- Project MK-ULTRA was started as a way to learn about using chemical and biological materials.
- Mind science originated in Nazi Germany as
Hitler’s answer to take over the world. The Americanized version of this
program was known as psychological warfare.
- The United States wanted to learn about biological and chemical warfare so that they could:
-be able to extract information during interrogation
-keep up with the other countries
-teach their agents how to protect themselves from being controlled by other countries and people
- Some people were afraid that Russia and China had learned about mind control and psychological, biological, and chemical warfare already.
- Prisoners of war in Korea from the U.S. had mentioned that China and North Korea had been testing mind control techniques.
- Following World War II, the CIA got former Nazi scientists for Project Paperclip, the predecessor of Project MK-ULTRA, to help them with their techniques before the Soviet Union could get the Nazis to help them first.
- During the Cold War, the U.S. felt an even greater need to know about psychological warfare techniques.