The following abridged article was written by Barbara Hartwell, a woman who claims to have been a former intelligence officer(where have we heard that before?) persecuted for telling all. Unlike
, who could not set foot in the States for years after he went public, Ms. Hartwell seems to have no problem moving unhindered inside the US border. I apologize to Ms. Hartwell in advance if her story is true, but, considering the territory, we must consider that she is still "on the mole" and her articles about Co-intelpro are the products of very sophisticated disinformation about Co-intelpro tactics--that is 90% is solid and 10% is rubbish.
I have taken the liberty of heavily editing it and adding my comments, while leaving what may be good information intact. That's right, I'm cherry picking it to hell. Call it "disinformation vandalism". This way the ideas will get out for other researchers to follow up. Read the original
.
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Part One: COINTELPRO
This report addresses several issues related to COINTELPRO-style operations.
COINTELPRO (counter intelligence program) was initiated in 1956 under FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. A similar program, Operation Chaos, was run by CIA during the Cold War Era.
Today, these programs continue, though under different names and operations, with various federal agencies involved in their web of deception, skullduggery, black propaganda and carefully-crafted disinformation. Their overarching agenda: Mainly to neutralize and/or discredit legitimate government whistleblowers .
CONNECTING THE NODES IN THE CRIMINAL WEB
But for those persistent and dedicated investigators and independent intelligence analysts, there are ways to beat the system; to unravel the web of corruption. Starting at the top is not an effective method. We start where we have easy access to verifiable information and where collecting evidence is only a matter of time, effort and investigative legwork. And we begin by focusing not on the higher levels of government operatives giving the orders, but on those tasked with carrying out the orders. Just as in the drug cartels, though it is already known who actually runs them, criminal investigators often start with the low-level street dealers, gathering evidence, and work their way up to the drug lords from there. It is often just a matter of connecting the nodes in the web and developing the evidence as the investigation progresses.
Now, it is important to understand the concept of "plausible deniability". Quite simply, this means that the conspirators and liars running the COINTELPRO-style operations set up a little insurance policy to protect themselves; a contingency plan in case their criminal operations are exposed. They can then DENY any involvement or wrongdoing which might implicate them in the conspiracy. How do they do this? One way is to use lowly minions to do their dirty work: those who have no official status within the government, from whom they can easily distance themselves if their plans go awry. The minions fallinto several categories by which they can be identified.
But most importantly, they are all considered expendable. They are expendable, because in the final analysis, in the Big Picture, they are deemed inconsequential nobodies by the powers-that-be.
COINTELPRO MINIONS: EXPENDABLE HIRELINGS
1) Criminals. Those convicted of a crime (or known to be involved in criminal activities) who wish to make a deal for a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card by becoming snitches; and/or by targeting the former intelligence/law enforcement personnel or others who have become government whistleblowers.
2) Activists/Amateurs/ Wannabes. Members of political activist groups, or individual activists, many of whom are merely dupes, hoodwinked by the covert government operatives (who pose as patriots, especially organizers or "leaders") and are drawn into their web with (false) promises. The operatives often choose those who are ambitious amateurs; "wannabes" (those with no training, expertise or background in intelligence work, law enforcement or other disciplines) and appeal to their egos to give them a false sense of "importance" --when in reality they are merely stooges being used for a government-sponsored agenda.
3) Drug Abusers and Psychopaths. Some individuals from this third category may also fall into the first two. Psychopaths are particularly useful, as they can easily be dismissed by the government operatives as whackjobs, nutcases, kooks, lone nutters, etc. should they become a liability. These types are often easier to control --if they get out of line, they can simply be thrown into a mental ward with few questions asked. Now, this is not to say that the government operatives don't try to impugn the sanity of legitimate whistleblowers, in order to neutralize them --they most certainly do. But the difference is, some of those used as minions in the COINTELPRO are REAL nutcases and the operatives controlling them are well aware of that fact.
Most are also pathological liars who may be delusional; narcissistic and entertain paranoid fantasies, which are purposely fueled by the government operatives. Often the designated targets (whistleblowers) are falsely accused of various plots or crimes against the delusional/paranoid minions. The COINTELPPRO operatives feed them such false information in order to engender a personal vendetta against the targets. A vendetta which is based on falsehoods; twisting factual information to demonize the target; and often outright lies.
