PROJECT ARTICHOKE, (DELETED) EVALUATION OF ISSO ROLE

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00144686
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: July 13, 2023
• Document Release Date: February 17, 2022
• Case Number: F-2021-00961
• Publication Date: January 25, 1952

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' 25 January 1952
1.-0�10.111::ZEUM FOR: Chief, Medical Staff
SUBJECT:.
PROJECT ARagnaEly*,24=1,
Evaluation of ISO -role -41.
telkiprzw,T14Vtv1.4.g
1. Organization of ARTIC.HO::E.
.....24,42.1%grgenization of the Project as gained fro= the files of
frAbr"?.?..owledge of Agency organization, and material gleaned from
.�-�
many conversations, is as follows:
� *4 velmoi..**emr7elerTP!!tM1
. ���
OSI under - has been nard coo--
dinator for the Project. - -aowiz-4-ouwon
with the liaison of the project.- OS1 1-....us.cecomss the focal point for
all information fro.= the Vc.'-ftrans:
.1 J -
CIA.4_,EpIr:Treasury_Detartnent�and. prate contmctors.---ifis-ca.so--
0011s-r6SonsiSility not cnly to receive =sterial but to reeeive new
�ideas, evaluate that, decide which warrants further sty end then to .
assign the research to the at-oronriate investigator. Ueon receipt of
intelligence infor=ation concerning the project it is the duty of
. -�
to disseminate the material to the interested parties.;.;s.,, further
ramification of the discovery of new ideas, 031-Should have the res-
ponsibility of agEressively pursuing possible sources of information
pertaining to this subiect.
' Once OSI"has redeived materiphat is v.alid);,hey in turn pass
the information on to the A.F.TICEO:iEteam of ISO or ir.tlementatio=.
The ISO team is, therefore, dependent upon 031 for tne ne-.4-aevelop-
menti-but also unon the overseas stations to-Sumply than with case
material to evaluate under field conditions the develop=_ents they
have. been given.
It becomes obvious that OSI control the entire project because
of its strategic Position in the project of receiving all informatien
and controlling its dissemination.
2. ilission of the PROJECT.
The mission of the project can be stated briefly in four paits:
(3) The evaluation and develcpment of any method by which
ve can get information fro:4-1 a person againzt his
and without his hnowledgc.
(2) Bow can we counter the above meaSures if th-y are u-e4
ageinet 'az?
(3) Can 1;c: cot control of an in)ividual to the rzint
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he will do our bidding azainst his will and even
against such funda=ental laws of nature such as
self-preservation?
(4) How could we counter such measures if they were
used. asainst us?
*10-4i6e4177;-"."
3. Organisation and Task of ARTICHCZ' Teem of
.*4-Eprz
it:SY-M. 'set ut the follow1r-7 as their etheoretical st-ur-ture
7" .
of per=anent teams to aptly the ARTIC. a =etooas. The tea= will
consist of three members; a trair.itterrogator who is s%illed in
all the technicues of advanced interrogation, a technician whose
task it would be to Lmir.tain all the technical equit=mnt necessary
for the operation of the teanl.such as recorders, tolygraphs, etc.,
and a thysician who would be trained in the.techaiques imvoivedr.eri
. � 4.4.04�,
to suttly medical surport. At present the tea= consists of
is.th- c^ieg of th= t-a= the direct-. Tb of
. . � - " ;'"� .z
an is the. irtc,--rot-ator for the tea=.
gr
His toch-47"--iisis=ii is �
The task of the 1%9.0 tea= would. he to .1:-..--fle=ent the ms-sures
"
developed. and handed down fro= �CSI.""Slica ittle=entation would
necessitate the =aintenance of an tt-to-the-rina,te knowl,.d.;.;= and
ability to use the various techniques as they were develoted.
The tea= would have to. be ready on a ==ents notice to travel to
any tart of the earth to aptly the techniques where they were
needed; The tea:.4..wold,7of?course,. have the respo=sibility of
reporting to CSI-t5e effiCacy"of th(e various methods used and the
suggestion of practical attlications as they tertained in the field.
