Operation Gladio

OPERATION GLADIO
By Daniel Beck
November 2021

Disclaimer
The purpose of this paper is to examine actions of United States government officials and/or agencies, according to official and mainstream media sources, for failures or potential failures to perform one or more of the following:

1. Properly execute justice
2. Operate with reasonable transparency
3. Appropriately address instances of dereliction of duty
4. Appropriately address instances of corruption

Every detail found in each section can also be found in one or more of the sources listed at the end of that section. Meaningful rebuttals, counter-rebuttals, etc., to the main points covered in this paper have been included to the best of my ability and awareness.

This paper does not assert that every detail of every section is true. In fact, every detail cannot possibly be true since some details contradict others. This paper also does not assert that all sources cited espouse the overall narrative of their sections or the paper as a whole. In fact, occasionally sources cited are skeptical or derisive of said narratives.

The method of research used for developing this paper has been called “open-source intelligence” because intelligence agencies develop most of their insights by searching through publicly available repositories of information. In the 2006 film, “9/11 Press for Truth,” which documents the creation of the 9/11 Commission, veteran CIA analyst Ray McGovern stated:

“The whole mystique of intelligence is that you acquire this very valuable information covertly. [However] if the truth be told, about 80 percent of the information that one needs is available in open-source materials.”

Open-source intelligence involves accumulating seemingly unrelated or loosely related data points from articles/books which are often given low priority/visibility in daily news cycles. However, once assembled they can form accurate narratives that may differ greatly from narratives being promoted by a given country’s government.

This paper contains copyrighted material such as media excerpts that have not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This material is included to advance the education of criminal justice, historical, political, and economic issues. I believe this constitutes a “fair use” of such material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. However, if the copyright owner believes my use of such material does not constitute fair use and would like it removed, please contact me through my website, www.danielbecklessons.com, and I will accommodate all reasonable requests.

This paper is available free of charge through my website, www.danielbecklessons.com. If you benefit from this and other books/papers/articles I’ve written, please consider supporting my work with a donation through my website. Regardless of whether you donate, thank you sincerely for taking the time to familiarize yourself with this important information.

Summary
Gladio Origins
In 1948 a CIA covert operations unit was created to establish secret armies throughout Europe to support NATO in the event of a Soviet invasion. The unit hid arms caches and trained local paramilitary groups in guerilla warfare in numerous countries throughout Europe. In Italy, the program was code-named Gladio. (Guardian (12/5/1990, “How MI6…”))

From the late 1960s to the late 1980s, there was a period of social and political turmoil in Italy known as the “Years of Lead”. The turmoil was due in large part to a series of terrorist bombings. At the time, the attacks were blamed on left-wing radicals, but later attributed to the Gladio program. The allegations came from the Italian parliament (Guardian (6/24/2000)), the European Union (EU), and numerous European mainstream media sources (ex. BBC (6/24/1992), Independent (10/10/1993), Guardian (12/10/1990, 3/25/2001, 6/7/1992, 12/5/1990 (“Secret Agents…”))). The purpose of the terrorist attacks was to convince Italian voters to shun leftist political candidates (Independent (10/10/1993)) and accept greater state security measures (Guardian (6/7/1992)). The attacks were part of what came to be known as the “strategy of tension” (Guardian (6/24/2000)).

1969 Bombing and Northwoods
In 1969, a terrorist bombing occurred in the Piazza Fontana in Milan. The attack killed 16 (Independent, 12/1/1990) and injured over 100 (BBC, 12/1/2005). The head of Italian counterintelligence, General Giandelio Maletti testified under oath that the bombing was carried out on orders from the CIA to discredit communists (Guardian (3/25/2001)). The CIA denied the allegation (CBC). The Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in 1969 was General Lyman Lemitzer, who years earlier proposed the CIA explode bombs in U.S. cities and blame them on Cuban terrorists to justify an invasion of Cuba (ABC, Reuters, JCOS).

1972 Car Bombing
In 1972, a car bomb exploded in Peteano killing three military police officers. The attack was initially blamed on left-wing terrorists, but later traced to right-wing terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra, who was tried and convicted for the crime in 1984. During the trial, he explained that the Peteano bombing and all subsequent bombings were executed on behalf of NATO as part of Gladio (Guardian (12/5/1990, “Secret Agents…”)). Vinciguerra also explained that they wanted to kill innocent civilians so the public would ask the government for greater security (BBC (6/24/1992). Forensic reports determined conclusively that the explosives came from a nearby Gladio arms cache (Independent (10/10/1993), WAPO (11/14/1990)).

