Britain's Military Strategy in Ireland: The Kitson Experiment

257 Pages·1983·21.484 MB·English

by  Roger Faligot

ilr,'
Britain's Military strategy in lreland was originally published Contents
in French by Editions Flammaion,26 Rue Racine,75278
Paris; and in English in a revised and updated edition in
1983 by:
In lreland:
Brandon Book Publishers Ltd.,
Dingle, Co. Kerry.
Introduction
In the United Kingdom:
Zed Press,
57 Caledonian Road, Iondon Nl 9DN. 1. The Theory of Counter-Insurgency: Frank Kitson's Theories 4
The French Contribution 5
Copyright o Roger Faligot, 1983 The U.S. and SPecial War in Asia 9
Translation Copyright @ Zed Press, 1983 The British Counter-Insurgency Experience 1l
l5
Faligot ' Low-IntensitY OPerations
Translated by Roger t7
Copyedited by Anna GourlaY l9
Kitson in Ireland
Proofread by Larry Jagan
CCoovveerr pdhesoigton bbyy DJaunn cBarno wSnmith 2. Special Units, Special Operations and the SAS 24
Typeset by K.M. PhototYPesetting 'Who Dares, Wins' 25
Printed by The Pitman Press, Bath, U.K. l97O: The First SAS Are Sent to Ireland 28
Military Reconnaissance Force and the 'Four Square'
All rights reserved Laundry 30
3l
Massage Parlours and Operation Lipstick
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Special Units 35
37
Faligot, Roger The Pseudo-Gangs
Britain's military strategy in Ireland. The Case of Seamus (ShaY) O'Brien 39
4t
1. Northem Ireland - Politics and government Very Special OPerations
I. Title II. Guerre speciale en Europe. Official SAS Deployment in Januaty 197 6 43
English The SAS in Britain 48
941.6082',4 DA990.U46 SAS Around the World 50
Zed: ISBN 0-8682ry7-X
ISBN 0A6?32-049.6Wk 3. Psychological Warfare and Black Propaganda 57
58
Brandon: ISBN 0-863224324 Black Propaganda
6t
ISBN 0-863220264 Pbk Anti-Irish ProPaganda
Psyops : Psychologlcal OPerations 64
Psyops against the IRA 67
The Case of Maria McGuire 70
The British Press and the Irish Conflict 74
Daily Black ProPaganda 77
Journalist Soldiers 78
The BBC and Commercial Channels 79
8l
Psyops Against the Hunger-Strike
ilr,'
Britain's Military strategy in lreland was originally published Contents
in French by Editions Flammaion,26 Rue Racine,75278
Paris; and in English in a revised and updated edition in
1983 by:
In lreland:
Brandon Book Publishers Ltd.,
Dingle, Co. Kerry.
Introduction
In the United Kingdom:
Zed Press,
57 Caledonian Road, Iondon Nl 9DN. 1. The Theory of Counter-Insurgency: Frank Kitson's Theories 4
The French Contribution 5
Copyright o Roger Faligot, 1983 The U.S. and SPecial War in Asia 9
Translation Copyright @ Zed Press, 1983 The British Counter-Insurgency Experience 1l
l5
Faligot ' Low-IntensitY OPerations
Translated by Roger t7
Copyedited by Anna GourlaY l9
Kitson in Ireland
Proofread by Larry Jagan
CCoovveerr pdhesoigton bbyy DJaunn cBarno wSnmith 2. Special Units, Special Operations and the SAS 24
Typeset by K.M. PhototYPesetting 'Who Dares, Wins' 25
Printed by The Pitman Press, Bath, U.K. l97O: The First SAS Are Sent to Ireland 28
Military Reconnaissance Force and the 'Four Square'
All rights reserved Laundry 30
3l
Massage Parlours and Operation Lipstick
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Special Units 35
37
Faligot, Roger The Pseudo-Gangs
Britain's military strategy in Ireland. The Case of Seamus (ShaY) O'Brien 39
4t
1. Northem Ireland - Politics and government Very Special OPerations
I. Title II. Guerre speciale en Europe. Official SAS Deployment in Januaty 197 6 43
English The SAS in Britain 48
941.6082',4 DA990.U46 SAS Around the World 50
Zed: ISBN 0-8682ry7-X
ISBN 0A6?32-049.6Wk 3. Psychological Warfare and Black Propaganda 57
58
Brandon: ISBN 0-863224324 Black Propaganda
6t
ISBN 0-863220264 Pbk Anti-Irish ProPaganda
Psyops : Psychologlcal OPerations 64