�..xW404.s obvious t..hat there is an avid. interest on the part of
I&SO"in:this troject since it would make their task of security
of the Agency a much ampler one if efficient mthods were discov-
ered.
4. Evaluation of the Present Tea= 14e=be.r.s.
v.sat..41*.r.tx
the present tea= chief, is an investigator of: -
twenty years i!5erience with Civil Service. He has been thorouly
trained in the use and limitation of the polygraph, received four
days of instruction fro= a trofessional non-:4.D. hypnotist in Uey
York City, and has read extensively in the overt material on hyp-
nosis. He has had no scientific bachr-ound other than that that f-
dealt directly with his work in criminology. He has had extensive
contact with the co==unists in this country and knows their methods.
It is not known whether he has a college degree.
2.
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fr`
.
He is not an unusually intelligant man but has a vivid i=agila-
tion that would be most valuable in the pursUit of this project. He
has on several occasions created antaaonism in his co-workers because
of tactless managaaant. He tends to be cautious and conservative.
his long Government service has soundly Grounded him in the rarifica-
tion of intra-Agency politics. .re �
�
He has apparently become a rather able hypnotist, but is ha=pered
in, his efforts by his lack of confidence which it is felt stems from
his scientific void. He firmly believes that we can get information
from the ooposition and nrotect our own nersonnel from certain aspects
of interrogation through the use of hymnosis. There is ample evidence
that unethical actions can be acco=nlished through the use of hypnosis
in our controlled situations. His present accomplish=ents have been
elementary, however. He states that part of the reason that he has
not acco=plished more has been the fact that he has been restricted
in his activity by his directors.
L
It is felt by the writer that _ is a valuable adjunct to the
.417TICEp= team because of his long investigative experience, his knowl-
edge of staadard police methods, but that it is too =uch to expect him
to produce scientific results in regard to hypnosis and. related subjects.
It would be better to have a =en assigned full time to direct the scien-
tific pursuits of the team who vas well cualified in psychological fields
and related subjects.
is the technician of the tea= and. is a =an of unusual
nechariical ability and aptitude. He has no college education, is being
trained in the use of the nolyaaanh and has been through the same four
day course in hypnosis in new York, City. He is also avidly interested
ip the notential value of hyonosis, is deaidedly less cautious than
� 4.4a venas toward.unscrupulous use of thii technique.
11417...7gral.;444"�'
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Ee was a member of the team before �was given the control of
the tea=, and resents the .fact that he was not given the job., He vas
unduly critical of ..i.efforts and stated on several occasions to
the writer that "I auess I talk to much." He has a =arleed inferiority
because of his small -4ze, his lack of education, and. his low level posi-
tion in the team. It was a simnle matter for the writer to exnloit this
feeling and it is felt that he provides fertile soil for exploitation by
� the opposition. In view of these findings, it is the firm conviction of
the writer that his activity should be relegated to the technical only
and that he should be cut out of the sensitive advances in the AATICECKE.--
PROjECT.
5. Activities of the Present Tea=.
The -,resent team is carrying out val:lous technical tasks as re-
quested by security, but very little 517,ctual effort in their office is
coins into the pursuit of AIC210::;;-roa;eza-ch. They are spending to
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'even/nos a week for about two hours developing their hyivnotic tech-
niques. Their accomplishments in this field have thus far leen purely
elementary and offer no proof that hypnosis can be induced eainse a
person's will, or that extended control can be acvaired throush c.on-
ditioned hypnotic control. They are at the present time occ..toied
with making a motion picture to demonstrate what they have dome with
hypnosis as a weapon to help them vin support from their directors.
. During the day there was little discernible activitn.9.fiAn7.
kind directed toward, any _constructive program along ARTrOF='lines.
. e. � �
It was stated by that:.tney actually had no proseEa in regard
to their hypnotic�aperiments, but were for the tine being content
to develop and "perfect" their hypnotic techniques.
It anpeared to the writer that there was active endeavor. in. th
direction of bringing.00litical pressure to bear aseinst /
they could force CSI-tb�release all the material that was ortheo-"--
to them. This 15a:zed to be their major effort.
