Wikipedia on Operation Gladio (1/3) Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:13:20 -0600 (CST) (where there are two bracketed numbers [] for a reference, the first number is the html link to the references list at the bottom of part 3, the second is the link pointing to the document's own references list) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio #[1]Wikipedia (English) [2]copyright [3]Wikipedia RSS Feed [4]Wikipedia Atom Feed Operation Gladio From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: [5]navigation, [6]search This article may require [7]cleanup to meet Wikipedia's [8]quality standards. Please [9]improve this article if you can. (August 2007) [10]Emblem of "Gladio", Italian branch of the NATO "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations. The motto means "Silently, I serve freedom". Emblem of "Gladio", Italian branch of the NATO "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations. The motto means "Silently, I serve freedom". Gladio ([11]Italian, from Latin [12]gladius, meaning [13]sword) is a code name denoting the clandestine [14]NATO "[15]stay-behind" operation in [16]Italy after [17]World War II, intended to counter an eventual [18]Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organisations, Operation Gladio is the code name for all stay-behind organisations. Operating in all of NATO and even in some neutral countries or in Spain before its 1982 adhesion to NATO, Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the creation of NATO in 1949, the CCWU was integrated into the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the [19]SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France's official withdrawal from NATO in 1966 -- which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements. According to historian Daniele Ganser, one of the major researchers on the field, "Next to the CPC, a second secret army command center, labeled the Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC), was set up in 1957 on the orders of NATO's [20]Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR). This military structure provided for significant US leverage over the secret stay-behind networks in Western Europe as the SACEUR, throughout NATO's history, has traditionally been a US General who reports to the Pentagon in Washington and is based in NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in [21]Mons, Belgium. The ACC's duties included elaborating on the directives of the network, developing its clandestine capability, and organizing bases in Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind operations in conjunction with SHAPE. According to former CIA director [22]William Colby, it was 'a major program'."^[23][1] The role of the [24]CIA in sponsoring Gladio and the extent of its activities during the [25]Cold War era, and its relationship to attacks perpetrated in Italy during the [26]years of lead and other similar clandestine operations is the subject of ongoing debate and investigation. Italy, Switzerland and Belgium have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter.^[27][2] The [28]US State Department has denied involvement in terrorism and stated that some of the claims have been influenced by what it presents as a Soviet forgery, [29]US Army Field Manual 30-31B.^[30][3] Contents * [31]1 General stay-behind structure + [32]1.1 The European Parliament resolution concerning Gladio * [33]2 Allegations + [34]2.1 Gladio's strategy of tension and internal subversion operations * [35]3 Gladio operations in NATO countries + [36]3.1 First discovered in Italy o [37]3.1.1 Giulio Andreotti's October 24, 1990 revelations o [38]3.1.2 2000 Parliamentary report: a "strategy of tension" o [39]3.1.3 General Maletti's testimony concerning alleged CIA involvement o [40]3.1.4 A quick chronology of Italy's "strategy of tension" o [41]3.1.5 The DSSA, another Gladio? + [42]3.2 Belgium + [43]3.3 France + [44]3.4 Denmark + [45]3.5 Germany o [46]3.5.1 The 1980 Oktoberfest bomb blast o [47]3.5.2 CIA's documents released in June 2006 o [48]3.5.3 Norbert Juretzko's 2004 revelations + [49]3.6 Greece + [50]3.7 The Netherlands + [51]3.8 Norway + [52]3.9 Portugal + [53]3.10 Turkey + [54]3.11 The United Kingdom o [55]3.11.1 General Serravale's revelations o [56]3.11.2 The Guardian's November 1990 revelations concerning plans under Margaret Thatcher * [57]4 Parallel stay-behind operations in non-NATO countries + [58]4.1 Austria + [59]4.2 Finland + [60]4.3 Spain + [61]4.4 Sweden + [62]4.5 Switzerland * [63]5 The Order of the Solar Temple mystery * [64]6 FOIA requests and US State Department's 2006 communiquee * [65]7 Politicians about Gladio * [66]8 References * [67]9 Bibliography * [68]10 Films * [69]11 See also * [70]12 External links [[71]edit] General stay-behind structure [72]Emblem of NATO's "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations. Emblem of NATO's "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations. After World War II, the UK and the US decided to create "stay-behind" [73]paramilitary organizations, with the official aim of countering a possible [74]Soviet invasion through [75]sabotage and [76]guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. Arms caches were hidden, escape routes prepared, and loyal members recruited: i.e. mainly hardline anticommunists, including many [77]ex-Nazis or former fascists, whether in Italy or in other European countries. In Germany, for example, Gladio had as a central focus the [78]Gehlen Org -- also involved in [79]ODESSA "ratlines" -- named after [80]Reinhard Gehlen who would become West Germany's first head of intelligence, while the predominantly Italian P2 masonic lodge was composed of many members of the neofascist [81]Italian Social Movement (MSI), including [82]Licio Gelli. Its clandestine "cells" were to stay behind (hence the name) in enemy controlled territory and to act as [83]resistance movements, conducting sabotage, guerrilla warfare and assassinations. However, internal subversion was also considered, as the use of "false flag operations" (terror attacks attributed to the opposite side). "A briefing minute of June 1, 1959, reveals Gladio was built around 'internal subversion'. It was to play 'a determining role... not only on the general policy level of warfare, but also in the politics of emergency'. In the 1970s, with communist electoral support growing and other leftists looking menacing, the establishment turned to the 'Strategy of Tension' ... with Gladio eager to be involved."