Author : John Kirkpatrick
Release : 2020-05
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Kind : eBook
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Book Synopsis Psychological Operations in Guerilla Warfare by : John Kirkpatrick

Download or read book Psychological Operations in Guerilla Warfare written by John Kirkpatrick. This book was released on 2020-05. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During Nicaragua's civil war in the 1980s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) commissioned a manual for the rebel contras of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN), entitled Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare (Operaciones sicológicas en guerra de guerillas). Its public revelation in October 1984 created a firestorm of controversy.The manual was written by a CIA contract employee who used the alias John Kirkpatrick. He based his work off of existing US Army manuals, particularly the Green Berets' Lesson Plan 643, Armed Psyop (April 1968). Field Manual 30-104, Handbook on Aggressor Insurgent War (September 1967), was another source. These manuals were in turn informed by the Army's study of the doctrine and methods employed by the Viet Cong's Armed Propaganda Teams to build political support.Kirkpatrick worked during the fall of 1983 with the FDN director in charge of communications, Edgar Chamorro, and Chamorro's secretary translated the manuscript into Spanish. The ninety-page manual was printed under the pseudonym Tayacán in late 1983. Two passages were cut out of the printed manual, and replaced by expurgated pages before distribution: one talked about getting demonstrators killed to create martyrs for the cause, the other about hiring professional criminals for special jobs.The full, unexpurgated manual was retranslated into English by Joanne Omang for the Congressional Research Service.