8/4/2019 CIA Used Institutions in Mind-control Effort (Aug. 3, 1977)

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T H E S U NLowell, Mass.

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 1977 Page 60 .

99th Year Serving Northern Middlesex County

i m i i u m m n i i i m i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i u i i i i i m i i i i i i i i i i i i i n i i i i n n i i m m i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i n i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i l i l i i i i i l l i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i l i i i i i i i i i i i n i i f

C IA used institutions in mind-control effort(Th is article was the work o f an invest igat ivereport ing team c o n s i s t i ng o f J o h n M .Crewdson , Nicholas M. Horrock, Doyce

Rensberger , Jo T homas and Joseph B.Treaster . It was wri t ten by Nicholas M.Horrock.)

« N ew Y o rk T im esW A S H I N G T O N - S e ve r al pro mi n en t medical

research insti tut ions an d go v ern men t h o s pi t a l s inth e Un i t ed S ta tes an d C a n a da w ere d r a w n into asecret , 25-year, $25-million e ffo r t by the C en t ra lI n t el l i gen ce A gen cy to learn how t o co n t ro l th eh u m a n m i n d .

Th e existence of the a gen cy 's investigations intobehavior a n d t h o ugh t co n t ro l w a s prev io us l y kn o w n .Bu t t h ro ugh access to 2,000 C I A do cumen t s a n dw i de-ra n gi n g interviews, a gro up of N e w Y o rkTimes reporters ha s developed ne w i n f o r m a t i o na b o ut th e cost of the pro gra m, th e r a n g e of i tspenetrat ion into prestigious research centers, th eidenti t ies of some i n s t i t u t i o n s , th e secret f u n d i n gconduits b y t he agency and t he co n cern s a b o ut th epro gra m expressed by some scientists.

Th e original research wa s s purred b y t he co n v i c-t ion — later proved u n fo u n d e d — t h a t the R us s i a n sam i Chinese ha d developed brainwashing an d mi n d-co n t ro l devices. But t h e C I A q u ic k l y t u rn ed t o seek-

in g an o ffe n sive us e f o r b eh a v i o r co n t ro l . I t s o ugh tto cra ck the mental defenses of en emy a g e n t s — tobe able to p r o g r a m them and its own operatives tocar ry ou t any mission even against their will and" a ga i n s t s uch f un da men t a l l a w s of n a t u r e as self-preserv a t io n ."

It ch a n n el ed fu n d s t h ro ugh t h ree pri v a t e m edica lresea rch f o u n d a t i o n s . O ne of these, th e G es ch i kt erFo un da t i o n f o r M edi ca l Resea rch i n W a s h i n gt o n ,D . C . , is still active. A n o t h e r , th e Society for theIn ve st ig at io n of H uma n E co l o gy I n c . , w a s di s b a n -doned in 1965. A third named in one repo r t was theJos i ah M a c y Jr . Fo un da t i o n , a l s o a c t i v e, b u t Dr .J o h n W . Bo w ers , d i rec t o r o f t h e fo u n d at io n , saidt h e r e was no in d ic at io n i t had been a c o n d u i t fo rCI A f un d i n g .

T h e C I A also paid fo r ex peri men t s un der th eguise o f co n t ra c ts issued by other government agen-cies and had access to millions of dollars inb eh a v i o ra l co n t ro l ex peri men t s co n duct ed by thea r m e d services.

By the early 1960s the CIA had grown unco mfor-t a b l e a b o ut the ex peri men t s . A 1957 repo r t by the in-

specto r gen era l n o t ed t h a t th e chemical division" h a d a dded d i f f i c u l t y in o b tain in g ex per t services

a n d f a ci l i t i es to c o n d u c t tests an d ex per im en ts .S o me of the a ct i v i t i es ar e considered to be profes-sionally une thica l and in some instances b o r d e r onth e i l l ega l ," th e repo r t s a i d .

T h e a gen cy o ff ic ia l s were also worried that th ereputat ions of the scientists i t contracted with were"i n j e o p a r d y . "

M o reo v er, th e a gen cy a ppea rs n ev er to h a v ef o u n d th e secret o f mi n d co n t ro l , a n d t h e d o cumen t sno w p u b l ic indicate that i t had li t t le success wi th in-t erro ga t i o n s us i n g drugs a n d h ypn o s i s .

