TheUS Army Field Manual 30-31B, dubbed theWestmoreland Field Manual,[1] purportedly outlined a strategy called the "strategy of tension," wherein violent attacks are orchestrated and blamed on left-wing groups to justify government action. However, most scholars believe it to be aCold War-era hoax conducted by Soviet intelligence services.[2][3][4][5][6]
The document first surfaced in the 1970s inTurkey and later circulated in various countries. During a 1980 hearing,CIA officials denied its authenticity, declaring it a forgery. Scholars and theUS State Department 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 duringOperation Gladio in the 1990s.
The first mention of the document was in the Turkish newspaperBarış (sometimes anglicized toBarish), in 1975.[7][8] It was labelled as supplement B (hence "30-31B"), although the publicly released version of FM30-31 only has one appendix, Supplement A.[9][10][11][7][6]
A facsimile copy of FM30-31B then appeared a year later in Bangkok, Thailand,[7] and in various capitals of north African states.[8] In 1978, it appeared in various European magazines, including the SpanishTriunfo andEl Pais.[7][8] The Italian press picked up theTriunfo publication, and a copy was published in the October 1978 issue ofL'Europeo.[7]
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.[12]
The "Westmoreland Field Manual" (so named because it bears the alleged signature of GeneralWilliam Westmoreland)[1] was mentioned in at least two parliamentary commissions reports of European countries, one about the ItalianPropaganda Due masonic lodge,[13] and one about theBelgian stay-behind network. The latter says that "the commission has not any certainty about the authenticity of the document".[14]
At a 1980 hearing of the House of RepresentativesPermanent 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.[15]
Scholars Peer Henrik Hansen andThomas Rid, both specializing in Cold War intelligence,[16][17] and theU.S. State Department claim the document is a forgery by Soviet intelligence services.[10][11][7][6] The document first appeared inTurkey in the 1970s, before being circulated to other countries. It was also used at the end of the 1970s during Operation GLADIO, to implicate theCentral Intelligence Agency in theRed Brigades'kidnapping and assassination of formerItalianprime ministerAldo Moro.[18][19]
The discovery in the early 1990s ofOperation Gladio (NATOstay-behind networks) inEurope led to renewed debate as to whether or not the manual was fraudulent. InAllan Francovich's BBC documentary about Gladio,Licio Gelli, the leader of the Italian anti-CommunistP2freemasonlodge, stated "The CIA gave it to me." In the documentary, former CIA Deputy directorRay S. Cline said "I suspect that it is an authentic document", but former CIA DirectorWilliam Colby said "I have never heard of it.".[20][21]
A thirty year-old Soviet forgery has been cited as one of the central pieces of 'evidence' for the false notion that West European 'stay-behind' networks engaged in terrorism, allegedly at U.S. instigation. This is not true, and those researching the 'stay behind' networks need to be more discriminating in evaluating the trustworthiness of their source material.
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