STATEMENT FOR THE HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

INVESTIGATING PRISONER DEATHS AND ABUSE

 

 

 By

 

Edward E. Winchester, C.M.

 

May 6, 2004

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRANSFORMATION: THE ULTIMATE WAR MANEUVER

 

By Edward E. Winchester, C.M.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

                                                                        Chinese philosopher Sun Tsu,   The Art of War

 

 

Transformation goals for the U.S. Military were unveiled at a Pentagon briefing, February 1, 2002.  While speaking at the National Defense University on January 30, 2002, Secretary Rumsfeld said:

Our challenge in this new century is a difficult one.  It's really to prepare to defend our nation against the unknown, the uncertain and what we have to understand will be the unexpected. . . . This is precisely what transformation is about.  Here we are in the year 2002, fighting the first war of the 21^st century, and the horse cavalry was back . . . and being used in unimaginable ways.  It showed that a revolution in military affairs is about more than building new high tech weapons . . . It's also about new ways of thinking, and new ways of fighting.

 

Preparing for the future requires that military leaders and forces in the field think and respond to crises differently and develop capabilities to adapt quickly to new challenges and unexpected circumstances. It requires also that the administration “walk the talk” when it comes to actually adopting innovative thinking and actions needed to bring about transformation.

The concept of transformation was not quickly or easily incorporated in the lexicon of the U.S. Department of Defense. It took almost twenty five years. In 1980 the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense commissioned a pioneering project aimed at changing the thinking and behavior of criminals who were incarcerated and ultimately at changing  the way the Pentagon does its business. The project was perhaps the first step in the history of the Department of Defense to formulate a theory of organizational transformation (OT) for problem solving and decision making generally. 

When President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called on the entire military establishment in 2002 to adopt a transformation program for the Department of Defense (DoD), the intention was to search for new ways of thinking, but unfortunately the application of transformation theory became narrowly applied to weapon systems and operating procedures, but not to the process of making decisions or to military personnel. During a Pentagon briefing one official concluded that, "In general transformation has been viewed as new weapon systems or communications or even culture. Those are all important and accurate and key elements of transformation.  But there's another one, too, and that's transforming the way we do business in this place [the Pentagon]."  The steady increase in the number of soldiers and civilians being killed and injured daily and the long-term damage caused by the deaths and abuse of prisoners underscores the need to rethink the Administration’s approach to transformation.

The scope of the DoD transformation program must be extended to include human systems so that greater wisdom is elicited by all military and civilian personnel in meeting the inordinate challenges they face. Eliciting greater wisdom at all levels of command is achievable.  It is the next step for winning the war and achieving the seemingly impossible goals of terminating the evils of terrorism and war, mitigating damages to the United States, of restoring the confidence of foreign nations and citizens of United States citizens in the leadership of this country, ending insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan, and repairing potholes in the road to Peace in the Middle East. 

 

Initial Study of Transformation Theory for the U.S. Department of Defense

The Office of the Secretary of Defense authorized me in 1972 to go to New Zealand as a U.S. Presidential Interchange Executive.  Before being sent to New Zealand I was principal action officer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) for producing departmental guidelines for cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis to be applied throughout the Department of Defense.  My job in New Zealand was to serve as a technical adviser to members of Parliament and to the Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury. In that capacity I completed a ground-breaking research study for Victoria University of Wellington relating to a number of areas including creative problem solving, cost-consciousness, organizational transformation and unified field theory. The job there included lecturing at Victoria University of Wellington and evaluating the effectiveness of numerous Government programs.  It provided me a rare and unique opportunity to probe beyond the limits of traditional management science.

The New Zealand study opened previously unexplored areas of decision theory that can be applied to conflict situations and terrorism today. It also revealed deficiencies, waste, and abuses in the way planning, programming, and budgeting decisions were made for government spending programs.  I developed an unconventional management strategy for eliciting more creative thinking and wisdom in making choices and tradeoffs for government spending programs using consciousness raising techniques such as meditation. The reports I produced for the University and the New Zealand Government covering investigations of government policies and programs prompted members of Parliament to send me on a lecture tour to speak about transformation to large audiences in major cities throughout the country.

Those experiences led to further investigations and study of transformation theory when I returned to my former position at the Pentagon in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.  However, my superiors at the Pentagon were unreceptive to the idea of sponsoring research, particularly if it involved the “M-word” – meditation. In my struggle with the bureaucracy the Deputy Assistant Secretary (Management Systems) finally authorized a small scale transformation project at a prison installation. 