^[84][4] The rising importance of communist parties in some countries, especially in Italy in the 1970s, led to the effective realization of those plans ([85]See below). CIA founder [86]Allen Dulles was one of the key people in instituting Operation Gladio, and most of Gladio's operations were financed by the CIA. In an [87]International Herald Tribune article dated November 13, 1990, Joseph Fitchett talked about the "Nato resistance", declaring that those anti-communist networks, which were present in all of Europe, including neutral countries like Sweden and Switzerland, were partly funded by the CIA. Some went as far as claiming that [88]Democrazia Cristiana leader [89]Aldo Moro had been the "founder of (Italian) Gladio".^[90][5] However, whether these allegations are correct or not, his murder in 1978 put an end to the "[91]historic compromise" (sharing of power) attempt between the PCI and the Christian Democracy (DC), thus accomplishing one of the declared objectives of the Gladio's strategy of tension. Operating in all of NATO and even in some neutral countries or in Spain before its 1982 adhesion to NATO, Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948. After the creation of NATO in 1949, the CCWU was integrated into the "Clandestine Planning Committee" (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the [92]SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France's official retreat from NATO -- which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements. "Next to the CPC, a second secret army command center, labeled Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC), was set up in 1957 on the orders of NATO's [93]Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR). This military structure provided for significant US leverage over the secret stay-behind networks in Western Europe as the SACEUR, throughout NATO's history, has traditionally been a US General who reports to the Pentagon in Washington and is based in NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. The ACC's duties included elaborating on the directives of the network, developing its clandestine capability, and organizing bases in Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind operations in conjunction with SHAPE. According to former CIA director [94]William Colby, it was 'a major program'."^[95][1] "Coordinated by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), {the secret armies} were run by the European military secret services in close cooperation with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the British foreign secret service [96]Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, also MI6). Trained together with US [97]Green Berets and British [98]Special Air Service (SAS), these clandestine NATO soldiers, armed with underground arms-caches, prepared against a potential Soviet invasion and occupation of Western Europe, as well as the coming to power of communist parties. The clandestine international network covered the European NATO membership, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey, as well as the neutral European countries of Austria, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. 'The existence of these clandestine NATO armies remained a closely guarded secret throughout the Cold War until 1990, when the first branch of the international network was discovered in Italy. It was code-named Gladio, the Latin word for a short double-edged sword [[99]gladius]. While the press said the NATO secret armies were 'the best-kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II', the Italian government, amidst sharp public criticism, promised to close down the secret army. Italy insisted identical clandestine armies had also existed in all other countries of Western Europe. This allegation proved correct and subsequent research found that in Belgium, the secret NATO army was code-named SDRA8, in Denmark Absalon, in Germany TD BJD, in Greece LOK, in Luxemburg Stay-Behind, in the Netherlands I&O, in Norway ROC, in Portugal Aginter, in Switzerland P26, in Turkey Counter-Guerrilla, In Sweden AGAG (Aktions Gruppen Arla Gryning, and in Austria OWSGV. However, the code names of the secret armies in France, Finland and Spain remain unknown. Upon learning of the discovery, the parliament of the [100]European Union (EU) drafted a resolution sharply criticizing the fact (...) Yet only Italy, Belgium and Switzerland carried out parliamentary investigations, while the administration of President [101]George H. W. Bush refused to comment, being in the midst of preparations for war against [102]Saddam Hussein in the Persian Gulf, and fearing potential damages to the military alliance."^[103][1] If Gladio was effectively "the best-kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II", it must be underlined, however, that on several occasions, arms caches were discovered and stay-behind paramilitary organizations officially dissolved - only to be created again. But it was not until the 1990s that the full international scope of the program was disclosed to public knowledge. Giulio Andreotti, the main character of Italy's post-WWII political life, was described by Aldo Moro to his captors as "too close to NATO", Moro thus advising them to be wary. Indeed, before Andreotti's 1990 acknowledgement of Gladio's existence, he had "unequivocally" denied it in 1974, and then in 1978 to judges investigating the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing. And even in 1990, "Testimonies collected by the two men [judges [104]Felice Casson and Carlo Mastelloni investigating the 1972 Peteano fascist car bomb] and by the Commission on Terrorism on Rome, and inquiries by the Guardian, indicate Gladio was involved in activities which do not square with Andreotti's account. Links between Gladio, Italian secret services bosses and the notorious P2 masonic lodge are manifold (...) In the year that Andreotti denied Gladio's existence, the P2 treasurer, General Siro Rosetti, gave a generous account of 'a secret security structure made up of civilians, parallel to the armed forces' There are also overlaps between senior Gladio personnel and the committee of military men, [105]Rosa dei Venti (Wind Rose), which tried to stage a coup in 1970."