there must also be an effort to achieve military goals concurrently, so that the entire regime, militarily and socioeconomically, falls apart.

---

Conclusion

This ends Section I. This manual uses Nicaragua as an example of how to commence Psychological Operations in guerilla warfare but is not specific to Nicaragua. These methods can be, and presumably have been, used anywhere that destabilization of the current regime is desired.

I am sharing what I'm reading in the CIA data dump because it is important to understand that some people deliver mail for a living, and some people destabilize foreign governments. It is not conspiracy theory to question the involvement of one country in the affairs of another, especially when the existing evidence points to just that.

This first section of this 70 page document was an overview of the process of destabilizing a ruling regime. The subsequent sections go into much further detail about each section I covered above, and I may post further about this topic as needed. This is information that is as useful today as it was in 1984 when it was disseminated.

---

---

With the plethora of information released, I will do my best to share the items I find particularly interesting and relevant, and encourage all of you out there to do the same. If the best disinfectant is sunlight, this upload is potentially the equivalent of ripping off the roof at high noon. Get involved!

---

@prufarchy

---

Click Here for the link to the CIA PDF "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare"

Thank you for spending time here