The end result of that project was to demonstrate a new management philosophy and the feasibility of enhancing program performance using meditation techniques to transform human consciousness which could be applicable for the entire military establishment. I found that meditation causes refinement of mind/body systems which supports individuals in making wise decisions.  They are better equipped to see and foresee the costs and benefits and consequences associated with their choices.  Moreover I found that people tend to be shielded from pitfalls and protected in dangerous and threatening situations.  Those findings were demonstrated time and again in the prison environment with hundreds of convicts and corrections officers. The Army should provide the same kind of training throughout the military prison system, particularly at Abu Ghraib, the Guantanamo Bay detention center and the Charleston, South Carolina Naval Station brig where war and terror suspects are held in captivity.  

After the prison transformation project ended I personally instructed hundreds of military and civilian personnel at the Pentagon from 1984 to 1988 on principles of transformation and meditation. Changing Perspectives on Global Security is the title of a presentation I made on transformation theory and practice for a Soviet military delegation and representatives from the Soviet Peace Committee.  My discussions with Soviets about transformation of consciousness seemed to have made a useful contribution to historical breakthroughs between old adversaries including a decision by U.S. military authorities to participate in a Military-to-Military Exchange Program between the United States and the Soviet Union.

 

 

 

United States Military Objectives for Iraq

War planners are trained to begin every military exercise by asking the right questions about military objectives. The importance of correctly defining military objectives was emphasized to me when I first reported  to the Pentagon in 1968  as an Air Force operations research officer .  President George W. Bush stated clearly and unequivocally that the military objective for U.S. and allied military forces in a “war on evil” was to eliminate terrorism. The Taliban, Al Qaeda, and radical Islamic militants were seen as perpetrators of evil.  In a State of the Union Message President Bush warned that in the next stage of operations he intended to broaden the scope of the war to include an "evil axis" of nations threatening peace and stability in the civilized world. 

The enemies of the United States on the other hand have a similar objective.  Their objective is to eliminate evils which they see in the United States.  The mutual objectives of the United States and of terrorists are to eliminate evil.  Terrorists declared a so-called holy war or “jihad” against the United States. A holy war is different than conventional warfare because it introduces theological and spiritual elements into the war making process.

U.S. military forces typically lack the knowledge and skills needed to fight a holy war, or to win the minds and hearts of fundamentalist religious adversaries.  Pentagon authorities likewise lack any capability for “Spiritual Defense.”  Is "evil" a religious belief only, or is their some other reality which gives rise to it? Where does evil originate? What is the nature of that which inspires fanatics and misguided individuals to commit evil acts of killing and torture and violence in the name of God? Should so-called civilized and God fearing nations respond to attacks with more violence and by sanctioning the evil that war is?  Is there such a thing as a necessary war? Or, are some people essentially evil, so that the solution is simply to get rid of them completely.  

In the final analysis neither those who support war with Iraq, nor peace activists opposed to war have clearly and accurately defined and identified the causes of evil.  Modern war planners have no strategy for combat effectiveness in spiritual warfare. Consequently they fail to recognize that adversaries can be transformed rather than killed.  But how can such a miraculous transformation be achieved? There is in fact something more mysterious that blinds minds and hearts; cognitive dissonance and the lack of eugenic radiance dull consciousness cause a lack of wisdom lead to paths of destruction.

 

The Mission: Transform Evil

America and the world desperately need a new way of thinking to even begin to be able to reframe the military objective of winning a war on evil.  So far, no nation or government at any time in history has been able to deal effectively with the problem of "evil," wherever it exists. I believe this is a time in history when the President of the United States can fulfill a dream of the man who became first President of the United States, General George Washington. His prayer was "to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the face of the earth.”  Another great leader, General Douglas MacArthur, pointed out the change in human character that is needed. He called for "recrudescence" or [transformation] of thinking and behavior.  General MacArthur said:

 

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace . . . Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war . . .We have had our last chance.  If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door.  The problem is basically theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement [transformation] of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years.  It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.