^[106][4] [[107]edit] The European Parliament resolution concerning Gladio Main article: [108]wikisource:European Parliament resolution on Gladio On [109]November 22, [110]1990, the [111]European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Gladio, requesting full investigations - which have yet to be done - and total dismantlement of these paramilitary structures - which, as of 2005, has not been proven. The resolution condemned "the existence for 40 years of a clandestine parallel intelligence" as well as "armed operations organization in several Member States of the Community", which "escaped all democratic controls and has been run by the secret services of the states concerned in collaboration with NATO." Denouncing the "danger that such clandestine network may have interfered illegally in the internal political affairs of Member States or may still do so," especially before the fact that "in certain Member States military secret services (or uncontrolled branches thereof) were involved in serious cases of [112]terrorism and crime," the Parliament demanded a "a full investigation into the nature, structure, aims and all other aspects of these clandestine organizations or any splinter groups, their use for illegal interference in the internal political affairs of the countries concerned, the problem of terrorism in Europe and the possible collusion of the secret services of Member States or third countries." Furthermore, the resolution protested "vigorously at the assumption by certain US military personnel at SHAPE and in NATO of the right to encourage the establishment in Europe of a clandestine intelligence and operation network," asking "the Member States to dismantle all clandestine military and paramilitary networks" and to "draw up a complete list of organizations active in this field, and at the same time to monitor their links with the respective state intelligence services and their links, if any, with terrorist action groups and/or other illegal practices." Finally, the Parliament called "on its competent committee to consider holding a hearing in order to clarify the role and impact of the 'Gladio' organization and any similar bodies," and instructed "its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of NATO, the governments of the Member States and the United States Government." A. having regard to the revelation by several European governments of the existence for 40 years of a clandestine parallel intelligence and armed operations organization in several Member States of the Community, B. whereas for over 40 years this organization has escaped all democratic controls and has been run by the secret services of the states concerned in collaboration with NATO, C. fearing the danger that such clandestine network may have interfered illegally in the internal political affairs of Member States or may still do so, D. whereas in certain Member States military secret services (or uncontrolled branches thereof) were involved in serious cases of terrorism and crime as evidenced by, various judicial inquiries, E. whereas these organizations operated and continue to operate completely outside the law since they are not subject to any parliamentary control and frequently those holding the highest government and constitutional posts are kept in the dark as to these matters, F. whereas the various 'Gladio' organizations have at their disposal independent arsenals and military resources which give them an unknown strike potential, thereby jeopardizing the democratic structures of the countries in which they are operating or have been operating, G. greatly concerned at the existence of decision-making and operational bodies which are not subject to any form of democratic control and are of a completely clandestine nature at a time when greater Community cooperation in the field of security is a constant subject of discussion, 1. Condemns the clandestine creation of manipulative and operational networks and Calls for a full investigation into the nature, structure, aims and all other aspects of these clandestine organizations or any splinter groups, their use for illegal interference in the internal political affairs of the countries concerned, the problem of terrorism in Europe and the possible collusion of the secret services of Member States or third countries; 2. Protests vigorously at the assumption by certain US military personnel at SHAPE and in NATO of the right to encourage the establishment in Europe of a clandestine intelligence and operation network; 3. Calls on the governments of the Member States to dismantle all clandestine military and paramilitary networks; 4. Calls on the judiciaries of the countries in which the presence of such military organizations has been ascertained to elucidate fully their composition and modus operandi and to clarify any action they may have taken to destabilize the democratic structure of the Member States; 5. Requests all the Member States to take the necessary measures, if necessary by establishing parliamentary committees of inquiry, to draw up a complete list of organizations active in this field, and at the same time to monitor their links with the respective state intelligence services and their links, if any, with terrorist action groups and/or other illegal practices; 6. Calls on the [113]Council of Ministers to provide full information on the activities of these secret intelligence and operational services; 7. Calls on its competent committee to consider holding a hearing in order to clarify the role and impact of the 'Gladio' organization and any similar bodies; 8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the [114]Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of NATO, the governments of the Member States and the United States Government."^[115][6] [[116]edit] Allegations Gladio has been accused of trying to influence policies through the means of "[117]false flag" operations: a 2000 Italian Parliamentary Commission report from the [118]Olive Tree left-wing coalition concluded that the [119]strategy of tension used by Gladio had been supported by the United States to "stop the PCI (Italian Communist Party), and to a certain degree also the [120]PSI (Italian Socialist Party), from reaching executive power in the country". [121]Propaganda Due (aka P2), a quasi-freemasonic organization, whose existence was discovered in 1981, was said closely linked to Gladio. P2 was outlawed and disbanded in 1981, in the wake of the [122]Banco Ambrosiano scandal, which was linked to the Mafia and to the [123]Vatican Bank. Its Grand Master, Licio Gelli, was involved in most of Italy's scandals in the last three decades of the 20th century: Banco Ambrosiano's crash; [124]Tangentopoli, which gave rise to the [125]Mani pulite ("Clean hands") anticorruption operation in the 1990s; the kidnapping and the murder of Prime Minister [126]Aldo Moro in 1978 - the head of the secret services at the time, accused of negligence, was a piduista (P2 member). Licio Gelli has often said he was a friend of Argentine President [127]Juan Persn. In any case, some members of [128]Jorge Videla's [129]junta were discovered to be piduista, such as [130]Josi Lspez Rega, founder of the infamous anticommunist organization [131]Triple A, [132]Razl Alberto Lastiri or [133]Emilio Massera. The Vatican Bank was also accused of funneling covert US funds for the [134]Solidarnosc trade union movement in Poland and the [135]Contras in Nicaragua.