A Nation Betrayed: Secret Cold War Experiments Performed on Our Children and Other Innocent People (21 page)

7. The funding of sensitive MKULTRA projects by sterile grants in aid as noted in the preceding paragraph disclosed one of the principal controversial aspects of the program. The original charter of MKULTRA assumed that the sensitivity of activities would be sufficient to justify both a) special protection for the researcher; and b) compartmentation of MKULTRA knowledge within the Agency. On this basis the inherent safeguards of DD/S procedures were waived, the DD/S was not consulted in the design of the MKULTRA management system, and established Agency audit procedures were waived. In the subsequent administration of the program, however, TSD has found it feasible to contract with some of the research on MKULTRA objectives in accordance with prescribed DD/S procedures. The DD/S, in turn, has evolved various secure systems for the funding of sensitive activities. It appears feasible and appropriate, therefore, to propose that the DD/S be consulted during the re-chartering of MKULTRA in the design of an administrative system that does justice to his responsibilities as well as to the management and security requirements of TSD. The Inspector General accordingly has recommended at the end of this report that the DD/S be consulted in the re-design of the system; that the Chief, Support, TSD, be assigned responsibility for the day-to-day support of MKULTRA; and that the latter constitute a bridge to the DD/S for monitoring the future evolution of the system.

8. The next phase of the MKULTRA program involves physicians, toxicologists, and other specialists in mental, narcotics, and general hospitals and in prisons, who are provided the products and findings of the basic research projects and proceed with intensive testing on human subjects. These specialists are also recipients for testing purposes of the flow of new products from pharmaceutical laboratories. Materials and procedures with intelligence potential may be identified through this relationship. The testing programs are conducted under accepted scientific procedures including the use of control populations, the employment of placebos, and the detailed observation, measurement, recording, analysis, and publication of findings. Where health permits, test subjects are voluntary participants in the program.

9. A current development in the testing of new products is the tightening of controls over dosages and procedures by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Since MKULTRA files contained no documentation on this subject, it was not possible to appraise the significance of this development for MKULTRA objectives. However, interviews with the TSD officers concerned indicated that that the new rules are affecting procedures and causing controversy in research hospitals and pharmaceutical houses. The TSD officers have close relationships with key individuals in many of the leading U.S. pharmaceutical houses and count on their continued close cooperation in obtaining materials and services deemed vital to U.S. intelligence.

10. The final phase of testing of MKULTRA materials involves their application to unwitting subjects in normal life settings. It was noted earlier that the capabilities of MKULTRA substances to produce disabling or discrediting effects or to increase the effectiveness of interrogation of hostile subjects cannot be established solely through testing of volunteer populations. Reaction and attribution patterns are clearly affected when the testing is conducted in an atmosphere of confidence under skilled medical supervision.

11. TSD, therefore, entered into a formal arrangement with certain cleared and witting individuals in the Bureau of Narcotics in 1955 which provided for the released of MKULTRA materials for such testing as those individuals deemed desirable and feasible. The initial arrangement obtained the services of a senior representative of the Bureau and one of his assistants on the West Coast. A parallel arrangement was established on the East Coast in 1961. The Director of the Bureau has been briefed on the activity, but the Deputy Chief, TSD, who has guided MKULTRA from its inception, is of the opinion that the former would disclaim all knowledge and responsibility in the event of a compromise. The MKULTRA program director has, in fact, provided close supervision of the testing program from the beginning and makes periodic visits to the sites. A sum of $10,000 has been provided annually to each of the two projects to cover cost of cultivation of targets and maintenance of a safe house in each area for the observation of effects of substances on selected test individuals.

12. The particular advantage of these arrangements with the Bureau of Narcotics officials has been that test subjects could be sought and cultivated within the setting of narcotics control. Some subjects have been informers or members of suspect criminal elements from whom the Bureau has obtained results of operational value through the tests. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the substances on individuals at all social levels, high and low, native American and foreign, is of great significance and testing has been performed on a variety of individuals within these categories.

13. A significant limitation on the effectiveness of such testing is the infeasibility of performing scientific observation of results. The Bureau agents are not qualified scientific observers. Their subjects are seldom accessible beyond the first hours of the test. The testing may be useful in perfecting delivery techniques, and in identifying surface characteristics of onset, reaction, attribution, and side-effect. In a number of instances, however, the test subject has become ill for hours or days, including hospitalization in at least on case, and the agent could only follow-up by guarded inquiry after the test subject’s return to normal life. Possible sickness and attendant economic loss are inherent contingent effects of the testing.

14. The MKULTRA program officer stated that the objectives of covert testing concern the field of toxicology rather than medicine; further, that the program is not intended to harm test individuals, and that the medical consultation and assistance is obtained when appropriate through separate MKULTRA arrangements. The risk of compromise of the program through correct diagnosis of an illness by an unwitting medical specialist is regularly considered and is stated to be a governing factor in the decision to conduct a given test. The Bureau officials also maintain close working relations with local police authorities which could be utilized to protect the activity in critical situations.

15. There have been several discussions in the public press in recent months on the use of certain MKULTRA-type drugs to influence human behavior. Broadly speaking, these have argued that research knowledge of possible adverse effects of such substances on human beings is inadequate, that some applications have done serious harm, and that professional researchers in medicine and psychiatry are split on the ethics of performing such research. Increasing public attention to this subject must be expected.

