By 1992, al-Farooq mosque had become a haven for Arabian veterans from the great jihad in Afghanistan, who were granted special passports to enter the United States by the CIA. A feud erupted between the older African American members of the mosque and the Arab newcomers, which resulted in the murder of Mustafa Shalabi, the fiery imam of the mosque, on March 1, 1991. The crime has never been solved.9
NEW CIA AMIGOS
The soaring expenses for the covert war in Afghanistan, coupled with the ongoing need of support for the guerrilla units in Latin America and the secret armies in Western Europe caused the CIA to forge new alliances. In 1980, the Agency deployed Dewey Clarridge, its top agent in Latin America, to establish ties with Honduran drug lord Juan Matta Ballesteros, who operated the airline SETCO. SETCO agreed to transport narcotics to gangs north of the border and arms to a warehouse in Honduras that was operated by CIA operatives Oliver North and Richard Secord.10 The weapons were purchased by the Agency's cut of the deal, which in one transaction amounted to $14 million.11 The CIA also made business arrangements with other drug lords, including Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, the “godfather of the Mexican drug business,” whose ranch became a training ground for right-wing guerrilla armies,12 and Miguel Nazar Haro, the leader of the Guadalajara Cartel, Mexico's most powerful narcotics network.13
By 1990, more than 75 percent of all the cocaine entering the United States came through Mexico. Mexico also became a leading source of heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamines. The business was generating $50 billion a year; the CIA had found a source of funding to augment its ongoing heroin trade with the Turkish babas and the Sicilian Mafia. The new alliance meant that the Agency could launch operations even more ambitious than Gladio.14
LAST GASP
In 1988, as the first half of the Soviet contingent began its withdrawal from Afghanistan, Operation Gladio came to an end in Western Europe. The official figures of the undertaking in Italy from the Gladio Commission showed that 14,591 acts of violence with “political motivation” had occurred between January 1, 1969, and December 31, 1987. Through Gladio, 491 people had been killed and 1,181 injured or maimed. The figures were without parallel in Italian history.15
In 1988 the Italian Senate established the “Parliamentary Commission of the Italian Senate for the Investigation of Terrorism in Italy” under Senator Libero Gualtieri. The investigation proved to be a daunting task: Witnesses withheld testimony, documents were destroyed, and the commissioners were divided on how much to disclose to the public. The commission itself was made up of members from the competing political parties in Italy. With some from the Italian left and others from the Italian right, they were split on what exactly the historical truth in Italy was, and they disagreed on how many of their sensitive findings should be presented to the public.16
DOCUMENTS DISCOVERED
But Judge Felice Casson, a member of the commission, finally uncovered documents that revealed that a secret military strategy had been at work during the years of lead. This strategy, involving an underground army, had been drafted by government sources and implemented by a foreign agency with an abundance of money. In July 1990, Casson obtained the permission from Prime Minister Andreotti to access the archives of the headquarters of SISMI within Palazzo Braschi in Rome.17
Within the archives, the judge found top-secret documents that spoke of a covert operation named Gladio that had been created by US intelligence to engage in unorthodox warfare throughout Italy. Casson realized at once that by unearthing this information he had placed himself in grave danger, since every investigator who had stumbled upon Gladio had come to a violent end. “From July until October 1990,” Casson later recalled, “I was the only one who knew something [about Operation Gladio], this could have been unfortunate for me.”18
ANDREOTTI'S ADMISSION
On August 2, 1990, Prime Minister Andreotti was ordered to provide the parliamentary commission with information regarding the “parallel and occult structure” within SISMI that functioned “to condition the political life of the country.” The next day, the seventy-one-year-old prime minister appeared before the commission and assured the senators that he would provide a written report on the secret structure within sixty days. “I will present to the Commission a very precise report which I have asked the Defense Department to prepare,” Andreotti said. “It is about the activities based on NATO planning that have been started for the eventuality of an attack and occupation of Italy or parts of Italy.” He added, “I will provide the Commission with all the necessary documentation, be it on the problem in general, [or] be it on the specific findings made by Judge Casson.”19
