Operation Gladio: Difference between revisions

From ProleWiki, the proletarian encyclopedia
VisualWikitext
(added "similar operations" section)
Tag: Visual edit
(removed some redlinks)
Tag: Visual edit
Line 2: Line 2:
'''Operation Gladio''' was a covert [[CIA]] / [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] intelligence operation designed to prevent communists from achieving political power, espeically through violentely disrupting democratic elections where communists woud've likely won.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/mar/26/terrorism Terrorists 'helped by CIA' to stop rise of left in Italy]</ref>
'''Operation Gladio''' was a covert [[CIA]] / [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] intelligence operation designed to prevent communists from achieving political power, espeically through violentely disrupting democratic elections where communists woud've likely won.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/mar/26/terrorism Terrorists 'helped by CIA' to stop rise of left in Italy]</ref>


It was a clandestine "stay-behind" operation of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU), and subsequently by [[NATO]] and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]],<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pedrick|first=Clare|date=1990-11-14|title=CIA ORGANIZED SECRET ARMY IN WESTERN EUROPE|language=en-US|work=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/14/cia-organized-secret-army-in-western-europe/e0305101-97b9-4494-bc18-d89f42497d85/|access-date=2021-01-14|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first1=Philip|last1=Agee|title=Dirty Work: The CIA in Western Europe|last2=Wolf|first2=Louis|year=1978}}</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/article/a37c019c2b35ad226891e339a9b94d48 Secret Anti-Communist Network Exposed in Norway in 1978] by the [[Associated Press]]</ref> in collaboration with several European intelligence agencies.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Daniele|last=Ganser|title=NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe|year=2004}}</ref> Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO [[stay-behind]] organizations, "Operation Gladio" is used as an informal name for all of them.<ref name="Haberman Times 1990">{{Cite news|last1=Haberman|first1=Clyde|last2=Times|first2=Special to The New York|title=EVOLUTION IN EUROPE; Italy Discloses Its Web Of Cold War Guerrillas|journal=The New York Times|date=Nov 16, 1990|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/16/world/evolution-in-europe-italy-discloses-its-web-of-cold-war-guerrillas.html|access-date=Feb 20, 2015}}</ref>
It was a clandestine "stay-behind" operation of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU), and subsequently by [[NATO]] and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]],<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pedrick|first=Clare|date=1990-11-14|title=CIA ORGANIZED SECRET ARMY IN WESTERN EUROPE|language=en-US|work=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/14/cia-organized-secret-army-in-western-europe/e0305101-97b9-4494-bc18-d89f42497d85/|access-date=2021-01-14|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first1=Philip|last1=Agee|title=Dirty Work: The CIA in Western Europe|last2=Wolf|first2=Louis|year=1978}}</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/article/a37c019c2b35ad226891e339a9b94d48 Secret Anti-Communist Network Exposed in Norway in 1978] by the [[Associated Press]]</ref> in collaboration with several European intelligence agencies.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Daniele|last=Ganser|title=NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe|year=2004}}</ref> Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organizations, "Operation Gladio" is used as an informal name for all of them.<ref name="Haberman Times 1990">{{Cite news|last1=Haberman|first1=Clyde|last2=Times|first2=Special to The New York|title=EVOLUTION IN EUROPE; Italy Discloses Its Web Of Cold War Guerrillas|journal=The New York Times|date=Nov 16, 1990|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/16/world/evolution-in-europe-italy-discloses-its-web-of-cold-war-guerrillas.html|access-date=Feb 20, 2015}}</ref>


During the [[Cold War]], some [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] armed groups engaged in the harassment of [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] parties, [[torture]], [[Right-wing terrorism|terrorist attacks]], and [[Massacre|massacres]] in countries such as [[Italy]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Del Pero|first=Mario|date=2001|title=The United States and "Psychological Warfare" in Italy, 1948-1955|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2674730|journal=The Journal of American History|volume=87|issue=4|pages=1304–1334|doi=10.2307/2674730|jstor=2674730|pmid=17152679|issn=0021-8723}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ganser|first=Daniele|date=2006-10-01|title=The CIA in Western Europe and the abuse of human rights|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02684520600957712|journal=Intelligence and National Security|volume=21|issue=5|pages=760–781|doi=10.1080/02684520600957712|s2cid=154898281|issn=0268-4527}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Philip|last=Willan|title=Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy|year=2002}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Paul L.|last=Williams|title=Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia|year=2015}}</ref> The role of the [[CIA]] and other intelligence organisations in Gladio—the extent of its activities during the Cold War era and any responsibility for [[Terrorism|terrorist attacks]] perpetrated in Italy during the "[[Years of Lead (Italy)|Years of Lead]]" (late 1960s to early 1980s)—are the subject of debate. Researcher Francesco Cacciatore, in an article based on recently de-classified documents, writes that a "note from March 1972 specified that the possibility of using ‘Gladio’ in the event of internal subversions, not provided for by the organization’s statute and not supported by NATO directives or plans, was outside the scope of the original stay-behind and, therefore, ‘never to be considered among the purposes of the operation’. The pressure put forward by the Americans during the 1960s to use ‘Gladio’ for purposes other than those of a stay-behind network would appear to have failed in the long term."<ref>Francesco Cacciatore (2021): Stay-behind networks and interim flexible strategy: the ‘Gladio’ case and US covert intervention in Italy in the Cold War, Intelligence and National Security, DOI: 10.1080/02684527.2021.1911436</ref>
During the [[Cold War]], some [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] armed groups engaged in the harassment of left-wing parties, torture, terrorist attacks, and massacres in countries such as [[Italy]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Del Pero|first=Mario|date=2001|title=The United States and "Psychological Warfare" in Italy, 1948-1955|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2674730|journal=The Journal of American History|volume=87|issue=4|pages=1304–1334|doi=10.2307/2674730|jstor=2674730|pmid=17152679|issn=0021-8723}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ganser|first=Daniele|date=2006-10-01|title=The CIA in Western Europe and the abuse of human rights|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02684520600957712|journal=Intelligence and National Security|volume=21|issue=5|pages=760–781|doi=10.1080/02684520600957712|s2cid=154898281|issn=0268-4527}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Philip|last=Willan|title=Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy|year=2002}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Paul L.|last=Williams|title=Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia|year=2015}}</ref> The role of the [[CIA]] and other intelligence organisations in Gladio—the extent of its activities during the Cold War era and any responsibility for terrorist attacks perpetrated in Italy during the "[[Years of Lead (Italy)|Years of Lead]]" (late 1960s to early 1980s)—are the subject of debate. Researcher Francesco Cacciatore, in an article based on recently de-classified documents, writes that a "note from March 1972 specified that the possibility of using ‘Gladio’ in the event of internal subversions, not provided for by the organization’s statute and not supported by NATO directives or plans, was outside the scope of the original stay-behind and, therefore, ‘never to be considered among the purposes of the operation’. The pressure put forward by the Americans during the 1960s to use ‘Gladio’ for purposes other than those of a stay-behind network would appear to have failed in the long term."<ref>Francesco Cacciatore (2021): Stay-behind networks and interim flexible strategy: the ‘Gladio’ case and US covert intervention in Italy in the Cold War, Intelligence and National Security, DOI: 10.1080/02684527.2021.1911436</ref>


To date, only [[Italy]], [[Switzerland]] and [[Belgium]] have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter.<ref>[http://www.senate.be/lexdocs/S0523/S05231297.pdf "Belgian parliamentary report concerning the stay-behind network"], named "Enquête parlementaire sur l'existence en Belgique d'un réseau de renseignements clandestin international" or "Parlementair onderzoek met betrekking tot het bestaan in België van een clandestien internationaal inlichtingenetwerk" pp. 17–22</ref><ref name=":0">Len Scott, R. Gerald Hughes ''Intelligence, Crises and Security: Prospects and Retrospects'', Routledge, 2008, p. 123</ref> [[Guido Salvini (judge)|Guido Salvini]], a judge who worked in the Italian Massacres Commission, concluded that some right-wing terrorist organizations of the [[Years of Lead (Italy)|Years of Lead]]: La Fenice, [[National Vanguard (Italy)|National Vanguard]] and [[Ordine Nuovo]] were the trench troops of a secret army, remotely controlled by exponents of the Italian state apparatus and linked to the CIA.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=la Repubblica/fatti: Strage di Piazza Fontana spunta un agente Usa|url=https://www.repubblica.it/online/fatti/fontana/fontana/fontana.html|access-date=2020-10-28|website=www.repubblica.it}}</ref> Salvini said that the CIA encouraged them to commit atrocities.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|date=2001-07-02|title=Three jailed for 1969 Milan bomb|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/02/philipwillan|access-date=2020-10-28|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The Swiss inquiry found that British intelligence secretly cooperated with their army in an operation named [[Projekt-26|P-26]] and provided training in combat, communications, and sabotage.<ref name="swiss">Norton-Taylor, Richard. [http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/swiss.subversion_graun_20sep1991.html UK trained secret Swiss force]" in ''[[The Guardian]]'', September 20, 1991, p. 7.</ref>
To date, only [[Italy]], [[Switzerland]] and [[Belgium]] have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter.<ref>[http://www.senate.be/lexdocs/S0523/S05231297.pdf "Belgian parliamentary report concerning the stay-behind network"], named "Enquête parlementaire sur l'existence en Belgique d'un réseau de renseignements clandestin international" or "Parlementair onderzoek met betrekking tot het bestaan in België van een clandestien internationaal inlichtingenetwerk" pp. 17–22</ref><ref name=":0">Len Scott, R. Gerald Hughes ''Intelligence, Crises and Security: Prospects and Retrospects'', Routledge, 2008, p. 123</ref> Guido Salvini, a judge who worked in the Italian Massacres Commission, concluded that some right-wing terrorist organizations of the Years of Lead: La Fenice, National Vanguard and Ordine Nuovo were the trench troops of a secret army, remotely controlled by exponents of the Italian state apparatus and linked to the CIA.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=la Repubblica/fatti: Strage di Piazza Fontana spunta un agente Usa|url=https://www.repubblica.it/online/fatti/fontana/fontana/fontana.html|access-date=2020-10-28|website=www.repubblica.it}}</ref> Salvini said that the CIA encouraged them to commit atrocities.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|date=2001-07-02|title=Three jailed for 1969 Milan bomb|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/02/philipwillan|access-date=2020-10-28|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The Swiss inquiry found that British intelligence secretly cooperated with their army in an operation named [[Projekt-26|P-26]] and provided training in combat, communications, and sabotage.<ref name="swiss">Norton-Taylor, Richard. [http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/swiss.subversion_graun_20sep1991.html UK trained secret Swiss force]" in ''[[The Guardian]]'', September 20, 1991, p. 7.</ref>


