Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only €10,99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare
    CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare
    CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare
    Ebook90 pages1 hour

    CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare

    By C.I.A., Duane Ramsdell Clarridge and Tayacán

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A manual written by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the Nicaraguan Contras, who were involved in a civil war with the Nicaraguan government. It was revealed by the Associated Press on October 15, 1984. The ninety-page book of instructions focused mainly on how "Armed Propaganda Teams" could build political support in Nicaragua for the Contra cause through deceit, intimidation, and violence. The manual also discussed assassinations.The ICJ case Nicaragua v. United States found that the publication of this manual had "encouraged acts ... contrary to general principles of humanitarian law." However, the CIA claimed that the purpose of the manual was to "moderate" the extreme violence already being used by the Contras.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAndura Publishing
    Release dateMay 10, 2020
    ISBN9788835824794
    CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare

    Related to CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare

    Related ebooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      CIA Recruiting: The Rare Topic The Spy Agency Likes To Talk About

      Mar 26, 2018

      The CIA is notoriously publicity shy. But when it comes to recruiting, you can find the agency's outreach all over the place, from social media to college job fairs, with an emphasis on diversity.

      4 min read

    • Article

      50 Shades Of Gray Man

      Aug 13, 2019

      50 Shades Of Gray Man
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Spycraft Revolution

      Apr 25, 2019

      The Spycraft Revolution
      15 min read

    • Article

      Who Are the Shadow Brokers?

      May 23, 2017

      Who Are the Shadow Brokers?
      6 min read

    • Article

      Should Emergency Aid Be Neutral And Unconditional?

      Feb 13, 2022

      TOBY: When we talk about humanitarian aid, we mean support that focuses on the immediate needs of people and communities struck by conflict or disaster. It’s different to development aid, which concentrates on governments, infrastructure and broader

      6 min read

    • Article

      How To Fight A War q+a With Dr Mike Martin

      Jan 19, 2023

      War is a complicated and destructive force that has consumed and bedevilled humanity for many thousands of years. Many commanders across history have made terrible decisions on how to conduct warfare, leading to innumerable military and civilian deat

      9 min read

    • Article

      The Art of Strategy

      Feb 27, 2020

      The Art of Strategy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Mixed Messages Of 21st-century Recruitment

      Nov 1, 2018

      “MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES NEED TO BE CAPABLE OF DEALING WITH DEATH AND DISASTER ON A DAILY BASIS” Recent televised attempts by the UK Ministry of Defence to encourage young people to join up are creating a great deal of controversy. In response,

      4 min read

    • Article

      On Activism And The Self

      Aug 15, 2019

      On Activism And The Self
      3 min read

    • Article

      Engineered Unrest

      Aug 13, 2024

      Engineered Unrest
      9 min read

    • Article

      Is Pacifism Appropriate For Today’s World?

      Jun 26, 2019

      TIM: I am a pacifist, first and foremost, because I don’t think I could kill another person. Although it’s an old moral code, I think the guidance not to kill other people still stands. Many of today’s armed conflicts have their roots in histories of

      5 min read

    • Article

      Ask a Scientist: How to Disarm Disinformation

      Jun 8, 2022

      Given the pervasiveness of disinformation, I recently had the chance to talk with Dr. Marjanovic bilingual senior prganizer with the UCS Center for Science and Democracy, about her recent guide—Countering Disinformation in Your Community—and asked he

      5 min read

    • Article

      10 Routes To Peace

      Sep 1, 2018

      Evidence shows that conflict happens in places where people can’t trust the police or get access to justice, and their prospects for a decent life are stolen by corrupt elites. Governments everywhere need to start respecting and stop neglecting, abus

      3 min read

    • Article

      Conscious Bias

      Nov 8, 2020

      Conscious Bias
      2 min read

    • Article

      Safety in numbers

      Feb 8, 2022

      Safety in numbers
      5 min read

    • Article

      Double Standards In Comparisons Of Violence And Nonviolence

      Jul 25, 2023

      In the fifty years that have passed since the publication of Gene Sharp’s The Politics of Nonviolent Action, empirical evidence for the effectiveness of nonviolence has grown considerably. The most compelling example is Erica Chenoweth and Maria Step

      20 min read

    • Article

      Heads Up

      Dec 3, 2020

      Heads Up
      3 min read

    • Article

      Tribal Folly

      Oct 3, 2021

      Tribal Folly
      2 min read

    • Article

      Exhausted No More

      Jun 28, 2024

      Exhausted No More
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Psychology Of Conspiracy

      Nov 16, 2022

      The Psychology Of Conspiracy
      6 min read

    • Article

      Has Extinction Rebellion Got The Right Tactics?

