Control of the Motherland
A 40-year-old memo lays out vision for keeping the continent in check by Cedric X Welch
On May 15, 1959, a little-known document was drafted by Army General Richard Stillwell, while he was on a Special Presidential committee. Stillwell was affiliated with both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA. He also served as an adviser to President Johnson. What is in the drafted document is the outline of a plan to increase control over the governments and populations of so-called Third World countries all over the world and to do so through the use of military assistance programs, U.S. businesses, universities and foundations.
The use of these institutions, according to the plan, is to shape the thinking of young students, political and military leaders. This plan left nothing to chance and is so meticulous in its details that one only can wonder what research went into its compilation. What follows are excerpts of this plan, some portions of which contain confidential information. The reader is asked to put the current condition of African countries at the forefront of their minds when reading the below material.
Leadership Programs
"This, clearly, is the challenge. All reports emanating from abroad conclude that a major, if not the principal, impediment to progress in the Afro-Asian countries is the severe shortage of individuals capable of filling responsible positions responsibly."The plan then goes on to call for U.S. military, "attention to the private entrepreneurial sector and to the decision-makers in other than the public economic sector; and greater participation by the U.S. professional associations, major foundations, and private institutions." It goes on to say:
"The longer range problem dictates substantial entry into the field of undergraduate and graduate education in the U.S. to groom the future leadership, and in addition, the concept of the 'junior year abroad' for students studying in their home countries. It also involves, on a major scale, the collaboration of American Universities, industry, and the professional associations in conducting special 'workshops,' on-the-job training and specialized projects, for national or multi-national groups, in all pertinent fields."
Higher Level Military Education
"The U.S. might well encourage and support, in every country with substantial military forces, the organization of a institute on the concept of our own National War College, on the conversion of existing colleges to the all-service, military-civilian approach."Special Problems of Africa
"It is appropriate, at this juncture, to point up the leadership implications of the African continent, and more especially those portions still in colonial status or newly emerged there from. The sovereign state of Ghana, for example, mans only a third of the essential posts in her embryonic civil service; for another—and critical—third, she is quite dependent on alien employees without assurance of tenure; and the remainder are unfilled. In the non-British colonies, the situation is worse. The problem is staggering. On the other hand, Africa is the one area of the world where we have the leisure for forward planning, where we can lay the groundwork for the sort of comprehensive attack outlined by the Presidential Task Group, where we can begin to identify and groom the future national leaders."Development of Values
"We recognize that the test of leadership is less its competence in the organization of men than its fashioning and exemplification of the principles which inspire and drive the organization. The special pertinency of these matters to the Afro-Asian area is evident. There the political and social revolution has uprooted most of the symbols, beliefs and concepts to which men previously clung. The gap must and will be filled. The U.S. has a vital interest in the nature of the new symbols and concepts for they are critical to the attainment of our foreign policy objectives ... our aim is to build the current and future leadership that it may coalesce and build the nation."Role of the Advisor
"The starting point, as this paper has repeatedly underscored, is knowledge: knowledge of the attitudes, aspirations and pulse of a selective cross-section of the populace, and of their national institutions; knowledge of the background, views and factors which motivate the leadership elite: knowledge of the extent to which community of interest among government, armed forces and people is lacking, and why: and knowledge of the temper of the opposition and the nature of the weaknesses it exploits. There must, of course, be knowledge of the basic characteristics of the local traditions, culture and religion; of the well springs of national pride and superstitions; and of prevailing social customs and practices. Extensive personal contacts with all strata of society can alone provide such knowledge ... Through understanding of the local scene and the identification of the major vulnerabilities inherent therein are essential bases for the reorientation and improvement of the binational leadership. The others, and all-important, are the careful choice of the instrument—the relationship between the U.S. representative and the native leaders with whom he is associated—and the equally careful determination of the media to be utilized."
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