^[136][7] Furthermore, Gladio has been linked to other events, such as [137]Operation Condor^[138][8]and the 1969 killing of anticolonialist leader [139]Eduardo Mondlane by Aginter Press, the Portuguese "stay-behind" secret army, headed by [140]Yves Guirin-Sirac. In 1995, Attorney General Giovanni Salvi accused the Italian secret services of having manipulated proofs of the Chilean secret police's ([141]DINA) involvement in the 1975 terrorist attack on former Chilean Vice-President [142]Bernardo Leighton in Rome. A similar mode of operation can also be recognized in various Cold War events, for example between the June 20, [143]1973 Ezeiza massacre in Buenos Aires (Argentina), the 1976 [144]Montejurra massacre in Spain and the 1977 Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul (Turkey). After Giulio Andreotti's revelations and the disestablishment of Gladio, the last meeting of the "Allied Clandestine Committee" (ACC), was held according to the Italian Prime minister on October 23 and 24, 1990. Despite this, various events have raised concerns about "stay-behind" armies still being in place. In 1996, the Belgian newspaper [145]Le Soir revealed the existence of a racist plan operated by the military intelligence agencies. In 1999, Switzerland was suspected of again creating a clandestine paramilitary structure, allegedly to replace the former P26 and P27 (the Swiss branches of Gladio). Furthermore, in 2005, the Italian press revealed the existence of the [146]Department of Anti-terrorism Strategic Studies (DSSA), accused of being "another Gladio". [[147]edit] Gladio's strategy of tension and internal subversion operations Further information: [148]Strategy of tension NATO's "stay-behind" organizations were never called upon to resist a Soviet invasion, but their structures continued to exist after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Internal subversion and "false flag" operations were explicitly considered by the CIA and stay-behind paramilitaries. According to a [149]November 13, [150]1990 [151]Reuters cable quoted by Statewatch, "Andri Moyen - a former member of the Belgian military security service and of the [stay-behind] network - said Gladio was not just anti-Communist but was for fighting subversion in general. He added that his predecessor had given Gladio 142 million francs ($4.6 millions) to buy new radio equipment."^[152][9] On various occasions, stay-behind movements became linked to [153]right-wing terrorism, crime and attempted coups d'itat: "Prudent Precaution or Source of Terror?" the international press pointedly asked when the secret stay-behind armies of NATO were discovered across Western Europe in late 1990. After more than ten years of research, the answer is now clear: both. The overview aboves shows that based on the experiences of World War II, all countries of Western Europe, with the support of NATO, the CIA, and MI6, had set up stay-behind armies as precaution against a potential Soviet invasion. While the safety networks and the integrity of the majority of the secret soldiers should not be criticized in hindsight after the collapse of the Soviet Union, very disturbing questions do arise with respect to reported links to terrorism. "There exist large differences among the European countries, and each case must be analyzed individually in further detail. As of now, the evidence suggests the secret armies in the seven countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands, focused exclusively on their stay-behind function and were not linked to terrorism. However, links to terrorism have been either confirmed or claimed in the nine countries, Italy, Ireland, Turkey, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Sweden, demanding further investigation."^[154][1] According to Daniele Ganser, only Italy, Belgium and Switzerland carried on parliamentary investigations, while the prosecution of various "black terrorists" (terrorismo nero, neofascist terrorism) in Italy was difficult. "On the eve of the [155]1980 Bologna bombing anniversary, Liberato Mancuso, the Bologna judge who had led the investigation and secured the initial convictions [of the Bologna bombers] broke six months of silence: "It is now understood among those engaged in the matter of democratic rights that we are isolated, and the objects of a campaign of aggression. This is what has happened to the commission into the P2, and to the magistrates. The personal risks to us are small in comparison to this offensive of denigration, which attempts to discredit the quest for truth. In Italy there has functioned for some years now a sort of conditioning, a control of our national sovereignty by the P2 - which was literally the master of the secret services, the army and our most delicate organs of state" wrote The Guardian on [156]August 3, [157]1990^[158][10] Examples of such terrorist acts include the strategy of tension in Italy, or the [159]Oktoberfest bomb blast of 1980 in Munich. In an [160]November 7, [161]1990 article from [162]Le Monde, a Gladio official said that "depending on the cases, we would block or encourage far-left or far-right terrorism",^[163][11]. [[164]edit] Gladio operations in NATO countries [[165]edit] First discovered in Italy Main article: [166]Gladio in Italy The Italian NATO stay-behind organization, dubbed "Gladio", was set up under [167]Minister of Defense (from 1953 to 1958) [168]Paolo Taviani's ([169]DC) supervision.^[170][12] However, Gladio's existence came to public knowledge when Prime Minister [171]Giulio Andreotti revealed it to the Chamber of Deputies on [172]October 24, [173]1990, although far-right terrorist [174]Vincenzo Vinciguerra had already revealed its existence during his 1984 trial. According to media analyst [175]Edward S. Herman, "both the President of Italy, [176]Francesco Cossiga, and Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, had been involved in the Gladio organization and coverup..."^[177][13] [[178]edit] Giulio Andreotti's October 24, 1990 revelations Prime minister [179]Giulio Andreotti (member of the [180]Christian Democracy, DC) publicly recognized the existence of Gladio on [181]October 24, [182]1990. Andreotti spoke of a "structure of information, response and safeguard", with arms caches and reserve officers. He gave to the Commissione Stragi, the parliamentary commission led by senator [183]Giovanni Pellegrino in charge of investigations on bombings committed during the [184]years of lead in Italy, a list of 622 civilians who according to him were part of Gladio. Andreotti also assured that 127 weapons' cache had been dismantled, and pretended that Gladio had not been involved in any of the bombings committed from the 1960s to the 1980s (further evidence implicated neofascists linked to Gladio, in particular concerning the 1969 [185]Piazza Fontana bombing, the 1972 Peteano attack by [186]Vincenzo Vinciguerra, the 1980 [187]Bologna massacre in which [188]SISMI officers were condemned for investigation diversion, along with [189]Licio Gelli, head of [190]Propaganda Due masonic lodge, etc.). Andreotti declared that the Italian military services (predecessors of the current SISMI had joined in 1964 the Allied Clandestine Committee created in 1957 by the US, France, Belgium and Greece, and which was in charge of directing Gladio's operations.