1974 Arrest of Italian Secret Service Chief
In 1974, the Italian Secret Service Chief, General Vito Miceli, was arrested during an investigation into right-wing terrorism in Italy (NYT (11/1/1974)). Miceli had previously been in charge of the NATO Security Office. During his trial, Miceli testified that he had indeed created a secret Gladio unit at the behest of the United States and NATO (Ganser (8, 78)). Italian Defense Minister Paulo Taviani and former Secret Service Chief General Gerardo Serravalle corroborated Miceli (Counterpunch). With support from Secretary of State Henry Kissenger, the CIA secretly gave $6 million in cash payments to right-wing political leaders (NYT (1/7/1976)) and $800,000 to Miceli (NYT (1/30/1976), London Times (1/31/1976)).

1980 Bologna Bombing and Other Bombings
In 1980, a bomb exploded at the Bologna railway station, killing 85 and injuring 200. Forensics once again showed that the bomb came from NATO (Guardian (1/16/1991), Counterpunch). All evidence indicated the attack was masterminded from within Gladio to scare voters away from supporting communist political candidates (Guardian (6/7/1992), Independent (10/10/1993). Two Italian Secret Service agents were convicted of trying to mislead investigations in the bombing (AP (7/25/1985, 7/11/1988), UPI), as was Licio Gelli, who led the infamous “Propaganda Due” masonic lodge to which numerous Italian right-wing political/intelligence/military officials belonged (Ganser (pg. 74)). Several other train/plane bombings were also allegedly part of the Gladio program (Independent (12/1/1990), as were a series of random Belgian supermarket massacres (Guardian (6/7/1992)).

Exposure of Gladio
In 1990, Italian Judge Felice Casson, while investigating the 1972 Peteano car-bombing discovered documentary evidence of the Gladio paramilitary network and its links to the prior decades of terrorism, which sparked an Italian Parliament investigation (WAPO (11/14/1990), Guardian (12/5/1990, “The Gladio File…”, 12/5/1990, “Secret Agents…”)).

The Italian parliament ordered former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti to disclose everything he knew about Gladio. He explained the origins, purpose, weapons caches, and said every other top European government leader was aware of it. Various top leaders initially denied and then confessed their awareness of the program, as did NATO (Ganser (pgs. 7-14, 25)).

The European Union passed a resolution stating unequivocally that NATO and intelligence services from its member states had been involved in acts of terrorism and that each member state should investigate itself (EU). Despite the resolution, only Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland conducted internal investigations. The United States and NATO made no response to the resolution, did not conduct any investigation, and did not explain their involvement (Ganser (pg. 23)). The U.S. government went on to reject numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests including from the Italian Parliament, the Austrian government, and the National Security Archive at the George Washington University (Ganser (pg. 257)).

The Italian Parliament’s investigation produced a 300-page report which unequivocally concluded that United States intelligence orchestrated all the bombings from the “Years of Lead” as part of the Gladio terrorism program (Guardian (6/24/2000)).

FM 30-31B and State Department Response to Gladio
FM 30-31B refers to the allegedly fake appendix B of the classified 1970 Army Field Manual FM 30-31. The appendix advises executing terrorist attacks to be blamed on radical groups to convince allied governments of the need for counter-action. (Guardian (6/7/1992), State Department).

It was cited by the Italian parliament during the trial of Gladio asset Licio Gelli’s (Ganser (pg. 297)). It was said to be authentic by CIA Director of Intelligence Ray Cline and Gelli during interviews with the BBC (6/24/1992). However, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee (Washington Post (1/17/1979)) and the State Department denied it.

In 2006, sixteen years after the European Union resolution and six years after the Italian Parliament investigation concluded, the State Department in a press release gave the very first official U.S. government response to Gladio. The press release absurdly did not acknowledge either the E.U. resolution or the Italian Parliament report. Instead, it only vaguely acknowledged that “some media accounts” alleged terrorism (State Department). The press release did not explicitly deny U.S. involvement in said terrorism, but defended itself by quoting one contrasting (and inaccurate) press report from Nation.

