"The 66 year old president who was on a state visit to London when the storm broke, responded that he was ' proud and happy' to have done his patriotic bit in being attendance… during the birth of Gladio" The 18th of November 1990 the British daily The Observer
"'Those massacres, those bombs, those military actions had been organised 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." The 24th Of June 2000, The Guardian quoted from the Italian Parliamentary Commission
"A. having regard to the revelation by several European governments of the existence for
40 years of a clandestine intelligence and armed operations organization in several Member States of the Community,
B. whereas for over 40 years this organization has eluded 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 networks 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 have claimed to be 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." The European Parliament November 22nd 1990 Page 16 PDF Wiki
"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, any misuse thereof, 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 organiza-
tions has been ascertained to elucidate fully their actual extent and modus operandi and to
clarify any action they may have taken to destabilize the democratic structures 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 investigate 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. Instructs its Political Affairs 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." The European Parliament November 22nd 1990 Page 16-17 PDF
"Stay-Behind" networks in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Holland, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States'. During peacetime the duties of ACC
according to the Belgian Gladio report 'included elaborating the directives for the network, developing its clandestine capability and organising bases in Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind operations in conjunction with SHAPE; organisers were to activate clandestine bases and organise operations from there." Belgian parliamentary commission of enquiry into Gladio, as summarised in Belgium periodical statewatch, January/February 1992 Page 2
"Unknown to the Swiss government, British officials signed agreements with the organisation, called P26, to provide training in combat, communications, and sabotage. The latest agreement was signed in 1987… P26 cadres participated regularly in training exercises in Britain… British advisers — possibly from the SAS — visited secret training establishments in Switzerland." The 20th of September 1991 The Guardian commenting on the Swiss parliamentary commission on Gladio
"The activities of P-26, its codes, and the name of the leader of the group, Efrem Cattelan, were known to British intelligence, but the Swiss government was kept in the dark." The 20th of September 1991 The Guardian commenting on the Swiss parliamentary commission on Gladio
"'moreover will prevent undesirable repercussions with the Western Union Chiefs
of Staff. I have already indicated to the Head of the American Service that I am ready to work out plans for detailed co-operation with him on this basis, and I therefore suggest that any projects formulated by them should be referred back to Washington for subsequent discussion between the British and the American Services in London." Letter between Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak and Stewart Menzies Head of MI6, 27th of January 1949 London, Belgium Commission on Gladio Page 212-213
"Such specialised equipment would be given or loaned, but I suggest that should the handling over of more orthodox types of new material arise (e.g. small arms and other military stores), the accountancy should be the subject for friendly negotiation between the British and the Belgian Special Services." Letter between the Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak and Stewart Menzies Head of MI6, 27th of January 1949 London, Belgium Commission on Gladio Page 212-213
"I need hardly add that I am confident you will share my wish that this correspondence
should be regarded as highly secret and that it should not be divulged to a third party without our joint agreement." Letter between the Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak and Stewart Menzies Head of MI6, 27th of January 1949 London, Belgium Commission on Gladio Page 212-213
"Until 1950 OPC's paramilitary activities (also referred to as preventive action) were limited to plans and preparations for stay-behind nets in the event of future war. Requested by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, these projected OPC operations focused, once again, on Western Europe and were designed to support NATO forces against Soviet attack." Final Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect To Intelligence Activities Vol 4-6 Page 36
"Paulo Taviani, Italian Defence Minister from 1955 to 1958 The Italian secret services were bossed and financed by 'the boys in Via Veneto', i.e. the CIA in the US embassy in the heart of Rome" 18th Of November 1990 The Observer
"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." The 23rd of June 2000 The Guardian quoted from 2000 Italian Parliamentary Commission.( I could not locate)
"During the cold war the east was under communist domination, but the west too had become, in a certain sense, an American colony," The 23rd of June 2000 The Guardian quoted from 2000 Italian Parliamentary Commission.( I could not locate)
Unverified Sources
"that the CIA interests, as represented by these officials weren't really concerned with the level we had reached in training but rather on the subject of internal control. That is, our level of readiness to counter street disturbances, handling nation-wide strikes and above all any eventual rise of the Communist Party. Mr Stone stated, quite clearly, that the financial support of the CIA was wholly dependent on our willingness to put into action, to program and plan these other - shall we call them - internal measures." BBC Documentary 1992
'It's not unlikely that some right-wing groups were recruited and made to be stay-behinds because they would indeed have tipped us off if a war were going to begin', Ray Cline 1992 BBC Ringmasters Gladio Documentry
'I have gone to prison because I did not want to reveal the existence of this super secret organisation. And now Andreotti comes along and tells it to Parliament" General Vito Miceli
Francesco cossiga 'I consider it a great privilege and an act of trust that... I was chosen for this delicate task... I have to say that I'm proud of the fact that we have kept the secret for 45 years.
