To incite the citizen to the active practice of simple sabotage and to
keep him practicing that sabotage over sustained periods is a special
problem.
Simple sabotage is often an act which the citizen performs according to
his own initiative and inclination. Acts of destruction do not bring
him any personal gain and may be completely foreign to his habitually
conservationist attitude toward materials and tools. Purposeful
stupidity is contrary to human nature. He frequently needs pressure,
stimulation or assurance, and information and suggestions regarding
feasible methods of simple sabotage.
(1) _Personal Motives_
(a) The ordinary citizen very probably has no immediate personal motive
for committing simple sabotage. Instead, he must be made to anticipate
indirect personal gain, such as might come with enemy evacuation or
destruction of the ruling government group. Gains should be stated as
specifically as possible for the area addressed: simple sabotage will
hasten the day when Commissioner X and his deputies Y and Z will be
thrown out, when particularly obnoxious decrees and restrictions will
be abolished, when food will arrive, and so on. Abstract verbalizations
about personal liberty, freedom of the press, and so on, will not be
convincing in most parts of the world. In many areas they will not even
be comprehensible.
(b) Since the effect of his own acts is limited, the saboteur may
become discouraged unless he feels that he is a member of a large,
though unseen, group of saboteurs operating against the enemy or the
government of his own country and elsewhere. This can be conveyed
indirectly: suggestions which he reads and hears can include
observations that a particular technique has been successful in this or
that district. Even if the technique is not applicable to his
surroundings, another’s success will encourage him to attempt similar
acts. It also can be conveyed directly: statements praising the
effectiveness of simple sabotage can be contrived which will be
published by white radio, freedom stations, and the subversive press.
Estimates of the proportion of the population engaged in sabotage can
be disseminated. Instances of successful sabotage already are being
broadcast by white radio and freedom stations, and this should be
continued and expanded where compatible with security.
(c) More important than (a) or (b) would be to create a situation in
which the citizen-saboteur acquires a sense of responsibility and
begins to educate others in simple sabotage.
(2) _Encouraging Destructiveness_
It should be pointed out to the saboteur where the circumstances are
suitable, that he is acting in self-defense against the enemy, or
retaliating against the enemy for other acts of destruction. A
reasonable amount of humor in the presentation of suggestions for
simple sabotage will relax tensions of fear.
(a) The saboteur may have to reverse his thinking, and he should be
told this in so many words. Where he formerly thought of keeping his
tools sharp, he should now let them grow dull; surfaces that formerly
were lubricated now should be sanded; normally diligent, he should now
be lazy and careless; and so on. Once he is encouraged to think
backwards about himself and the objects of his everyday life, the
saboteur will see many opportunities in his immediate environment which
cannot possibly be seen from a distance. A state of mind should be
encouraged that anything can be sabotaged.
(b) Among the potential citizen-saboteurs who are to engage in physical
destruction, two extreme types may be distinguished. On the one hand,
there is the man who is not technically trained and employed. This man
needs specific suggestions as to what he can and should destroy as well
as details regarding the tools by means of which destruction is
accomplished.
(c) At the other extreme is the man who is a technician, such as a
lathe operator or an automobile mechanic. Presumably this man would be
able to devise methods of simple sabotage which would be appropriate to
his own facilities. However, this man needs to be stimulated to
re-orient his thinking in the direction of destruction. Specific
examples, which need not be from his own field, should accomplish this.
(d) Various media may be used to disseminate suggestions and
information regarding simple sabotage. Among the media which may be
used, as the immediate situation dictates, are: freedom stations or
radio false (unreadable) broadcasts or leaflets may be directed toward
specific geographic or occupational areas, or they may be general in
scope. Finally, agents may be trained in the art of simple sabotage, in
anticipation of a time when they may be able to communicate this
information directly.
(3) _Safety Measures_
(a) The amount of activity carried on by the saboteur will be governed
not only by the number of opportunities he sees, but also by the amount
of danger he feels. Bad news travels fast, and simple sabotage will be
discouraged if too many simple saboteurs are arrested.
(b) It should not be difficult to prepare leaflets and other media for
the saboteur about the choice of weapons, time, and targets which will
insure the saboteur against detection and retaliation. Among such
suggestions might be the following:
(1) Use materials which appear to be innocent. A knife or a nail file
can be carried normally on your person; either is a multi-purpose
instrument for creating damage. Matches, pebbles, hair, salt, nails,
and dozens of other destructive agents can be carried or kept in your
living quarters without exciting any suspicion whatever. If you are a
worker in a particular trade or industry you can easily carry and keep
such things as wrenches, hammers, emery paper, and the like.
(2) Try to commit acts for which large numbers of people could be
responsible. For instance, if you blow out the wiring in a factory at a
central fire box, almost anyone could have done it. On-the-street
sabotage after dark, such as you might be able to carry out against a
military car or truck, is another example of an act for which it would
be impossible to blame you.
(3) Do not be afraid to commit acts for which you might be blamed
directly, so long as you do so rarely, and as long as you have a
plausible excuse: you dropped your wrench across an electric circuit
because an air raid had kept you up the night before and you were
half-dozing at work. Always be profuse in your apologies. Frequently
you can “get away” with such acts under the cover of pretending
stupidity, ignorance, over-caution, fear of being suspected of
sabotage, or weakness and dullness due to undernourishment.
(4) After you have committed an act of easy sabotage, resist any
temptation to wait around and see what happens. Loiterers arouse
suspicion. Of course, there are circumstances when it would be
suspicious for you to leave. If you commit sabotage on your job, you
should naturally stay at your work.