Sources:
ABC News, 1/7/2006, “U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War with Cuba”
Associated Press, 7/25/1985, “Former Top Intelligence Official Convicted, Sentenced"
Associated Press, 7/11/1988, “Four Convicted Of Mass Murder In Italian Bombing That Killed 85”
BBC, 6/24/1992, “Gladio” (three-part documentary)
BBC, 12/12/2005, “ON THIS DAY: 1969: Deadly Bomb Blasts in Italy”
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 8/5/2000, “CIA Knew, But Didn’t Stop Bombings in Italy – Report”
Counterpunch, 7/31/2020, “The Bologna Massacre, the ‘Strategy of Tension’ and Operation Gladio”
Daniele Ganser, 2005, “NATO’s Secret Armies,” pg. 7-14, 23, 25, 74, 78, 257, 297
European Union, 11/22/1990, “European Parliament Resolution on Gladio”
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “How MI6 and SAS Joined In”
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “Secret Agents, Freemasons, Fascists... and a Top-Level Campaign of Political ‘Destabilisation’”
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “The Gladio File: Did Fear of Communism Throw West into the Arms of Terrorists?”
Guardian, 12/10/1990, “Undercover NATO Group ‘May Have Had Terrorist Links’”
Guardian, 1/16/1991, “Bomb used at Bologna came from NATO Unit”
Guardian, 6/7/1992, “GLADIO Europe's Best Kept Secret”
Guardian, 6/24/2000, “US ‘Supported Anti-Left Terror in Italy’; Report Claims Washington Used a Strategy of Tension in the Cold War to Stabilise the Centre-Right”
Guardian, 3/25/2001, “Terrorists ‘Helped by CIA’ to Stop Rise of Left in Italy”
Independent, 12/1/1990, “Gladio is Still Opening Wounds”
Independent, 10/10/1993, “The Terror Trail That Won’t Grow Cold”
Joint Chiefs of Staff (signed by Chairman Lyman Lemitzer), 3/13/1962, “MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE; Subject: Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba” (A.K.A. “Northwoods”)
London Times, 1/31/1976, “$800,000 for Italy’s Intelligence Chief in Spite of CIA’s Objections”
Nation, 4/6/1992, “The C.I.A.'s Secret Armies in Europe”
New York Times, 11/1/1974, “General Who Led Intelligence Agency Arrested in Italy”
New York Times, 1/7/1976, “C.I.A Is Reported to Give Anti-Reds in Italy $6 Million”
New York Times, 1/30/1976, “U.S. Paid $800,000 To Italian General; C.I.A. Fought Move”
Reuters, 11/18/1997, “Pentagon Planned 1960s Cuban ‘Terror Campaign’”
United Press International, 7/11/1998, “A Court Convicted Four Neo-Fascists Monday of Carrying Out...”
United States Department of State, 1/20/2006, “Misinformation About ‘Gladio/Stay Behind” Networks Resurfaces” (press release)
Washington Post, 1/17/1979, “House Intelligence Committee Begins Inquiry into Allegations of Forgeries”
Washington Post, 11/14/1990, “CIA ORGANIZED SECRET ARMY IN WESTERN EUROPE”

Gladio Origins
According to the Guardian (12/5/1990, “How MI6…”) (citing the 1976 “Church Committee” Senate report on the CIA), in 1948 a CIA covert operations unit called the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was created on the advice of CFR member and U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, George Kenan, the man credited with inventing “containment policy”. The mission of the unit was to establish secret armies throughout Europe which could support NATO in the event of an invasion by the Soviet Union.

Initially under the direction of CIA director Allen Dulles, beginning in the early 1950s, the unit hid arms caches and trained local paramilitary groups in guerilla warfare in numerous countries throughout Europe. The New York Times (11/16/1990) listed Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Turkey Denmark, Switzerland, and Sweden. Per the Guardian (6/7/1992), it was standard policy to deny the program’s existence.

In Italy, the program was code-named Gladio. Per Swiss historian Daniele Ganser, Italy’s Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti said weapons caches were hidden “in forests,

meadows and even under churches and cemeteries.” The Washington Post put the number of such caches at 139. Per the New York Times (11/16/1990), Andreotti further said over six hundred Italian civilians were trained in guerrilla warfare by intelligence operatives from Italy, the United States, and NATO.

From the late 1960s to the late 1980s, there was a period of social and political turmoil in Italy known as the “Years of Lead”. The turmoil was due in part to a series of terrorist bombings. At the time, the attacks were blamed on left-wing radicals, but later attributed to the Gladio program, according to the Independent (10/10/1993). The allegations came from the Italian government (Guardian (6/24/2000)), the European Union (EU), and numerous European mainstream media sources (ex. BBC (6/24/1992), Independent (10/10/1993), Guardian (12/10/1990, 3/25/2001, 12/5/1990 (“Secret Agents…”))). The purpose of the terrorist attacks was to convince Italian voters to shun leftist political candidates (Independent (10/10/1993)) and accept greater state security measures (Guardian (6/7/1992)). Per the Guardian (6/24/2000), the approach later came to be known as the “strategy of tension”.

