View source for Operation Gladio

{{short description|Clandestine Western military operations during the Cold War}}
{{about|the military operation|the sword of ancient Roman foot soldiers|Gladius}}
{{use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox military operation
| name          = Operation Gladio
| partof        = the [[Cold War]] and [[Years of Lead (Italy)|Years of lead (in Italy)]]
| subtitle      = Secret stay-behind network
| image         = [[File:Italian Military Secret Service (SIFAR) report on Operation Gladio.pdf|250px]]
| image_upright = 
| alt           = 
| caption       = Italian Military Secret Service ([[SIFAR]]) report on Operation Gladio
| scope         = Covert operations
| type          = Stay-behind network
| location      = [[Western bloc|Western Europe]]
| location2     = 
| coordinates   = 
| coordinates2  = 
| map_type      = 
| map_size      = 
| map_caption   = 
| map_label     = 
| map_label2    = 
| planned       = 1952–1990
| planned_by    = Western intelligence agencies
| commanded_by  = 
| objective     = Counter an invasion of [[Europe]] by the [[Warsaw Pact]] (claimed by [[US Government]])
| target        = 
| date          = {{start date|1952|01|01|df=y}}
| time          = 
| time-begin    = 
| time-end      = 
| timezone      = 
| executed_by   = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Western Union.svg}} [[Western Union (alliance)|Western Union]]<br>{{flagicon|NATO}} [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe]] ([[NATO]])
* {{flag|United States}}
** {{flagicon image|Flag of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.svg}} [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]
**  [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]
* {{flag|United Kingdom}}
** [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]]
* {{flag|France}}
* {{flagicon|West Germany}}&nbsp;[[West Germany]]
* {{flag|Italy}}
* {{flag|Belgium}}
* {{flag|Netherlands}}
* {{flag|Luxembourg}}
* {{flag|Greece}}
* {{flag|Turkey}}
* {{flag|Norway}}
* {{flag|Denmark}}
* {{flag|Canada}}
* {{flag|Portugal}}
* {{flag|Spain}}<br>'''Others/Western states:'''
* {{flag|Austria}}
* {{flag|Sweden}}
* {{flag|Finland}}
* {{flag|Switzerland}}
| outcome       = Continued operations into the 1990s, exposure and disclosure
| casualties    = 
| fatalities    = 
| injuries      = 
}}

'''Operation Gladio''' was the codename for clandestine "[[stay-behind]]" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the [[Western Union (alliance)|Western Union]] (WU; founded in 1948), and subsequently by [[NATO]] (formed in 1949), and by the [[CIA]] (established in 1947),<ref>{{Cite news|last= Pedrick|first= Clare|date= 1990-11-14|title= CIA Organized Secret Army in Western Europe|newspaper= [[The Washington Post]]|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/14/cia-organized-secret-army-in-western-europe/e0305101-97b9-4494-bc18-d89f42497d85/|access-date= 2021-01-14|issn= 0190-8286|archive-date= 24 March 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230324205950/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/14/cia-organized-secret-army-in-western-europe/e0305101-97b9-4494-bc18-d89f42497d85/|url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1= Agee|first1= Philip|title= Dirty Work: The CIA in Western Europe|last2= Wolf|first2= Louis|year= 1978}}</ref> in collaboration with several European [[intelligence agencies]] during the [[Cold War]].<ref>{{Cite book|last= Ganser|first= Daniele|title= NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe|year= 2004}}</ref> Although ''Gladio'' specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO [[stay-behind]] organizations, ''Operation Gladio'' is used as an informal name for all of them. Stay-behind operations were prepared in many NATO member countries, and in some neutral countries.<ref name="Haberman Times 1990">{{Cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Clyde |date=November 16, 1990 |title=Evolution in Europe; Italy Discloses Its Web Of Cold War Guerrillas |journal=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/16/world/evolution-in-europe-italy-discloses-its-web-of-cold-war-guerrillas.html |access-date=February 20, 2015 |archive-date=18 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318205547/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/16/world/evolution-in-europe-italy-discloses-its-web-of-cold-war-guerrillas.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to several Western European researchers, the operation involved the use of assassination, [[psychological warfare]], and [[false flag]] operations to delegitimize [[left-wing]] parties in Western European countries, and even went so far as to support [[anti-communist]] militias and [[right-wing terrorism]] as they tortured communists and assassinated them, such as [[Eduardo Mondlane]] in 1969.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Del Pero |first=Mario |date=2001 |title=The United States and "Psychological Warfare" in Italy, 1948–1955 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2674730 |journal=The Journal of American History |volume=87 |issue=4 |pages=1304–1334 |doi=10.2307/2674730 |issn=0021-8723 |jstor=2674730 |pmid=17152679 |archive-date=17 January 2023 |access-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117061213/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2674730 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last= Ganser |first= Daniele |date= 2006-10-01 |title= The CIA in Western Europe and the abuse of human rights |url= https://doi.org/10.1080/02684520600957712 |journal= Intelligence and National Security |volume= 21 |issue= 5 |pages= 760–781 |doi= 10.1080/02684520600957712 |issn= 0268-4527 |s2cid= 154898281 |archive-date= 14 January 2023 |access-date= 14 January 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230114094250/https://doi.org/10.1080%2F02684520600957712 |url-status= live |url-access= subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last= Williams |first= Paul L. |title= Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia |year=2015}}</ref><ref name="ETH chronology2">{{Citation |title=Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies |url=https://phpisn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology76c1.html?navinfo=15301}}</ref> The [[United States Department of State]] rejected the view that they supported terrorists and maintains that the operation served only to resist a potential invasion of Western European countries by the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite web| url= http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Jan/20-127177.html| url-status = dead| title= Misinformation about 'Gladio/Stay Behind' Networks Resurfaces| date= 20 January 2006| publisher= USINFO| agency= U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs| access-date  = 17 August 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080328042037/http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Jan/20-127177.html| archive-date = 28 March 2008| quote= During the Cold War, West European countries set up clandestine 'stay behind' networks, which were designed to form the nucleus of resistance movements if the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Western Europe. ... A thirty year-old Soviet forgery has been cited as one of the central pieces of 'evidence' for the false notion that West European 'stay-behind' networks engaged in terrorism, allegedly at U.S. instigation.  This is not true  ... .}}</ref>

== History and general stay-behind structure ==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Stay-behind.png|thumb|right|Emblem of NATO's "stay-behind" paramilitary organizations]] -->

=== British experience during World War II ===
Following the [[Battle of France|fall of France]] in 1940, [[Winston Churchill]] created the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE) to both assist resistance movements and carry out sabotage and subversive operations in [[occupied Europe]]. It was revealed half a century later that SOE was complemented by a stay-behind organisation in Britain, created in extreme secrecy, to [[British anti-invasion preparations of World War II|prepare for a possible invasion by Nazi Germany]].

A network of resistance fighters was formed across Britain and arms caches were established. The network was recruited, in part, from the 5th (Ski) Battalion of the [[Scots Guards]] (which had originally been formed, but was not deployed, to fight alongside [[Finland|Finnish]] forces fighting the [[Winter War|Soviet invasion of Finland]]).<ref name="Scots Guards">{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.scotsguards.co.uk/history1.htm|website=Scots Guards Association|access-date=19 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222141027/http://www.scotsguards.co.uk/history1.htm |archive-date=22 December 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>  The network, which became known as the [[Auxiliary Units]], was headed by Major [[Colin Gubbins]] – an expert in guerrilla warfare (who would later lead SOE). The units were trained, in part, by [[Mike Calvert|"Mad Mike" Calvert]], a Royal Engineers officer who specialised in demolition by explosives and covert raiding operations.  To the extent that they were publicly visible, the Auxiliary Units were disguised as [[British Home Guard|Home Guard]] units, under [[Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces|GHQ Home Forces]]. The network was allegedly disbanded in 1944; some of its members subsequently joined the [[Special Air Service]] and saw action in [[Western Front (World War II)#1944–1945: The Second Front|North-West Europe]].