Network of scientistsW h a t emerged f ro m ex t en s i v e i n t erv i ew s w i t h

pres en t an d f o rmer i n t el l igen ce o f f i cers , m edica lresea rch ers an d others was t he f a c t t h a t despi tep r o fe ssio n al misgivings on the part of some m edica lresea rch ers, t he C I A was able to a s s emb l e an ex-t en s i v e n et w o rk o f n o n go v ern men t a l scien t is ts an dfac i l i t ie s — a ppa ren t l y w i t h o ut the k n o w l e d g e of the

i n s t i t u t i o n s w h e r e th e f a ci l i t i es were s i t ua t ed .A m o n g t h e s peci f i c di s c l o s ures pro duced b y t h eT i mes f r o m th e d o c u m e n t s and t he i n t erv i ew s wereth e f o l lo wi n g:

- Dr.C a r l P f e i f f e r , a p h a r m a c o l o g i s t now as-

sociated with a pri v a t e t rea t men t cen ter i n N e wJ e r s e y , co n duct ed L S D e xp e r i me nt s f or t he C I A onpri s o n ers a t t h e f edera l pe n i t en t i a ry i n A t l a n t a a n dth e B o r d e n t o w n R e f o r m a t o r y i n N e w Jersey

between 1955 and 1964. He was paid $25,000 a y e a r

'iProject Bluebird/Artichoke

Through private medical research foundations {HThrough the military

SOCIETY FOR THE

INVESTIGATION OF

HUMAN ECOLOGY

Formed by Dr. HaroldWolf f and Dr. LawienceB. Hinkte Jr. of CornellUnivers i ty MedicalCenter—Disbanded in1 9 6 5

Dr. D.Ewen Cameron

(Allan Memo rial Instituteof Psychiatry. McGil lUniversity. Montreal)Brainwashing echniquesand other exper imentson patients and sta f f .

Dr. Robert W.Hyde

Testing, including LSD,on patients and s t a f f atButler Health Center,Providence. R.I., andMassachusetts MentalHealth Center, Boston.

GESCHIKTER

FUND FOR

MEDICAL RESEARCH

Registered in the nameof Dr. Charles F.Geschikter ofGeorgetown Univers ity ,Washington—Inexistence

Dr. Harold A. A b r a m s o n

(Mount Sinai Hospital)Tests of LSD at hospital,funded f i rs t hyGeschikter. then byMacy Foundation.

Dr. Louis Jolyon West

(Neuro-PsychiatricInstitute, Univers ityofCalifornia at LosAngeles) Study of LSD.

Dr. Carl PfeifferTesting of LSD onprisoners at FederalPenitentiary in Atlantaand at Bordentown, N.J..Reformatory .

OFFICE OF

N A V A L RESEARCH

Dr. Harris Isbell

Testing of mind-alteringdrugs, including LSD. atU . S . Public HealthServ ice Hospital inLexington. Ky .

Mt&ttdiiwetU MentalH*«Hh Cvntor, Bwton

Suitor Health Onto,Provldtnce

McOffl Unhwrsity, H<man\ i

PublcHealthS e r v i c eHospital,,Lexington V

;••

/ Mount Srnl

Bordentown HowUIR e f o r m a t o r y

• Testing Sites FtderalPenitent iary , At lan ta \

t h ro ugh th e Gesch ikter Fo un da t i o n , h e s a i d i n atelephoned i n t erv i ew .

— T h e G es ch i kt er Fo un da t i o n co n t r i b ut ed to t h ec o n st r u c t io n of a $3 million building a t G eo rget o w nU n ive r s i ty M edi ca l S ch o ol in W a s h i n gt o n , D . C .New l y discovered records indicate t h a t th e CI Awanted to " es t a b l i s h at an a ppro pri a t e un i v ers i t y"forensic me i c i ne d e p a r t m e n t so the pro j ect " a n dal l ied agency n eeds could thus be served with com-pl et e co n t ro l , l ega l perf o rma n ce, a n d a ppro pri a t eco v er ." A s po kes ma n l o r G eo rget o w n sa i d t h a t t h euniversi ty wa s rev i ew i n g its reco rds on the con-

s t ruct i o n bu t t h a t there was no indication the money

ha d come f r o m t h e C I A .