Sources:
BBC, 6/24/1992, “Gladio” (three-part documentary)
European Union, 11/22/1990, “European Parliament Resolution on Gladio”
Daniele Ganser, 2005, “NATO’s Secret Armies,” pg. 12
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “How MI6 and SAS Joined In”
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “Secret Agents, Freemasons, Fascists... and a Top-Level Campaign of Political ‘Destabilisation’”
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “The Gladio File: Did Fear of Communism Throw West into the Arms of Terrorists?”
Guardian, 12/10/1990, “Undercover NATO Group ‘May Have Had Terrorist Links’”
Guardian, 6/7/1992, “GLADIO Europe's Best Kept Secret”
Guardian, 6/24/2000, “US ‘Supported Anti-Left Terror in Italy’; Report Claims Washington Used a Strategy of Tension in the Cold War to Stabilise the Centre-Right”
Guardian, 3/25/2001, “Terrorists ‘Helped by CIA’ to Stop Rise of Left in Italy”
Independent, 10/10/1993, “The Terror Trail That Won’t Grow Cold”
New York Times, 11/16/1990, “EVOLUTION IN EUROPE; Italy Discloses Its Web Of Cold War Guerrillas”
Washington Post, 11/14/1990, “CIA ORGANIZED SECRET ARMY IN WESTERN EUROPE”

1969 Bombing and Northwoods
In 1969, a terrorist bombing occurred in the Piazza Fontana in Milan. The attack killed 16 (Independent, 12/1/1990), injured over 100 (BBC, 12/1/2005), and was initially blamed on left-wing extremists. Over thirty years later, in March of 2001, the former head of Italian counterintelligence, General Giandelio Maletti, presented unspecified “evidence” to an Italian court during the trial of newly accused right-wing terrorists. Per the Guardian (3/25/2001), Maletti testified under oath that the bombing was carried out on orders from the CIA to discredit communists. He stated:

“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… I believe this is what happened in other countries as well.”

He further explained in an interview with the Guardian:

“The impression was that the Americans would do anything to stop Italy from sliding to the left.”

Likewise, Counterpunch Magazine quoted Maletti as stating:

“The CIA gave its tacit approval to a series of bombings in Italy in the 1970s to sow instability and keep communists from taking power.”

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the CIA denied the allegation. Ten years later, a 300-page paper produced by Italy’s parliamentary terrorism commission concluded that this was one of several bombings in Italy about which U.S. intelligence was informed in advance, but did nothing to prevent or alert the Italian authorities, per the Guardian (6/24/2000).

Interestingly, the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in 1969 was General Lyman Lemitzer, who several years earlier, as Chairmen of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, proposed to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara that the CIA set off bombs in U.S. cities and blame them on Cuban terrorists to justify an invasion of Cuba. This once top-secret proposal, now declassified, was called “Operation Northwoods,” and was later covered in the media by ABC and Reuters. It stated:

“We could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington… Exploding a few plastic bombs in carefully chosen spots, the arrest of Cuban agents and the release of prepared documents substantiating Cuban involvement also would be helpful…”

Sources:
ABC News, 1/7/2006, “U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War with Cuba”
BBC, 12/12/2005, “ON THIS DAY: 1969: Deadly Bomb Blasts in Italy”
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 8/5/2000, “CIA Knew, But Didn’t Stop Bombings in Italy – Report”
Counterpunch, 7/31/2020, “The Bologna Massacre, the ‘Strategy of Tension’ and Operation Gladio”
Guardian, 6/23/2000, “US ‘Supported Anti-Left Terror in Italy’; Report Claims Washington Used a Strategy of Tension in the Cold War to Stabilise the Centre-Right”
Guardian, 3/25/2001, “Terrorists ‘Helped by CIA’ to Stop Rise of Left in Italy”
Guardian, 6/7/1992, “GLADIO Europe's Best Kept Secret”
Independent, 12/1/1990, “Gladio is Still Opening Wounds”
Joint Chiefs of Staff (signed by Chairman Lyman Lemitzer), 3/13/1962, “MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE; Subject: Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba” (A.K.A. “Northwoods”)
Reuters, 11/18/1997, “Pentagon Planned 1960s Cuban ‘Terror Campaign’”

1972 Car Bombing
According to the Guardian (12/5/1990, “Secret Agents…”), in 1972, a car bomb exploded near the village Peteano killing three military police officers. The attack was initially blamed on left-wing terrorists, but was later traced to right-wing terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra, who was tried and convicted for the crime in 1984. During the trial, he explained that the Peteano bombing and all subsequent bombings were executed on behalf of NATO as part of Gladio. He stated:

"With the massacre of Peteano, and with all those that have followed, the knowledge should by now be clear that there existed a real live structure, occult and hidden, with the capacity of giving a strategic direction to the outrages...[it] lies within the state 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 organize a resistance on Italian soil against a Russian army...A secret organization, a super-organization with a network of communications, arms and explosives, and men trained to use them...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 political balance of the country. This they did, with the assistance of the official secret services and the political and military forces.”