Psyops against the IRA 67
The Case of Maria McGuire 70
The British Press and the Irish Conflict 74
Daily Black ProPaganda 77
Journalist Soldiers 78
The BBC and Commercial Channels 79
8l
Psyops Against the Hunger-Strike
4. The l{ar of Intelligence Services 85 Appendixes
The British Secret Service in Ireland 89 l. Document on the Centre for the Study of Conflict 2t5
The 'Cairo Gang' and BloodY SundaY 93 2. Operation'PlaY ground' 216
Northern Ireland: The Search for Intelligence 96 3. Letter of support for the Peace Movement from the us 220
The Littlejohn Saga 99 4. Defence Intelligence Staff Report 221
l0l
The Wyman Network
The Littlejohn Disclosures 102 Index
244
The Death of Christopher Ewart-Biggs 108
Further Intelligence Losses 110 Belfast Ring Road Planned to Divide 'strategic Districts'
tl7
5. Control of PoPulation
The Strategic Districts 120
123
Computers
Auditory Surveillance . 129
Sociology in the Service of Counter-Insurgency r32
Visual Surveillance 137
The So-called'Soft' WeaPons 138
2,3,5-T Defoliants Against the IRA? 142
Riot Control 143
t44
The Counter-Guerrilla Arsen al
6. Special l*gislation and Political Prisoners 147
Exception al Legislation 148
Prisoners and Crimin alization 150
l5l
Kieran Nugent
lnternational Law and Criminalization 1s3
ts7
The No-Wash Phase
The Hunger-Strikes 161
Special Powers in Britain: The Prevention of Terrorism Act 163
Torture and Sensory DePrivation t72
7. Autopsy of the Women's Peace Movement 184
The Roots of the Peace Movement 186
A Network of Pacification Centres 188
l9l
The Peace Movement: Phase One
The Peace Movement: Phase Two 197
International SuPPort 200
Phase Three: The Decline 204
Success or Failure? 206
8. Postscript 210
4. The l{ar of Intelligence Services 85 Appendixes
The British Secret Service in Ireland 89 l. Document on the Centre for the Study of Conflict 2t5
The 'Cairo Gang' and BloodY SundaY 93 2. Operation'PlaY ground' 216
Northern Ireland: The Search for Intelligence 96 3. Letter of support for the Peace Movement from the us 220
The Littlejohn Saga 99 4. Defence Intelligence Staff Report 221
l0l
The Wyman Network
The Littlejohn Disclosures 102 Index
244
The Death of Christopher Ewart-Biggs 108
Further Intelligence Losses 110 Belfast Ring Road Planned to Divide 'strategic Districts'
tl7
5. Control of PoPulation
The Strategic Districts 120
123
Computers
Auditory Surveillance . 129
Sociology in the Service of Counter-Insurgency r32
Visual Surveillance 137
The So-called'Soft' WeaPons 138
2,3,5-T Defoliants Against the IRA? 142
Riot Control 143
t44
The Counter-Guerrilla Arsen al
6. Special l*gislation and Political Prisoners 147
Exception al Legislation 148
Prisoners and Crimin alization 150
l5l
Kieran Nugent
lnternational Law and Criminalization 1s3
ts7
The No-Wash Phase
The Hunger-Strikes 161
Special Powers in Britain: The Prevention of Terrorism Act 163
Torture and Sensory DePrivation t72
7. Autopsy of the Women's Peace Movement 184
The Roots of the Peace Movement 186
A Network of Pacification Centres 188
l9l
The Peace Movement: Phase One
The Peace Movement: Phase Two 197
International SuPPort 200
Phase Three: The Decline 204
Success or Failure? 206
8. Postscript 210
Introduction
Furthermore,Ireland is the only pretext the English
government has for retaining a big standing army, which,
if need be, as has happened before, can be used against
the English workers after having done its military training
in lreland. A man has declared war on Europe; a free Europe; a special war. A man
Lastly, England today is seeing o repetition of what distinguislted by his rich military experience; his political outlook on warfare:
happened on a monstrory scale in Ancient Rome. Any and by his militaristic conception of politics.