— Dr. D. Ewen Cameron, of the Al l an M emo ri a lIn s t i tu te o f P s ych i a t ry at M c Gi l l Un i v ers i t y in

M o n t r e a l , c o n d u c t e d s e v e r a l e x p e r i m e n t s onb e h avio r c o n t r o l in c l u d in g th e ef f ec t s of isolat ionan d s en s o ry depri v a t i o n o n h uma n s f o r t h e CI Abetween 1955 an d 1960. Thn work was paid for by theSociety for the I n v es t i ga t i o n of H u m a n E c o l o g y .C a mero n di ed in 1967. A n associate in the resea rchsaid in an i n t erv i ew t h a t he was un a w a re t h a t th eresearch lias been pa i d f o r b y t h e C I A .

— Th e society, on behalf of the C I A , u n d e r w r o t eex peri men t s us i n g t ra n i | u i l i z ers a n d a l co h o l o nmen t a l pa t i en t s a n d s t a f f memb ers o f t h e But l erM emo ri a l H o s pi ta l in P ro v i den ce. K. 1.

— The society, althou gh largely contro lled by theC I A , w a s s et up un der th e d i r e c t io n (i f D r. H a ro l dW o l f f , a p r o m i n e n t p s y c h i a t r i s t a n d l e a d i n ga ut h o ri t y o n pa i n , an d ga v e th e a p p e a r a n c e of beingassociated with th e Co r n e l l U n i v e r s i t y M e d i c alCenter. The society also asked W o l f f and an as-s o c i a t e to c o l l e c t t h e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t

" b ra i n w a s h i n g . "In 1962, a CIA doctor, E. M an fie l d Gu n n , ap -pro a ch ed D r . R o b e r t H e a t h , c h a i r m a n of the T u l a n eU n ive r s i ty d e p a r t m e n t of ps ych i a t ry an d n euro l o gy,a b i o ps yc h i a t r i s t w h o h a d ex pl o red w h a t i sdescribed as the pl ea s ure cen t er of t he h u m a nbrain. G u n n asked Hea th i f he would be interestedin ex pl o ri n g t h e " pa i n c e n t e r " o f t h e b ra i n . H ea t hr e fu se d , he said in a recent interview, c al l in g th ereq ues t " a b h o r r e n t . "

These are only a few o f w h a t some CI A o f f i c i a ls

pri v a t el y said were " d o z e n s " of resea rch pro jec tsf o un d in agency records. T h e pro gra m, C I A reco rdsi n di ca t e, wa s wound do w n in 1964, f u r t h e r curt a i l edin 1967 and finally h a l t ed in 1973. Its last phases,co de n a med O f t e n ; C h i c k w i t , were co n duct ed i nco o rdi n a t i o n with th e O f f i c e of R es ea rch an dD ev el o pmen t at F.dgewood A r s e n a l in M a r y l a n d .

It was a pro gra m to a c q u i r e an d evalutate "com-pounds believed to h a v e ef f ec t s on th e b e h a v i o rofh u m a n s " and C I A repo rt s sa y t h a t i t was discon-t i n ue d before tests were m a d e o n h uma n s .

Al th o u g h tw o S en a t e committees investigated

th e CI A 's drug test ing, in 1975 and in 1976, so manyreco rds have been destroyed and so many deletionsha d been ma de in the records th e sen a to rs receivedt h a t only a f r a g m e n t a r y p i c t u r e emerged of the ex-tent to w h i c h the agency was engaged in b eh a v i o rco n t ro l resea rch .

A d m . S t a n s f i el d T urn er , th e di rect o r of cen t ra li n t el l i gen ce, an n o u n c e d tw o w eeks ag o t ha t sevencases of reco rds containing so m e 5,000 pages ofd o c u m e n t s pertaining to these pro jec ts ha d beendiscovered in the a gen cy 's archives. H e said theyhad been overlooked in 1975 an d 1976.

He will test i fy on the co n ten ts of these newly dis-covered reco rds b ef o re a j o i n t h ea ri n g o f t h e S en a t eS el ect C o mmi t t ee on I n t el l i gen ce and the SenateS u b c o m m i t t e e on H e al th on W e d n e s d a y . He is ex-pect ed to disclose that the CIA pa i d fo r tests of a" k n o c k o u t " d r u g on u n w i t t i n g t ermi n a l ca n cerpa t i en t s .