Corresponding to Vinciguerra’s claims, forensic reports determined conclusively that the explosives used in the car bombing came from a nearby Gladio arms cache, according to the Independent (10/10/1993) and Washington Post.

Several years later, after the Italian authorities attempted to block access to him, Vinciguerra explained the following in an interview from prison that aired on the BBC documentary, “Gladio”:

“You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple. They were supposed to force these people, the Italian public, to turn to the State to ask for greater security. This is the political logic that lies behind all the massacres and the bombings which remain unpunished, because the State cannot convict itself or declare itself responsible for what happened.”

Similarly, Vinciguerra told the Guardian (12/5/1990, “Secret Agents…”):

“The terrorist line was followed by camouflaged people, people belonging to the security apparatus, or those linked to the state apparatus through rapport or collaboration. I say that every single outrage that followed from 1969 fitted into a single, organized matrix... as part of an anti-communist strategy originating… from within the state itself, and specifically from within the ambit of the state's relations within the [NATO] Atlantic Alliance.”

Per another Guardian (6/7/1992) article, Vinciguerra also explained how the authorities attempted to cover up the crime and sabotage any investigation, stating:

“A whole mechanism came into action… the carabinieri [military police], the Minister of the Interior, the customs services and the military and civilian intelligence services accepted the ideological reasoning behind the attack… It was more convenient to cover it up than to turn on those who killed their comrades. All the members of the Red Brigades [the right-wing terrorist who executed the bombing] were known by the police, the carabinieri and the intelligence bureau and no one made any attempt to stop them.”

Sources:
BBC, 6/24/1992, “Gladio” (three-part documentary)
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “Secret Agents, Freemasons, Fascists... and a Top-Level Campaign of Political ‘Destabilisation’”
Guardian, 6/7/1992, “GLADIO Europe's Best Kept Secret”
Independent, 10/10/1993, “The Terror Trail That Won’t Grow Cold”
Washington Post, 11/14/1990, “CIA ORGANIZED SECRET ARMY IN WESTERN EUROPE”

1974 Arrest of Italian Secret Service Chief
Per New York Times (11/1/1974), in 1974, the Italian Secret Service Chief, General Vito Miceli, was arrested during an investigation into right-wing terrorism in Italy. Per historian Daniel Ganser, Miceli had previously been in charge of the NATO Security Office. During his trial, on November 17, 1974, Miceli testified:

“A Super SID [Italian Secret Service] on my orders? Of course! But I have not organized it myself… This was the United States and NATO who asked me to do it!”

Likewise, per Ganser, in 1977 Miceli testified:

“There has always been a certain top-secret organization, known to the top authorities of the state and operating in the domain of the secret services, involved in activities that have nothing to do with intelligence gathering… If you want details, I cannot give them to you.”

Then, in 1990, when Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti made Gladio’s existence public, Miceli shouted:

“I have gone to prison because I did not want to reveal the existence of this super-secret organization. And now Andreotti comes along and tells it to Parliament!”

Others corroborated U.S. influence over the Italian secret services. Counterpunch Magazine quoted former Italian Defense Minister Paulo Taviani as telling a magistrate:

“The Italian secret services were bossed and financed by CIA agents.”

It likewise quoted former Secret Service Chief General Gerardo Serravalle as saying that as Gladio evolved into a terrorist operation “representatives of the CIA were always present” at the meetings.

During Miceli’s trial, reports emerged (New York Times (1/30/1976), London Times (1/31/1976)) that the U.S. ambassador to Italy gave Miceli $800,000 in 1972 for an undisclosed purpose with approval from then-National Security Council director Henry Kissinger.

Similarly, Guardian (11/18/1990) reported that the Rome station’s second-in-command, deputy station chief Ted Shackley facilitated a meeting in the early 1970s between multiple CIA agents, Italian Gladio asset Licio Gelli, and Nixon's Chief of Staff Alexander Haig. The meeting resulted in Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig providing additional funds for the Gladio program. Shortly thereafter, Alexander Haig became the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO from 1974 to 1979.

Likewise, the New York Times (1/7/1976) reported that Kissinger had strongly supported the CIA secretly giving $6 million in secret cash payments to right-wing political leaders to prevent Communist Party wins in national elections.

Sources:
Counterpunch, 7/31/2020, “The Bologna Massacre, the ‘Strategy of Tension’ and Operation Gladio”
London Times, 1/31/1976, “$800,000 for Italy’s Intelligence Chief in Spite of CIA’s Objections”
New York Times, 11/1/1974, “General Who Led Intelligence Agency Arrested in Italy”
New York Times, 1/7/1976, “C.I.A Is Reported to Give Anti-Reds in Italy $6 Million”
New York Times, 1/30/1976, “U.S. Paid $800,000 To Italian General; C.I.A. Fought Move”
Guardian, 11/18/1990, “Secret Army’s War on Left”
Daniele Ganser, 2005, “NATO’s Secret Armies,” pg. 8, 78

1980 Bologna Bombing and Other Bombings
On August 2nd, 1980, a bomb exploded in the waiting room of the Bologna railway station, killing 85 and injuring 200. As with the 1972 Peteano car-bombing, forensics once again showed that the bomb came from NATO, as highlighted by the Guardian (1/16/1991) article entitled, “Bomb used at Bologna came from NATO Unit”.