  

Apparently both sides of the conflict in Iraq do not understand the nature of human consciousness or the reality of a unified field of consciousness that links each person to everyone else. They do not know the real enemy or who they themselves are.  Therefore, as Sun Tzu warned they risk losing in every battle.  In the final analysis President Bush's war on evil is everyone's war.  The war can be won. Winning this war begins by accepting a different approach for transforming evil; a strategy that results in people choosing independently and spontaneously to change their thinking and behavior so as to arrive at new understandings.

 

United States Policies for Transformation

 Speaking at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C. President Bush revealed plans to transform the armed forces to confront the threats of the 21^st century.  President Bush said.  "The enemy who appeared on Sept.11 seeks to avoid our strengths and constantly searches for our weaknesses.  So America is required once again to change the way our military thinks and fights."  He said that the United States will meet threats posed by terrorists "by every means possible."  Before Sept. 11 President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged transforming the military. The President said, "What's different today is this sense of urgency: the need to build this future force while fighting this present war." " America's contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) was torn up and a new contract is being written," according to DoD's senior transformation officer Arthur K. Cebrowski, Director of DoD's Transformation Office and a retired Navy vice admiral. He emphasized the need for transformation for the U.S. military to make dramatic changes to keep its edge over anticipated future opponents. 

The United States and other nations in the developed world are quickly moving into the Information Age and away from the old-tech Industrial Age. We are indeed in a period of strategic opportunity for transformation," Cebrowski said, as he addressed military students at the National Defense University, Fort Lesly McNair, Washington, D.C.  Mr. Cebrowski remarked that it is only natural and prudent to begin transforming and revamping today's military now.

DoD's top uniformed officer, Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the best way to improve U.S. war-fighting capability is to embrace transformation. To do that, we need to change our way of thinking.  He stated again the goal that transformation requires changes "in how we think and how we employ our capabilities to achieve more effective results in less time with fewer lives lost and with less cost." No one knows what threats the future holds.  So defense officials must prepare for the unexpected.  Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz outlined the way ahead by identifying specific transformation goals for the future.  At the top of his list of goals was "Defend the U.S. homeland and other bases of operation and defeat nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and their means of delivery."  Mr. Wolfowitz anticipated that the fiscal 2003 budget would invest $8 billion to support homeland defense and defense of U.S. forces abroad.  Another $10.5 billion would be invested in counter-terrorism and anti-terrorism programs.

The DoD Comptroller, Mr. Dov Zakheim, said that even financial systems would have to operate in a coherent, integrated fashion - something that has never really been achieved on a grand scale by the Department of Defense, Military Departments, and Defense Agencies. So, he commissioned a project that promised to fundamentally transform the way the Department of Defense does business.

 

Plan for Transformation of Consciousness

During the weeks that preceded the war with Iraq, I began mobilizing volunteers from across the country with goals and priorities for transformation in the war on evil.  Our plan sets forth the following priorities and has the following components as initial steps for achieving the mission:

1. Transformation of defensive forces from fighting war to waging peace requires rebalancing segments of the U.S. population and populations of foreign countries, wherever pockets of cognitive dissonance and low levels of eugenic radiance exist.  Such rebalancing will depend on the co-operation and participation of the entire population of the United States in an experiment never before attempted on such a grand scale.  This new direction means a gradual change for real deterrence.  This new deterrence capability involves new thinking (cognitive resonance) which will dissuade terrorists and other adversaries from committing evil acts against citizens of the United States, and at the same time dissuade the United States from actions which endanger lives. As Secretary Rumsfeld said, the "DoD cannot afford to move back in the mindset of business as usual.  The war on terrorism is a new war and 'cries out' for new thinking."

 2. Winning the minds and hearts of Iraqis has not been an easy matter. Changing military minds and opening hearts is not an easy task either. However, it can be done systematically, cost-effectively, and painlessly.  The way for the Administration to move out of the impasse with insurgents will seem at first to be an enigma to the average soldier or to the common man on the street. But, the first step for getting beyond intractable problems is to begin by reaching a common ground of consciousness.  That is, a critical mass of people with each individual experiencing absolute silence.  In that quantum non-local “place” Iraqis meet Americans in a field of consciousness, east meets west. Each person needs to understand a riddle, "the way out of war and out of Iraq is the way inside." The common ground is a state of being that can be found inside each person. The way to end war and eliminate terrorism is to start by going inside where the miracle of changing minds and hearts occurs that makes transformation possible. When adversaries touch into this common ground of being they are better equipped to “Be all they can be.”  The systematic exploration and development of this unified field of consciousness makes it easier for diplomats and military leaders to formulate and implement specific steps to achieve stability in war torn areas and transformation from war to peaceful co-existence. (A PMC web site provides more detailed information and instructions on this transformation theory.)