While David Lampe published a book on the Auxiliary Units in 1968,<ref>David Lampe, ''The Last Ditch: Britain's Resistance Plans against the Nazis'' Cassell 1968 {{ISBN|0-304-92519-5}}</ref> their existence did not become widely known by the public until reporters such as [[David Pallister]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' revived interest in them during the 1990s.

=== Post-war creation ===
After World War II, the UK and the US decided to create "stay-behind" [[paramilitary]] organizations, with the official aim of countering a possible [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] invasion through [[sabotage]] and [[guerrilla warfare]] behind enemy lines. Arms caches were hidden, escape routes prepared, and loyal members recruited, whether in Italy or in other European countries.  Its clandestine "cells" were to stay behind in enemy-controlled territory and to act as [[resistance movement]]s, conducting sabotage, guerrilla warfare and assassinations.

Clandestine [[Stay-behind|stay-behind (SB)]] units were created with the experience and involvement of former [[Special Operations Executive|SOE officers]].<ref name="ETH chronology" /> Following [[Giulio Andreotti]]'s October 1990 revelations, General Sir [[John Hackett (British Army officer)|John Hackett]], former commander-in-chief of the [[British Army on the Rhine]], declared on November 16, 1990, that a contingency plan involving "stay behind and resistance in depth" was drawn up after the war. The same week, [[Anthony Farrar-Hockley]], former commander-in-chief of NATO's Forces in Northern Europe from 1979 to 1982, declared to ''[[The Guardian]]'' that a secret arms network was established in Britain after the war.<ref name="Secretunit" /> Hackett had written in 1978 a novel, ''The Third World War: August 1985'', which was a fictionalized scenario of a Soviet Army invasion of West Germany in 1985. The novel was followed in 1982 by ''[[The Third World War: The Untold Story]]'', which elaborated on the original. Farrar-Hockley had aroused controversy in 1983 when he became involved in trying to organise a campaign for a new Home Guard against a potential Soviet invasion.<ref name="Farrar-Hockley">[[Dan van der Vat]]. "[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/15/guardianobituaries.military Obituary: General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219222350/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/15/guardianobituaries.military |date=19 December 2022 }}," ''Guardian''. 15 March 2006</ref>

NATO provided a forum to integrate, coordinate, and optimise the use of all SB assets as part of the Emergency War Plan. This coordination included the military SB units, which were part of NATO's order of battle, and the clandestine SBOs run by NATO nations. Western secret services had cooperated in various bilateral, triparty, and multilateral fora in the creation, training, and running of clandestine Stay-behind organisations (SBO) soon after World War II. In 1947, France, the United Kingdom, and the Benelux countries had created a joint policy on SB in the Western Union Clandestine Committee (WUCC), a forum of the [[Western Union (alliance)|Western Union]], the European defence alliance predating NATO. The format entered into NATO structures around 1951–1952 when the [[Supreme Allied Commander in Europe]] (SACEUR) established such an 'ad hoc' committee, the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC) at SHAPE. The peacetime role of the CPC would have been to coordinate the different military and paramilitary plans and programmes in NATO nations (and partners like Switzerland and Austria) in order to avoid duplication of effort. The CPC itself had at least two working groups – one on communications and one on networks. SACEUR also established a Special Projects Branch to develop and coordinate 'clandestine forces operating in support of SACEUR's military forces'.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Eyes on target: 'Stay-behind' forces during the Cold War|first=Tamir|last=Sinai|date=8 December 2020|journal=War in History|volume=28|issue=3|pages=681–700|doi=10.1177/0968344520914345|doi-access=free}} pp.8-10</ref>

In 1957, the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Benelux countries, all of which ran SBOs in Western Europe, established the 'Six Powers Lines Committee' which became the Allied Clandestine Committee in 1958 and, after 1976, the Allied Coordination Committee (ACC). The ACC has been described as a technical committee to bring national SBOs together. It took its guidance from the CPC and organized multinational exercises. The authority of SACEUR when it came to clandestine operations was discussed in the early 1950s as one can gather from the document 'SHAPE Problems Outstanding with the Standing Group', which, under sub-heading 'IV. Special Plans' calls for the 'Delineation of Responsibilities of the Clandestine Services and of SACEUR on Clandestine Matters Including Pertinent Definitions and Organizations' and 'Principles for Unorthodox Warfare Planning'. While all this concerned the highest level of NATO command, coordination in time of crisis had to be arranged. Thus, to coordinate these activities at different command levels in wartime, SACEUR created the Allied Clandestine Coordinating Groups (ACCG) staffed with personnel from NATO nations at SHAPE and the subordinate commands. In case of war, SACEUR was meant to exercise operational control of national clandestine services' assets, according to each nation's existing policies, through the ACCG. By 1961 though, 'both SHAPE and CPC [now] accepted that such SB activity [guerrilla warfare and resistance under Soviet occupation] was a purely national responsibility'.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Eyes on target: 'Stay-behind' forces during the Cold War|first=Tamir|last=Sinai|date=8 December 2020|journal=War in History|volume=28|issue=3|pages=681–700|doi=10.1177/0968344520914345|doi-access=free}} p.9</ref>

Upon learning of the discovery, the parliament of the [[European Union]] (EU) drafted a resolution sharply criticizing the fact.{{clarify|reason = What does this mean?|date=September 2015}} Yet only Italy, Belgium and Switzerland carried out parliamentary investigations, while the administration of President [[George H. W. Bush]] refused to comment.<ref name=":0">Len Scott, R. Gerald Hughes ''Intelligence, Crises and Security: Prospects and Retrospects'', Routledge, 2008, p. 123</ref>

NATO's "stay-behind" organizations were never called upon to resist a Soviet invasion. According to a November 13, 1990, [[Reuters]] cable,<ref>{{cite news|agency=Reuters|title=Secret Cold-War Network Group Hid Arms, Belgian Member Says|date=1990-11-13|location=Brussels}}</ref> "[[André Moyen]] – a former member of the Belgian military security service and of the [stay-behind] network – said Gladio was not just anti-Communist but was for fighting subversion in general. He added that his predecessor had given Gladio 142 million francs ($4.6 million) to buy new radio equipment."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/8457082.html?dids=8457082:8457082&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=NOV+14%2C+1990&author=Pedrick%2C+Clare%3B+Lardner%2C+George+Jr&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=CIA+Organized+Secret+Army+in+Western+Europe&pqatl=google
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118085958/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/8457082.html?dids=8457082:8457082&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=NOV+14%2C+1990&author=Pedrick%2C+Clare%3B+Lardner%2C+George+Jr&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=CIA+Organized+Secret+Army+in+Western+Europe&pqatl=google
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=18 November 2010
|title=CIA Organized Secret Army in Western Europe
|author1=Pedrick, Clare |author2=Lardner, George Jr |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]
|date=1990-11-14
|access-date=2008-07-31
}}</ref>