Counterpunch added:

“Explosives experts determined that the blast was caused by ‘retrieved military explosives’ of the same sort used in the 1972 Peteano car bombing.”

Recall that forensics conclusively proved the Peteano car bombing utilized a NATO bomb, per the Independent (10/10/1993). Further, the Guardian (6/7/1992) stated:

“The Italian railway bombings [of which Bologna was the worst] were blamed on the extreme Left as part of a strategy to convince voters that the country was in a state of tension and that they had no alternative to voting the safe Christian Democrat ticket. All clues point to the fact that they were masterminded from within Gladio.”

Similarly, during the trial of right-wing terrorists accused of involvement with the Bologna bombing, the Independent (10/10/1993) reported:

“Since the original trial, evidence has emerged that points to an unholy alliance of right-wing forces, corrupt politicians and secret service agents bent on undermining democracy to hold on to power in the name of the fight against communism. The [Bologna] blast… was the climax of a series of atrocities between 1969 and 1984… Now it is accepted that they were part of a ‘Strategy of Tension intended to scare voters away from western Europe’s most popular communism party… Even if the victims’ lawyers win their case, some of the real authors of the Bologna outrage will never be brought to justice.”

The Associated Press (7/25/1985, 7/11/1988) and United Press International (7/11/1988)) reported that two Italian Secret Service agents – General Pietro Musumeci and Colonel Giuseppe Belmonte – were convicted of trying to mislead investigations in the bombing, as was Licio Gelli. As we already discussed, Gelli met with CIA agents and Alexander Haig (then Nixon’s Chief of Staff, later Supreme Allied Commander of NATO), in the early 1970’s, which resulted in additional Gladio funds beings authorized by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Gelli was also one of the most powerful and controversial figures in Italy. He was the Venerable Grandmaster of the infamous “Propaganda Due” masonic lodge. According to historian Daniele Ganser (pg. 74), citing Italian parliament investigation records, members of the lodge included multiple Italian Secret Service chiefs belonged, over 100 high ranking army/navy/military police officers, 11 police chiefs, 70 wealthy industrialists, 10 bank presidents, 38 parliament members, 14 high-ranking judges, and numerous mayors, lawyers, and journalists. Likewise, the Guardian (12/5/1990) described the extensive links between Gelli’s masonic lodge and the Italian secret service heads as “manifold”. Per the New York Times (9/22/1987, 12/18/2015), Gelli was also famously known as “God’s Banker” for his central role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, which involved the collapse of Italy’s largest private bank, largely owned by the Vatican.

The Guardian (6/7/1992) quoted Gelli as stating the following regarding his involvement with Gladio:

“…it was a well-constructed organization. Had Communist strength grown in Italy, America would have assisted us, we would have unleashed another war and we would have been generously supplied with arms…”

According to the Independent (12/1/1990), other bombings allegedly part of the Gladio program included:

Bombing on train at Gioia Tauro on 7/22/1970, 7 killed
Bombing of Italian Secret Service plane, Argo 16 on 11/23/1973, according to General Gerardo Serravalle, head of Gladio from 1971 to 1974
Bombing at Piazza Loggia, Brescia on 5/28/1974, 8 killed
Bombing on train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro on 8/4/1974, 12 killed
Bombing at the Itavia DC9 off Ustica on 6/27/1980, 81 killed
Bombing on train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro on 12/23/1984, 15 killed

The Guardian (6/7/1992) also reported that Gladio was linked to a series of random Belgian supermarket massacres in the early 1980s that killed at least 28 people. Belgian Senator Lallemand said the killings were “the work of foreign governments or of intelligence services working for foreigners, …terrorism aimed a destabilising democratic society”. Similarly, Martial Lekeu, a former member of the Belgian military police who investigated the killings said that members of his own force were involved, which resulted in official inquiries being aborted.

Sources:
Associated Press, 7/25/1985, “Former Top Intelligence Official Convicted, Sentenced"
Associated Press, 7/11/1988, “Four Convicted of Mass Murder in Italian Bombing That Killed 85”
Counterpunch, 7/31/2020, “The Bologna Massacre, the ‘Strategy of Tension’ and Operation Gladio”
Daniele Ganser, 2005, “NATO’s Secret Armies,” pg. 74
Guardian, 11/18/1990, “Secret Army’s War on Left”
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “Secret Agents, Freemasons, Fascists... and a Top-Level Campaign of Political ‘Destabilisation’”
Guardian, 1/16/1991, “Bomb used at Bologna came from NATO Unit”
Guardian, 6/7/1992, “Gladio: Europe’s Best Kept Secret”
Independent, 12/1/1990, “Gladio is Still Opening Wounds”
Independent, 10/10/1993, “The Terror Trail That Won’t Grow Cold”
New York Times, 9/22/1987, “Italian Wanted in Bank Collapse and Bombing Gives Up in Geneva”
New York Times, 12/18/2015, “Licio Gelli, Italian Financier and Cabal Leader, Dies at 96”
UPI, 7/11/1998, “A Court Convicted Four Neo-Fascists Monday of Carrying Out...”

Exposure of Gladio
According to the Washington Post and the Guardian (12/5/1990, “The Gladio File…”, 12/5/1990, “Secret Agents…”) in 1990, Italian Judge Felice Casson, while investigating the 1972 Peteano car-bombing, was granted access to the Italian military secret service archives. There he discovered documentary evidence of the Gladio paramilitary network and its links to the prior decades of terrorism. The discovery sparked an Italian Parliament investigation.

Per historian Daniele Ganser (pgs. 7-14, 25), on August 2, 1990, the Italian parliament ordered former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti to disclose everything he knew about Gladio. The next day, after repeatedly denying the existence of Gladio in his previous terms as Prime Minister, Andreotti took the stand and confirmed Gladio’s existence. Then, on October 24, 1990, he issued a report on his knowledge to the Italian Parliament entitled, “The Parallel SID - Operation Gladio”.

The report explained that decades ago the Italian secret service and the CIA signed an agreement establishing a clandestine network to be supervised by NATO. It further explained that weapons, ammunition, explosives, and other materials provided by the CIA were buried in hundreds of secret locations. Finally, it stated that every other top European government leader had been aware of Gladio.

Scandal quickly swept across Western Europe, with various top leaders initially denying and then confessing their awareness of the program. On Monday, November 5, 1990, NATO spokesman Jean Marcotta attempted to deny Andreotti’s allegation, stating:

“NATO has never contemplated guerrilla war or clandestine operations; it has always concerned itself with military affairs and the defense of Allied frontiers.”

However, the next day, NATO spokesman Robert Stratford admitted that the previous day’s denial had been false, but he could not comment any further on matters of military secrecy.

On November 22, 1990, the European Union passed the “Resolution of the European Parliament on the Gladio Affair,” which stated:

“…[with] 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 …this organization has escaped all democratic controls and has been run by the secret services of the states concerned in collaboration with NATO… involved in serious cases of terrorism and crime as evidenced by various judicial inquiries… have at their disposal independent arsenals and military resources…

[The EU] calls for a full investigation into the nature, structure, aims and all other aspects of these clandestine organizations… [and] the problem of terrorism in Europe and the possible collusion of the secret services of Member States or third countries.

[The EU] protests vigorously at the assumption by… NATO of the right to encourage the establishment in Europe of a clandestine intelligence and operation network… the EU Requests all the Member States to …establishing parliamentary committees of inquiry… [into] state intelligence services and their links, if any, with terrorist action groups…

[The EU shall] forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of NATO, the governments of the Member States, and the United States Government.”

Despite the resolution, per Ganser (pg. 23), only Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland conducted internal investigations. The United States and NATO made no response to the resolution, did not conduct any investigation, and offered no explanation of their involvement. One unnamed U.S. official quoted by the Washington Post said simply:

“If there are allegations that the CIA was involved in terrorist activities in Italy, they are absolute nonsense.”

The U.S. government went on to reject numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding Gladio with the boilerplate disclaimer:

“The CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence of records responsive to your request.”

Per Ganser (pg. 257), requesting parties included the Italian Senate, the Austrian government, and the National Security Archive at the George Washington University.

Despite the CIA’s stonewalling, the Italian Parliament’s investigation eventually produced a 300-page report which unequivocally blamed the United States for spearheading the Gladio terrorism program. Per the Guardian (6/24/2000), the report stated:

“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.”

Similarly, another Guardian (then called the “Observer”) article (6/7/1992) reported:

“…startling new evidence unearthed by Observer researchers in many countries, struck at the very roots of Western values of freedom and the rule of law… [Gladio executed] unauthorised political surveillance and then, finally, to the mounting of a series of outrages with the far Right which cost the lives of hundreds of innocent Europeans.”

