Project Mkultra Essay Example

Acid Diethylamide), which had a profound impact on numerous individuals.

The CIA was intrigued by a powerful acid or a similar drug that could potentially be used to discreetly confuse and control foreign leaders. They specifically had their sights set on Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuba, whom they wanted to incapacitate with drugs during a public or live radio speech. Additionally, the CIA saw potential in using this drug to loosen tongues during interrogations. The author of The Very Best Men, Evan Thomas, describes Sidney Gottlieb, the scientist who spearheaded the MKULTRA project, as a Stranglovian figure.

Born with a club foot and a stutter, he compensated by becoming an expert folk dancer and obtaining a Ph. D from Cal Tech. A pleasant man who lived on a farm with his wife, Gottlieb drunk only goats milk and grew Christmas trees which he sold at a roadside stand. When Dr. Gottlieb wasn't busy on the farm, he was dosing subjects with LSD-laced drinks, scrutinizing their reactions, and searching for qualities of the drug that would benefit the agency's covert actions.

Like many of the other experiments conducted by the CIA, the LSD ones were conducted on many unwitting subjects, most often they were prisoners or patrons of brothels set up and run by the Agency. They had installed two-way mirrors in the establishments to allow for observation of the drugs effects.

Operation Midnight Climax was the name given to these studies, in which participants were subjected to extremely cruel treatment. In Kentucky, seven volunteers were given LSD non-stop for 77 days, leading to a tragic outcome. On November 19, 1953, Frank Olson, an Army scientist specializing in germs,

unknowingly consumed a large quantity of LSD mixed into his drink.

Over the course of eight days, he went through a period of paranoia and depression that was noticed by others. Sadly, Olson tragically jumped from his hotel room window in New York, resulting in fatal falls from multiple stories. The Agency's decision to hide their role in Olson's death only added to the tragedy. It took twenty-two years for the Olson family to discover the series of events that led to Frank's untimely death. When news spread about the CIA's use of acid in the mid-1970s, it sparked substantial backlash and criticism against the Agency.

One Senate committee concluded that the CIA's clandestine administration of LSD to unsuspecting individuals was considered a failure because the agency neglected individual rights and failed to provide proper guidance for its employees. The lives of subjects were put at risk and disregarded, despite being aware of the associated dangers. Moreover, this testing continued illegally in violation of US laws. Additionally, MKULTRA encompassed a range of other unorthodox investigations centered on manipulating the mind, alongside the well-known LSD experiments.

CIA researchers conducted extensive investigations into various paranormal phenomena, including hypnosis, telepathy, precognition, photo kinesis, and remote viewing. These studies had a purpose beyond satisfying the CIA's scientific curiosity; their aim was to find weapons that would give the United States an advantage in mind warfare. To achieve this objective, the CIA invested millions of dollars in studying numerous methods of influencing and controlling the mind. A 1955 MKULTRA document provides evidence of the scale and scope of these efforts. The document discusses the exploration of mind-altering substances that could: promote irrational thinking

and impulsive behavior to discredit individuals publicly, enhance cognitive ability and perception, counteract the effects of alcohol intoxication, amplify the effects of alcohol intoxication, and simulate reversible symptoms of recognized diseases for deceptive purposes.

• Make the indication of hypnosis easier or enhance its usefulness
• Enhance individuals' ability to withstand privation, torture, and coercion during interrogation and brainwashing
• Induce amnesia for events before and during its use
• Create prolonged shock and confusion, with surreptitious application
• Produce physical effects like leg paralysis and acute anemia
• Generate pure euphoria without subsequent mood decline
• Modify personality structure to increase dependency on others
• Cause mental confusion that hampers fabrication under questioning
• Decrease ambition and overall efficiency when discreetly administered
• Promote temporary weakness or distortion of eyesight or hearing

Although only a few objectives were achieved, these experiments led critics of the CIA to argue that regardless of success, the agency's scientists should refrain from tampering with perception.