-Caveat Lector-
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Report From Iron Mountain
by Anonymous
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In 1967 the war in Vietnam was escalating and race riots
were breaking out in many major U.S. cities. Popular distrust of the
federal government was growing. It was in this context that on October 16
a book appeared titled “Report from Iron Mountain on the Possibility and
Desirability of Peace.” It was published by Dial Press, a division of
Simon & Schuster. Leonard C. Lewin, a New York freelance writer, wrote
the introduction to the book. He explained that the report had been
compiled by 15 experts known as the Special Study Group (SSG) who had been
brought together by the U.S. government. The SSG had first met in 1963 at
a secret "underground nuclear hideout" called Iron Mountain. They had then
held periodic meetings during the next two and a half years to discuss the
problems that would confront the United States if it entered into a period
of permanent peace. According to Lewin, one of the experts ("John Doe")
who was identified as a professor of social science at a 'large Middle
Western University,' had decided to release the report to the public.
The report, in language full of think-tank jargon, documented the
conclusions of the Special Study Group concerning whether peace was
possible given the economic condition of the world. The SSG decided that
peace "would almost certainly not be in the best interest of stable
society." War, they argued, was simply too important a part of the world
economy, and therefore it was necessary to continue a state of war
indefinitely:
"War has provided both ancient and modern societies
with a dependable system for stabilizing and controlling national
economies. No alternate method of control has yet been tested in a complex
modern economy that has shown itself remotely comparable in scope or
effectiveness."
The report also pointed out that the authority of
the government over the people stemmed from its ability to wage war.
Therefore, without war the government might cease to exist:
"War
is virtually synonymous with nationhood. The elimination of war implies
the inevitable elimination of national sovereignty and the traditional
nation-state."
The report included a number of recommendations
that the government should follow just in case peace did break out. For
instance, it suggested that a number of expensive institutions be created
that would mimic the economic function of a war, such as: "(a) A
comprehensive social-welfare program directed toward maximum improvement
of general conditions of human life. (b) A giant open-end space research
program aimed at unreachable targets. (c) A permanent, ritualized,
ultra-elaborate disarmament inspection system, and variant of such a
system."
The report also recommended that the government invent
"alternate enemies." For instance, it could mobilize the population by
scaring them with reports of extraterrestrial threats, massive global
environmental pollution, or "an omnipresent, virtually omnipotent
international police force." Alternatively, the population could be roused
by "socially oriented blood games" done "in the manner of the Spanish
Inquisition and the witch trials of other periods." The publication of the
report caused a sensation. So many copies of it were sold that it made its
way onto the New York Times bestseller list, and it was eventually
translated into 15 languages.
The report caused panic among many
government officials. President Johnson supposedly "hit the roof" when he
learned of it. Cables were sent to U.S. embassies throughout the world
instructing them to play down public discussion of the report, and to
emphasize that the report had nothing at all to do with official U.S.
policy.
The media, meanwhile, frantically searched for and
speculated about who had written the report. On November 20 Eliot
Fremont-Smith wrote a review for the New York Times in which he declared
that the report was a hoax. He speculated that it had been written either
by John Kenneth Galbraith, Kenneth Boulding, or Leonard C. Lewin. However,
he had no evidence to prove his speculations. The suspicion that Galbraith
was the author stemmed from the fact that he had written a review of the
report under the pseudonym "Herschel McLandress". This review had appeared
in the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. Lewin was suspected
because besides having written the introduction to the report, he had also
authored a book of political satire.
The mystery of who had
written the report was revealed in 1972 when Lewin declared in an article
in the New York Times that he had penned the entire report. In other
words, there was no Special Study Group and no government plot to maintain
a state of war. The entire report had been a hoax. More details of the
creation of the hoax were given in 1996 when Simon & Schuster
reprinted the Report with a new introduction. Apparently, the genesis of
the report occurred in 1966 when Victor Navasky, editor of the Monocle, a
magazine of political satire, noticed a New York Times article reporting
that the stock market had dipped because of a 'peace scare.' Navasky
mentioned this to Lewin who then wrote the report. The two of them
presented the report to E.L. Doctorow, editor of the Dial Press. Doctorow
agreed to publish the work as nonfiction.
Navasky claimed that the
purpose of the hoax had been "to provoke thinking about the unthinkable —
the conversion to a peacetime economy and the absurdity of the arms race."
Even though Lewin and Navasky admitted that the report was a hoax,
there still remain some who believe it to be an official government
document that was leaked to the public. An ultra-rightwing group known as
the Liberty Lobby is one such group. Believing that the report was
evidence of a secret government plot, the group printed their own edition
of the report. When Lewin found out about this, he sued them for copyright
infringement. The case was settled out of court with the Liberty Lobby
agreeing to pay Lewin an undisclosed sum.
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