6. Present anticioated and real lines of attack of
=NE PROJECT.
AZ:ii!177.
Ar�
(1) Drugs.
the ANTI -
It remains the &ream of the interested ageneies that
a_drug is imminently forthcoming that can be given a persoa
orally without his lulowlee.Le that will result in his reveal-
ing anything the interested party would lihe to hno, and.
that the person would have comolete amnesia for .the -
There are extensive erojects going on now at ) �7!,
�
Cher'q^, arfare mn;221 n-1.4
many more, all dealing with the development of rus for
this purT:ose. To date there has resulted a re:earl:able
void in regard. to results that would comply with the above
criteria. Rost of the projects are being atproaehei�fron
a basic research point of view and are, therefore, long
term projects, in the terms of years.
(2) Polygraph.
The polygraph has proved to be the most reliable
method discovered to date and there are several projects
directea toward furthering the perfection of this instru-
went.
HyPnosio.
MR
There is no 1,hypnosis research being condu-teA
for LRTICKCZ.purposeS in the United States tolay, except
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: � .
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tatra-14'-',IttOr
what is br-ing -den:: by the !cambers cf the AAEL.2:LX:3
There is evidence that unethical actions -are definitely
within the real= of hypnosis and: it has been proven by
the present team that a hypnotized persen.Can bC.C21da to
lie to the.polynramh through direct hynnotic control or
through post-hypnetic suggestion and that the physiological
changes usually found on the moly=ramh when that sa::e merwP
son mrevericated cut of the hypnotic state would not ap-
pear.
The use of hymnosis with drugs, after electric shock,
during sleep) auaitory stimulus, visual stimulus, after
physical duress such as forced wakefUl state all r=ain to
be evaluated for this purpose.
It is believe& by the writer that in this realm re=ains
the greatest metential for this field.
(4) It is on that there is ex*essea interest in elect:a-
psycho-therapeutic technicuis, psycho-surgery, supersonic
radiations, and extra-sensory percemtion, but to the writer's
knowledge there is little more than the interest. There is
obviously a tre=endeus untamped field. of scientific knowledge
and research in these various endeavors.
7. Suggested reasons why the project has failea to produce posi-
tive results.
,Atf!Ciletteq:,-
Proi the writers viewmoint on tha_RigQ_team it is necessary to
view the entire mroject since the s,uccess of this team is demendent
upon what is mroduced in other areas. Admittedly, so=e of the conclu-
sions are based umen inference derived fro= relatively =inor verifiable
facts and the writer's position od the periphery of the focus of the
mroject li=it.d the obtaining of irrefutable facts to support his thesis.
The iteLls arc listed and discussed in what the writer considers to be
their order of immorta=ce.
(1) Lack of new develop=ents.
The develomment of new technioues and the disse=ination
of the infor=ation,cepcer=ingr,thesF,develomments is the
of cSI.'14e-MAst. asiune 'fro= the lad: of new ma-
terial that there has been a.,lec%,9f. e,daquate exploitation of
rateFial in the field on the 241: of CST.; It was stated by
OSI.that: there was no research or hnosis or relate& subjects
GoIng on in the United States. This certainly is not tr37e and:
very recently Ven=inger Clinic was conducting research in the
therapeutic value of hypnosis inrpsychiatry.
At a recent meeting attended by the writer, it was stated
by/the renrecentative of OSI"th'at hd thou-:ht At was a good
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idea t0. cake a research 'project o.f all the people who had..
been in the hands of tha llusaians in order to obtain inter-
rogation rzaterial directly pertaining to this project. This .
see=ed so elereental to the writer that he had. previously con-
cluded that such a step would be aute=atic at the ti=e that
the parsons were first Contacted... Allis 0.5;ajin points up the
cr -
apparent inade.:acy of OSI Satik-*w.a.te.12a.i.4 in the strategic
Places.
(2) Lack of liaison and cooperation.