      Dec 18, 2019

      CHAY: Our tactics are controversial. Our weapon of choice is disruption and it is not something we deploy lightly. People may be surprised to hear that I find protesting an extremely uncomfortable and anxiety-ridden experience. I hate inconveniencing

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare - C.I.A.

      CIA Manual for Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare

      PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS IN GUERRILLA WARFARE

      A tactical manual for the revolutionary. First published by the Central Intelligence

      Agency and distributed to the Contras in Central America.

      By the C.I.A., Duane Ramsdell Clarridge, Tayacán

      Index

      PREFACE

      Guerrilla warfare is essentially a political war. Therefore, its area of

      operations exceeds the territorial limits of conventional warfare, to penetrate

      the political entity itself: the political animal that Aristotle defined.

      In effect, the human being should be considered the priority objective

      in a political war. And conceived as the military target of guerrilla war, the

      human being has his most critical point in his mind. Once his mind has been

      reached, the political animal has been defeated, without necessarily

      receiving bullets.

      Guerrilla warfare is born and grows in the political environment; in

      the constant combat to dominate that area of political mentality that is

      inherent to all human beings and which collectively constitutes the

      environment in which guerrilla warfare moves, and which is where

      precisely its victory or failure is defined.

      This conception of guerrilla warfare as political war turns

      Psychological Operations into the decisive factor of the results. The target,

      then, is the minds of the population, all the population: our troops, the

      enemy troops and the civilian population.

      This book is a manual for the training of guerrillas in psychological

      operations, and its application to the concrete case of the Christian and

      democratic crusade being waged in Nicaragua by the Freedom Commandos.

      Welcome!

      INTRODUCTION

      1. Generalities

      The purpose of this book is to introduce the guerrilla student to the

      psychological operations techniques that will be of immediate and practical

      value to him in guerrilla warfare. This section is introductory and general;

      subsequent sections will cover each point set forth here in more detail.

      The nature of the environment of guerrilla warfare does not permit

      sophisticated psychological operations, and it becomes necessary for the

      chiefs of groups, chiefs of detachments and squadron leaders to have the

      ability to carry out, with minimal instructions from the higher levels,

      psychological action operations with the contacts that are thoroughly aware

      of the situation, i.e. the foundations.

      2. Combatant-Propagandist Guerrillas

      In order to obtain the maximum results from the psychological

      operations in guerrilla warfare, every combatant should be as highly

      motivated to carry out propaganda face to face as he is a combatant. This

      means that the individual political awareness of the guerrilla of the reason

      for his struggle will be as acute as his ability to fight.

      Such a political awareness and motivation is obtained through the

      dynamic of groups and self-criticism, as a standard method of instruction for

      the guerrilla training and operations. Group discussions raise the spirit and

      improve the unity of thought of the guerrilla training and operations. Group

      discussions raise the spirit and improve the unity of thought of the guerrilla

      squads and exercise social pressure on the weak members to carry out a

      better role in future training or in combative action. Self-criticism is in terms

      of one's contribution or defects in his contribution to the cause, to the

      movement, the struggle, etc.; and gives a positive individual commitment to

      the mission of the group.

      The desired result is a guerrilla who can persuasively justify his

      actions when he comes into contact with any member of the People of

      Nicaragua, and especially with himself and his fellow guerrillas in dealing

      with the vicissitudes of guerrilla warfare. This means that every guerrilla

      will be persuasive in his face-to-face communication - propagandist-

      combatant - is his contact with the people; he should be able to give 5 or 10

      logical reasons why, for example, a peasant should give him cloth, needle

      and thread to mend his clothes. When the guerrilla behaves in this manner,

      enemy propaganda will never succeed in making him an enemy in the eyes

      of the people. It also means that hunger, cold, fatigue and insecurity will

      have a meaning, psychologically, in the cause of the struggle due to his

      constant orientation.

      3. Armed Propaganda

      Armed propaganda includes every act carried out, and the good

      impression that this armed force causes will result in positive attitudes in the

      population toward that force; ad it does not include forced indoctrination.

      Armed propaganda improves the behavior of the population toward them,

      and it is not achieved by force.

      This means that a guerilla-armed unit in a rural town will not give the

      impression that arms are their strength over the peasants, but rather that they

      are the strength of the peasants against the Sandinista government of

      repression. This

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1