Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: Intense US efforts are being made to resolve differences, such as the issue of the Israeli presence on Mount Hermon and in southern Syria
Israeli media: The security agreement means amending the disengagement agreement, which will also address the Druze issue
Israeli media: Attempts to reach a security agreement between 'Israel' and Syria were among the topics discussed at the Paris meeting
Israeli media: Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif rejected a US proposal to join the recent tripartite meeting between Tom Barrack, al-Shaibani, and Dermer
Saba News Agency: Two martyred, five injured in a preliminary toll of the Israeli aggression on the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street in Sanaa
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: We observed a state of confusion among the enemy's aircraft squadron after Yemeni air defenses intercepted the attack
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: The Yemeni air defense forces succeeded in neutralizing a squadron of enemy aircraft and prevented airstrikes on some governorates
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: Our air defenses and missile forces forced a formation of enemy aircraft to flee the airspace
Member of the Ansar Allah Political Bureau, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti: The Israeli aggression on Yemen will not deter us from continuing to support Gaza, no matter the sacrifices
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Israeli aggression targeted the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street, southwest of the capital, Sanaa, with several raids

Declassified British docs give insight into operation Gladio: Grayzone

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Grayzone
  • 19 Jun 2023 15:24
  • 4 Shares
5 Min Read

In a report for the Grayzone, Kit Klarenberg describes the recently declassified documents as "one of the most valuable primary sources" unpacking the inner workings of Operation Gladio. 

  • x
  •  In this file photo taken on Aug. 2, 1980, cranes remove debris after a powerful bomb blasted the train station of Bologna, Italy (AP Photo)
    In this file photo taken on Aug. 2, 1980, cranes remove debris after a powerful bomb blasted the train station of Bologna, Italy (AP Photo)

Recently declassified documents by the British Foreign Office reveal new information in regards to the British role in Operation Gladio: which was a clandestine Cold War era operation in Italy directed by the CIA, MI6, and NATO in an attempt to curb the appeal of communism through mobilizing paramilitary fascist indigenous elements to organize false flag terror attacks in an effort to smear campaign the left. 

Operation Gladio was supposedly part of a preemptive security precaution against potential Soviet aggression, whereby the West trained and directed fascist paramilitary groups to 'resist' the Red Army in the event of an invasion of Europe. In reality, the anticipated Soviet invasion never happened, and the anti-communist militias never clashed with the Red Army, but they served a pivotal role in containing communism: organizing various terrorist attacks designed to blame the left to discredit them and undermine their popularity and justify increased state-authoritarianism. 

In a report for the Grayzone, Kit Klarenberg describes the recently declassified documents as "one of the most valuable primary sources" unpacking the inner workings of Operation Gladio. 

Read more: Mossad agent killed in Italy part of anti-Iran mission: Israeli media

The Aide-Meoire:

One of the documents describing Operation Gladio was an aide-mémoire submitted by an Italian delegation to a meeting of the North Atlantic Council and then forwarded to senior British officials. 

The document starts off  by explaining that after the end of the second world war intelligence agencies of the West devised “unconventional means of defense, by creating in their territories a hidden network of resistance aimed at operating, in case of enemy occupation, through information gathering, sabotage, propaganda, and guerrilla warfare.”

Around 1955, SIFAR (the Italian military intelligence agency) in liaison with the CIA agreed to the clandestine activities of the operation. 

“[Gladio] was; formed by agents active in the territory who, by virtue of their age, sex, and activities, could reasonably avoid eventual deportation and imprisonment by the foreign occupiers; easy to manage even from a command structure outside the occupied territory; at a top-secret level and hence subdivided into ‘cells’ so as to minimize any possible damage caused by defections, accidents or network penetration,” the document reads. 

SIFAR had developed a covert base for recruiting and training Gladio operatives while deploying 5 guerilla units across Italy "in areas of special interest" where they awaited activation. 

Related News

Salvini tells Macron to ‘grab a rifle,’ Paris summons Italian envoy

Italy's Meloni condemns plans for new Israeli West Bank settlements

Operatives were granted access to a wide variety of weapons (which included: mortars, hand grenades, guns, and knives) that were stashed in 139 underground bases across the country. 

Furthermore, a 1959 document shows that guerilla actions against "domestic threats" was central to the inner workings of the clandestine operation. In Italy, this manifested as terrorism targeting the West and terrorism blamed on the left. 

In light of the increasing popularity of the Italian Communist Party in elections, the CIA funneled money to the Christian Democrats who were the leading opponents. 

In 1963, SIFAR and the CIA jointly planned a false-flag assassination attempt targeting Aldo Moro the moderate leader of the Christian Democrats at the time. The assassination attempt was designed to deliberately fail. 

Read more: Finland's military spending rises to Cold War levels as it joins NATO

The assassination operation dubbed "Piano Solo" was eventually aborted. Piano Solo fell under official investigation four years later, yet the results were not published until the public first learned of Gladio’s existence. As part of the plan, the kidnapper was supposed to claim that communists had ordered them to kill Moro, which would justify the violent seizure of several political parties and newspaper headquarters as well as the detention of unruly leftists. 

A query by the Foreign Office of Italy’s then-President Francesco Cossiga, strongly suggests that, British intelligence played a role in Piano Solo, and that the Italian President was well aware of the plot.

US in collaboration with fascists

A notable actor operating under the auspices of Gladio was P2: a secret Cold War-era cabal founded by Licio Gelli an Italian financier and self-identifying fascist.

A declassified document by John Ashton, British ambassador to Italy at the time, reveals that P2 was  one of many “mysterious right-wing forces” striving “by terrorism and street violence to provoke a repressive backlash against Italy’s democratic institutions” under the “strategy of tension.”

Ashton notes that P2 had infiltrated Italy's security apparatus. Subsequent investigations showed how Henry Kissinger helped oversee the recruitment of 400 high-ranking Italian and NATO officers as P2 operatives in 1969.

Ashton concluded his note by noting the truth about Washington's involvement in cooperating with fascists in Italy some of whom conducted terrorist operations would  “probably never be known.” He adds correspondingly that the full extent of the UK's involvement in terrorist attacks, coups, and political destabilization as part of Operation Gladio throughout Europe, will almost certainly remain a secret as well. 

Read more: Ukrainian neo-Nazis terrorize people, commit ethnic cleansing: Putin

  • Italy
  • US
  • Fascism
  • Cold War
  • UK
  • Gladio

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Displaced Palestinians walk through a makeshift camp along the beach in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)

Hamas, other factions accept Egypt-Qatar ceasefire proposal: Exclusive

  • Politics
  • 18 Aug 2025
Palestine will not be liberated by UN reports, but by pursuing a different strategic horizon: one that does not beg for recognition. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Economy of Genocide: Albanese's report accuses, but doesn't dismantle system

  • Opinion
  • 18 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS