Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Jefferson City, Missouri Friday, September 09, 1960, Page 4

Blackmail, Brainwashing Play Role in Defection
BY DAVE LAWRENCE

WASHINGTON — Blackmail and brainwashing by Soviet agents undoubtedly brought about the treason of William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell The whole record in the case' is repulsive and may never see the light of day. But the depths to which the Soviet agents stoop nowadays in order to get scraps of information from American military sources are indescribably revolting.

The same tactics which caused Burgess and Maclean, the British diplomats, suddenly to defect to Moscow from London would appear to have been used again in the case of the two Americans employed in the hush-hush bureau known as the National Security Agency.

The story goes back to the time Mitchell and Martin lived together while they were in the Navy They were seclusive individuals who didn't seem to be interested in the opposite sex. When they went through the first check-up before being employed by the National Security Agency a few yearn ago, there was nothing derogatory found out about them. After they were employed, however, an investigation revealed that one of the two had been examined by a psychiatrist who said later that the young man seem to have inclinations toward sex deviation.
Just why this report didn't result in any action to watch closely the subsequent behavior of the two young men is a mystery. For they went to Mexico together fully a year before their recent defection and it was undoubtedly while they were in Mexico that they made their first contact with the Soviets.

The threats of blackmail, together with compromising pictures, usually come first. The victim is afraid of what will be disclosed about his personal life, and meets often with the Soviet blackmailers who carry on their brainwashing to the point where the defection becomes inevitable, as seemingly the only way out.

Early Blackmail
It could be that the Soviet experts began their blackmail in Mexico and decided to train the future defectors to get further information. The plot was carried out to the point that the Soviets even anticipated possible charges of brainwashing and arranged to have the two young men write out their statement before they left the United States for the Soviet Union. It was known to government authorities here that they had left such a statement in a safety deposit box at a bank in Maryland, and the text became available to the American government just after the two young men left for Russia, but it was not released for publication.

The phrasing of the document, now issued in Moscow, is so much like that which defectors often use, that it bears all the earmarks of careful preparation by Soviet experts. It says, for example: "In the Soviet Union our main values and Interests appear to be shared by a greater number of people. Consequently, we feel that we will be better accepted socially there, and will be better able to carry out our professional activities. Another motivating factor is that the talents of women arc encouraged and utilized to a much greater extent in the Soviet Union than in the United States. We feel that this enriches Soviet society and makes Soviet women more desirable as mates." There are references to "capitalist society," "preventive war" and to the "development of nuclear and more powerful means of destruction." And, as if to anticipate charges of brainwashing, the document itself says: "This statement has been made without consulting with the government of the Soviet Union.. We wish to make this explanation in such a way that it cannot be later construed as a propaganda statement inspired by the government of the nation in which we have asked to be allowed to make our homes."

There are many things about the Martin-Mitchell episode which have yet to be explained, and one of them gives a clear indication of the brainwashing. This is pointed up by a Reuters News Service dispatch from Moscow on Tuesday about the press conference which Martin and Mitchell held there. It says:

Deliberate Violation
"Martin and Mitchell referred to the disappearance of an American C-130 aircraft over Soviet Armenia in September. 1958, and said it had deliberately crossed the border to get into range of Soviet radar installations. The state department claimed it had been shot down, they said, while Russia said it has crashed. "The two men said they were told by a high official of the National Security Agency that the plane was on an intelligence flight and feeling that most members of Congress did not know about these flights, they decided to speak privately with a congressman. They explained the nature of the C-130 flight but the conversation was interrupted by a telephone call from the State Department requesting the congressman to refrain from further discussion of the subject, they said. They declined to give the name of the congressman. 'He can name himself if he wants to.'" Mitchell said.

American authorities who investigated every angle of the case are convinced that this is an example of brainwashing. For there is indisputable evidence of the crashing of the C-130. and there is no evidence whatsoever of any conversations between state department officials dealing with these problems and any congressman.

On it's face it is absurd to assume that any minor employees in a hush-hush agency would take it upon themselves normally to go to a congressman's office and tell him there were important intelligence flights which he should know about. The risk of being compromised and detected by such a visit is so great that it seems hardly possible anybody in their right mind would try it.