^[191][14] However, Gladio was actually set up under [192]Minister of Defense (from 1953 to 1958) [193]Paolo Taviani's supervision.^[194][12] Beside, the list of Gladio members given by Andreotti was incomplete. It didn't include, for example, Antonio Arconte, who described an organization very different from the one brushed by Giulio Andreotti: an organization closely tied to the [195]SID secret service and the Atlantist strategy.^[196][15]^[197][16] According to Andreotti, the stay-behind organisations set up in all of Europe did not come "under broad NATO supervision until 1959" ([198]David Pallister, Guardian, 5 December 1990^[199][17]). [[200]edit] 2000 Parliamentary report: a "strategy of tension" In [201]2000, a Parliament Commission report from the "[202]Gruppo Democratici di Sinistra l'Ulivo" concluded that the [203]strategy of tension had been supported by the United States to "stop the PCI, and to a certain degree also the [204]PSI, from reaching executive power in the country". A 2000 Senate report, stated that "Those massacres, those bombs, those military actions had been organized or promoted or supported by men inside Italian state institutions and, as has been discovered more recently, by men linked to the structures of United States intelligence." According to [205]The Guardian, "The report [claimed] that US intelligence agents were informed in advance about several rightwing terrorist bombings, including the December 1969 [206]Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan and the [207]Piazza della Loggia bombing in Brescia five years later, but did nothing to alert the Italian authorities or to prevent the attacks from taking place. It also [alleged] that [208]Pino Rauti [current leader of the [209]MSI Fiamma-Tricolore party], a journalist and founder of the far-right [210]Ordine Nuovo (new order) subversive organisation, received regular funding from a press officer at the US embassy in Rome. 'So even before the 'stabilising' plans that Atlantic circles had prepared for Italy became operational through the bombings, one of the leading members of the subversive right was literally in the pay of the American embassy in Rome,' the report says."^[211][18] [[212]edit] General Maletti's testimony concerning alleged CIA involvement General Gianadelio Maletti, commander of the counter-intelligence section of the Italian military intelligence service from 1971 to 1975, alleged in March 2001 during the eight trial for the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombings that the CIA had foreknowledge of the event.^[213][19] According to the Guardian, he said that... "his men had discovered that a rightwing terrorist cell in the Venice region had been supplied with military explosives from Germany. Those explosives may have been obtained with the help of members of the US intelligence community, an indication that the Americans had gone beyond the infiltration and monitoring of extremist groups to instigating acts of violence"^[214][20] General Maletti told the Italian court that "the CIA, following the directives of its government, wanted to create an Italian nationalism capable of halting what it saw as a slide to the left and, for this purpose, it may have made use of rightwing terrorism," and continued on by declaring: "I believe this is what happened in other countries as well." Gianadelio Maletti also said to the court: "Don't forget that [215]Nixon was in charge and Nixon was a strange man, a very intelligent politician but a man of rather unorthodox initiatives." General Maletti himself in the first Piazza Fontana trial received a four year sentence for providing a false passport to one of the accused bombers, this sentence was overturned in 1985.^[216][21] Maletti received, while in exile, a 15-years sentence in 2000 for his role in trying to cover up a 1973 bomb attack in Milan against the Interior minister, [217]Mariano Rumor (DC - 4 killed and 45 injured), but was acquitted on appeals.^[218][22] According to the court, General Maletti knew in advance of the plan of the attacker, Gianfranco Bertoli, allegedly an anarchist but in reality a right-wing activist and a "long-standing [219]SID informant" according to The Guardian, but had deliberately failed to inform the interior minister of it.^[220][20]^[221][1] Responding to charges made by Maletti in [222]La Repubblica one year earlier, the CIA called the allegation that it was involved in the attacks in Italy "ludicrous."^[223][23] [[224]edit] A quick chronology of Italy's "strategy of tension" *1964 Operation Solo In 1964, Gladio was involved in a silent coup d'itat when General Giovanni de Lorenzo in Operation Solo forced the Italian Socialists Ministers to leave the government.^[225][24] *1969 [226]Piazza Fontana bombing According to [227]Avanguardia Nazionale member Vincenzo Vinciguerra: "The December 1969 explosion was supposed to be the detonator which would have convinced the politic and military authorities to declare a [228]state of emergency"^[229][25] *1970 [230]Golpe Borghese In 1970, the failed coup attempt Golpe Borghese gathered, around fascist [231]Junio Valerio Borghese, international terrorist [232]Stefano Delle Chiaie and P2 headmaster Licio Gelli. *1972 Gladio meeting According to The Guardian, "General Geraldo Serravalle, a former head of "Office R", told the terrorism commission that at a crucial Gladio meeting in 1972, at least half of the upper echelons "had the idea of attacking the communists before an invasion. They were preparing for civil war." Later, he put it more bluntly: "They were saying this: "Why wait for the invaders when we can make a preemptive attack now on the communists who would support the invader? The idea is now emerging of a Gladio web made up of semi-autonomous cadres which - although answerable to their secret service masters and ultimately to the NATO-CIA command - could initiate what they regarded as anti-communist operations by themselves, needing only sanction and funds from the existing 'official' Gladio column (...) General Nino Lugarese, head of [233]SISMI from 1981-84 testified on the existence of a 'Super Gladio' of 800 men responsible for 'internal intervention' against domestic political targets."^[234][4] *[235]May 31, [236]1972 Peteano massacre Magistrate [237]Felice Casson discovered that "the explosives used in the attack came from one of 139 secret weapons depots of a secret army organized under the code name Operation Gladio".^[238][13] Neofascist Vincenzo Vinciguerra confessed in 1984 to judge [239]Felice Casson of having carried out the Peteano terrorist attack, in which three policemen died, and for which the Red Brigades (BR) had been blamed before. Vinciguerra explained during his trial how he had been helped by Italian secret services to escape the police and to fly away to [240]Francoist Spain. However, he was abandoned by NATO as soon as he started talking about Gladio, declaring for example during his 1984 trial: "with the massacre of Peteano and with all those that have followed, the knowledge should now be clear that there existed a real live structure, occult and hidden, with the capacity of giving a strategic direction to the outrages. [This structure] lies within the states itself. There exists in Italy a secret force parallel to the armed forces, composed of civilians and military men, in an anti-Soviet capacity, that is, to organise a resistance on Italian soil against a Russian army... A super-organization which, lacking a Soviet military invasion which might not happen, took up the task, on NATO's behalf, of preventing a slip to the left in the politcial balance of the country. This they did, with the assistance of the official secret services and the political and military forces..." He then said to The Guardian, in 1990: "I say that every single outrage that followed from 1969 fitted into a single, organised matrix... Avanguardia Nazionale, like [241]Ordine Nuovo (the main right-wing terrorist group active during the 1970s), were being mobilised into the battle as part of an anti-communist strategy originating not with organisations deviant from the institutions of power, but from within the state itself, and specifically from within the ambit of the state's relations within the Atlantic Alliance."^[242][4]^[243][1] *[244]November 23, [245]1973 Bombing of the plane [246]Argo 16 According to a December 1, 1990 article by [247]The Independent, quoted by Statewatch, "General Geraldo Serravalle, head of Gladio from 1971 to 1974, told a television programme that he now thought the explosion aboard the plane [248]Argo 16 on [249]23 November [250]1973 was probably the work of gladiatori who were refusing to hand over their clandestine arms. Until then it was widely believed the sabotage was carried out by [251]Mossad, the Israeli foreign service, in retaliation for the pro-Libyan Italian government's decision to expel, rather than try, five Arabs who had tried to blow up an Israeli airliner. The Arabs had been spirited out of the country on board the Argo 16."^[252][6] *1974 [253]Piazza della Loggia bombing, [254]Italicus Expressen massacre, and arrest of Vito Miceli, chief of the Army intelligence service and member of P2, on charges of "conspiracy against the state" In 1974, a massacre committed by Ordine Nuovo, during an anti-fascist demonstration in Brescia, kills eight and injures 102. The same year, a bomb in the Rome to Munich train "Italicus Express" kills 12 and injures 48. Also in 1974, [255]Vito Miceli, P2 member, chief of the SIOS (Servizio Informazioni), Army Intelligence's Service from 1969 and [256]SID's head from 1970 to 1974, got arrested on charges of "conspiration against the state" concerning investigations about [257]Rosa dei venti, a state-infiltrated group involved in terrorist acts. During his trial, he revealed the existence of the NATO stay-behind secret army. *1977 Reorganization of Italian secret services following Vito Micelli's arrest In 1977, the secret services were thus reorganized in a democratic attempt. With law#801 of 24/10/1977, [258]SID was divided into [259]SISMI (Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare), [260]SISDE (Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica) and [261]CESIS (Comitato Esecutivo per i Servizi di Informazione e Sicurezza). The CESIS was given a coordination role, led by the [262]President of Council. *1978 Murder of [263]Aldo Moro Prime minister Aldo Moro was murdered in May 1978 by the Second Red Brigades (BR), headed by [264]Mario Moretti, in obscure circumstances. The head of the Italian secret services, accused of negligence, was a P2 member. The so-called "[265]historic compromise" between the Christian-Democracy and the PCI was abandoned: "As the conspiracy theorists would have it, Mr. Moro was allowed to be killed either with the acquiescence of people high in Italy's political establishment, or at their instigation, because of the historic compromise he had made with the Communist Party" ([266]The Independent, November 16, 1990, quoted by Statewatch^[267][6]) "During his captivity, Aldo Moro wrote several letters to various political figures, including Giulio Andreotti. In October 1990, "a cache of previously unknown letters written by the former Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, just prior to his execution by Red Brigade terrorists in 1978... was discovered in a Milan apartment which had once been used as a Red Brigade hideout. One of those letters made reference to the involvement of both NATO and the CIA in an Italian-based secret service, 'parallel' army", wrote [268]The Irish Times on November 15, 1990 (quoted by Statewatch,^[269][6]). "This safe house had been thoroughly searched at the time by [270]Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, the head of counter-terrorism. How is it that the papers had not been revealed before?" asked The Independent on November 16, 1990.^[271][6] Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was murdered in 1982 (see below). In May 1978, investigative journalist [272]Mino Pecorelli thought that Aldo Moro's kidnapping had been organised by a "lucid superpower" and was inspired by the "[273]logic of Yalta". He painted the figure of General [274]Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa as "general Amen," explaining that it was him that, during Aldo Moro's kidnap, had informed Interior Minister [275]Francesco Cossiga of the localization of the cave where Moro was detained. In 1978, Pecorelli wrote that Dalla Chiesa was in danger and would be assassinated (Dalla Chiesa was murdered four years later). After Aldo Moro's assassination, Mino Pecorelli published some confidential documents, mainly Moro's letters to his family. In a cryptic article published in May 1978, wrote [276]The Guardian in May 2003, Pecorelli drew a connection between Gladio, NATO's stay-behind anti-communist organisation (which existence was publicly acknowledged by Prime Minister [277]Giulio Andreotti in October 1990) and Moro's death. During his interrogation, Aldo Moro had referred to "NATO's anti-guerrilla activities."