There exists a glexing lack of cooperation ano. the
various intra-P.gency groups fostered by Petty jealousies
end personality differences that result in the retardation
of the enhancing and advancing of the Agency as a body. It
was evident _thati.-..there was very little new =aterial in the .
files of is kr.own that for over a per.2.4.9d of
two weeks there was nothing forthco=ing fro= OSI.' The fact
that there was little infornation'of value in trae files is �
due to two facts; first, on the adr.tission of one of the r...e=-
bers of the IMO teas, the files of the office were ste-4 zed
before the assiited :medical officer was perr-,4t;ted,.to have ac-
cess to the, a fact that point out that ..T..M0.:48.Ould. not even
cooperate with the Kedical Office whose SW:4;01-1;e thez,-..were
tereeting to win; secondly, the fact that,:03 -
ing -3aateria.1 to this Office of ei.sThere. ray be some rea-
son for that in that the same *.z.o;�-� of the tea= told. the .
writer that he knows. that on several occasions, ne.terial
watered before .-1-'�10.14,Ciaa'.1-.10-xl. the "ter4 al on to OS.I.:1:'2S;.i.h.li;d1:�74:..-
mutua.1 distrust and foolit.h coveting of raterial Car. only
serve to deter the project.
It 4.s,A.n..7.-.:esting to point out that as proof of the fact
that IMO Vais-wi,thholding im.ror.72.tion fro= the Eedical Office
that tirr was not one note in the files_abpu/t.- the research
on hypnosis or any advances r.-..?eie that carry-
ing on.
(3) Failure to get scientifically trained Personnel in
key positions in the project. �
r
As was car.didly stated. by =e=bers of both OS' and. I.bO, .
they were ha=pered. in their efforts to evaluate and. ir.e.:Ke the:
approzriate professional contacts because they lacked.; first,
the scientific hr.ow-how to approach these problez-.2, and. -tee-
ondly, the professional prestige to meet r.e=bers of the -medi-
cal and scientific professions on a co=on level. There is
a cr-ying r.eed. for a scientifically trained. r-an on the opera-
tional level of both offices. This is a -purely scientific
field. that eventually rezolvao itzelf into an =L.:0st completely
medical field, hznce, it is doubtful that any real progress con
be nada until professional vcir:ntific ner sonnel are
ben-, of the contro.ainj, levels of the operation. As it now
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(4) Lack of Medical Staff Support. ,...,cive*Iar
''''.001-531411Wjrs:V.1174P �
It was clearly stated by.OSI and MSO that they would
both be able to function much more-effeatIvely a=d with
more prestige if the Medical Office actively suppered this
project. The sudden upsurge cf cooperative attizuie when ,
the Medical Office indicated interest in the Ilrojecc
ample evidence of the fact that the Medical Offiee could �
play an active and effee4ye;part in adveneing the Project.
/t was stated by ItSO:that they felt that as soon as the.
Medical Office toot an activ4. tart in the Project, they
would beain to get cases fro= overseas posts. Contact dun.-
ino ..he pursuit of this report has revealed that the Medial
Office is held in the highest regard largely because of its
stability and soundness, and the general feeling that any de-
cision that eminatedfo= it is well-founded.
(5) Reluctance of the Oversaas Stations to Refer Cases
the Team.
to
It is noteworthy that the team has had access to few
cases, far less than would, be indicated by the --_-__-
of
operational men re:zarding the credibility of certain of their
agents. It is felt by the iter that the reason for this
is that the overseas people realiie that if the tea= worked
on their people there would autoratically open a direct route.
to check on the overseas operations fro= Weshinncon; in the
-same vein, the infor=ation obtained might re-tea. breeches .
of accepted technique and. policy that would not enhance the
operational staff's position. There are several facts that
can be presented to verify this. Folio:ring their recent
trIg.2.9 x-he team vas congratulated in a letter fro=
General bmnh�for'theiriexcellent results but were unable to
find, out just how efficacious the tea= had been. fro= the oper-
ational people.
The team members state that they uncovered rp-- opera-
tional blunders on the part of the field stations. We can
only theorize as to why the team was not given the opportu-
nity to interrogate Voseler, and the four fliers dcwned in
Hungary, but we do know that they were not given that chance.