nation that oppresses another forges its own chains. With a vast experience of colonial wars in Africa and Asia he drew up plans
to crush, control, channel and abort social movements that the authorities
Karl Mam
considered dangerous potentials for violent social conflict. For the first time
28 March 1870
methods that had been used against the Malayan maquisards,the Kenyan
nationalists, the Algerian fighters, or the Vietcong were to be adopted on a
broad scale in Western Europe.
The popular, nationalist uprising in Ireland more than ten years ago was
unique, insofar as it emerged out of a long history of colonialism to land on
the door-step of Europe of which it was geographically, economically and
politically an integral part.
The man, Britistr General Frank Kitson, was offered Ireland as a testing-
ground for his theories, which, though initially considered by many as bizarre
were, nevertheless, progressively adopted and eventually accepted by the
British army and subsequently within NATO. Control of populations, psycho-
logical warfare; the use of special units and the overall expansion of intelli-
gence services; the development of a new technology providing for contain-
ment, if not destruction, of any expression of civil disobedience, of political,
trade-union, nationalist, feminist, or ecological opposition, including urban
guerrilla warfare, constitute the diverse elements of these theories. 'Special'
warfare is fought with computers and helicopters; intelligence and the quick
access to it are its trump cards. The target: the urban populations.
A war of computer and helicopter, but above all, a set of principles which
reflect the growing importance of the army in any counter-insurgency system,
as well as the integration of a politico-military apparatus which, prior to any
potential uprising, offers a systematic surveillance of men and ideas, the
infiltration and manipulation of political groupings, the trade-union move-
ment, the media, the social services, and ultimately the paralysis and the
neutralization of potential dissidents and opponents.
Ireland has fallen victim to a conspiracy of silence not only in an effort
to isolate the men and women who, for centuries (and especially since the
new phase of resistance that began over a decade ago) have risen to seek their
Introduction
Furthermore,Ireland is the only pretext the English
government has for retaining a big standing army, which,
if need be, as has happened before, can be used against
the English workers after having done its military training
in lreland. A man has declared war on Europe; a free Europe; a special war. A man
Lastly, England today is seeing o repetition of what distinguislted by his rich military experience; his political outlook on warfare:
happened on a monstrory scale in Ancient Rome. Any and by his militaristic conception of politics.
nation that oppresses another forges its own chains. With a vast experience of colonial wars in Africa and Asia he drew up plans
to crush, control, channel and abort social movements that the authorities
Karl Mam
considered dangerous potentials for violent social conflict. For the first time
28 March 1870
methods that had been used against the Malayan maquisards,the Kenyan
nationalists, the Algerian fighters, or the Vietcong were to be adopted on a
broad scale in Western Europe.
The popular, nationalist uprising in Ireland more than ten years ago was
unique, insofar as it emerged out of a long history of colonialism to land on
the door-step of Europe of which it was geographically, economically and
politically an integral part.
The man, Britistr General Frank Kitson, was offered Ireland as a testing-
ground for his theories, which, though initially considered by many as bizarre
were, nevertheless, progressively adopted and eventually accepted by the
British army and subsequently within NATO. Control of populations, psycho-
logical warfare; the use of special units and the overall expansion of intelli-
gence services; the development of a new technology providing for contain-
ment, if not destruction, of any expression of civil disobedience, of political,
trade-union, nationalist, feminist, or ecological opposition, including urban
guerrilla warfare, constitute the diverse elements of these theories. 'Special'
warfare is fought with computers and helicopters; intelligence and the quick
access to it are its trump cards. The target: the urban populations.