There also may be an element of hero worship --worship of the covert (and not so covert) government operatives by their dupes and minions. When one of the bad guy operatives is exposed by legitimate whistleblowers, the minions rally to his defense, attacking the targeted whistleblowers for what they claim are their "unjust" accusations or "lies."
Nothing could be further from the truth. The minions have been manipulated into promoting the very lies their controllers have fabricated, and continuing the cover-up of criminal activity, be it drugs-for-weapons deals; child sex abuse; money laundering; blackmail; espionage or any other forms of criminal conspiracy/racketeering.
The primary key to using these minions to target whistleblowers is manipulation, often through behavior modification tactics. Appeal to their emotions, by which they are ruled. Flatter their egos. Make them feel "important." Make them feel like real "players." Make them believe they are "doing the right thing"; going after the "bad guys" (legitimate whistleblowers); fool them into believing they are serving "Truth"and "Justice."
Meanwhile, it's all based on lies. Usually outrageous lies, demonizing the targets (legitimate whistleblowers) with the purpose of discrediting their testimony about REAL government crimes and corruption.
Facts; logical reasoning; critical analysis: these have no place in the COINTELPRO. It is based upon a web of falshood, spun by liars, inside a hall of smoke and mirrors.
COINTELPRO also exploits the "alternative media" to do their dirty work. Since the advent of the Internet as the major "news" venue, the level of professionalism in journalism has plummeted. These days, just about anyone can put up a blog and promote their opinions, write editorials and distribute them to be available to thousands, even millions of readers. The very same operatives who recruit the dupes and minions also rely on alternative media websites and radio programs to spread their disinformation far and wide.
PART TWO: TARGETED FOR NEUTRALIZATION
From the American Heritage Dictionary, excerpts of a 'non-scientific' definition of neutralization:
To counterbalance the effect of; make ineffective. A state of ineffectiveness, inaction or inoperativeness. To negate and nullify imply finality rather than a stalemate; they also imply loss incurred through the rendering of something [the targeted individual] useless or valueless.
PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS: ISOLATION, ALIENATION, DEPRIVATION
In such a campaign, the individual is targeted for Psychological Operations (PsyOps). Neutralizing an individual can be summed up rather well in three words: Isolation. Alienation. Deprivation. Just reflecting on the nature of each of these words helps in gleaning an understanding of the methodology of neutralization. I will elaborate with some specific examples.
The perpetrators will do all in their power to ensure that the target is alienated from family and friends who might otherwise have offered assistance and support. They may send provocateurs (outside agitators) to stir up trouble between the target and those people close to him/her, family, friends, associates, professional colleagues.
Classic Machiavellian divide-and-conquer tactics are used: forged letters and documents; false accusations and allegations; trumped-up criminal charges and false arrests; setups; and the like. The perpetrators are experts at engineering and manipulating circumstances which will work to the detriment of the target and thereby destabilize every aspect of his/her life.
To impugn the sanity of the target is another common tactic, with the intent that friends and family will not believe the horror stories of persecution and will instead believe the target to be mentally unbalanced or "paranoid". It is true that 'clinical' paranoia is a form of psychopathology; on the other hand, as those of us so targeted know all too well, the persecution is not 'imagined' (as a function of abberant psychology, such as delusions) but very real; it is life-destroying and often life-threatening in one way or another.
The perps will also run libel and slander campaigns. They will scandalize the target's good name, using character assassination and defamation to destroy the personal and professional reputation of the target so that s/he will be compromised; discredited; unable to find work; blacklisted from employment in areas of professional training and expertise; or be fired from any job s/he holds. Thus s/he is unable to earn a living and will be shunned and ostracized, treated as a pariah by peers and colleagues.
The perps also do their damnedest to drive the target into poverty, bankruptcy and financial destitution. Thus the target is deprived of many of the basic necessities of life; cannot pay the bills; may lose his/her home; may lose vehicles so s/he is left without basic transportation; and/or is forced into an exhausting struggle just for minimal day-by-day survival.