== Operations in NATO countries ==
=== Italy ===
The Italian NATO stay-behind organization, dubbed "Gladio", was set up under [[Italian Minister of Defense|Minister of Defense]] (from 1953 to 1958) [[Paolo Emilio Taviani|Paolo Taviani]]'s ([[Christian Democracy (Italy)|DC]]) supervision.<ref name="Obituary">Willan, Philip. "[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jun/21/guardianobituaries.philipwillan Paolo Emilio Taviani] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222022712/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jun/21/guardianobituaries.philipwillan |date=22 December 2022 }}", ''[[The Guardian]]'', June 21, 2001. (Obituary.)</ref> Gladio's existence came to public knowledge when Prime Minister [[Giulio Andreotti]] revealed it to the Chamber of Deputies on 24 October 1990, although far-right terrorist [[Vincenzo Vinciguerra]] had already revealed its existence during his 1984 trial. According to media analyst [[Edward S. Herman]], "both the President of Italy, [[Francesco Cossiga]], and Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, had been involved in the Gladio organization and coverup&nbsp;..."<ref name="Herman">{{Cite journal|title=Hiding Western Terror|first=Edward S|last=Herman|author-link=Edward S. Herman|journal=Nation| date=June 1991 |pages=21–22}}<!-- some sources link this article to The Nation, but http://www.thenation.com/ has no hits for this author or any article by this name in any of the four June 1991 issues: http://www.thenation.com/archive/browse/1991 --></ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy|last=Willan|first=Phillip|publisher=iUniverse|year=2002|isbn=978-1-4697-1084-6|pages=149–150}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.roughdiplomacy.com/?p=6208|title=Operazione Gladio|date=April 2018|website=Rough Diplomacy|access-date=18 August 2018|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318203759/https://roughdiplomacy.com/operazione-gladio/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=August 2008}}

Researcher Francesco Cacciatore, in an article based on recently de-classified documents, writes that a "note from March 1972 specified that the possibility of using 'Gladio' in the event of internal subversions, not provided for by the organization's statute and not supported by NATO directives or plans, was outside the scope of the original stay-behind and, therefore, 'never to be considered among the purposes of the operation'. The pressure put forward by the Americans during the 1960s to use 'Gladio' for purposes other than those of a stay-behind network would appear to have failed in the long term."<ref>Francesco Cacciatore (2021): Stay-behind networks and interim flexible strategy: the 'Gladio' case and US covert intervention in Italy in the Cold War, Intelligence and National Security, doi:10.1080/02684527.2021.1911436</ref>

According to the former Italian Ministry of Grace and Justice [[Claudio Martelli]], during the 1980s and 1990s Andreotti was the political reference of [[Licio Gelli]] and the Masonic lodge [[Propaganda 2]].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.avantionline.it/gelli-renzi-e-la-p2-interviste-a-claudio-martelli-e-rino-formica/ | title = Gelli, Renzi e la P2 – Interviste a Claudio Martelli e Rino Formica | date = December 18, 2015 | author = Filippo D'Angelo | language = it | journal = L'Avanti | archive-url = https://archive.today/20200514100106/http://www.avantionline.it/gelli-renzi-e-la-p2-interviste-a-claudio-martelli-e-rino-formica/ | archive-date = May 14, 2020 | url-status = live | access-date = September 2, 2020 }}</ref>

==== Giulio Andreotti's revelations on 24 October 1990 ====
Christian Democrat Prime Minister [[Giulio Andreotti]] publicly recognized the existence of Gladio on 24 October 1990. Andreotti spoke of a "structure of information, response and safeguard", with arms caches and reserve officers. He gave to the ''Commissione Stragi''<ref>The parliamentary commission later led by senator [[Giovanni Pellegrino]], in charge of investigations on bombings committed during the [[Years of Lead (Italy)|Years of Lead]] in Italy.</ref> a list of 622 civilians who according to him were part of Gladio. Andreotti also stated that 127 weapons caches had been dismantled, and said that Gladio had not been involved in any of the bombings committed from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Andreotti declared that the Italian military services (predecessors of the SISMI) had joined in 1964 the Allied Clandestine Committee created in 1957 by the US, France, Belgium and Greece, and which was in charge of directing Gladio's operations.<ref>Barbera, Myriam. "[https://www.humanite.fr/1990-11-10_Articles_-Gladio-et-la-France Gladio: et la France?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821213600/http://www.humanite.fr/1990-11-10_Articles_-Gladio-et-la-France |date=21 August 2009 }}," ''[[L'Humanité]]'', November 10, 1990 {{in lang|fr}}.</ref> However, Gladio was actually set up under [[Italian Minister of Defense|Minister of Defence]] (from 1953 to 1958) [[Paolo Emilio Taviani|Paolo Taviani]]'s supervision.<ref name="Obituary"/> Besides, the list of Gladio members given by Andreotti was incomplete. It didn't include, for example, Antonio Arconte, who described an organization very different from the one brushed by Giulio Andreotti: an organization closely tied to the [[Servizio Informazioni Difesa|SID]] secret service and the Atlanticist strategy.<ref>{{Cite news | title=Caso Moro. Morire di Gladio | work=La Voce della Campania | date=January 2005 | url=http://www.lavocedellevoci.it/inchieste1.php?id=32 | language=it | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215131540/http://lavocedellevoci.it/inchieste1.php?id=32 | archive-date=2009-02-15 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.archivio900.it/it/articoli/art.aspx?id=5278 Gladio e caso Moro: Arconte su morte Ferraro] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130063158/http://www.archivio900.it/it/articoli/art.aspx?id=5278 |date=30 November 2022 }}<!-- was http://digilander.iol.it/infoprc/gladio001.html Which site is the publisher? -->, "La Nuova Sardegna"  {{in lang|it}}</ref> According to Andreotti, the stay-behind organisations set up in all of Europe did not come "under broad NATO supervision until 1959."<ref name="Pallister">[[David Pallister|Pallister, David]]. "[http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/gladio.mi6.sas_graun_5dec1990.html How M16 and SAS Join In] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230182024/https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/gladio.mi6.sas_graun_5dec1990.html |date=30 December 2022 }}," ''[[The Guardian]]'', December 5, 1990</ref>

==== Judicial Inquiries ====
The judge [[Guido Salvini (judge)|Guido Salvini]], who worked in the [[Italian Massacres Commission]], found out that several far-right terrorist organizations were the trench troops of a secret army who were linked to the CIA.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=la Repubblica/fatti: Strage di Piazza Fontana spunta un agente Usa|url=https://www.repubblica.it/online/fatti/fontana/fontana/fontana.html|access-date=October 28, 2020|website=Repubblica.it|archive-date=30 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930154443/http://www.repubblica.it/online/fatti/fontana/fontana/fontana.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Salvini said: "The role of the Americans was ambiguous, halfway between knowing and not preventing and actually inducing people to commit atrocities".<ref name=":2">{{cite web|date=July 2, 2001|title=Three jailed for 1969 Milan bomb|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/02/philipwillan|access-date=October 28, 2020|website=The Guardian|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318203919/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/02/philipwillan|url-status=live}}</ref>

Judge [[Gerardo D'Ambrosio]] found out that in a conference that had the patronage of the [[Chief Staff of Defense]], there were instructions to infiltrate left-wing groups and provoke social tension by carrying out attacks and then blame them on the left.<ref>{{Citation|title=Gladio (TV Movie 1992) – IMDb|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172496/|access-date=2020-10-29|archive-date=16 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116200653/https://imdb.com/title/tt0172496|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2000 parliamentary report and the strategy of tension ====
In 2000, a parliamentary commission report from the left-wing coalition ''[[The Olive Tree (political coalition)|Gruppo Democratici di Sinistra l'Ulivo]]'' asserted that a [[strategy of tension]] had been supported by the United States to "''stop the [[Italian Communist Party|PCI]], and to a certain degree also the [[Italian Socialist Party|PSI]], from reaching executive power in the country''". It stated that "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 report stated that US intelligence agents were informed in advance about several terrorist bombings, including the December 1969 [[Piazza Fontana bombing]] in Milan and the [[Piazza della Loggia bombing]] in Brescia five years later, but did nothing to alert the Italian authorities or to prevent the attacks from taking place.