He is also expected to gi v e d e t ai ls of an in c id e n tin w h ic h an improper, and so m e so urces said il-l ega l , p a y m e n t wa s m a d e to a medi ca l in s t i tu t io nfo r resea rch .

T h e C I A , mea n w h i l e, h a sm a d e

a v a i l a b l e t o t h eS en a t e co mmi t t ees and is ex pected to m a k e p u b l icmost of the newly discovered batc h of pa pers . As of1 9 7 5 , h o w ev er, th e a gen cy ha s del et ed the n a mes ofth e a ct ua l medi ca l researchers and t he inst i tut ionst h a t perf o rmed th e ex peri men t s .

S en a t e i n v es t i ga t o rs a ckn o w l edged in pri v a t e in-t erv i ew s t h a t wi t h o ut these names i t was nearly im-possible to det ermi n e t h e ex ten t of the test ing, then u m b e r s of A m e r i c a n s or o t h er n a t i o n a l i t i es in -

v o l v ed, w h et h er th e tests ha d res ul t ed in dea t h orperma n en t i mpa i rmen t an d w h et h er th e r igh ts ofph ys i ca l and me nt al h ea l t h of t he subjec ts ha d beenconsidered.

S e ve r al CI A memo ra n dums co n t a i n ed comments

t h a t s h o w t h a t o ff ic ia l s were worried a b o ut th eeth ics and the l ega l i t y of the experiments they were

co n t empl a t i n g .A t th e t i me, th e i n t ern a t i o n a l s t a n da rd fo r

medi ca l ex peri men t a t i o n on h u m a n s ha d been set atth e Nuremb erg t r i a l s fo r N a z i wa r cri mi n a l s . I t wasa do pt ed by the U. S . go v ern men t in 1953. It said thatmedical experiments should be for the good ofm a n k i n d and that a person must give full and in-formed consent before being used as a subject .

A gro up o f New Y o rk T im es repo r ters a t tem ptedto reco n s t ruct th e scope, purpo s e an d deta i ls ofth ese e xp e r i me nt s , us i n g do cumen t s o b t a in ed bythe Freedom of I n f o r m a t i o n A c t and a wide rangeofi n t erv i ew s .

T he C I A ' s in terest in behavioral control wa so rga n i z ed i n 1949 un der t h e co de n a me Bl u eb i rd,la ter changed to A rt i ch o ke. T he a gen cy 's pro jec tsgrew out of a co n cern a mo n g W e s t e rn p owe r s t h a tth e Soviet bloc ha d a ch i ev ed th e a b i l i t y to controlm e n ' s mi n ds t h ro ugh drugs or b ra i n w a s h i n g, t h en amys t eri o us an d l i t t le-un ders t o o d t ech n i q ue.

Object ives shi f tedIt w a s , a ppa ren t l y , a def en s i v e pro gra m a t th e

o ut s et , in w h ic h th e a gen cy s o ugh t a way to insulateits a gen t s f ro m b ra i n w a s h i n g a t tem pts . B u t b y t heea r ly 1950s, th e objectives ha d s h i f t ed, and theprograms' goals beca m e o f f en s i v e.

O n e C I A memo r a n dum , da t ed J a n . 25 , 1952,descr ibed A r t i c h o k e as " t h e e v a l u a t i o n an ddev el o pmen t o f a n y method by which we ca n get in-f o rma t i o n f r o m a person against his will an dw i t h o u t hi s kn o w l edge. " T he m e m o asked w h et h erit were possible to "get control of an i n di v i dua l toth e p o in t w h ere h e will do o ur b id d in g against hiswill and even against s uch f un da men t a l l a w s o fn a t u r e as s el f -pres erv a t i o n ?"

T he memo men t i o n s co un t eri n g s uch m ea sureso n l y as the lowest priori ty.

In th e b e g in n in g pro j ect Bl ueb i rd- A rt i ch o k e w a sd i r e c t e d b y t h e C I A ' s O f f i c e o f S c i e n t i f i cIntelligence, which ha d access to all secret an dpub l i c sc ie n t i f ic resea rch in t h i s fie ld b ei n g do n e by

th e mi l i t a ry serv ices.T h e C I A w a s also able to c o n d u c t resea rch

t h ro ugh mi l i t a ry co n t ra c t s . F or 1 1 years, th ea gen cy t es t ed mi n d -a l t er i n g drugs , ma i n l y LS D , onpri s o n ers at the U. S . P u b l i c H ea l t h S erv i ce h o s pi t a lin Lex i n gt o n , K y . T h e mo n ey wa s channeledt h ro ugh th e Offic e o f N a v a l Resea rch , and the pro-j e c t ostensibly wa s seeking a s ub s t i t u t e fo r codeineas a mi l d-ma n n ered pa i n k i l l er .

