The US Army Field Manual 30-31B, dubbed the Westmoreland Field Manual, purportedly outlined a strategy called the "

strategy of tension A strategy of tension () is a political policy where violent struggle is encouraged rather than suppressed. The purpose is to create a general feeling of insecurity in the population and make people seek security in a strong government. The str ...

," wherein violent attacks are orchestrated and blamed on left-wing groups to justify government action. However, most scholars believe it to be a

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

-era hoax conducted by Soviet intelligence services. The document first surfaced in the 1970s in

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and later circulated in various countries. During a 1980 hearing,

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

officials denied its authenticity, declaring it a forgery. Scholars and the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

also state that it is a Soviet forgery. Its usage in implicating the CIA in certain events further fueled debate, but arguments to its authenticity were strengthened by evidence uncovered during

Operation Gladio Operation Gladio was the codename for clandestine " stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU; founded in 1948), and subsequently by NATO (formed in 1949) and by the CIA (established in 1947), in ...

in the 1990s.

History

The first mention of the document was in the Turkish newspaper ''Barış'' (sometimes anglicized to ''Barish''), in 1975. It was labelled as supplement B (hence "30-31B"), although the publicly released version of FM30-31 only has one appendix, Supplement A. A facsimile copy of FM30-31B then appeared a year later in Bangkok, Thailand, and in various capitals of north African states. In 1978, it appeared in various European magazines, including the Spanish ''Triunfo'' and ''El Pais''. The Italian press picked up the ''Triunfo'' publication, and a copy was published in the October 1978 issue of ''L'Europeo''. A wide range of field manuals, including 30–31, can be accessed through websites that catalog U.S. field manuals. However, 30-31B is not among the field manuals published by the military. The "Westmoreland Field Manual" (so named because it bears the alleged signature of General

William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (26 March 1914 – 18 July 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably the commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army f ...

) was mentioned in at least two parliamentary commissions reports of European countries, one about the Italian Propaganda Due masonic lodge, and one about the Belgian stay-behind network. The latter says that "the commission has not any certainty about the authenticity of the document".

Authenticity

At a 1980 hearing of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Subcommittee of Oversight, CIA officials testified that the document was a singularly effective forgery by the KGB and an example of Soviet covert action. Scholars Peer Henrik Hansen and Thomas Rid, both specializing in Cold War intelligence, and the U.S. State Department claim the document is a forgery by Soviet intelligence services.U.S. House. Hearings Before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. ''Soviet Active Measures''. 97th Congress, 2nd session. July 13, 14, 1982.U.S. House. Hearings Before the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. ''Soviet Covert Action (The Forgery Offense)''. 96th Congress, 2nd session. February 6, 19, 1980. The document first appeared in

in the 1970s, before being circulated to other countries. It was also used at the end of the 1970s during Operation GLADIO, to implicate the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

in the

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( , often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group. It was responsible for numerous violent incidents during Italy's Years of Lead, including the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978, ...

' kidnapping and assassination of former

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Aldo Moro Aldo Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing. He served as prime minister of Italy in five terms from December 1963 ...

. The discovery in the early-1990s of

(NATO

stay-behind A stay-behind operation is one where a country places secret operatives or organizations in its own territory, for use in case of a later enemy occupation. The stay-behind operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, and act as ...

networks) in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

led to renewed debate as to whether or not the manual was fraudulent. In Allan Francovich's three-part BBC documentary on the subject, Licio Gelli, the Italian leader of the anti-Communist P2

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

lodge, stated "The CIA gave it to me." In the documentary, Ray S. Cline said "I suspect that it is an authentic document", but former CIA head William Colby said "I have never heard of it.".

References

External links

Belgian parliamentary report concerning the stay-behind network
partial copy of FM 30-31B on pp. 80–82.
Joint resolution of the European Parliament on the Gladio affair
p. 16

in German
Internet Archive copy
in English {{DEFAULTSORT:Us Army Field Manual 30-31b Forgery controversies 1975 documents 1975 hoaxes 1975 controversies in the United States 1975 in military history Espionage Cold War documents Years of Lead (Italy) Operation Gladio Soviet Union–United States relations Soviet Union intelligence operations KGB operations United States Army Field Manuals

History

Authenticity

See also

References

External links