It also reported that [[Pino Rauti]], former leader of the [[MSI Fiamma-Tricolore]] party, journalist and founder of the [[Ordine Nuovo]] (new order) subversive organisation, received regular funding from a press officer at the US embassy in Rome. 'So even before the 'stabilising' plans that Atlantic circles had prepared for Italy became operational through the bombings, one of the leading members of the terrorist group was in the pay of the American embassy in Rome.' a report released by the [[Democrats of the Left]] party says.<ref>Willan, Philip. "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/24/terrorism US 'supported anti-left terror in Italy'] ", ''[[The Guardian]]'', June 24, 2000.</ref>

==== General Serravalle's statements ====
General Gerardo Serravalle, who commanded the Italian Gladio from 1971 to 1974, related that "in the 1970s the members of the CPC [Coordination and Planning Committee] were the officers responsible for the secret structures of Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Italy. These representatives of the secret structures met every year in one of the capitals... At the stay-behind meetings representatives of the CIA were always present. They had no voting rights and were from the CIA headquarters of the capital in which the meeting took place... members of the US Forces Europe Command were present, also without voting rights. "<ref>Gerardo Serravalle, ''Gladio'' (Rome: Edizione Associate, {{ISBN|88-267-0145-8}}, 1991), p.78-79 {{in lang|it}}</ref> Next to the CPC a second secret command post was created in 1957, the Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC). According to the Belgian Parliamentary Committee on Gladio, the ACC was "responsible for coordinating the 'Stay-behind' networks in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States". During peacetime, the activities of the ACC "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".<ref>Belgian Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into Gladio, quoted by Daniele Ganser (2005)</ref> General Serravalle declared to the ''Commissione Stragi'' headed by senator [[Giovanni Pellegrino]] that the Italian Gladio members trained at a military base in Britain.<ref name="Secretunit" />

=== Belgium ===
{{Main|Belgian stay-behind network}}

After the 1967 withdrawal of France from NATO's military structure, the SHAPE headquarters were displaced to [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]] in Belgium. In 1990, following France's denial of any "stay-behind" French army, Giulio Andreotti publicly said the last Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) meeting, at which the French branch of Gladio was present, had been on October 23 and 24, 1990, under the presidency of Belgian General Van Calster, director of the Belgian military [[Belgian General Information and Security Service|General Service for Intelligence]] (SGR). In November, [[Guy Coëme]], the Minister of Defense, acknowledged the existence of a Belgian "stay-behind" army, raising concerns about a similar implication in terrorist acts as in Italy. The same year, the [[European Parliament]] sharply condemned NATO and the United States in a resolution for having manipulated European politics with the stay-behind armies.<ref name="ETH chronology">[http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology.cfm?navinfo=15301 Chronology] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212053626/http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology.cfm?navinfo=15301 |date=2008-12-12 }}, ''Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies'', [[ETH Zurich]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/European_Parliament_resolution_on_Gladio|title=European Parliament resolution on Gladio|first=European|last=Parliament|website=En.wikisource.org|access-date=8 January 2016|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318204222/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/European_Parliament_resolution_on_Gladio|url-status=live}}</ref>

New legislation governing intelligence agencies' missions and methods was passed in 1998, following two government inquiries and the creation of a permanent parliamentary committee in 1991, which was to bring them under the authority of Belgium's federal agencies. The commission was created following events in the 1980s, which included the [[Brabant massacres]] and the activities of the far-right group [[Westland New Post]].<ref>[http://www.comiteri.be/index_en.html Official site of the Belgian Permanent Committee for the Control of Intelligence Services] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623222207/http://www.comiteri.be/index_en.html |date=2006-06-23 }} See "history" section in the "Presentation" part.</ref>

=== Denmark ===
The Danish stay-behind army was code-named ''Absalon'', after [[Absalon|a Danish archbishop]], and led by E. J. Harder. It was hidden in the military secret service ''[[Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste]]'' (FE). In 1978, [[William Colby]], former director of the [[CIA]], released his memoirs in which he described the setting-up of stay-behind armies in [[Scandinavia]]:<ref name=colby />

<blockquote>The situation in each Scandinavian country was different. [[Norway]] and [[Denmark]] were NATO allies, [[Sweden]] held to the neutrality that had taken her through two world wars, and [[Finland]] were required to defer in its foreign policy to the Soviet power directly on its borders. Thus, in one set of these countries the governments themselves would build their own stay-behind nets, counting on activating them from exile to carry on the struggle. These nets had to be co-ordinated with NATO's plans, their radios had to be hooked to a future exile location, and the specialised equipment had to be secured from CIA and secretly cached in snowy hideouts for later use. In the other set of countries, CIA would have to do the job alone or with, at best, "unofficial" local help, since the politics of those governments barred them from collaborating with NATO, and any exposure would arouse immediate protest from the local Communist press, Soviet diplomats and loyal Scandinavians who hoped that neutrality or nonalignment would allow them to slip through a World War III unharmed.</blockquote>

=== France ===
In 1947, Interior Minister [[Édouard Depreux]] revealed the existence of a secret stay-behind army in France codenamed "Plan Bleu". The next year, the "Western Union Clandestine Committee" (WUCC) was created to coordinate secret unorthodox warfare. In 1949, the WUCC was integrated into [[NATO]], whose headquarters were established in France, under the name "Clandestine Planning Committee" (CPC). In 1958, NATO founded the Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) to coordinate secret warfare.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology76c1.html?navinfo=15301|title=Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies|date=October 2016|website=Parallel History Project|access-date=18 August 2018|archive-date=18 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318061622/http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology76c1.html?navinfo=15301|url-status=live}}</ref>

The network was supported with elements from [[Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage|SDECE]], and had military support from the [[11e régiment parachutiste de choc|11th Choc regiment]]. The former director of [[Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure|DGSE]], Admiral [[Pierre Lacoste]], alleged in a 1992 interview with ''[[The Nation]]'', that certain elements from the network were involved in terrorist activities against [[Charles de Gaulle|de Gaulle]] and his Algerian policy. A section of the 11th Choc regiment split over the 1962 Évian peace accords, and became part of the ''[[Organisation armée secrète]]'' (OAS), but it is unclear if this also involved members of the French stay-behind network.<ref>{{Cite news | author = Kwitny, Jonathan | url = http://www.thenation.com/archive/detail/9203303730 | title = The C.I.A.'s Secret Armies in Europe | work = The Nation | date = 1992-04-06 | pages = 446–447 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011103549/http://www.thenation.com/archive/detail/9203303730 | archive-date = 2007-10-11 }} Quoted in Ganser's "Terrorism in Western Europe".{{dead link|date=February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| author = Cogan, Charles | title = 'Stay-Behind' in France: Much ado about nothing? | journal = Journal of Strategic Studies | year = 2007 | volume = 30 | issue = 6 | pages = 937–954 | doi = 10.1080/01402390701676493 | s2cid = 154529125 }}</ref>

''La Rose des Vents'' and ''Arc-en-ciel'' ("Rainbow") network were part of Gladio.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia, Volumen 1|last=Cook|first=Bernard A.|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2001|isbn=978-0-8153-4057-7|pages=510}}</ref> [[François de Grossouvre]] was Gladio's leader for the region around [[Lyon]] in France until his alleged suicide on April 7, 1994. Grossouvre would have asked Constantin Melnik, leader of the French secret services during the [[Algerian War of Independence]] (1954–62), to return to activity. He was living in comfortable exile in the US, where he maintained links with the [[Rand Corporation]].{{cn|date=August 2024}}

