Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Cold War body doubles ( Answered,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Cold War body doubles
Category: Relationships and Society > Politics
Asked by: vue-ga
List Price: $200.00
Posted: 05 Dec 2002 12:12 PST
Expires: 04 Jan 2003 12:12 PST
Question ID: 119879
Seeking information on the men (and possibly women) who were body
doubles for dictators and world leaders durring the Cold War era.

Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 05 Dec 2002 13:06 PST
Dear vue,

There is hardly any information on this issue. What do you expect as a
minimum result?

Best regards,
Scriptor

Clarification of Question by vue-ga on 05 Dec 2002 14:36 PST
An example of what we seek is that Stalin had several body doubles
that looked like him or possibly were altered surgically to look like
him, one died only a short time agao. Also Hoxha, Albania's leader
durring the cold war, had a double who had to undergo surgury,
intensive training and was deprived of all contact with the world
outside of the palace. After Hoxha's death he disfigured himself. We
have minimal information that Castro and several of the Latin American
dictators had body doubles. We know that Sadam currently does and on
some of the more whacky sites there is suspect speculation that
Kennedy did.

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 05 Dec 2002 16:58 PST
So, in terms of what you are seeking, you have no real expectations,
correct? As mentiond earlier, the amount of published information is
minimal. What I can do is try and find as much information as can be
rounded up under the circumstances. Is this sufficient?

tutuzdad-ga

Clarification of Question by vue-ga on 05 Dec 2002 17:39 PST
I would be happy to get any leads to possible cold war leaders doubles
stories or actual information on doubles.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Cold War body doubles
Answered By: tutuzdad-ga on 05 Dec 2002 21:34 PST
 
Dear vue-ga;

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.

As I warned ahead of time, there is only sparse information available
on political body doubles. It is extremely difficult then to amass a
great deal of information on the subject. Much of it, I would imagine,
isn’t public knowledge for obvious reasons and that which is available
is very difficult to confirm. Given the recent media revelations
regarding the use of “doubles” by Osama bin Laden, and the old news
stories about the many imposters of Saddam Hussein, the Internet is
rife with subjects pertaining to these two political figures. Both,
however, were present in their current capacities in the later years
of the cold war era (1945-1991) but finding out whether or not they
used these look-alikes prior to 1991 is an impossible task. They have,
most likely, feared for their lives for quite some time before the
United States began hunting them, due to inner political turmoil and
potential coup, so it is doubtful that recent events alone were
entirely responsible for the decoy methods that they practice today.
Because of this uncertainty, I have included a number of references to
them as well, in spite of the fact that they are more readily
associated with modern day politics than the cold war era.

It is only logical to assume that our own government may have used
decoys at one time or another especially during periods when world
tension was very high, (post JFK shooting, post Reagan shooting, etc)
either to evade potential threats while in a convoy situation or even
perhaps to provide the press with a distant photo-op where the
President might otherwise have been unnecessarily exposed. It is
doubtful though (if not absurd) to assume that anyone has ever
actually “stood in” for a President or physically replaced him at any
function. Such an occurrences would, of course, would be highly
classified, if in fact they ever took place at all, and as such could
never be positively confirmed nor disputed.

Both famous and infamous have used decoys, imposters, look-alikes and
body doubles for years; perhaps, even centuries. According to Joe R.
Reeder, a former undersecretary for the US Army (1993-1997) and an
expert on the subject of political body doubles, it has been known for
decades that the practice of implementing doubles as a means of
avoiding assassination or capture has been used by a number of
prominent figures. Reeder says that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin
employed one or more doubles, as did Cuban leader Fidel Castro,
Haitian strongman General Raoul Cedras (whom Reeder, a former Army
Airborne Ranger, helped hunt for himself), and Panamanian boss Manuel
Noriega. About imposters of the latter Reeder said, "They were good.
They practiced his gait, his manner of speech and his modus operandi –
what he did during the day and night."

How does one go about finding which one is the “real” person? "You
just have to track them all down," Reeder said. "There can only be so
many of them.". Of course, if you search newsgroups you will find a
multitude of postings from fanatics all over the world who have their
own theories as to “who’s who”. Your question is a very intelligent
one so I doubt seriously that you would be the kind of person who
might be interested in pursuing your information from that angle.

I hope you find my research helpful. Again, I wish there were many
more articles on the subject but as I pointed out in our earlier
correspondence there just aren’t that many declassified sources for
this kind of information. If I run across any more in my Internet
travels I will gladly post them here for you in the future. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for using Google Answers.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga


INFORMATION SOURCES

“Stalin's Double; or, Socialist Realism”
(The newspaper “Rabochaya Tribuna” identified the Stalin double only
as “Rashid” and said without explaining further that he died "several
days ago at the age of 93.)
http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/pschmid1/array/Gnarl3/stalin.html


“Iraq - President Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti”
(This link actually mentions one of his known body doubles by “name”!)
http://www.comebackalive.com/df/dplaces/iraq/player5.htm


“Castro is dead – CIA runs Cuba”
(Old story about Castro being long since dead. Mentions double by
name.)
http://www.uncoveror.com/castro.htm


“Disturbing”
(Article names Adolph Hitler’s body double as being one Gustav Weler)
http://damoo.csun.edu:8888/9193


“Fox News Channel – ‘It's Bin Laden ... or Is It?’”
By Catherine Donaldson-Evans 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41210,00.html


“MSNBC News – ‘Saddam’s Sons’”
By Evan Thomas and Christopher Dickey
(Latif Yahia, an Iraqi exile who claims that he was for several years
pressed into service as a body double for Saddam’s eldest son and heir
apparent, Uday Hussein, claimed he witnessed Uday rape a woman in
1981)
http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/820190.asp?cp1=1


“JFK Assassination: Misinformation
(Not a world leader but has very interesting subject matter. Mentions
alleged “Oswald lookalike” and contains links to video confessions)
http://www.interviewwiththeassassin.com/misinformation.html


“CNN Cold War Interviews – Ambassador Winston Lord”
(Mentions Kissinger use of a double)
http://asia.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/15/interviews/lord/



SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

“Body double” “cold war”
“Body double” “world leader”
“Body double” KGB
“Body double” president
“Body double” minister
“Body double” queen
“Body double” king
“Body double” dictator
“Body double” security
“Body double” prince
“Body double” princess
“Body double” Stalin
“Body double” Castro
“Body double” Kruschev
“Body double” Kennedy
“Body double” Nixon
“Body double” Noriega
“Body double” “secret service”

This same search strategy was applied to all of the words and phrases
and all variations of the words and phrases listed below:

“Lookalike”
“Imposter”
“Impersonator” 
“Decoy”
“Double”
“Dopplegaenger”
“Doppleganger”
“Dubbleganger”
Comments  
Subject: Re: Cold War body doubles
From: ceaton-ga on 06 Dec 2002 05:59 PST
 
Dear vue,
    I found your question interesting enough to look around myself.  I
did find a very comprehensive site about Adolph Hitler body doubles. 
It even lists lots of names and theories.  See below and have a great
day!

http://www.blackraiser.com/nredoubt/identity.htm

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy