Operation Gladio: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 12:48, 28 March 2023
Operation Gladio was a terrorist network that the CIA established in Europe in 1949[1] with the goal of suppressing socialism, although the ‘official’ goal was to defend against a supposed ‘Warsaw pact invasion’.[2] Originally it only involved British, American, and Belgian nationals, but it soon extended to almost every anticommunist state in Europe (besides Iceland and Ireland).[1] At one point it had 15,000 members and access to 151 secret arms dumps. Its presence was a secret until Giulio Andreotti admitted to its existence in a report to the Stragi commission in 1990.[2]
The Italian branch appears to have been established by S.I.F.O.R. in 1958, and had 139 secret weapons dépôts in the Italian Republic. It originally drew its recruits from mercenaries who fought in the Spanish Civil War and the Fascists who worked for the Italian Social Republic.[3] In the Italian Republic it caused over 300 deaths from the 1970s to the early 1980s.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Blum, William (2004). "15". Killing Hope: US Military & CIA Interventions since World War II (third ed.). London: Zed Books. p. 107. ISBN 1 84277 368 2.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|pageurl=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "1958-1990: Operation Gladio, Italy" (PDF).
- ↑ Ganser, Daniele (2005). "6". NATO’s Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe. London & New York: Frank Cass. p. 75. ISBN 0-203-01777-3.
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