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From: carnes@gargoyle.UUCP (Richard Carnes)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Redbaiting and bad guys
Message-ID: <296@gargoyle.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 9-Jan-86 19:50:34 EST
Article-I.D.: gargoyle.296
Posted: Thu Jan  9 19:50:34 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 11-Jan-86 03:57:24 EST
Reply-To: carnes@gargoyle.UUCP (Richard Carnes)
Organization: U. of Chicago, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 122
Summary: 

>(And there are no shades of
>red, either--you are or you aren't a believer in Marxism and the
>evils that follow its attempted enforcement.)

I carelessly overlooked the definition of "Marxism" that must have
been given given in a previous article.  Could you please repost or
send mail?  Thanks.

I used to think that world politics is complicated, but thanks to the
net I now realize I was just confused.  The net has shown me that
anyone who can tell the good guys from the bad guys on the Saturday
morning cartoons can understand world politics, and it is completely
unnecessary to spend a lot of time studying history, political
systems, current events, and so on.  For example, the Sandinistas are
Marxists, right?  And they led a revolution a few years ago, right?
Therefore the revolution was a bad thing for the Nicaraguan people,
and if it is too late to bring back Somoza, the least we can do is
support the Sandinistas' opponents, the Freedom Fighters, the moral
equivalents of the Founding Fathers.  (See below.)

The quote above points out that you're either a Marxist or you're not
-- there are no shades of red.  This profound insight has escaped
some of the Latin American clergy (and laity as well) who believe in
"liberation theology":  many of them believe that a Christian can
accept some elements of Marxist belief!  Stuff like "justice for the
poor and oppressed", the need for a political transformation of
society, and similar rubbish.  I wish that some of these people on
the net who truly understand the nature of Marxism could travel to
Latin America and explain to these religious people that Marxism is
inherently evil.  When they see that this is true, I expect they will
be grateful for being taught by an educated person from the United
States -- after all, we are talking about ignorant peasant peoples.

Now, how can the contras be helped?  The CIA had a great idea:  it
wrote and distributed a manual, *Psychological Operations in
Guerrilla Warfare*, which has been published by Vintage.  In the
interest of showing how the evils of Marxism can be combatted, I will
give here some of their excellent ideas: 
______________

If, for example, it should be necessary for one of the advanced posts
to have to fire on a citizen who was trying to leave the town or city
in which the guerrillas (i.e., contras) are carrying out armed
propaganda or political proselytism, the following is recommended:

--Explain that if that citizen had managed to escape, he would have
alerted the enemy that is near the town or city, and they would carry
out acts of reprisal such as rapes, pillage, destruction, captures,
etc., in this way terrorizing the inhabitants of the place for having
given attention and hospitalities to the guerrillas of the town.

--If a guerrilla fires at an individual, make the town see that he
was an enemy of the people, and that they shot him because the
guerrillas recognized as their first duty the protection of citizens.

--The commando tried to detain the informant without firing because
he, like all Christian guerrillas, espouses nonviolence.  Firing at
the Sandinista informant, although it is against his own will, was
necessary to prevent the repression of the Sandinista government
against innocent people [this is an important point -- RC].

--Make the population see that it was the repressive system of the
regime that was the cause of this situation, what really killed the
informer, and that the weapon fired was one recovered in combat
against the Sandinista regime.  

--Make the population see that if the Sandinista regime had ended the
repression, the corruption backed by foreign powers, etc., the
freedom commandos would not have had to brandish arms against brother
Nicaraguans, which goes against our Christian sentiments [contrast the
deep religious convictions of the contras with atheistic Marxism].
If the informant hadn't tried to escape he would be enjoying life
together with the rest of the population, because he would not have
tried to inform the enemy....

5.  Selective Use of Violence for Propagandistic Effects

It is possible to neutralize carefully selected and planned targets,
such as court judges, *mesta* judges, police and State Security
officials, CDS chiefs, etc....

[A section of the manual instructs the contras on the assignment of]
specific tasks ... in order to creat a "martyr" for the cause ...
[This would be done by] taking the demonstrators to a confrontation
with the authorities, in order to bring about uprisings or shootings,
which will cause the death of one or more persons, who would become
the martyrs, a situation that should be made use of immediately
against the regime, in order to create greater conflicts.... 

If possible, professional criminals will be hired to carry out
specific selective "jobs".... 

Using the tactics of a force of 200-300 agitators, a demonstration
can be created in which 10,000-20,000 persons take part.... These
[shock troops] should be equipped with weapons (knives, razors,
chains, clubs, bludgeons) and should march slightly behind the
innocent and gullible participants.  They should carry their weapons
hidden.  They will enter into action only as "reinforcements", if the
guerrilla agitators are attacked by the police.  They will enter the
scene quickly, violently and by surprise, in order to distract the
authorities, in this way making possible the withdrawal or rapid
escape of the inside commando....

Shame, ridicule and humiliate the "personal symbols" of the
government of repression in the presence of the people and foster
popular participation through guerrillas within the multitude,
shouting slogans and jeers....

Establish a public tribunal that depends on the guerrillas and cover
the town or city in order to gather the population for this event....
The target or person should be chosen on the basis of:  The
spontaneous hostility that the majority of the population feels
toward the target.  Use rejection or potential hatred by the majority
of the population affected toward the target, stirring up the
population and making them see all the negative and hostile actions
of the individual against the people.
_________________

If such tactics were adopted, the battle against the forces of Evil
might soon be won.
-- 
Richard Carnes, ihnp4!gargoyle!carnes