16. The final step in the research and development sequence is the delivery of MKULTRA materials into the MKDELTA control system governing their employment in clandestine operations. The subject is discussed further in the next section; however, it is appropriate here to note that the employment of MKDELTA materials remains an art rather than a scientific procedure. A significant number of variable in the target individual, including age, sex, weight, general health, social status, and personality structure, may account for widely varying and unpredictable reactions to a given drug in a given dosage.

17. The final stage of covert testing of materials on unwitting subjects is clearly the most sensitive aspect of MKULTRA. No effective cover story appears to be available. TSD officials state that responsibility for covert testing is transferred to the Bureau of Narcotics. Yet they also predict that the Chief of the Bureau would disclaim any knowledge of the activity. Present practice is to maintain no records of the planning and approval of test programs. The principal responsibility for the propriety of such testing rests with the MKULTRA program director and the Deputy Chief of TSD. The handling of test subjects in the last analysis rests with the Narcotics agent working alone. Suppression of knowledge of critical results from the top TSD and CIA management is an inherent risk in these operations.

18. Final phase testing of MKULTRA substances or devices on unwitting subjects is recognized to be an activity of genuine importance in the development of some but not all MKULTRA products. Termination of such testing would have some, but an essentially indeterminate, effect on the development of operational capability in this field. Of more critical significance, however, is the risk of serious damage to the Agency in the event of compromise of the true nature of this activity. As now performed under Bureau of Narcotics auspices, non-Agency personnel are necessarily fully witting of the true nature and significance of their assignments, and of the sponsorship of CIA. Compromise of this information intentionally or unwittingly by these individuals at some time in the future is a hazard that cannot be ruled out. A test subject may on some occasions in the future correctly attribute the cause of his reaction and secure independent professional medical assistance in identifying the exact nature of the substance employed, and by whom. An extreme reaction to a test substance could lead to a Bureau request for cooperation from local authorities in suppressing information of the situation. This would in turn broaden the circle of individuals who possessed at least circumstantial evidence of the nature of the activity. Weighing possible benefits of such testing against the risk of compromise and of resulting damage to CIA has led the Inspector General to recommend termination of this phase of the MKULTRA program. Existing checks and balances on the working level management of such testing do not afford the senior command of CIA adequate protection against the high risks involved.

19. It does not follow that termination of cover testing of MKULTRA materials on unwitting U.S. citizens will bring the program to a halt. Some testing on foreign nationals has been occurring under the present arrangements. Various U.S. deep cover agents overseas would appear to be more favorably situated than the U.S. narcotic agents to perform realistic testing. Finally, the operational use of the substances clearly serves the testing function in view of the lack of predictability of human reactions.

Current estimate of the MKULTRA/MKDELTA capability

20. The present Deputy Chief of TSD, Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, in his then capacity of scientific advisor to the Deputy Director/Plans (DD/P), released a study (hereafter referred to as the Gottlieb report) on 21 April 1960, covering his six-month investigation of “Scientific and Technical Problems in Covert Action Operations”. Appendix B of the report was entitled, “The Applicability of Special Chemicals and biologicals to Clandestine Operations.” The inspectors found this Appendix to be a carefully prepared and very useful treatment of the subject. The remaining paragraphs draw on the Gottlieb report, take account of developments since that date, and discuss management and funding aspects of MKULTRA.

21. The author opened his discussion with the question of what the operational returns had been from an eight-year program involving an investment of approximately xxxxxxxxxx. He observed that the Clandestine Services had encouraged TSD on various occasions to develop and maintain the operational capability in special drugs and chemicals but that TSD had received little or no guidance in directing the work and that the Clandestine Services had up to that time shown little inclination to use the end products operationally. He indicated that there had been approximately 100 operations over the eight years employing harassment materials (not controlled under the MKDELTA regulation) and only nine operations employing disabling drugs, (NB: two-thirds of these involved the use of drugs in interrogations). No use of lethal substances was reported.

22. The factors accounting for the low rate of use of this capability were considered to be the following:

a. the technical shortcomings of the drugs

b. the problem of testing in realistic pilot operations

c. limitations on the dissemination of pertinent information to operations officers

d. organizational and administrative restrictions on operations

e. negative attitudes toward the use of MKDELTA materials

f. problems in the training of case officers in this field

g. the risk of stimulating increased use of MKDELTA materials by opposition intelligence services

23. Technical shortcomings of the drugs:

As of 1960 no effective knockout pill, truth serum, aphrodisiac, or recruitment pill was known to exist. MKDELTA was described as inherently a high-risk, low-yield field of operations. Three years later the situation remains substantially unchanged with the exception that real progress has been made in the use of drugs in support of interrogation. Ironically, however, the progress here has occurred in the development of a total psychological theory of interrogation, in which the use of drugs has been relegated to a support role. [Nine and one-half lines redacted]

24. The problem of testing in realistic pilot operations:

The subject has been discussed above, beginning with paragraph 10. It should also be noted that testing on operational targets overseas is considered by some operations officers to be quite impracticable. Unilateral operations are imperative which substantially complicates the delivery problem. The possibilities of unexpected or critical reactions in test subjects and of ensuring compromise of the activity make most senior command personnel unwilling to take the risks involved.

25. Limitations on the dissemination of pertinent information to case officers; organizational and administrative restrictions on operations:

The present-day situation concerning both these problem areas is improved over 1960. TSD now regularly briefs a variety of senior officers on its MKDELTA capability. Approval of the use of MKDELTA materials is now accomplished within the chain of command of the DD/P. The DD/P may consult, for example, with the Chief, Medical Staff, concerning medical risks involved in MKDELTA operations, but the latter surely would not expect to exercise final authority for the disapproval of operations.