in the early 1980s,
the right-wing reagan u.s. government
was determined to undermine or overthrow
the leftist government of nicaragua.(this broader campaign is alluded to
in chapter 3 of noam chomsky's
manufacturing consent.)as part of this campaign,
the central intelligence agency
produced a small illustrated booklet
in both spanish and english
designed to destabilise the nicaraguan government
and economic system.it instructed dissaffected individuals
on acts of sabotage they could carry out to this end.
in late 1999, i redesigned the booklet
entitled the 'cia sabotage manual'
and photocopied a limited print run.these booklets
were offered for sale on consignment
from polyester books in brunswick st.
(fitzroy, melbourne, australia.)later in the year
the state police raided polyester books
and siezed materials
deemed to be 'unclassified'.this included the remaining copies
of the 'cia sabotage manual'.numerous other photocopied publications (zines)
remained unsiezed,
despite also being 'unclassified'.a local newspaper reported the raid
and inaccurately described the booklet
as called
'how to blow up your local police station'.it is unclear whether this error originated
with the newspaper
or the police.it is clear from the title page, however,
that this is not the name of the publication,and it is clear from the introduction
that this is not its purpose.
this incident highlights
in a deeply and amusingly ironic waythe regulation of information
in a so-called democratic society,the perils and pitfalls of state censorship,
and the sensationalistic inaccuracy of the media..
this site
like the original publication
seeks to expose the obscenity
of the 'authority' of corporate media
and the state.
goto:
the original document
(off-site)..