They may arrange automobile or other 'accidents' intended to seriously injure or kill the target. Should the target survive the attempts on his life, the individual is still likely to be isolated, alienated from family and friends, unable to find emotional support or material assistance. They also want the target disabled and/or suffering from chronic illness, which they may create with continuous or repeated exposure to electromagnetic radiation; attacks with directed-energy (so-called "non-lethal") weapons and/or by poisoning the target's environment with chemical/biological warfare. They may also administer drugs or poisons surreptitiously through the target's food and drink.
The perps may invade the target's home ('black bag jobs') committing acts of theft (often of documents); tampering with the target's property and/or installing surveillance bugs/phone taps.
They often engage in vandalism, destroying the target's property. Slashing or placing screws in the tires of the individual's vehicle is common, as is draining the oil, puncturing the radiator or cutting the brake lines.
Sabotage of computers is another tactic which can be done at the computer's location in the target's home or office; remotely through land lines; through electronic directed-energy devices or even by dedicated satellite.
TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED FOR SPYING, SABOTAGE AND TORTURE
[References to "exotic weaponry" and DEW excised--sorry, they do not need "space beams" to harass people when they can use the phone]
I should also mention that sleep deprivation is a standard (and very brutal) method of torture used against prisoners of war (and in this case prisoners of conscience) by tyrants and oppressors in the military and intelligence services world wide. Torture by sleep deprivation is nothing new, it's been used against targets for centuries. And it continues to this day in the United States of America.
POLITICAL PERSECUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
[Text wanders here--point seems to be "they are very bad people and out to get you". We got that, thank you]
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: A TWISTED PERSPECTIVE
[Text wanders--they're everywhere and are masters at manipulating the system. Again, we got that]
LACK OF UNDERSTANDING: IGNORANCE CAUSES SKEPTICISM
As I know from the comments I've heard over many years from my readers, the listening audiences from radio shows and attendees of my public lectures (and even at times from family and friends) there are those who will think such things don't really happen in the U.S. of A.....That the government would not be harassing and persecuting its own citizens! Perhaps, they say, this is just "paranoia" or "fear mongering". Most people simply will not believe it unless it happens to them --until they become the targets.
When I have spoken about the various attempts on my life, I have also heard people claim, in efforts to discredit my case, that "If the CIA wants a target dead, the target would be dead." Yes Sirree Bob, no two ways about it !... But these people don't know what they're talking about; it's not as simple, not as cut-and-dried as they may think. Maybe these folks have been reading too many spy thrillers or believe the simplistic concepts about CIA presented in Hollywood movies.
THE REAL WORLD OF INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS
In the real world of intelligence operations it doesn't work that way and situations are often not what they appear to be on the surface. In any case, those offering these erroneous speculations and uninformed opinions have no context from which to understand the complexities of these Psychological Operations nor the larger picture from which they emerge. But I find it unfortunate that their ignorance, which is often exacerbated by arrogance, aids and abets the perps by calling into further question the veracity of the targeted individual's testimony.
For one thing, "neutralizing" a target does not always mean the goal is to "eliminate" her by the final solution of death. Secondly, it's not just agents of CIA who are involved. Certain camps may have much to lose if a particular target is taken out. There may be retaliation against those who ordered the 'hit'.
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
Nonetheless, just the trauma of being subjected to such death threats is enough to cause severe and lasting damages.
And what about the consequences to your general health and well-being of such a torturous lifestyle? It used to be called "shell shock" or "combat fatigue". Now it's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and I have suffered from it for many years.
Finally, it's important to understand that the perpetrators know that there are things --such as long-term brutal, stressful, traumatic persecution-- that can actually be worse than death. And they are hell-bent on causing as many of a wide range of damages as possible --physical, material and emotional-- for anyone who is a serious high-profile target. There is also the consideration that if the target is assassinated, s/he could become a martyr and thus establish posthumous credibility for the allegations of persecution by the government. In some cases, that's the last thing they want, another martyr, especially if the individual is a high-profile target.
A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY? LIFE AS A HIGH PROFILE TARGET
I have often been asked: What is a high-profile target? And who becomes one? Succinctly put, a high-profile target is a person who is deemed a threat in one way or another to National Security.