D r. Harris Isbell, wh o co n duct ed th e research

between 1952 an d 1963, kept up a secret cor-respo n den ce with the CIA (us ua l l y w i t h a man iden-t i f i e d o n l y as " R a y" i n t he d oc u me nt s ) i n w h i ch herepo rt ed o n L S D a n d sev era l o t h er drugs t h a t th ea gen cy w a n t ed tested, th e a gen cy 's do cumen t s di s -closed.

I s b el l was an ea ger ex peri men t er . O n o n e o cca -sion he w ro t e hi s co n t a ct , "I will wri te y ou a q u i c klet ter as soon as I can ge t th e s t u f f in to a man ortwo." H e a l s o a rra n ged to purch a s e drugs f or t heC I A f r o m E u r o p e a n p har mac e u t i c a l co n cern s t h a tt h o u g h t they were s h i ppi n g th e d r u g s to a pub l i ch ea l t h o f f i c i a l .

Isbell made a b ri ef a ppea ra n ce b ef o re th e S en a t eH ea l t h s ub co mmi t t ee i n 1976 and conceded th a t heha d been in contact w ith th e C I A . But h e w a s n ev era s ked t o ex pl a i n w h y he co n t i n u ed to test L S D f o r ad e c ad e - i n a p r o g r a m t h a t wa s ostensibly to developa mi l d pa i n -ki l l er . S ev era l i n d epen den t researchers

said t h a t LS D would never have been considered fort h i s purpo s e.

i s b ell decl i n ed t o gra n t a n i n t erv i ew t o T h e NewY o r k Times.

Behavior-control studies stemmed from Mindszenty trialo N ew York Times

W A S H I N G T O N - In he s ummer of 1977, itmay

be d i f f i c u l t f o r A mer i ca n s t o co mpreh en d t h e f ra meof m in d of the men who nearly 30 years earlier

s t a r t ed th e C e n t r a l I n t e l l ig e n c e A g e n c y ' s e f f o r t toma n i pul a t e h u m a n b e h a v i o r .

As s ome o f t h e f o rmer h ig h - r an k in g C I A menrecall now, they ha d looked into the v a ca n t eyes ofJoseph C a r d i n a l M i n ds z en t y a t h i s t rea so n t r i a l i n

Buda pes t in l i ) 4 9 and had b een h o rr i f i ed .They had been convinced that his confession had

b een w run g f r o m hi m w h il e h e w a s ei t h er un der t h ei n f lue n c e of some mys t eri o us m in d - b e n d in g d r u g o r -t h a t he was in a po s t -h ypn o t i c t ra n ce. T he sighttouched off memories of ea r l ier "show trials" int h e S o v i et U n i o n .

Th e C IA lea ders were certain th e C o mmun i s t sh a d e m b a r k e d on a c a m p a i g n to control men's

mi n ds a n d t h ey were det ermi n ed t o find a def en s e,set t ing out in ea rn est the next yea r— 1950 — w i t hP r o j e c t Bl ueb i rd, w h ic h ev o l v ed in to Project A r-t i c h o k e , t h en b e c a m e M K - U L T R A : M K - D E L T A .W i t h ea ch co de n a me ch a n ge, t h ey b ro a den ed t h ei rsweep, un t i l t h ere rema i n ed vir tu al l y n o a v en ue o fh u m a n b eh a v i o r co n t ro l t h ey w ere n o t ex pl o ri n g .

S ub s eq uen t dev el o pmen t s s eemed to c o n f i r mt h ei r f ea rs : T h e arrest i n G erma n y o f t w o S o v i eta gen t s a rmed with id e n t ic al pl a s t i c c y l i nd e r s co n -t a i n i n g hypodermic needles, said to ca use a victim"to b eco me a men a b l e to the will of his captor."

