Brainwashing: Difference between revisions

==China and the Korean War==

{{See also|Thought reform in China}}

 

The earliest known English-language usage of the word "brainwashing" in an article by a journalist [[Edward Hunter (U.S. journalist)|Edward Hunter]], in ''Miami News'', published in 1950.<ref name="Crean">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |edition= |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK |pages=82}}</ref> Hunter was an [[Anti-communism|anticommunist]] and was alleged to be a [[CIA]] agent working undercover.<ref name=MarksJohn1979>{{cite book|last=Marks|first=John|author-link=John D. Marks|title=The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and mind control|url=https://archive.org/details/searchformanchur00john|access-date=2008-12-30|year=1979|publisher=Times Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0812907735|chapter=Chapter&nbsp;8. Brainwashing|chapter-url=http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/marks8.htm|quote=In September&nbsp;1950, the ''[[The Miami News|Miami News]]'' published an article by Edward Hunter titled '"Brain-Washing" Tactics Force Chinese into Ranks of Communist Party'. It was the first printed use in any language of the term "brainwashing", Hunter, a CIA propaganda operator who worked undercover as a journalist, turned out a steady stream of books and articles on the subject. }}</ref> Hunter and others used the Chinese term to explain why, during the [[Korean War]] (1950–1953), some American [[prisoners of war]] (POWs) cooperated with their Chinese captors, and even in a few cases [[List of American and British defectors in the Korean War|defected to their side]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Browning|title=Was kidnapped Utah teen brainwashed?|work=[[Palm Beach Post]]|location=Palm Beach|issn=1528-5758|date=2003-03-14|quote=During the Korean War, captured American soldiers were subjected to prolonged interrogations and harangues by their captors, who often worked in relays and used the "good-cop, bad-cop" approach – alternating a brutal interrogator with a gentle one. It was all part of "Xi Nao" (''washing the brain''). The Chinese and Koreans were making valiant attempts to convert the captives to the communist way of thought.}}</ref> British radio operator [[Robert W. Ford]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Ford, R.C.|author-link=Robert W. Ford|title=Captured in Tibet|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford [Oxfordshire]|year=1990|isbn=978-0195815702}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-link=Robert W. Ford|author=Ford, R.C.|title=Wind between the Worlds: Captured in Tibet|publisher=SLG Books|year=1997|isbn=978-0961706692|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/windbetweenworld00ford }}</ref> and British army Colonel [[James Carne]] also claimed that the Chinese subjected them to brainwashing techniques during their imprisonment.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/02/23/83712037.pdf|title=Red germ charges cite 2 U.S. Marines|date=23 February 1954|access-date=16 February 2012}}</ref>

In his 2000 book, ''Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism'', Robert Lifton applied his original ideas about thought reform to [[Aum Shinrikyo]] and the [[War on Terrorism]], concluding that, in this context, thought reform was possible without violence or physical coercion. He also pointed out that in their efforts against terrorism, Western governments were also using some alleged mind control techniques.<ref>''Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism'', Owl Books, 2000. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

 

 

uses formerly classified documentation and interviews from the CIA.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070815035224/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol51no1/the-intelligence-officers-bookshelf.html The Intelligence Officer's Bookshelf]</ref>