There are several "requirements" to qualify as a high-profile target. The target must have been actually involved in a government operation about which s/he possess accurate information and direct knowledge; and/or have been a witness to covert activities on the part of government officials/agents/employees and/or their corporate cronies which are illegal and/or involve abuses of human rights, etc.
Not all high-profile targets are whistleblowers, former operatives of intelligence, like myself, or of law enforcement agencies, like ex-FBI agent Geral Sosbee. Sometimes investigative journalists or other investigators --who have not actually been involved or witnessed situations directly, who were never "insiders" but who have simply uncovered damaging or incriminating information-- become targets as well.
One example of a person who was targeted is a private investigator whom I asked to work on my case beginning in 1994, just after I broke out of the operations. After we collected evidence of phone taps and bugs, planted in my home (at that time, Milford, Connecticut) and office (located in Pine Bush, NY) by military intelligence, he was subjected to some of the most severe harassment and intimidation tactics I've ever seen.
The perps sent a SWAT team to break down Peter's door while his wife was home alone, claiming that the police received a 911 phone call that someone was about to "commit suicide." No such phone call was ever made, it was simply an intimidation tactic to warn him: Stay away from Barbara Hartwell.
These tactics are more dramatic than usual, but the perps certainly made their point. And as numerous witnesses could attest (most refuse to stand up as my witnesses, since they've been intimidated or turned against me) the people involved with me in any way are more likely than not to be subjected to the more extreme end of the spectrum, involving harassment with military hardware or tactics.
Often the high-profile target has already gone public or is perceived as someone likely to go public. If the individual has access to evidence of the crimes and corruption it raises the stakes, because generally speaking, they don't care so much about what you may know as about what you may be able to prove and what they believe you are going to do about it. In other words, how much damage can the target actually do to the perpetrators' agenda?
DEEMED A LIABILITY
For the most part, people will consider the targeted individual a liability, someone to walk far away from, as quickly as possible. The character played by Gene Hackman in the film Enemy of the State summed it up this way: You're a liability to your friends, your family, to everyone you know. The protagonist in that film, an ex-NSA agent, knew what it was like to be a target and was warning another man who also became a target after he stumbled unwittingly into a nest of NSA vipers intent on covering up a politcal assassination.
Though, like most Hollywood productions, that particular film was sensationalistic in depicting the most extreme forms of persecution against the targets, the basic premise was solid. The "enemy of the state" (target) always finds himself in a double-bind, from which there appears to be no way out.
Whatever the nature of the situation or the decision you need to make...damned if you do, damned if you don't. But this is only what the perps want the target to believe; to actually believe it and thus give up hope can be the death knell.
Unfortunately for the targeted individual, most associated persons' primary concern seems to be protecting themselves. And that's exactly the idea the perpetrators have in mind. Severing attatchments and associations important to the target by design so the target has nowhere to turn for help or solace, that is what they bank on.
It is easy to isolate a target for one or all of the following reasons: Most people are easily intimidated by the government goons and once they get a small taste, even of low-level harassment, they are afraid of becoming real targets themselves. They cannot fathom how dire the target's plight actually is. They are too self-centered to care about the target's dilemma --not enough anyway, to make any real difference. Not enough to stand by the targeted individual, no matter what. This usually translates into showing a lack of loyalty to the target or abandoning the target altogether.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING OF TARGETS AND THEIR ASSOCIATES
It is also important to understand that the people running these ops have done extensive background checks and created psychological profiles on each individual who is targeted for neutralization, as well as on those associated with, closest to, or most important to the target. They keep databases, filled with dossiers on various individuals.
By analyzing the psyche of a target and of his/her associates, they attempt to predict the behavior of individuals, making it easier to foment suspicion and distrust, to orchestrate situations likely to break up families, marriages and other important personal and professional relationships. By evaluating what they perceive to be the "weaknesses" in each target's character/personality, they exploit them in any way possible. In the worst case scenario, if at all possible, they will arrange to pit the target against those closest to him/her, thus making enemies of friends, spouses or family members.
