MKULTRA was initiated in 1953 during the Cold War as the U.S. government sought mind control techniques believed to be perfected by the Soviet Union and China. The CIA was also interested in Nazi experiments on concentration camp victims, stemming from Operation Paperclip, which began in 1945. This operation brought around 1,600 Nazi scientists to the U.S. to continue their research, including methods for biowarfare. Before MKULTRA, the CIA had already launched projects like Artichoke and Bluebird.

Participants were drawn from various institutions, including prisons, addiction treatment centres, juvenile detention facilities, and the military, often without their knowledge of being part of a research study. The CIA provided an unrestricted budget to researchers, who sometimes created fictitious organisations to obtain TSS grants. Medical professionals from universities were recruited, particularly focusing on patients already in health or mental health care.

Researchers administered LSD and other psychoactive substances to influence behaviour, collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs that promoted "irrational thinking" and helped individuals endure "privation, torture, and coercion during interrogation" and "brainwashing." These experiments often lasted several weeks. The National Security Archive (NSA) reports that the CIA conducted disturbing experiments involving drugs, hypnosis, isolation, and sensory deprivation on unsuspecting US citizens.

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/dnsa-intelligence/2024-12-23/cia-behavior-control-experiments-focus-new-scholarlyA 

The initial 1,000 victims were sourced from U.S. military installations. Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a terrorist from New Orleans, and Matthew Livelsberger, a bomber from Las Vegas, were both assigned to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Interestingly, their attacks occurred in succession, yet acquaintances of both men assert there were no signs indicating they were capable of such violence. Ryan Routh, who attempted to assassinate Trump on a golf course, also has connections to Fort Bragg, having visited the base over 100 times. Delving into each case could lead to extensive inquiries. One does not need to subscribe to conspiracy theories to recognise that certain elements seem inconsistent. Congresswoman Anna Luna Paulina is seeking information about Jabbar and Livelsberger's affiliations with Fort Bragg. It is likely that others, unafraid of being labeled as conspiracy theorists, will begin to raise questions as well.