Likewise, the three-part BBC documentary, “Gladio”, summarized:

“For forty years, secret terrorist organizations, many trained by western intelligence agencies, have manipulated political control of European sovereign states by a campaign of terror and murder. …that secret network was generally known by the single word, ‘Gladio’.”

The documentary featured interviews with key Gladio players such as former CIA Director William Colby, prosecuting Judge Felice Casson, terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra, Italian Head of Gladio (1971-1974) General Gerardo Serravalle, and Venerable Master of the Propaganda Due Masonic Lodge Licio Gelli.

Sources:
BBC, 6/24/1992, “Gladio” (three-part documentary)
Daniele Ganser, 2005, “NATO’s Secret Armies,” pgs. 7-14, 23, 25, 257
European Union, 11/22/1990, “European Parliament Resolution on Gladio”
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “Secret Agents, Freemasons, Fascists... and a Top-Level Campaign of Political ‘Destabilisation’”
Guardian, 12/5/1990, “The Gladio File: Did Fear of Communism Throw West into the Arms of Terrorists?”
Guardian, 6/7/1992, “GLADIO Europe's Best Kept Secret”
Guardian, 6/24/2000, “US ‘Supported Anti-Left Terror in Italy’; Report Claims Washington Used a Strategy of Tension in the Cold War to Stabilise the Centre-Right”
Washington Post, 11/14/1990, “CIA ORGANIZED SECRET ARMY IN WESTERN EUROPE”

FM 30-31B and State Department Response to Gladio
FM 30-31B refers to the alleged forgery appendix B of the classified 1970 Army Field Manual FM 30-31, signed by U.S. Army General W. C. Westmoreland, which advised executing terrorist attacks to be blamed on radical groups in order to convince allied governments of the need for counter-action. Per the Guardian (6/7/1992) and a 2006 State Department press release, the appendix stated:

“There may be times when host-country governments fall into passivity or indecision in face of Communist or Communist-inspired subversion and react with inadequate vigor to intelligence estimates transmitted by US agencies...In such cases US army intelligence must have the means of launching special operations which will convince host-country governments and public opinion of the reality of insurgent action and assess the counter-action.

To this end, U.S. Army intelligence should seek to penetrate the insurgency by means of agents on special assignment, with the task of forming special action groups among the more radical elements of the insurgency. When this kind of situation envisaged above arises, these groups, acting under U.S. Army intelligence control, should be used to launch violent or nonviolent actions according to the nature of the case.”

Per Ganser (pg. 297), portions of the document were published in 1978 in the Italian political magazine L'Europeo and again in a 1987 Italian parliament report during the investigation of Licio Gelli and his Masonic Lodge.

When former CIA Director of Intelligence Ray Cline was presented a copy of FM 30-31B in the 1992 BBC documentary “Gladio”, he stated:

“Well, I suspect it is an authentic document. I don't doubt it.”

In the same documentary, when Licio Gelli was presented the document, he stated:

“The CIA gave it to me.”

However, both the U.S. House Intelligence Committee in 1979 (per the Washington Post) and the State Department in a January 2006 press release claimed appendix B was a forgery disseminated by the Soviet Union.

More significant, however, was the fact that the 2006 State Department press release was very first official U.S. government response to any Gladio-related allegation – and it came sixteen years after the European Union resolution and six years after the Italian parliament investigation concluded.

The press release was absurd insofar as did not even acknowledge either the E.U. resolution or the Italian report, much less the numerous stonewalled Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Rather, it only acknowledged that:

“…some media accounts accused them [Gladio operatives] of misdeeds, including domestic acts of terrorism.”

The press release did not unequivocally state that these accusations were untrue. Instead, it included the following sentence which ridiculously purported to debunk the accusations just by quoting another media report – and an inaccurate one at that:

“…some 18 months after Gladio’s disclosure, journalist Jonathan Kwitny wrote in The Nation that, ‘evidence so far hasn’t supported initial allegations that the secret armies used their hidden C.I.A.-supplied caches of weapons and explosives to carry out political violence that killed civilians.’”

Sources:
BBC, 6/24/1992, “Gladio” (three-part documentary)
Daniele Ganser, 2005, “NATO’s Secret Armies,” pgs. 297
Guardian, 6/7/1992, “GLADIO Europe's Best Kept Secret”
Nation, 4/6/1992, “The C.I.A.'s Secret Armies in Europe”
Unites States Army (alleged to be a forgery), 3/18/1970, “U.S. Army Field Manual 30-31B: ‘Stability Operation – Intelligence: Special Fields’”
United States Department of State, 1/20/2006, “Misinformation About ‘Gladio/Stay Behind” Networks Resurfaces” (press release)
Washington Post, 1/17/1979, “House Intelligence Committee Begins Inquiry into Allegations of Forgeries”