A war of computer and helicopter, but above all, a set of principles which
reflect the growing importance of the army in any counter-insurgency system,
as well as the integration of a politico-military apparatus which, prior to any
potential uprising, offers a systematic surveillance of men and ideas, the
infiltration and manipulation of political groupings, the trade-union move-
ment, the media, the social services, and ultimately the paralysis and the
neutralization of potential dissidents and opponents.
Ireland has fallen victim to a conspiracy of silence not only in an effort
to isolate the men and women who, for centuries (and especially since the
new phase of resistance that began over a decade ago) have risen to seek their
Inffoduction
Britain's Mititary Strategy in lreland
noamtiinoonuasl , agnrdo swoinciga ls etrmataengcicip ainttioenre. stT hveiss tseidle ninc eI,r einlasnteda; da, na iinmtse rteos tc orenvceeaalel dth eby cibhiaOirmr,,a no rgoaf nai zseeds sLioVn tonnr 'tRhoey arol llen sotfi tuartme efdo rf oDrceefesn icne pSetaucdeie'kse,e sptiantge df:or the
t;thh;e;erf nmyfae ach sto JstrhGsigat aitnp rraitetle scfdeaen.ma ctIeeun r ioencf ot ooNnf t AfitunhTelelO n ost appsleue cbrEiamautli raoowrnpian eera fsbath orteehu etir nrefe ivvNe'eros eyrt ehwaerasms a trIfrtueeerla. gnTudhe esrr teoillmraigs ii nnfsraoulmr- J.fu luri.c bs.t ati, fn a s swog Se up peeloarrsirhnieal l apiinns w tBwhaeerh l afmtaht soiirtrs te iweh weas pimdwpeeaanslyy i n ahi gnar ev iEhene u taNrooros pfariegtl h,h feoatr nrni nd a I Bprwearildiraxteintcordu n Elia suor rlaryo rpBeieinhram enGai rnrcsegaoahlr trafomr'
iid. Lon..rning Europe is underlined by the reverse. This sYstem is emerging
before the social or ptfiti.ul forces of nationally oppressed European nations Britain.
hJa.rvcef i(,pw.iOth itnhteo nfuoltla-fbleled geexdc euprtbioann ogfu ecroilrlsai cwaa arfnadre t hbeo rBna soquute ocfo puonpturyla) rbeen This book has been written to illustrate this statement.
support and threatening the status quo'
The counter-insurgeicy experiment extended to Italy, West Germany or
Spain enriches the Kiisoniun th.ory with new experience, but only Ireland
t., ,o far offered a field for total experiment, where all the special warfare
utilized.
techniques are fullY o
This situation siems from the tormented history of Ireland, where there
has never U.rn uny Aemocratic tradition since the Anglo'Saxon conqrrest; and
fiotn Europe's passive acceptance of Britain's imposition of specific legis-
lation to ensure a permanent stute of virtual siege against the nationalist
foprrutioo, and the use of every weapon to destroy their political andmili-
iary orgrnizations. Ireland has ihe unhappy privilege of serving as a military
guinea-pigs.
laboratory, with her people as F
Because they speak English, are white, and an integral part of^ Europe, the
Irish people provide a model internal enemy. Their history and culture
distinguish them from mainland Britain and Europe, and it is because of this
that they are allowed to die in sitence, they are Uotfr a distant, terrorist
enemy - strangers - and yet our own shadows. An unprecedented-oppor-
tunity is thus present for experimenting with the techniques of political-
military control of all PeoPles.
The long-standing firitiih obsession with the Irish'problem-', ItoT
Cromwell's New Ariry (which Kitson likes to recall was founded to 'suppress
the lrish') to present iay potitical police or the secret service, is today
reflected in a total commitment to the destruction of Irish resistance'
The British occupation of Ireland is not solely to facilitate political and
military research,-but for good economic, political and strategic interests' It
ir rot suggested ihat futur-e modern social or political conflict in Europe will
nrrrrr.rl! foflow the Irish pattern, but the globa-l purview of special warfare,
as well as its techniques, weapons and the tactical means employed, offer
valuable capital, feasibly to be of use elsewhere'
To enable this situation to be clearly appreciated, each of the. individual
components which go to make up the counter-insurgency gqm-e in itspresent
context, .r. *ulyr.? in this book. But the sinister reality of the special
war in Ireland is itrat these components are combined and deployed simul-
taneouslY.
