You probably haven’t heard of Operation Gladio, and that’s by design because, well, it’s covert. Not just a covert operation, but one of the largest ever.
Possibly even the largest.
Paul Williams has written a bunch of fascinating books, one of them being Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia.
It uncovers a secret post-WWII alliance between the CIA, the Mafia, and the Vatican to prevent a communist takeover. Hidden armies were funded by illegal means and used to fight alleged ‘left-wing movements‘, leading to all sorts of crazy things including the rise of Pope Francis I.
Officially, Gladio was a secret NATO programme during the Cold War, set up to create ‘stay-behind’ armies across Europe. The idea was to have these hidden forces ready to resist Soviet occupation in case the USSR invaded Western Europe.
Which, of course, was nonsense.
The ‘stay-behind’ troops were ordered to carry out sabotage, guerrilla warfare, and gather intelligence.
Which, of course, they did.
“In the midst of all the threats to our democracy, the Gladio network represents one of the most dangerous conspiracies in our country, an example of hidden power corrupting our institutions.”
—Aldo Moro (Italian Prime Minister, before his assassination)
It all remained a ‘conspiracy theory’ for decades until it was officially acknowledged in the 1990s. (Speaking of conspiracy theories, I recommend reading this.)
Paul argues that Gladio is still very active, extremely harmful, and that the anti-communist schtick is a ruse.
Apologies for his terrible camera quality. I couldn’t do anything about it.
“The truth behind Gladio reveals that we are dealing with elements of NATO and intelligence agencies that have crossed the line into illegal and destructive activities.”
—Felice Casson (Italian judge, who uncovered parts of Gladio’s operations)
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