Then, the s t ar t l i ng confessions of d o w n e d A m e r i c a na i r m e n to f a l s e charges of ca rryi n g ou t germ w a r-

f a r e a ga i n s t N o r t h K o r e a .A s h o rt t i me l a t er , h o w ev er, in 1953, a high level

m i l i t a r y s t udy gro up determined t h a t ev en ts ha dno t b een w h a t they seem ed. N e i t h e r t h e R us s i a n s

n o r a n yo n e else h a d dev i sed a mea n s o f t urn i n g men

into robots an d th ere wa s " l i t t l e t h rea t , i f a n y, t on at io n al security."

Th e in te l l ig e n c e c o m m u n i t y r a t i o n a l i z e d : Theywo uld go a h ea d a n yw a y , a ga i n s t th e ch a n ce t h a t th eCo m m u n is ts m ig h t some day live up t o t h ei r drea d .Furt h ermo re, t h ey s a w g r e a t p o te n t ia l i n dev el o p-ing these tools fo r th e i r o w n o f f e n s i v e use.

There was an " urgen t n eed," t he C I A and otherintelligence a gen cies a rgued, t o dev el o p " ef f ec t i v e

an d pra ct i ca l t ech n i q ues " t o " ren der an i n d i v i d ua lsu b se r vie n t to an imposed w i l l o r co n t ro l . "

T h e C I A m e n . who led the w a y, e n l is t in g th e s up-po rt of the A r m y , the Navy, the Air Fo rce, I heDe p ar t me nt s of A g r i c u l t u r e , H e al th , K duca t i o n an dWe l far e an d several o t h er a gen ci es , a ckn o w l ed geda mo n g t he ms e lve s t hat much o f w h a t t h ey we r e set-t ing out to do was " un et h i ca l ," b o rdered on the i l-legal and would be r e p u g n a n t to the A m e r i c a n p e o -p l e . S o t h ey m a de cer t a i n t h a t these a ct i v i t i es w eret i gh t ly held, k n o w n o n l y to th e di rect o r , A lle n W .

Dulles, and a h a n d f u l of o pera t i v es an d h ig h - r an k in gaides.

F r a g m e n t a r y a c c o u n t s of th e CIA's e f fo r ts tocontrol men ' s mi n ds have been published in thepa s t . H ut a f a r m o r e c o m p r e h e n s i v e p i c tu r e h a semerged f r o m a s t udy of m o re th an 2,000 pa ges off r e s h ly rel ea s ed a gen cy do cumen t s an d an in -

v es t i ga t i o n b y a t ea m o f N ew Y o r k T i m e sr e p or t e r s .

Th e b eh a v i o r co n t ro l , u n d e r t a k e n by men wh o

p r e s u m a b l y sa w t h ems el v es as s i n c e r e an dp at r io t ic , t ak e s on in retrospect th e a p p e a r a n c e of a

b i z a rre g r op e into th e world of s ci en ce f i c t i o n . Th eCI A i n v es t i ga t o rs le t t h ei r im ag in at io n s r u n : W ast he r e a way to di s s o l v e th e Berl i n W a l l ? W h a t a b o u t

a k n o c k o u t d r u g t h a t c o u l d i n ca pa ci t a t e a n en t i reb ui ld i n g f u l l of peo pl e? A p i l l t h a t wo uld m a k e a

d r u n k ma n s o b er ; a w a y t o ma n uf a ct ure f o o d t h a tlooked a n d t a s t ed n o rma l b ut , w h en ea t en , wo uldcrea t e" co n f us i o n -a n x i et y-f ea r . "

T h ey w o rked on w a ys to a ch i ev e th e " co n t ro l l edpro duct i o n " o f h ea da ch es a n d earaches; t w i t ch es ,j e r k s an d staggers. They wanted to reduce a man toa b ew i l dered, s e l f - d o ub t i n g mass t o " s ub v ert h i spri n ci p l es ," a C I A do cumen t s a id .

O n e o f th e i r l o n g e st r u n n in g goals was to develop

a way to in d u c e amnesia. They wanted to be able toi n t e r r o g a t e en emy es pi o n a ge a gen t s in s uch a wayt h a t n e i t h e r th e a g e n t s no r t h e i r s u p e r i o r s wouldkn o w t h ey h a d been co mpro mi s ed, a n d t h ey w a n t edto be able to wipe clean the m em o ries of their owna gen t s a f t er c er t a i n mi s si o n s a n d , es pecia l l y , w h enthey were g o in g into re t i remen t .