^[278][26] Mino Pecorelli, who was on [279]Licio Gelli's list of [280]P2 members discovered in 1980, was assassinated on March 20, 1979. The ammunitions used, a very rare type, where the same as discovered in the [281]Banda della Magliana 's weapons stock hidden in the Health Minister's basement. Pecorelli's assassination has been thought to be directly related to Prime Minister [282]Giulio Andreotti, who was condemned to 20 years of prison for it in 2002 before having the sentence cancelled by the [283]Supreme Court of Cassation in 2003. *1980 [284]Bologna massacre "The makings of the bomb... came from an arsenal used by Gladio... according to a parliamentary commission on terrorism... The suggested link with the Bologna massacre is potentially the most serious of all the accusations levelled against Gladio, and comes just two days after the Italian Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti, cleared Gladio's name in a speech to parliament, saying that the secret army did not drift from its formal Nato military brief", wrote The Guardian on January 16, 1991 (quoted by Statewatch^[285][6]). In November 1995, Neo-Fascists terrorists Valerio Fioravanti and Francesca Mambro, members of the Nuclei Armati Revoluzionari (NAR), were convicted to life imprisonment as executors of the 1980 Bologna massacre. The NAR neofascist group worked in cooperation with the [286]Banda della Magliana, a Mafia-linked gang which took over Rome's underground in the 1970s and was involved in various political events of the strategy of tension, including the Aldo Moro case, the 1979 assassination of [287]Mino Pecorelli, a journalist who published articles alleging links between Prime minister Giulio Andreotti and the mafia, as well as the assassination of "God's Banker" [288]Roberto Calvi in 1982. The investigations concerning the Bologna bombing proved Gladio's direct influence: Licio Gelli, P2's headmaster, received a sentence for investigation diversion, as well as Francesco Pazienza and SISMI officers Pietro Musumeci and Giuseppe Belmonte. Avanguardia Nazionale founder [289]Stefano Delle Chiaie, who was involved in the Golpe Borghese in 1970, was also accused of involvement in the Bologna massacre^[290][27]^[291][11] *1982 murder of General [292]Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, head of counter-terrorism. This article needs additional [293]citations for [294]verification. Please help [295]improve this article by adding [296]reliable references. Unsourced material may be [297]challenged and removed. (October 2007) General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa's 1982 murder, in Palermo, by [298]Pino Greco, one of the Mafia Godfather [299]Salvatore Riina's (aka Toto Riina) favorite hitmen, is allegedly part of the strategy of tension. Alberto Dalla Chiesa had arrested Red Brigades founders Renato Curcio and Alberto Franceschini in September, 1974, and was later charged of investigation concerning Aldo Moro. He had also found Aldo Moro's letters concerning Gladio. *[300]October 24, [301]1990 [302]Giulio Andreotti's acknowledgement of Operazione Gladio After the discovery by judge [303]Felice Casson of documents on Gladio in the archives of the Italian military secret service in Rome, Giulio Andreotti, head of Italian government, revealed to the Chamber of deputies the existence of "Operazione Gladio" on October 24, 1990, insisting that Italy has not been the only country with secret "stay-behind" armies. He made clear that "each chief of government had been informed of the existence of Gladio". Former Socialist Prime Minister [304]Bettino Craxi said that he had not been informed until he was confronted with a document on Gladio signed by himself while he was Prime Minister. Former Prime Minister [305]Giovanni Spadolini (Republican Party), at the time President of the Senate, and former Prime Minister [306]Arnaldo Forlani, at the time secretary of the ruling Christian Democratic Party claimed they remembered nothing. Spadolini stressed that there was a difference between what he knew as former Defence Secretary and what he knew as former Prime Minister. Only former Prime Minister [307]Francesco Cossiga (DC) confirmed Andreotti's revelations, explaining that he was even "proud and happy" for his part in setting up Gladio as junior Defence Minister of the Christian Democratic Party. This lit up a political storm, requests were made for Cossiga's (Italian President since 1985) resignation or impeachment for high treason. He refused to testify to the investigating Senate committee. Cossiga narrowly escaped his [308]impeachment by stepping down on April 1992, three months before his term expired.^[309][28] *1998 David Carrett, officer of the [310]U.S. Navy David Carrett, officer of the U.S. Navy, was indicted by magistrate [311]Guido Salvini on charge of political and military espionage and his participation to the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing, among other events. Judge Guido Salvini also opened up a case against Sergio Minetto, Italian official for the US-NATO intelligence network, and [312]pentito Carlo Digilio. La Repubblica underlined that Carlo Rocchi, CIA's man at Milan, was surprised in 1995 searching for information concerning Operation Gladio, thus demonstrating that all was not over.^[313][25] 1969 [314]Piazza Fontana bombing, which started Italy's anni di piombo, and the 1974 "[315]Italicus Expressen" train bombing were also attributed to Gladio operatives. In 1975, [316]Stefano Delle Chiaie met with [317]Pinochet during [318]Franco's funeral in Madrid, and would participate afterward in [319]operation Condor, preparing for example the attempted murder of [320]Bernardo Leighton, a Chilean Christian Democrat, or participating in the 1980 'Cocaine Coup' of [321]Luis Garcma Meza Tejada in Bolivia. In 1989, he was arrested in [322]Caracas, Venezuela and extradited to Italy to stand trial for his role in the Piazza Fontana bombing. Despite his reputation, Delle Chiaie was acquitted by the Assize Court in [323]Catanzaro in 1989, along with fellow accused Massimiliano Fachini (as yet no convictions have been made for the attack). According to Avanguardia Nazionale member Vincenzo Vinciguerra: "The December 1969 explosion was supposed to be the detonator which would have convinced the political and military authorities to declare a [324]state of emergency"^[325][25] [[326]edit] The DSSA, another Gladio? In July 2005, the Italian press revealed the existence of the [327]Department of Anti-terrorism Strategic Studies (DSSA), a "parallel police" created by [328]Gaetano Saya and [329]Riccardo Sindoca, two leaders of the National Union of the Police Forces (UNPF), a trade-union present in all the state security forces. Both said they were former members of Gladio. According to the DSSA website -- closed after these revelations -- Fabrizio Quattrocchi, murdered in Iraq after being taken hostage, was there "for the DSSA". According to the Italian investigators, the DSSA was trying to obtain international and national recognition by intelligence agencies, in order to obtain finances for its parallel activities. Furthermore, [330]Il Messaggero, quoted by [331]The Independent, declared that, according to judicial sources, wiretaps suggested DSSA members had been planning to kidnap [332]Cesare Battisti, a former communist activist. "We were seeing the genesis of something similar to the [333]death squads in [334]Argentina" (the [335]AAA groups) the magistrate is reported to have said.