== Similar operations ==
== Similar operations ==

Revision as of 05:25, 10 March 2022

Some parts of this article were copied from external sources and may contain errors or lack of appropriate formatting. You can help improve this article by editing it and cleaning it up. (November 2021)

Operation Gladio was a covert CIA / NATO intelligence operation designed to prevent communists from achieving political power, espeically through violentely disrupting democratic elections where communists woud've likely won.[1]

It was a clandestine "stay-behind" operation of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU), and subsequently by NATO and the CIA,[2][3][4] in collaboration with several European intelligence agencies.[5] Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organizations, "Operation Gladio" is used as an informal name for all of them.[6]

During the Cold War, some anti-communist armed groups engaged in the harassment of left-wing parties, torture, terrorist attacks, and massacres in countries such as Italy.[7][8][9][10] The role of the CIA and other intelligence organisations in Gladio—the extent of its activities during the Cold War era and any responsibility for terrorist attacks perpetrated in Italy during the "Years of Lead" (late 1960s to early 1980s)—are the subject of debate. Researcher Francesco Cacciatore, in an article based on recently de-classified documents, writes that a "note from March 1972 specified that the possibility of using ‘Gladio’ in the event of internal subversions, not provided for by the organization’s statute and not supported by NATO directives or plans, was outside the scope of the original stay-behind and, therefore, ‘never to be considered among the purposes of the operation’. The pressure put forward by the Americans during the 1960s to use ‘Gladio’ for purposes other than those of a stay-behind network would appear to have failed in the long term."[11]

To date, only Italy, Switzerland and Belgium have had parliamentary inquiries into the matter.[12][13] Guido Salvini, a judge who worked in the Italian Massacres Commission, concluded that some right-wing terrorist organizations of the Years of Lead: La Fenice, National Vanguard and Ordine Nuovo were the trench troops of a secret army, remotely controlled by exponents of the Italian state apparatus and linked to the CIA.[14] Salvini said that the CIA encouraged them to commit atrocities.[15] The Swiss inquiry found that British intelligence secretly cooperated with their army in an operation named P-26 and provided training in combat, communications, and sabotage.[16]

Similar operations

In modern times, intelligence agencies carry out similar operations. An example of this is the Spanish intelligence agency backed an ISIS terror attack to scare Catalan independence supporters.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Terrorists 'helped by CIA' to stop rise of left in Italy
  2. ↑
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ Secret Anti-Communist Network Exposed in Norway in 1978 by the Associated Press
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑
  8. ↑
  9. ↑
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ Francesco Cacciatore (2021): Stay-behind networks and interim flexible strategy: the ‘Gladio’ case and US covert intervention in Italy in the Cold War, Intelligence and National Security, DOI: 10.1080/02684527.2021.1911436
  12. ↑ "Belgian parliamentary report concerning the stay-behind network", named "Enquête parlementaire sur l'existence en Belgique d'un réseau de renseignements clandestin international" or "Parlementair onderzoek met betrekking tot het bestaan in België van een clandestien internationaal inlichtingenetwerk" pp. 17–22
  13. ↑ Len Scott, R. Gerald Hughes Intelligence, Crises and Security: Prospects and Retrospects, Routledge, 2008, p. 123
  14. ↑
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ Norton-Taylor, Richard. UK trained secret Swiss force" in The Guardian, September 20, 1991, p. 7.
  17. ↑ Ben Norton. "Spanish spy agency backed terror attack to 'scare' Catalan independence supporters" Moderate Rebels.
Retrieved from "https://en.prolewiki.org/index.php?title=Operation_Gladio&oldid=10383"