On October 8, 1990, Andreotti presented a secret service report titled “The So-Called Parallel SID—Operation Gladio” to the commission. After examining it, chairman Gualtieri sent the report back to the prime minister, saying that the revelation of its contents would violate “a breach of NATO security.” A censored report was delivered several days later and made public.20
NEWS IS OUT
The censored report said that a secret army known as Gladio had been set up on Italian soil by the CIA at the start of the Cold War. The army was well armed with “portable arms, ammunition, explosives, hand grenades, knives and daggers, 60 mm mortars, several 57 mm recoilless rifles, sniper rifles, radio transmitters, binoculars and various tools.” Its arsenals were concealed in 139 hiding places throughout the country, including forests, meadows, cemeteries, and churches. Several cases of weapons, the report noted, had gone missing.21
The news of the covert operation captured headlines for weeks throughout Italy and Western Europe, as magistrates, parliamentarians, academics, and journalists began to uncover more and more information about stay-behind forces that had been funded by the CIA to thwart the spread of Communism. In different countries, investigators discovered, the armies were known by different code names, including “Absalon” in Denmark, “Aginter Press” in Portugal, “SDRA” in Belgium, “ROC” in Norway, and “I&O” in the Netherlands. In each country, investigators learned, leading government officials—prime ministers, presidents, defense ministers, and interior ministers—worked in close corroboration with the CIA to address every incursion of Communism within their borders.22
But the most alarming finding for those who dug into the Gladio story was that the secret armies had been used to mount terror attacks that could be blamed on the Communists in order to discredit left-wing political parties at the voting polls. These attacks, the researchers learned, were intended to create maximum fear. They ranged from bomb massacres in trains and marketplaces to violent coups that toppled governments.23
NO COMMENT
As more and more revelations came to light, US and British officials refused to confirm or deny what the press alleged to be “the best kept and most damaging political-military secret since World War II.”24 In Great Britain, spokespersons at the Defense Department told the inquisitive British press, “I'm afraid we can't discuss security matters.” Finally, British defense secretary Tom King tried to pass off the matter of the secret arms—that had created widespread death and destruction throughout Europe—with a joke. “I am not sure what particular hot potato you're chasing after. It sounds wonderfully exciting, but I'm afraid I'm quite ignorant about it. I'm better informed about the Gulf.”25
Admiral Stansfield Turner, director of the CIA from 1977 to 1981, adamantly refused to answer questions about Gladio during a television news interview in Italy in December 1990. When the news anchor insisted that Turner should respond as a gesture of respect for the victims of the numerous massacres in Italy, the former CIA director angrily shouted, “I said, no questions about Gladio!” He ripped off his microphone and left the set. The interview was over.26
OFFICIAL CONDEMNATION
On November 22, the European Parliament, the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union, passed the following resolution condemning Gladio, demanding a full investigation of its under
takings, and calling for its paramilitary units to be dismantled:
Joint resolution replacing B3-2021, 2058, 2068, 2078 and 2087/90
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 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 Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of NATO, the governments of the Member States and the United States Government.”27
The resolution was forwarded to NATO secretary-general Manfred Wörner and US president George H. W. Bush. Neither supported the document nor offered an explanation of Gladio's necessity.28
THE STONE WALL
On April 15, 1991, Malcolm Byrne, deputy director of the National Security Archive Institute at George Washington University in Washington, filed a Freedom of Information request (FOIA) with the CIA concerning Gladio. Specifically, he asked for “all agency records related to the United States Government's original decision(s), probably taken during the 1951–55 period, to sponsor, support, or collaborate with any covert armies, networks, or other units, established to resist a possible invasion of Western Europe by communist-dominated countries, or to conduct guerrilla activities in Western European countries should they become dominated by communist, leftist, or Soviet-sponsored parties or regimes.” He added, “With reference to the above, please include in your search any records relating to the activities known as ‘Operation Gladio,’ particularly in France, Germany, or Italy.”29