=== Germany ===
<!-- This section is linked from [[Gundolf Köhler]]. See [[WP:MOS#Section management]] -->

US intelligence also assisted in the set up of a West German stay-behind network. [[CIA]] documents released in June 2006 under the [[Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group|1998 Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act]], show that the CIA organized "stay-behind" networks of West German agents between 1949 and 1953. According to ''The Washington Post'', "One network included at least two former Nazi SS members—Staff Sgt. Heinrich Hoffman and Lt. Col. Hans Rues—and one was run by Lt. Col. [[Walter Kopp]], a former German army officer referred to by the CIA as an "unreconstructed Nazi". "The network was disbanded in 1953 amid political concerns that some members' neo-Nazi sympathies would be exposed in the West German press."<ref name="CIAdocWP">Lee, Christopher. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601555_pf.html CIA Ties With Ex-Nazis Shown] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025070934/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601555_pf.html |date=25 October 2012 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', June 7, 2006.</ref>

Documents shown to the Italian parliamentary terrorism committee revealed that in the 1970s British and French officials involved in the network visited a training base in Germany built with US money.<ref name="Secretunit">Norton-Taylor, Richard and David Gow. [http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/gladio.terrorism.inquiry_graun_17nov1990.html Secret Italian Unit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018121139/https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/gladio.terrorism.inquiry_graun_17nov1990.html |date=18 October 2022 }}," ''[[The Guardian]]'', November 17, 1990</ref>

In 1976, West German secret service [[Bundesnachrichtendienst|BND]] secretary Heidrun Hofer was arrested after having revealed the secrets of the West German stay-behind army to her husband, who was a spy of the [[KGB]].<ref name="ETH chronology" />

In 2004 the German author Norbert Juretzko published a book about his work at the BND. He went into details about recruiting partisans for the German stay-behind network. He was sacked from BND following a [[secret trial]] against him because the BND could not find out the real name of his Russian source "[[Rübezahl]]" whom he had recruited. A man with the name he put on file was arrested by the KGB following treason in the BND, but was obviously innocent, his name having been chosen at random from the public phone book by Juretzko.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} According to Juretzko, the BND built up its branch of Gladio, but discovered after the fall of the [[German Democratic Republic]] that it was fully known to the [[MfS|Stasi]] early on. When the network was dismantled, further odd details emerged. One fellow "spymaster" had kept the radio equipment in his cellar at home with his wife doing the engineering test call every four months, on the grounds that the equipment was too "valuable" to remain in civilian hands. Juretzko found out because this spymaster had dismantled his section of the network so quickly, there had been no time for measures such as recovering all caches of supplies.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Civilians recruited as stay-behind partisans were equipped with a clandestine shortwave radio homed in on a fixed frequency. It had a keyboard with digital encryption, making use of traditional Morse code obsolete. They had a cache of further equipment for signalling helicopters or submarines to drop special agents who were to stay in the partisan's homes while mounting sabotage operations against the communists.

=== Greece ===
When Greece joined NATO in 1952, the country's special forces, [[1st Raider–Paratrooper Brigade (Greece)|LOK]] (''Lochoi Oreinōn Katadromōn'', i.e., "mountain raiding companies"), were integrated into the European stay-behind network. The CIA and LOK reconfirmed on March 25, 1955, their mutual cooperation in a secret document signed by US General [[Lucian Truscott|Truscott]] for the CIA, and [[Konstantinos Dovas]], chief of staff of the Greek military. In addition to preparing for a Soviet invasion, the CIA instructed LOK to prevent a leftist coup. Former CIA agent [[Philip Agee]], who was sharply criticized in the US for having revealed sensitive information, insisted that "paramilitary groups, directed by CIA officers, operated in the sixties throughout Europe [and he stressed that] perhaps no activity of the CIA could be as clearly linked to the possibility of internal subversion."<ref>[[Philip Agee]] and Louis Wolf, ''Dirty Work: The CIA in Western Europe'' (Secaucus: Lyle Stuart Inc., 1978), p.154 (quoted by Daniele Ganser) (2005) p.216</ref>

According to [[Daniele Ganser]], LOK was involved in the [[1967 Greek coup d'état|military coup d'état on 21 April 1967]],<ref name="Ganser2">{{cite book|last=Ganser|first=Daniele|author-link=Daniele Ganser|date=2004|title=NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe|publisher=Frank Cass |isbn=978-0-7146-8500-7|url=https://libcom.org/files/NATOs_secret_armies.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211193726/https://files.libcom.org/files/NATOs_secret_armies.pdf|archive-date=December 11, 2022}}</ref>{{rp|221}} which took place one month before the scheduled national elections. Under the command of paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel [[Costas Aslanidis|Costas Aslanides]], LOK took control of the Greek Defence Ministry while Brigadier General [[Stylianos Pattakos]] gained control of communication centres, parliament, the royal palace, and, according to detailed lists, arrested over 10,000 people. According to Ganser, [[Phillips Talbot]], the US ambassador in Athens, disapproved of the military coup which established the "[[Greek junta|Regime of the Colonels]]" (1967–1974), complaining that it represented "a rape of democracy"—to which [[John M. Maury|Jack Maury]], the CIA chief of station in Athens, answered, "How can you rape a whore?"{{r|Ganser2|p=221}}

Arrested and then exiled in Canada and Sweden, [[Andreas Papandreou]] later returned to Greece, where he won the [[Greek legislative election, 1981|1981 election]], forming the first socialist government of Greece's post-war history. According to his own testimony, Ganser alleges, he discovered the existence of the secret NATO army, then codenamed "Red Sheepskin", as acting prime minister in 1984 and had given orders to dissolve it.{{r|Ganser2|p=223}}

Following Giulio Andreotti's revelations in 1990, the Greek defence minister confirmed that a branch of the network, known as Operation Sheepskin, operated in his country until 1988.<ref>"[http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/nato.net.france_graun_14nov1990.html NATO's secret network 'also operated in France'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012205225/https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/nato.net.france_graun_14nov1990.html |date=12 October 2022 }}", ''[[The Guardian]]'', November 14, 1990, p. 6</ref>

In December 2005, journalist Kleanthis Grivas published an article in ''To Proto Thema'', a Greek Sunday newspaper, in which he accused "Sheepskin" for the assassination of CIA station chief [[Richard Welch]] in Athens in 1975, as well as the assassination of British military attaché [[Stephen Saunders (British Army officer)|Stephen Saunders]] in 2000. This was denied by the [[US State Department]], who responded that "the Greek terrorist organization '[[Revolutionary Organization 17 November|17 November]]' was responsible for both assassinations", and that Grivas's central piece of evidence had been the [[Westmoreland Field Manual]] which the state department, as well as an independent congressional inquiry, have alleged to be a Soviet forgery.<ref name="StateDept">{{Cite web|title=Misinformation about 'Gladio/Stay Behind' Networks Resurfaces |publisher=United States Department of State |url=http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Jan/20-127177.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328042037/http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Jan/20-127177.html |archive-date=March 28, 2008 }}</ref>  The State Department also highlighted the fact that, in the case of Richard Welch, "Grivas bizarrely accuses the CIA of playing a role in the assassination of one of its own senior officials" while "Sheepskin" could not have assassinated Stephen Saunders for the simple reason that, according to the US government, "the Greek government stated it dismantled the 'stay behind' network in 1988."<ref name="StateDept" />