They will even make 'pre-emptive strikes' in order to keep certain individuals also deemed a "threat to National Security" (other targets) from ever meeting and/or having any involvement with the targeted individual, or to severely limit that involvement, as well as contact, if they have reason to believe that the two of them together could present a strong united front and be a more formidable "threat" to the perpetrators' agenda than just one of them alone.
Keeping such targets separated --as far away from each other as possible, including geographically-- is key to their strategy of total control. But this strategy can only work if one or both of the targets fall prey to the machinations of the perpetrators. Sadly, at least one usually does and the plot achieves its desired end.
The plots and setups spawned by the perps are at times so cleverly executed that I have seen --over and over-- one person after another who has deserted, betrayed or scapegoated me, in some cases totally unaware that they had been manipulated into doing so by third parties with their own agenda. I've also seen the same pattern operating in the cases of other targeted individuals that I have investigated or simply been a witness to.
Facing the horror of a neutralization campaign defies description, even for those fortunate enough to have real and reliable support from family, friends or a spouse (and there are some who do.) But having to face it completely alone has been nearly unbearable.
EXPUNGING LOYALTY, DESTROYING LOVE
The isolation and alienation are very effective tactics. They work.
Although it's true that I have been able to get occasional assistance, support and backup over the years, here and there, from time to time, from various individuals, it has always fallen into one or more of the following categories: temporary; inconsistent; short-lived; conditional; qualified by various circumstantial factors.
This is not to imply that I don't still have a few good friends, a few family members who care for me and have concern about my well-being. I do, and am very grateful for whatever degree of support they are able and willing to provide.
But in truth, there is no substitute for having even one 'true blue' person you know you can rely on, through thick and thin. Someone who shows absolute loyalty. This is precisely the type of support the perps have always done their damnedest to make sure I could never get. Not so far anyway, and this dreadful situation has been going on for a long, long time. I am very sorry to have to admit that their plot to keep me isolated --and to foment alienation in my relationships, especially with those who may have otherwise stepped forward to help me or stood by me rather than desert me-- has met with resounding success.
But their success can't be proved by me. I wasn't the deserter when people were counting on me. And I am well aware that I cannot blame the perps entirely for the lack of loyalty and reliability others have shown me, even those for whom I myself have shown loyalty, reliability and trustworthiness. It always hurts when such loyalty is not reciprocated, especially from those closest to you, from whom you might have at least such a reasonable expectation. Absolute loyalty: it must be a two-way street with no double standard. Black-and-white, cut-and-dried. Such loyalty is either there or it's not.
[Text wandering about God's love]
You may be wondering: What does any of this stuff about "love" have to do with neutralizing a target?
[Text continues to wander]
WITNESS PROTECTION?
I find it ironic that under "normal" circumstances, a person like myself might expect to get some relief if she were placed in WITSEC (Witness Protection Program). But in this case, it's the government operatives who are the criminals, persecuting a law-abiding citizen.
WHERE ARE THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES WHEN YOU NEED THEM ?
On some of the more mundane occasions of harassment, I've had to call the police, for such relatively minor crimes as trespassing; breaking-and-entering; theft; vandalism; phone harassment and stalking. The perps (at least those among them who are professionals) cover their tracks well; thus they are difficult for the police to apprehend.
[ various claims about the futility of police reports -- which I know from personal experience is bollox]
CLOSING COMMENTS
[Text becomes advertisement for Constitutionalists or Right leaning Libertarians--take your pick]
Barbara Hartwell
January 31, 2006
Join the Revolutionary Coalition
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheRevolutionaryCoalition/
Defending our God-given (natural) unalienable, Constitutionally protected and guaranteed rights.
Boris, Justin, Jon, Brian, and Billy could get nice tans down in Guantanamo.
Boris, if I remember correctly the Chinese guillotine remark is a reference to a twoofer claim that the said guilotines were being imported for use in FEMA death camps. Needless to say, the claim turned out to be a load of old nonsense.
Well, of course, this is a joke on Pat's part. But here is another perspective - speaking as someone who continues to have close encounters with these truthdouches, it is very clear to me that many of them would love to imprison/kill/both anyone who disagrees with them. Not just the 1000's who participated in the putative inside job, but anyone who sheds light on the infantilism and bad logic of their bullshit claims.