 3. A detailed proposal will identify the steps to rally armies of compassion and put together a new kind of coalition [a spiritual defense task force] to implement a technology for transformation.  This should be an essential element of a strategy for “Operation Liberate Iraq.” It starts in Washington, D.C. and Baghdad, to enlist spiritual/religious leaders in those centers of power in spreading the light of consciousness transformation.

 4. Call on experts to participate in Wisdom Conferences to make a more comprehensive and thorough analysis and report on the nature of evil and how to deal with it! Their tasks will be to answer questions concerning the nature and causes for evil in the world and begin exporting wisdom instead of weapons for the security of the United States and the world. Military leaders need to partner with professionals and experts who in the field of human consciousness development, inner jihad and spiritual warfare. President George W. Bush's agenda to "rally Armies of Compassion" does have the potential for spiritual and diplomatic solutions to the problem of evil which causes terrorism and war.  Spiritual defense is a sure way to guarantee homeland security.

Here is the strategy and a dangerous trap of an enemy who would oppose consciousness transformation in the war on evil:

Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor England, nor for that matter in Germany.  That is understood.  But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.  Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.  That is easy.  All you have to do is tell them that they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for a lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.  It works the same in any country.

 

(Hermann Goering, President of the Reichstag, Nazi Party, Luftwaffe Commander in Chief during World War II.)

 

It is true, unfortunately, that peacemaking is not a mission of the U.S. Department of Defense.  There is no U.S. Department of Peace.  History teaches that peacemakers are sometimes crucified, murdered, and tortured. Perhaps one day, as Americans continue to pray "God Bless America," evil will give way so that more and more people become peacemakers.

 

PROPOSAL FOR ADVANCED THREAT ABATEMENT TECHNIQUES:

A NOVEL DEFENSE INITIATIVE UTILIZING NON-LOCAL SENSORY INPUTS/OUTPUTS

 

      Transformation of consciousness will prove to be the ultimate maneuver in war. The following sections present an overview of an International Transformation Program (ITP) that would have phased implementation over a period of two years and incorporate distance influence (DI) technologies, interactive group civilian preparedness and assistance programs, and advanced technological research for a response to violence and terrorism capable of neutralizing terrorist threats in the United States and attacks by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will aid Federal, state and local governments to be better primed for response to all hazards in emergency management and for optimizing defenses and preparedness activities.

      This proposal employs a broad spectrum approach to educate private citizen volunteers and collaborate with those who demonstrate special trainable sensory aptitudes to actually meet threats with a method of defense that may be termed “group focused coherent psycho-energetic applications.”  Vigilance and investigation of threats of terror by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security have uncovered a broad array of dangers ranging from computer sabotage and biological agents to nuclear and conventional bomb threats. We have clearly arrived at an historical bifurcation point whereby we must take a different "outside-the-box" approach to the various impending crises. This is necessary particularly in view of the high probability with modern communication methods of simultaneous events which could overwhelm current resources. It has become appallingly clear that technology available today has surpassed our humanity! 

      The proposal provides also for completing a very up-to-date risk assessment along with abundant scientific confirmation of non-local mind-matter  (MMI) and consciousness interactions and utilization at all levels of human experience from the quantum mechanical to the socio-political-historical.

 

 

1.                   The essential feature of this proposal is to introduce a technology for transformation of consciousness that is non-religious but spiritual in nature.  We call it Distance Influence (DI).  The technology was demonstrated by a series of spiritual defense initiatives (SDI’s) undertaken from the Pentagon. DI is an advanced form of sensory input/output communication between a sender(s) and a receiver (s), whether consciously perceived or not, involving, for example, sensory enhancement by use of light, sound, motion, aspects of ritual prayer and meditation, and collective focused mental synchronization to augment and help insure security and well-being. Exploration of the inner space field of consciousness offers a new way of thinking about defense, security, and shielding from acts of terrorism that can serve to bring the war on evil to a conclusion.  This novel defense initiative is our response to threats of ‘jihad” and spiritual warfare, to actions which may diminish the credibility and image of the United States government, and potentially self destructive behaviors of military and civilian personnel.