=== Netherlands ===
Speculation that the Netherlands was involved in ''Gladio'' arose from the accidental discovery of large arms caches in 1980 and 1983.<ref name="Cambridge Clarion Group 1990a">{{cite web | title=Clarion: Nato network in France, Guardian 14 Nov 1990 | website=Cambridge Clarion Group | date=Nov 14, 1990 | url=http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/nato.net.france_graun_14nov1990.html | access-date=Feb 19, 2015 | archive-date=12 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012205225/https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/nato.net.france_graun_14nov1990.html | url-status=live }}</ref> In the latter incident, people walking in a forest near the village of [[Rozendaal]], near [[Arnhem]], chanced upon a large hidden cache of arms, containing dozens of hand grenades, semiautomatic rifles, automatic pistols, munitions and explosives.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mijngelderlandmedia.azureedge.net/files/verhalen_pdf/Jongeren_vinden_wapenarsenaal_van_geheime_dienst.pdf|title=Jongeren vinden wapenarsenaal van geheime dienst|website=Mijngelderlandmedia.azureedge.net|access-date=March 5, 2022|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621084638/https://mijngelderlandmedia.azureedge.net/files/verhalen_pdf/Jongeren_vinden_wapenarsenaal_van_geheime_dienst.pdf|archive-date=June 21, 2023}}</ref><ref name="AP News Archive 1990" /> That discovery forced the Dutch government to confirm that the arms were related to NATO planning for unorthodox warfare.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology.cfm?navinfo=15301 |title=Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies |website=Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security (PHP) |access-date=2009-02-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212053626/http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology.cfm?navinfo=15301 |archive-date=2008-12-12 }}</ref>

In 1990, then-Prime Minister [[Ruud Lubbers]] told the Dutch Parliament that his office was running a secret organisation that had been set up inside the Dutch defence ministry in the 1950s, but denied it was supervised directly by NATO or other foreign bodies. He went on to inform that successive prime ministers and defence chiefs had always preferred not to inform other Cabinet members or Parliament about the secret organization. It was modelled on the nation's World War II experiences of having to evacuate the royal family and transfer government to a government-in-exile,<ref name="AP News Archive 1990">{{cite web | title=Secret Gladio Network Planted Weapons Caches in NATO Countries | website=AP News Archive | date=Nov 13, 1990 | url=https://apnews.com/4a4d84723deb2ba38917a68a41c28628 | access-date=Feb 20, 2015 | archive-date=18 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318204753/https://apnews.com/4a4d84723deb2ba38917a68a41c28628 | url-status=live }}</ref> originally aiming to provide an underground intelligence network to a government-in-exile in the event of a foreign invasion, although it included elements of guerrilla warfare. Former Dutch Defence Minister [[Henk Vredeling]] confirmed the group had set up arms caches around the Netherlands for sabotage purposes.<ref name="AP News Archive 1990" />

Already in 1990, it was known that the weapons cache near Velp, while accidentally 'discovered' in 1983, had been plundered partially before. It still contained dozens of hand grenades, semiautomatic rifles, automatic pistols, munitions and explosives at the time of discovery, but five hand grenades had gone missing.<ref name="AP News Archive 1990" /> A Dutch investigative television program revealed on 9 September 2007, that another arms cache that had belonged to Gladio had been ransacked in the 1980s. It was located in a park near [[Scheveningen]]. Some of the stolen weapons, including hand grenades and machine guns, later turned up when police officials arrested criminals [[John Mieremet]] and Sam Klepper in 1991. The Dutch military intelligence agency [[MIVD]] feared at the time that disclosure of the Gladio history of these weapons would have been politically sensitive.<ref>{{Cite news|title=MIVD verzwijgt wapenvondst in onderwereld|url=http://www.nu.nl/algemeen/1228111/mivd-verzwijgt-wapenvondst-in-onderwereld.html|publisher=Nu.nl|date=2007-09-09|access-date=2015-01-11|language=nl|archive-date=18 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018115310/https://www.nu.nl/algemeen/1228111/mivd-verzwijgt-wapenvondst-in-onderwereld.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://reporter.kro.nl/seizoenen/reporter-2007/afleveringen/09-09-2007|title=Gladio|publisher=Brandpunt Reporter|date=2007-09-09|access-date=2015-01-11|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318204955/https://www.npo3.nl/brandpuntplus|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Norway ===
In 1957, the director of the secret service [[Norwegian Intelligence Service|NIS]], [[Vilhelm Evang]], protested strongly against the pro-active intelligence activities at [[Allied Forces North|AFNORTH]], as described by the chairman of CPC: "[NIS] was extremely worried about activities carried out by officers at [[Kolsås]]. This concerned SB, Psywar and Counter Intelligence." These activities supposedly included the blacklisting of Norwegians. [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe|SHAPE]] denied these allegations. Eventually, the matter was resolved in 1958, after Norway was assured about how stay-behind networks were to be operated.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Olav Riste|title=The Norwegian Intelligence Service: 1945–1970|publisher=Routledge|year=1999|isbn=978-0-7146-4900-9|pages=45–48 (New problems with NATO)|author-link=Olav Riste}}</ref>

In 1978, the police discovered an arms cache and radio equipment at a mountain cabin and arrested Hans Otto Meyer ([[:no:Hans Otto Meyer|no]]), a businessman accused of being involved in selling illegal alcohol. Meyer claimed that the weapons were supplied by Norwegian intelligence. [[Rolf Arthur Hansen|Rolf Hansen]], defence minister at that time, stated the network was not in any way answerable to NATO and had no CIA connection.<ref>{{Cite news| title = Secret Anti-Communist Network Exposed in Norway in 1978 | agency = Associated Press | date = 1990-11-14}}</ref>

===Portugal===
{{Further information|Aginter Press}}

Aginter Press was an international [[anti-communist]] mercenary organization disguised as a pseudo-[[press agency]] and active until 1974. It was founded in September 1966 under [[António de Oliveira Salazar]]'s [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]] regime, under the direction of Captain [[Yves Guérin-Sérac]], who had taken part in the foundation of the [[Organisation de l'armée secrète|OAS]]. Aginter Press trained its members in covert action techniques, including bombings, silent assassinations, [[psychological warfare|subversion techniques]], clandestine communication and infiltration and [[counter-insurgency]].<ref name="koomen">{{cite book |author=Willem Koomen, Joop Van Der Pligt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5r4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |title=The Psychology of Radicalization and Terrorism |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-1317677031 |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{citation|author-link=Daniele Ganser|last=Ganser |first=Daniele |year=2005 |title=NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe |page= 117-118|isbn=0714685003 |url= https://files.libcom.org/files/NATOs_secret_armies.pdf |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London}}</ref>

=== Turkey ===
{{Main|Counter-Guerrilla}}
{{See also|Ergenekon (allegation)|Deep state in Turkey|1980 Turkish coup d'état|Ruzi Nazar}}

In an excerpt from Mehtap Söyler's 2015 book entitled ''The Turkish Deep State: State Consolidation, Civil-Military Relations and Democracy'', Söyler details how certain Western forces encouraged [[Turkish nationalism]] via Operation Gladio. Specifically, Operation Gladio empowered [[Turanism]] through the founding member of the [[Counter-Guerrilla]]; [[Alparslan Türkeş]] — a product of that CIA initiative.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mehtap Söyler |url=https://archive.org/details/the-turkish-deep-state-state-consolidation-civil-military-relations-and-democracy/page/108/mode/2up |title=The Turkish Deep State State Consolidation, Civil Military Relations And Democracy |date=2015}}</ref>

