Targets, Defense — a 1969 HCO Policy letter written by L. Ron Hubbard and reissued in 1987 after his death.  This document offers an insight into the Orwellian nature of the Church of Scientology.

Disclaimer: As with many things Hubbard wrote, most Scientology Sea Org members and Staff never knew anything about Hubbard’s secret policy letters like the one below. Certainly public Scientologists would not know. Hubbard would send confidential policy letters to the Guardians Office or its successor the Office of Special Affairs (OSA). The Church of Scientology is very compartmentalized. Furthermore, the Church attempts to censor, filter, or otherwise restrict the flow of information its members. The most current interview with a public Scientologist occurred last week (11 Feb 2015) when Danny Masterson’s interview appeared in Papermag. Thus, while Danny Masterson may have never seen, read, or even heard of Targets, Defense, the ideology contained therein nevertheless flowed down to him and he fully duplicated it. This is evident from Masterson’s statement:

“You will not find a Scientologist who does not fucking hate psychiatrists.”

Hubbard assigned the old Guardian’s Office (GO) with the task of performing covert operations and fighting the Church’s enemies by overt or covert means. The GO suffered a catastrophic meltdown following the FBI raid in Operation Snow White.  The GO was disbanded and reconstituted as the Office of Special Affairs (OSA). OSA’s thinking and actions are informed, in part, by Hubbard’s secret policies.

OSA handles the intelligence, legal, and PR affairs of the Church.  Thus, while OSA arranges for Super Bowl ads to promote Scientology’s “Spiritual Technology” and “enlightenment” it also pays private investigators to stalk and harass former Church members, critics, and even Academy Award winners Paul Haggis and Alex Gibney. This is schizophrenic to say the least!

HUBBARD COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex

HCO POLICY LETTER OF 16 FEBRUARY, 1969
Issue IV
Reissued 24 September 1987

(Reissued with updated distribution)

Limited Distribution:
OSA NW
IMEC
PRs

Confidential
TARGETS, DEFENSE

It is quite obvious that Scientology has to maintain a defense perimeter. In 19 years of continual attacks it is obvious that Dianetics then Scientology must have lain across some concerted plan by another older group to do something else.

To analyze what the others intended, it is only necessary to review what Dianetics and Scientology intended to do and assume the reverse.

Experience has shown that defense is only effective when one sorties or attacks.

When we did not give a lot of time and energy and funds to knocking out real enemies we came close to losing the lot.

The errors we have made have been

1. Defending only.
2. Defending on Scn ground.
3. Being reasonable and assigning mild motives to the enemy.
4. Failing to attack early and hard.
5. Undervaluing the broad social value of Scn.
6. Individuating from other similar organizations.
7. Not learning enemy tactics and using and bettering them.
8. Failing to heavily contest for public opinion and public media.
9. Failing to identify the enemy early and hit him hard.

A. Our best defense is that we are sincere, that we are effective and that we commit no crimes.
B. Our next best defense line was being sure the public knew we were a Church.
C. Our next best was being quick and able and using very fast comm lines.

We must not repeat the errors of 1 to 9.
And we must reinforce A, B and C.

TARGETS

The vital targets on which we must invest most of our time are:

T1. Depopularizing the enemy to a point of total obliteration.
T2. Taking over the control or allegiance of the heads or proprietors of all news media.
T3. Taking over the control or allegiance of key political figures.
T4. Taking over the control or allegiance of those who monitor international finance and shifting them to a less precarious finance standard.
T5. Generally revitalizing the societies in which we are operating.
T6. Winning overwhelming public support.
T7. Use all other similar groups as allies.

These, of course, are very long range targets. But it is what must be done to continue the longevity of our organizations.

Our only justification for doing these things is that Scientology is the only game where everyone wins.

The names and connections, at this time, of the bitterly opposing enemy are:

1. Psychiatry and psychology (not medicine).
2. The heads of news media who are also directors of psychiatric front groups.
3. A few key political figures in the fields of “mental health” and education.
4. A decline of monetary stability caused by the current planning of bankers who are also directors of psychiatric front organizations would make us unable to function.
5. The cold war is being fought on home ground and has an apparent target of degrading western society to a point where we are finding it difficult to operate; a degraded society can be swallowed up easily by an enemy.
6. The public is somewhat sympathetic already but in a democracy trials are by public opinion. To win all the way, the bulk of public opinion must be at the level of love us … hate the enemy.
7. Many groups exist with similar aims. They need organizing and uniting.

At first glance the targets T1 to T7 are a pretty big handful. But we have to start somewhere. And we might as well start in the direction of the total target as per T1 – T7.

Nearly everything we are doing is already tending in that direction T1 – T7.

We have the advantage of new vital technology and a monopoly on it. New technologies are the things which made progress.

We do not have a Utopian dream or a planned society. We are trying to survive. Our theory is that if individuals become more honest and less harassed they will be capable of building a better society.

The fact is we would have gone along happily minding our own business. But these fantastic and continuing attacks have pushed us more and more into developing a technology and direction of defense.

We now have a lot of experience. We have been hurt, we have been held back. It has cost us millions. Normal channels of the society have let us down. Therefore we are on our own. Obviously. To our actual and factual view, the West is prostrate and near helpless and the rest of the world is a big slave camp.

If we don’t do anything about it we and everyone else are gone

So we may as well have a go.

If we unite all groups into an interplay and use all forces extant and channel them we have a very big chance of winning.

Therefore from an appreciation of all data to hand and experience it seems that T1 to T7 is beneficial. Things that don’t are a relative waste of time.

If we, doing our jobs, doing no wrong, breaking no laws, are having trouble operating, what about the rest of the West? We’re not the only ones in hot water. In fact we are probably in far better shape than many many other groups and for sure in better shape than other individuals.

So we can and must take the lead.

And we ourselves must develop many leaders.

We may as well start now and push all we are doing in defensive actions into T1 to T7.

L. RON HUBBARD
Founder

LRH:bw

Copyright (c) 1969
by L. Ron Hubbard
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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