Byrne noted in his request that a release of the records “will contribute significantly to public understanding of the United States foreign policy in the post-World War II era, as well as the role of intelligence information, analyses, and operations in United States policy-making at the time.” On June 18, 1991, the Agency provided its standard response in a letter that said, “The CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence of records responsive to your request.”30 When Byrne appealed this decision, the CIA claimed that information regarding Gladio remained protected “in the interest of national defense” and, therefore, was exempted from the disclosures mandated by the FOIA.31
Attempts by European officials to obtain information were equally futile. In March 1995, the Italian Senate commission under Giovanni Pellegrino asked the CIA for all records regarding the Red Brigades and the Aldo Moro kidnapping. They, too, received the rote reply: “The CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence of documentation regarding your inquiry.”32
At this writing, the Gladio files remain classified as confidential and unavailable for inspection. The refusal to disclose any information about the undertaking is in keeping with Operation Mockingbird. Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post and a Mockingbird operative, said, “There are some things the general public does not need to know, and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows.”33
ANDREOTTI'S AGONY
After Andreotti broke his silence regarding Gladio, he was dragged in front of two Italian courts for cooperating with Toto Riina and the Sicilian Mafia in criminal activities and for issuing the orders for the assassination of journalist Mino Pecorelli.34 In the midst of these trials, Pope John Paul II took time in the Vatican to clasp Andreotti's hands and to offer the beleaguered prime minister what appeared to be an “embrace.” Following this incident, the Holy Father was challenged as he spoke from the pulpit of St. Peter's Cathedral by an irate student who was offended by the “endorsement.” It was the first time a Vicar of Christ had been challenged within the confines of his own church in seven hundred years.35
Eventually, Andreotti was exonerated on both charges. But in 2002 an appeals court in Perugia ruled that the former prime minister was guilty of complicity in the murder and sentenced him to twenty-four years in prison. Hearing the verdict, Silvio Berlusconi, the present prime minister, called it an example of “justice gone mad.”36 Berlusconi's outcry was, for many, only to be expected. Like Andreotti, he had been an active member of P2 during the years of lead.37
The Vatican, too, expressed its contempt of the court's decision. Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini, upon learning the news, compared Andreotti to Jesus Christ, another victim of an unjust verdict, and hoped for his “resurrection” from the Supreme Court. L'Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, expressed its “full solidarity” with Andreotti, saying that the verdict “can only be rejected by good sense.” Cardinal Camillo Ruini, head of the Italian Bishops Conference and a key advisor to the pope, took the occasion of his yearly address to the bishops to express his “intact personal esteem” for the disgraced political figure.38
Despite the statements of alarm over the fate of “the divine Julius” (the epithet for Julius Caesar, which the Italian media applied to Andreotti) the murder verdict was overturned by Italy's Supreme Court in October 2003. Andreotti, who rubbed shoulders
with Licio Gelli, Michele Sindona, Roberto Calvi, and John Paul II, died on May 6, 2013, at the age of 94.39
Andreotti may have passed on to meet his Maker, but Gladio, despite all reports to the contrary, was not dead. It had simply transmogrified.
Without the Cold War excuse, our foreign policymakers had a real hard time justifying our joint operations and terrorism schemes in the resource rich ex-Soviet states with these same groups, so they made sure they kept their policies unwritten and unspoken, and considering their grip on the mainstream media, largely unreported. Now what would your response be if I were to say on the record, and, if required, under oath: “Between 1996 and 2002, we, the United States, planned, financed, and helped execute every major terrorist incident by Chechen rebels (and the Mujahideen) against Russia. Between 1996 and 2002, we, the United States, planned, financed, and helped execute every single uprising and terror related scheme in Xinjiang (aka East Turkistan and Uyhurstan). Between 1996 and 2001, we, the United States, planned and carried out at least two assassination schemes against pro Russian officials in Azerbaijan.”
Sibel Edmonds, FBI Whistleblower,
“Friends–Enemies–Both?” Boiling Frogs Post, 2010
On November 3, 1996, Gladio's survival of the Cold War became evident in Susurluk, a small town in northwestern Turkey, where Abdullah Çatlı, the Gladio contract killer involved with the attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II, was killed in a car crash. Two other bodies were discovered among the wreckage: Çatlı's girlfriend, a model known as Gonga Us, and Hüseyin Kocadağ, the deputy chief of the Istanbul police force. Sedat Bucak, a member of parliament for the province of Urfa, survived the accident with a broken leg and a fractured skull.1
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