They were interested in sim ple des t ruc t i o n , to o .As with th e other business that m a d e a mn es i a so at-t r ac t i ve , they wanted to be able to get away wi t h

m u r d e r w ith o u t l e avin g a t ra ce .O n e a p pa ren t medi ca l o r s c i en t i f i c ex pert , w h o se

identi ty has been deleted f r o m t h e do cumen t s ,suggested t h a t th e a g e n cy m i g h t ki l l a man by put -t in g h i m i n a s ma l l , a i r - t i gh t ro o m w i t h a c h u n k ofdr y ice, g ivin g of f su f fo c at in g carbon dioxide gas.H e a lso p r o p o s e d r e d u c i n g a v i c t i m ' s bo d yt e m p e r a t u r e to below f reez i n g or exposing him to alelhal dosp of X - r a y s .

In a t t empt s t o dev el o p w a ys t o a dmi n i s t er l e t h a lan d m in d - al te r in g d r u g s s u r r e p t i t i o u s l y th r o u g hcl o t h i n g a s th ic k as a l ea t h er j a ck et , t h ey tried ou ts ma l l s pra y g un s a n d p e n c i l - l ik e injectors . They

co n cl uded in te r vie w s w i th scien t is ts and doctorsan d m e m b e r s ol o t h er i n t el l i gen ce a gen ci es ar o u n dt h e w o rl d . T h ey s t udi ed th e w r i t i n g of the psy-chologist who worked w i t h A d o l f H i t l er , w o n deredabout the use of the " o c c u l t " a n d o f "b lac k psy-

chiat ry."M ost of the ideas the CIA considered n ev er got off

th e dra w i n g b o a rd . F or a f e w yea rs in the ea r ly1950's, th o u g h , th e a gen cy had one or two "special

i n t erro ga t i o n " tea m s t h a t w en t o n o pera t i o n a l mi s -s i on s i n E uro pe a n d A s i a . A tea m was supposed toconsist of a psychiatrist , a hypnotist and an in-t erro ga t o r and was to elicit i n f o r m a t i o n t h r o u g h tht

us e o f drugs a n d h y p n o t ism .

In a ct ua l pra c t i ce, th e size of the t e a m s and thep r o c e d u r e t h ey fol lowed v a r i e d . In on e series of in-terrog ations in Euro pe, for examp le, they employedn e i t h e r h ypn o t i s m n o r a co mb i n a t i o n o f drugs a n dh y p n o t i s m — t h e v e r y essence "o f s peci a l in -t erro ga t i o n " at t he time-because th e psychiatristw a s i n a h urry t o res ume a n i n t errupt ed vac at i onan d n o h ypn o t i s t wa s a v a i l a b l e .

W o r k i n g in the b as e me nt o f a s ub urb a n h o me t h etea m q ues t i o n ed t h ree E uro pea n espionage a gen t swh o had been w o r k in g f o r t h e C I A " b eh i n d t h e I ro nC u r t a i n " an d whose loyalty ha d beco m e suspect.

O v e r 11 days, th e t h ree a gen t s were in d ivid u al l ygiven i n t r a v e n o u s i n j ec t i o n s o f an u n id e n t i f ie dd r u g —p o ssib l y s o di um pen t a t h a l — t h en engaged byth e i n t e r r o g a t o r a n d t h e p s y c h i a t r i s t in f an t as i e s .

T he t ea m deci ded t h a t al l t h ree a gen ts ha dres po n ded to q ues t i o n s t r u t h f u l l y an d should be con-t in u e d i n o pera t i o n a l us e . But t h ey repo rt ed t h a t o n eo f the agents who had resisted the effects of thedrugs a n d l a t er di s a ppo i n t ed h i s i n t e r r og at or s bym a k i n g r e f e r e n c e t o t he " s o l u t i o n " t h a t was in-j e c t e d , th u s g ivin g no in d ic at io n of "amnesia,"

seemed a "poor o p e r a t i o n a l t y p e . "They said they f e l t t h a t "i f ever taken into

cus t o dy b y t h e S o v i et s he would also tell them th et r u t h as he k n e w i t un der t h e s l i gh t es t duress" an dsh o u l d not be t rusted w ith i m p o r t a n t assignments' .