(6) Too Rigid Control by Security.
To queries as to why the tea= =e.tbers were not attempt-
ing to Proaress in their thesis of hypnosis, their repl:Fwes
that the directors of the Security Office would not permit
the= to follow several suagestimena, such as the use of pris-
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oners for such research, and had. even limited the area of
their rezearch to a relatively narrow field. It is felt
by the writer that even with the li=ited khowlcdge of the
team members they could have advanced in their research
had. they been given a freer hand. This rigid control wasj,
apparently festered by two thingo;. first, a fear that through
operations for such research, criticism of the govern=ent in-
terest in such activities might, if discovered, result ih
irreparable political repercussions; secondly, there apparently
-exists a lack of confidence in the team nembers on the part of
the directors of the team.
8. Recommendations.
The following reco==endations are resmectfully submitted for your
consideration as steps to re=edy the stag=amt state of the project:
(1) Until such ti=e as there is aetive, accurate and wo-king
liaison between the concerned intra.4-tency offices, and extra-
Agency groups there will be negligible =ogress. It,i.s..sugr-,
gested that the ladical Office.uith the support of.MSO'reeom-
mend that a high level control of the project be set-up, to
consist of civilians with no service affiliation, who are
scientifically well-qualified., and. who would be full time,
to coordinate, evaluate and direct the LRTICHONE PROJECT.
.They would be isolated from all other flinctionS'in the Agency
and have only this administrative function. They would be.
under the control of the,Daputy Director of the Agency only.
(2) It is suggested that a two-=an tea= be set uo to consist
of ant:. D. trained in psychiatry and related subjects, and
a research pharmacologist. These teomle would be full time
and their task would be to systematically investigate all
universities of major i=oortance and such industrial labora-
tories as=1014 tT74N-Z1 and ;;:::rfor
ma-
terial relevant to the ARTICEO',CE PROJECT. These peoole_would
be thoroughly briefed on the aims of the =eject, and would be
charged with forwarding infor=atio= of value to the abeve stated
control through ore-arranged conmunication channels, as soon as
it was discovered.
(3) It is reco==ended that an M. D., a. psychiatrist preferably
who is well-qualified in related subjecto be assigned tot. take
over the leadership of the present ARTICRORM Tear:.
(4) It is recommended that the7tresent tea= with the addition
of tha physician be relieved of any duties other than those
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pertaining to the project and that. this team- would then
tour the various places where research was in Progress to
be kept completely up to date on the developments and the
use of these developments in the field.. This team would :Zen
serve to assist the investigators to repreduce the field con-
ditions under which the various methods must work, and thUs
serve as the practical consultants of the Agency for the
projects.
(5) It is recommended that/n_immediatirvey be made 'of
all the results that CSInar.-.-atc7tEadted:by"-commetent sci-
entists, in order thiv7.-Illis might be made available to the
present team for immediate use and possibly as the best thing
we have available to the field stions.
44
(6) It is suggested that ,-!:�30-_-eIerp every effort in an
attempt to eurmount the obstacles to pursuimg research of
hypnosis and allied. subjects in the United States.
(7) It is sincerely believed by the writer that the active
support of the Eedical Office of this project would enhanc..
the production of positive results, as eme.71211..fied,by.the,_
recent sudden chan?e of attitude of.OSI:Iti:61:liehe.hi-g!;'y
advisable to have a physician assigned to the team to' pre-
vent catastrophe that could well Occur without his consul.
9. Summarr and Opinion.
There is ample evidence in the reports of innumerable interrega-
tiona.that the Communists are utilizing drugs, physical-duress, electric
shock, and. possibly hypnosis agaidst their enemies. With such evidence
it-is difficult not to keep from becoming rabid.about our apparent laity.
We are forced by this mounting evidence to assume a more agressive role
in the development of these techniques, but must be cautious to maintain
strict and inviolable control because of the havoc that could be uwought
by these techniques in unscrupulous hands. It is the writer's opinion that
the general project deserves complete support, if not active participation.
----C.44S-4se7Ategglkl71
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