In April 1973,during one of those numerous counter-insurgency and
terrorism seminars for which the British have an especial affection, th6
2
Inffoduction
Britain's Mititary Strategy in lreland
noamtiinoonuasl , agnrdo swoinciga ls etrmataengcicip ainttioenre. stT hveiss tseidle ninc eI,r einlasnteda; da, na iinmtse rteos tc orenvceeaalel dth eby cibhiaOirmr,,a no rgoaf nai zseeds sLioVn tonnr 'tRhoey arol llen sotfi tuartme efdo rf oDrceefesn icne pSetaucdeie'kse,e sptiantge df:or the
t;thh;e;erf nmyfae ach sto JstrhGsigat aitnp rraitetle scfdeaen.ma ctIeeun r ioencf ot ooNnf t AfitunhTelelO n ost appsleue cbrEiamautli raoowrnpian eera fsbath orteehu etir nrefe ivvNe'eros eyrt ehwaerasms a trIfrtueeerla. gnTudhe esrr teoillmraigs ii nnfsraoulmr- J.fu luri.c bs.t ati, fn a s swog Se up peeloarrsirhnieal l apiinns w tBwhaeerh l afmtaht soiirtrs te iweh weas pimdwpeeaanslyy i n ahi gnar ev iEhene u taNrooros pfariegtl h,h feoatr nrni nd a I Bprwearildiraxteintcordu n Elia suor rlaryo rpBeieinhram enGai rnrcsegaoahlr trafomr'
iid. Lon..rning Europe is underlined by the reverse. This sYstem is emerging
before the social or ptfiti.ul forces of nationally oppressed European nations Britain.
hJa.rvcef i(,pw.iOth itnhteo nfuoltla-fbleled geexdc euprtbioann ogfu ecroilrlsai cwaa arfnadre t hbeo rBna soquute ocfo puonpturyla) rbeen This book has been written to illustrate this statement.
support and threatening the status quo'
The counter-insurgeicy experiment extended to Italy, West Germany or
Spain enriches the Kiisoniun th.ory with new experience, but only Ireland
t., ,o far offered a field for total experiment, where all the special warfare
utilized.
techniques are fullY o
This situation siems from the tormented history of Ireland, where there
has never U.rn uny Aemocratic tradition since the Anglo'Saxon conqrrest; and
fiotn Europe's passive acceptance of Britain's imposition of specific legis-
lation to ensure a permanent stute of virtual siege against the nationalist
foprrutioo, and the use of every weapon to destroy their political andmili-
iary orgrnizations. Ireland has ihe unhappy privilege of serving as a military
guinea-pigs.
laboratory, with her people as F
Because they speak English, are white, and an integral part of^ Europe, the
Irish people provide a model internal enemy. Their history and culture
distinguish them from mainland Britain and Europe, and it is because of this
that they are allowed to die in sitence, they are Uotfr a distant, terrorist
enemy - strangers - and yet our own shadows. An unprecedented-oppor-
tunity is thus present for experimenting with the techniques of political-
military control of all PeoPles.
The long-standing firitiih obsession with the Irish'problem-', ItoT
Cromwell's New Ariry (which Kitson likes to recall was founded to 'suppress
the lrish') to present iay potitical police or the secret service, is today
reflected in a total commitment to the destruction of Irish resistance'
The British occupation of Ireland is not solely to facilitate political and
military research,-but for good economic, political and strategic interests' It
ir rot suggested ihat futur-e modern social or political conflict in Europe will
nrrrrr.rl! foflow the Irish pattern, but the globa-l purview of special warfare,
as well as its techniques, weapons and the tactical means employed, offer
valuable capital, feasibly to be of use elsewhere'
To enable this situation to be clearly appreciated, each of the. individual
components which go to make up the counter-insurgency gqm-e in itspresent
context, .r. *ulyr.? in this book. But the sinister reality of the special
war in Ireland is itrat these components are combined and deployed simul-
taneouslY.
In April 1973,during one of those numerous counter-insurgency and
terrorism seminars for which the British have an especial affection, th6
2