 

2) Operational Response via liaison with community, religious and national leaders to mobilize potential volunteer DI participants who can be trained in developing group coherent intentionality directed at creating protective shields and neutralizing acts of terror, and collaboration with individuals who possess special sensory abilities.

 

 3) An International Transformation Program will include a comprehensive public education strategy for participating communities, religious groups and national leaders to benefit all peoples and nations seeking to create peace and sustainable development; civilian preparedness on mental, emotional and spiritual levels will be fostered via a community interactive emotional intelligence (EI) learning model;

 

4) Scientific research and development plays a crucial role in being able to assess and remediate newly developing threats, such as internet bio-terror, one of the most insidious and undiscoverable dangers. To address these potential attacks we will need to develop and deploy new advanced response methods by coupling material and non-material research with our team of scientists. We will be able to protect citizens via both technological and consciousness defense mechanisms that will explore the viability of protection and shielding by networking with non-material levels of intelligence.

           

            All aspects of the program will evaluated on the basis of strict outcome measures that can be double-checked by via U.S intelligence agencies with conventional intelligence methods, as well as updated reports from DI experts. Experts and volunteers who have started working on this ITP believe that the benefits to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense for national and international security are enormous and can be realized based on budget requirements at  an estimated cost of approximately 12 million dollars,

 

Benefits of the IP

First, the Department of Homeland Security can expect a dramatic increase in verifiable data on reduced number of terrorist cells and reduced terrorist activities both domestic and international at a nominal cost.

 

Second, private citizens may participate in this ITP from the security of their country and homes without endangering innocent people, and the outcome of their participation can be determined and verified, which will also demonstrate a radical reduction in serious threats.

 

Third, the psychological strength of the general population will increase as the public feels the fulfillment of participating in a real and demonstrable way with the safety and security of the homeland.

 

Fourth, there will be a great transformational effect on the planetary populace with an increased impregnation of the collective planetary thought field by thought-forms of peace and sustainable development. These are but a few of the benefits to be discussed in greater detail in an extended overview as well as in a grant proposal.

 

Finally, this Transformation Program recognizes the challenges that Federal, state and local responders face when preventing potential disasters. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Military Departments must be committed to providing the tools needed to be prepared. It would be useful to remember that the move to a spiritual/consciousness perspective and response to global problems is not alien to defense traditions, but nearly universally a part of them. We have only to look to one of the greatest military leaders in U.S. history to regain this perspective, General Douglas MacArthur, who said:

 

“Men since the beginning of time have sought peace . . . Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war . . . We have had our last chance.  If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door.  The problem is basically theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement [transformation] off human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past two thousand years.  It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.”

 

In summary, we propose a new science of consciousness to meet new threats. The inescapable conclusions of both quantum physics and our variegated spiritual heritage of the United States both impel us to the unification of individual and collective consciousness as an effective means to transform potential disasters. The relative rewards for the risk of funding this proposal are exceedingly high.

 

 

 

 

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Definitions:

Spiritual - That which is spiritual has no body, form, or substance. It cannot be categorized as “a thing.” Spirit is defined as, “the life principle, the thinking, feeling part of man, as distinguished from the body, mind, and intelligence.” 

 

Spiritual Defense  - The application of non-lethal, non-invasive, and non-physical Distance Influence (DI) – sensory input/output technology, which can provide real protection and shielding by detecting, screening and blocking potentially harmful influences of a destructive or confusing nature. 

Cognitive Dissonance - In-harmonious combination of mental thoughts, which cause discord or lack of agreement.  Dissonance is assumed to be due in large part to lack of refinement in the neural physiology that supports thought processes or to underdevelopment of circuits of the brain to allow the greatest flow of current of certain frequencies (life force and nerve supply) to permit optimal awareness, comprehension, and consciousness.

Cognitive Resonance - The condition of mentally adjusting circuits of the brain to allow the greatest flow of current of certain frequencies; thoughts producing effects in certain parts of the body, especially the brain.

 

Eugenic Radiance - Improving, or relating to the improvement of the human race by sending out positive energy waves and thinking life-supporting thoughts.

 

Distance Influence - An advanced form of sensory input/output communication between a sender(s) and a receiver (s), whether consciously perceived or not, involving, for example, sensory enhancement by use of light, sound, motion, aspects of ritual prayer and meditation, and collective focused mental synchronization to augment and help insure security and well-being.