^[336][29] [[337]edit] Belgium Main article: [338]Belgian stay-behind network After the 1966 retreat of France from NATO, the SHAPE headquarter was displaced to [339]Mons in Belgium. In 1990, following France's denial of any "stay-behind" French army, Giulio Andreotti publicly said the last Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) meeting, at which the French branch of Gladio was present, had been on October 23 and 24, 1990, under the presidency of Belgian General Van Calster, director of the [340]Belgian military secret service SGR. In November, Guy Cokme, the Minister of the Defense, acknowledged the existence of a Belgium "stay-behind" army, lifting concerns about a similar implication in terrorist acts as in Italy. The same year, the [341]European Parliament sharply condemned NATO and the United States in a resolution for having manipulated European politics with the stay-behind armies.^[342][24] New legislation governing intelligence agencies' missions and methods was passed in 1998, following two government inquiries and the creation of a permanent parliamentary committee in 1991, which was to bring them under the authority of Belgium's federal agencies. The Commission was created following events in the 1980s, which included the [343]Brabant massacres and the activities of far right group [344]Westland New Post.^[345][30] [[346]edit] France In 1947, Interior Minister [347]Edouard Depreux revealed the existence of a secret stay-behind army in France codenamed "Plan Bleu". The next year, the "Western Union Clandestine Committee" (WUCC) was created to coordinate secret unorthodox warfare. In 1949, the WUCC was integrated into [348]NATO, whose headquarters were established in France, under the name "Clandestine Planning Committee" (CPC). In 1958, NATO founded the Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) to coordinate secret warfare. The network was supported with elements from [349]SCEDE, and had military support from the [350]11th Choc regiment. The former director of [351]DGSE, admiral [352]Pierre Lacoste, alleged in a 1992 interview with [353]The Nation, that certain elements from the network were involved with terrorist activities against [354]de Gaulle and his Algerian policy. A section of the 11th Choc regiment split over the 1962 Evian peace accords, and became part of the [355]Organisation armie secrhte (OAS), but it is unclear if this also involved members of the French stay-behind network.^[356][31]^[357][32] La Rose des Vents and Arc-en-ciel ("Rainbow") network were part of Gladio. [358]Frangois de Grossouvre was Gladio's leader for the region around [359]Lyon in France until his alleged suicide on April 7th, 1994. Captain [360]Paul Barril, among others, said that Grossouvre was murdered.^[361][33] In any case, Grossouvre would have asked Constantin Melnik, leader of the French secret services during the [362]Algerian War of Independence (1954-62), to return to activity. He was living in comfortable exile in the US, where he maintained links with the [363]Rand Corporation. Constantin Melnik is alleged to have been involved in the creation in 1952 of the Ordre Souverain du Temple Solaire, an ancestor of the [364]Order of the Solar Temple, in which the [365]SDECE (French former military intelligence agency) was interested.^[366][34] [[367]edit] Denmark The [368]neutrality and [369]factual accuracy of this article are disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the [370]talk page. This article has been tagged since December 2007. The Danish stay-behind army was code-named Absalon, after [371]a Danish archbishop, and led by [372]E.J. Harder. It was hidden in the military secret service [373]Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste (FE). In 1978, [374]William Colby, former director of the [375]CIA, released his memoirs in which he described the setting-up of stay-behind armies in [376]Scandinavia: "The situation in each Scandinavian country was different. [377]Norway and [378]Denmark were NATO allies, [379]Sweden held to the neutrality that had taken her through two world wars, and [380]Finland were required to defer in its foreign policy to the Soviet power directly on its borders. Thus, in one set of these countries the governments themselves would build their own stay-behind nets, counting on activating them from exile to carry on the struggle. These nets had to be co-ordinated with NATO's plans, their radios had to be hooked to a future exile location, and the specialised equipment had to be secured from CIA and secretly cached in snowy hideouts for later use. In other set of countries, CIA would have to do the job alone or with, at best, "unofficial" local help, since the politics of those governments barred them from collaborating with NATO, and any exposure would arouse immediate protest from the local Communist press, Soviet diplomats and loyal Scandinavians who hoped that neutrality or nonalignment would allow them to slip through a World War III unharmed."^[381][35] On [382]November 25, [383]1990, Danish daily newspaper [384]Berlingske Tidende, quoted by Daniele Ganser (2005), confirmed William Colby's revelations, by a source named "Q": "Colby's story is absolutely correct. Absalon was created in the early 1950s. Colby was a member of the world spanning laymen Catholic organisation [385]Opus Dei, which, using a modern term, could be called right-wing. Opus Dei played a central role in the setting up of Gladio in the whole of Europe and also in Denmark... The leader of Gladio was Harder who was probably not a Catholic. But there are not many Catholics in Denmark and the basic elements making up the Danish Gladio were former [WW II] resistance people - former prisoners of [386]Vestre Ffngsel, [387]Frxslevlejren, [388]Neuengamme and also of the Danish Brigade."