"'Since this is a secret organisation, I wouldn't expect too many questions to be answered, even though the Cold War is over. If there were any links to terrorist organisations, that sort of information would be buried very deep indeed.If not, then what is wrong with taking precautions to organise resistance if you think the Soviets might attack?" Anymous NATO Diplomat Reuters The 15 of November 1990'
"In the British zone of occupation in Austria, junior Royal Marine officers were detached from normal duties to prepare supply caches in the mountains and liaise with locally recruited agents".'In 1959 I went, via London, to a farm outside Eaton. This was done under the strictest secrecy procedures, with for instance a forged passport. I was not even allowed to call my wife...The aim of the training was to learn how to use dead letter box techniques to receive and send secret messages, and other James Bond style exercises. The British were very tough. I sometimes had the feeling that we were overdoing it" Reinhold Geijer on Swedish TV
"I have always wondered whether the stay-behind net we built would have worked under Soviet rule. We know that last-minute efforts to organise such nets failed in places like China in 1950 and North Vietnam in 1954." William Colby Honourable Men My Life in The CIA Page 100
'Gladio was established through an agreement between two secret services, a very important one, the US secret service, and a much less important one, the Italian secret service" Italian 1995 senate report on Gladio and massacres Page 25
"occupy government offices, the most important communication centres, the headquarters of the leftist parties and the seats of the newspapers closest to the left, as well as the radio and television centres. News- paper agencies were to be occupied strictly for the time only that it takes to destroy the printing machines and to generally make the publication of newspapers impossible." Italian 1995 senate report on Gladio and massacres Page 85
'Many came from the Ranks of mercenaries who had fought in the Spanish Civil War and many came from the fascist republic of Salo. They chose individuals who were proven anti-Communists. I know 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 from the air."
"The Americans paid them large sums of money, the equivalent of an excellent salary. And they guaranteed the financial support of the families in case the Gladiator was killed."
"A Super SID on my orders? Of course! But I have not organized it myself to make a coup d'etat. This was the United States and NATO who asked me to do it!"
"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 can not give them to you"
"CIA reports total US election financing over a previous 20 year period at some 65 million dollars." The Pike Committee
'The final picture which emerges from the analysis is one of a country which for more than 40 years has lived through a difficult frontier situation. Obviously, the tensions which have characterised these 40 yean and which were the object of the analysis had also social and therefore internal roots. However, such tensions would never have lasted so long, they would not have taken on such tragic dimensions as they did, and the path towards the truth would not have been blocked so many times, if the internal political situation would not have been conditioned and super vised by the international framework into which Italy was integrated." 1995 Italian Parliamentary Commission on Gladio and massacres
'It contained C4, an explosive exclusively used by the US forces, which has never been used in any of the anarchist bombings. I repeat, this was a very sophisticated bomb. That Aginter had C4 at its disposability, certainly shows which contacts it enjoyed" Judge Salvini
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