As one of the nations that prompted the [[Truman Doctrine]], Turkey is one of the first countries to participate in Operation Gladio and, some{{who|date=March 2020}} say, the only country where it has not been purged.<ref name="SABAH 2008">{{cite web|date=Apr 28, 2008|title=İtalyan Gladiosu'nu çözen savcı: En etkili Gladio sizde|url=http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/04/28/haber,B9DE249697B646F0939528BF8FA2BE4C.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113070352/http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/04/28/haber,B9DE249697B646F0939528BF8FA2BE4C.html|archive-date=January 13, 2020|access-date=Feb 20, 2015|website=SABAH|language=tr}}</ref> The counter-guerrillas' existence in Turkey was revealed in 1973 by then-prime minister [[Bülent Ecevit]].<ref>{{Cite news
|url=http://www.stargazete.com/gazete/yazar/savci-ergenekon-u-kenan-evren-e-sormali-asil-113287.htm
|access-date=2008-10-21
|title=Savcı, Ergenekon'u Kenan Evren'e sormalı asıl!
|work=Star Gazete
|date=2008-07-14
|first=Aziz
|last=Üstel
|language=tr
|quote=Türkiye'deki gizli ordunun adı kontr gerilladır.
|archive-date=6 January 2019
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106022946/http://www.stargazete.com/gazete/yazar/savci-ergenekon-u-kenan-evren-e-sormali-asil-113287.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

General [[Kenan Evren]], who became President of Turkey following a successful coup d'état in 1980, served as the head of the [[Counter-Guerrilla]], the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio. Historians and outside investigators have speculated that Counter-Guerrilla and several subordinate Intelligence, Special Forces, and Gendarmerie units were possibly involved in numerous acts of state-sponsored terrorism and engineering the [[military coup]]s of [[1971 Turkish coup d'état|1971]] and [[1980 Turkish coup d'état|1980]]. Many of the high ranking plotters of the 1971 and 1980 coup, such as Generals Evren, [[Memduh Tağmaç]], [[Faik Türün]], [[Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu]], [[Kemal Yamak]] and Air Force Commander [[Tahsin Şahinkaya]], served at various times under the command of [[Counter-Guerrilla]] or the subordinate [[Tactical Mobilisation Group]] and [[Special Warfare Department]].

Additionally, the CIA employed people from the far-right, such as [[Pan-Turkist]] [[SS (Nazi)|SS-member]] [[Ruzi Nazar]] (father of [[Sylvia Nasar]]),<ref name="variant">{{Cite journal |author=Fernandes, Desmond |author2=Ozden, Iskender |date=Spring 2001 |title=United States and NATO Inspired 'Psychological Warfare Operations' Against The 'Kurdish Communist Threat' in Turkey |url=http://www.variant.org.uk/pdfs/issue12/Fernandes.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821124229/https://romulusstudio.com/variant/pdfs/issue12/Fernandes.pdf|archive-date=August 21, 2023 |journal=[[Variant (magazine)|Variant]] |volume=12}}<!-- Richly sourced; recommended reading! I linked to the issue so you can choose between PDF/HTML, or even get the whole issue. --></ref> to train the [[Grey Wolves (organization)|Grey Wolves]] ({{langx|tr|Bozkurtlar}}),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gezer |first=Şenol |date=2006-04-17 |title=Oral Çelik: 'Ülkücüleri Naziler eğitti' |work=Bugün |url=http://www.bugun.com.tr/bugunhaber/default.asp |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060417104914/http://www.bugun.com.tr/bugunhaber/default.asp |archive-date=April 17, 2006}}</ref> the youth wing of the [[Nationalist Movement Party|MHP]]. Nazar was an [[Uzbek people|Uzbek]] born near [[Tashkent]] who had deserted the [[Red Army]] to join the Nazis during [[World War II]] in order to fight on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] for the creation of a Turkistan.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Herman, Edward |url=http://www.xs4all.nl/~afa/alert/2_7/henze.html |title=The Rise and Fall of the Bulgarian Connection |author2=Brodhead, Frank |date=May 1986 |publisher=Sheridan Square |isbn=978-0-940380-06-6 |location=New York |page=63 |author-link=Edward S. Herman |archive-date=17 January 2023 |access-date=5 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117162324/https://www.xs4all.nl/~afa/alert/2_7/henze.html |url-status=live }}<!-- The source has been verified. The online link is merely for convenience. --></ref> After Germany lost the war, [[U.S. intelligence involvement with German and Japanese war criminals after World War II|some of its spies found haven in the U.S. intelligence community]]. Nazar was such a person, and he became the CIA's station chief to Turkey.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Akbas |first=Tutkun |date=2008-01-15 |title=Türkeş'i CIA kurtardı |language=tr |work=Sabah |url=http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/01/15/haber,5C0384AD6A634B71AD334F27EB8DE728.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522134801/http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/01/15/haber%2C5C0384AD6A634B71AD334F27EB8DE728.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011}}) See also {{YouTube|p_kB0c2W3qQ}}</ref>

== Parallel stay-behind operations in non-NATO countries ==
=== Austria ===
In Austria, the first secret stay-behind army was exposed in 1947. It had been set up by the far-right Theodor Soucek and Hugo Rössner, who both insisted during their trial that "they were carrying out the secret operation with the full knowledge and support of the US and British occupying powers." Sentenced to death, they had their sentences commuted to life in prison and 20 years, respectively, by [[Karl Renner]], to prevent them from potentially becoming martyrs. In August 1952, the convicts were pardoned and released by President [[Theodor Körner (president)|Theodor Körner]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Die Aktion Sacher deckte die Verschwörung auf |url=https://austria-forum.org/af/Wissenssammlungen/Damals_in_der_Steiermark/Die_Aktion_Sacher_deckte_die_Verschw%C3%B6rung_auf |access-date=2024-02-24 |website=Austria-Forum |language=de}}</ref> While there is evidence suggesting that the activities of Soucek and Rössner were tolerated to an extent by local occupation authorities, available American archives do not suggest that they had any connection to U.S. intelligence. A secret review of the situation by US forces in Austria in early January 1948 implies that while the group were presenting themselves as anti-communist allies, the Americans did not trust them, viewing them as "adventurers and opportunists."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Biddiscombe |first=Prof Perry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i8Q7AwAAQBAJ&dq=%22adventurers+and+opportunists+soucek&pg=PT300 |title=The Last Nazis |date=2004-06-30 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0-7524-9642-9 |pages=299–300 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Ministry of the Interior (Austria)|Interior Minister]] [[Franz Olah]] set up a new secret army codenamed ''Österreichischer Wander-, Sport- und Geselligkeitsverein'' (OeWSGV, literally "[[Austrian Association of Hiking, Sports and Society]]"), with the cooperation of MI6 and the CIA. He later explained that "we bought cars under this name. We installed communication centres in several regions of Austria", confirming that "special units were trained in the use of weapons and plastic explosives". He stated that "there must have been a couple of thousand people working for us... Only very, very highly positioned politicians and some members of the union knew about it".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/5248-natos-secret-armies.html?start=1|title=NATO's Secret Armies|last=Lendman|first=Stephen|date=September 2010|website=MCW News|access-date=18 August 2018|archive-date=18 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318205059/http://mwcnews.net/focus/?start=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1965, police discovered a stay-behind arms cache in an old mine close to Windisch-Bleiberg and forced the British authorities to hand over a list with the location of 33 other caches in Austria.<ref name="ETH chronology" />

In 1990, when secret "stay-behind" armies were uncovered all around Europe, the Austrian government said that no secret army had existed in the country. However, six years later, ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' revealed the existence of secret CIA arms caches in Austria. Austrian President [[Thomas Klestil]] and Chancellor [[Franz Vranitzky]] insisted that they had known nothing of the existence of the secret army and demanded that the US launch a full-scale investigation into the violation of Austria's neutrality, which was denied by President [[Bill Clinton]]. State Department spokesman [[R. Nicholas Burns|Nicholas Burns]]—appointed in August 2001 by President [[George W. Bush|George Bush]] as the US Permanent Representative to the Atlantic Treaty Organization, where, as ambassador to NATO, he headed the combined State-Defense Department United States Mission to NATO and coordinated the NATO response to the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]]—insisted: "The aim was noble, the aim was correct, to try to help Austria if it was under occupation. What went wrong is that successive Washington administrations simply decided not to talk to the Austrian government about it."<ref name="Ganser1">{{cite web | last=Ganser | first=Daniele | title=Terrorism in Western Europe: An Approach to NATO's Secret Stay-Behind Armies | publisher=[[Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations]], South Orange NJ, Winter/Spring 2005, Vol. 6, No. 1. | website=ISN | url=http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/kms2.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/PHP/18583/ipublicationdocument_singledocument/f4e652a3-cad7-4284-9aae-243b630f3440/en/Terrorism_Western_Europe.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318202854/https://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/kms2.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/PHP/18583/ipublicationdocument_singledocument/f4e652a3-cad7-4284-9aae-243b630f3440/en/Terrorism_Western_Europe.pdf|archive-date= March 18, 2023}}</ref>

=== Finland ===
In 1944, Sweden worked with Finnish Intelligence to set up a stay-behind network of agents within Finland to keep track of post-war activities in that country. While this network was allegedly never put in place, Finnish codes, [[SIGINT]] equipment and documents were brought to Sweden and apparently exploited until the 1980s.<ref>C. G. McKay, Bengt Beckman, ''Swedish Signal Intelligence'', Frank Cass Publishers, 2002, p. 202</ref> {{See also|Operation Stella Polaris}}

In 1945, Lauri Kumpulainen, a Finnish soldier with left-wing sympathies, exposed a secret stay-behind army which was closed down (so-called '[[Weapons Cache Case]]'). This operation was organized by Finnish general staff officers (without foreign help) in 1944 to hide weapons in order to sustain large-scale guerrilla warfare in the event the Soviet Union tried to occupy Finland following the end of combat on the [[Continuation War|Finnish-Soviet front of WWII]]. Of those 5,000 to 10,000 people involved in the case, 1,488 of them were convicted. Most of them received prison terms of 1–4 months. Overall, the prison sentences of those convicted totaled nearly 400 years.

In 1991, the Swedish media claimed that a secret stay-behind army had existed in neutral [[Finland]] with an exile base in [[Stockholm]]. Finnish Defence Minister [[Elisabeth Rehn]] called the revelations "a fairy tale", adding cautiously "or at least an incredible story, of which I know nothing."<ref name="ETH chronology" /> However, in his memoirs, former CIA director [[William Colby]] described the setting-up of stay-behind armies in the Nordic countries, including Finland, with or without the assistance of local governments, to prepare for a Soviet invasion.<ref name="colby">[[William Colby|Colby, William]]. "[http://kms2.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/PHP/20204/ipublicationdocument_singledocument/e3aa560f-0147-4003-a188-6c9d54c79423/en/78_colby.pdf A Scandinavian Spy]," Chapter 3. (Former CIA director's memoirs.) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429212743/http://kms2.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/PHP/20204/ipublicationdocument_singledocument/e3aa560f-0147-4003-a188-6c9d54c79423/en/78_colby.pdf |date=2016-04-29 }}</ref>

=== Spain ===
Several events prior to Spain's 1982 membership in NATO have also been tied to Gladio. In May 1976, half a year after [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s death, two [[Carlism|Carlist]] militants were [[Montejurra massacre|shot down]] by far-right terrorists, among whom were Gladio operative [[Stefano Delle Chiaie]] and members of the [[Triple A (Spain)|Apostolic Anticommunist Alliance]] (''Triple A''), demonstrating connections between Gladio and the South American "[[Dirty War]]" of the [[Operation Condor]]. This incident became known as the [[Montejurra incidents|Montejurra incident]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.montejurra-jurramendi.3a2.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051026103210/http://www.montejurra-jurramendi.3a2.com/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-10-26|title=CARLISMO MONTEJURRA LIBERTAD Actos de Montejurra 2006|website=Montejurra-jurramendi.3a2.com}}</ref> According to a report by the Italian [[CESIS]] (executive committee for Intelligence and Security Services), [[Carlo Cicuttini]] (who took part in the 1972 Peteano bombing in Italy alongside [[Vincenzo Vinciguerra]]), participated in the [[1977 Massacre of Atocha]] in Madrid, killing five people (including several lawyers), members of the [[Workers' Commissions]] trade-unions closely linked with the [[Spanish Communist Party]]. Cicuttini was a naturalized Spaniard and exiled in Spain since 1972 (date of the Peteano bombing).<ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ITALIA/EXTREMA_DERECHA/informe/oficial/italiano/implica/crimen/Atocha/ultra/Cicuttini/relacionado/Gladio/elpepiesp/19901202elpepinac_16/Tes Un informe oficial italiano implica en el crimen de Atocha al 'ultra' Cicuttini, relacionado con Gladio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205024952/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ITALIA/EXTREMA_DERECHA/informe/oficial/italiano/implica/crimen/Atocha/ultra/Cicuttini/relacionado/Gladio/elpepiesp/19901202elpepinac_16/Tes |date=5 February 2012 }}, ''[[El País]]'', December 2, 1990 {{in lang|es}}</ref>

Following Andreotti's 1990 revelations, [[Adolfo Suárez]], Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after Franco's death, denied ever having heard of Gladio.<ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/SUAREZ/_ADOLFO/BALEARES/PALMA_DE_MALLORCA_/MUNICIPIO/ESPAnA/CENTRO_DEMOCRaTICO_Y_SOCIAL/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLaNTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/FRANQUISMO/elpepiesp/19901118elpepinac_8/Tes Suárez afirma que en su etapa de presidente nunca se habló de la red Gladio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811054856/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/SUAREZ/_ADOLFO/BALEARES/PALMA_DE_MALLORCA_/MUNICIPIO/ESPANA/CENTRO_DEMOCRATICO_Y_SOCIAL/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLANTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/FRANQUISMO/elpepiesp/19901118elpepinac_8/Tes |date=11 August 2011 }}, ''[[El País]]'', November 18, 1990 {{in lang|es}}</ref> President of the Spanish government in 1981–82, during the [[Spanish transition to democracy|transition to democracy]], [[Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo|Calvo Sotelo]] stated that Spain had not been informed of Gladio when it entered NATO. Asked about Gladio's relations to [[Spain under Franco|Francoist Spain]], he said that such a network was not necessary under [[Francisco Franco|Franco]], since "the regime itself was Gladio."<ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ROMERO_RUIZ/_ANTONIO_/IU/RUPEREZ/_JAVIER_/POLiTICO/OLIART_SAUSSOL/_ALBERTO/CALVO_SOTELO/_LEOPOLDO_/EX_PRESIDENTE_DEL_GOBIERNO/ESPAnA/elpepiesp/19901121elpepinac_19/Tes Calvo Sotelo asegura que España no fue informada, cuando entró en la OTAN, de la existencia de Gladio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112033457/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ROMERO_RUIZ/_ANTONIO_/IU/RUPEREZ/_JAVIER_/POLITICO/OLIART_SAUSSOL/_ALBERTO/CALVO_SOTELO/_LEOPOLDO_/EX_PRESIDENTE_DEL_GOBIERNO/ESPANA/elpepiesp/19901121elpepinac_19/Tes |date=12 January 2012 }}, ''[[El País]]'', November 21, 1990 {{in lang|es}}</ref>

According to General Fausto Fortunato, head of Italian [[SISMI]] from 1971 to 1974, France and the US had backed Spain's entrance to Gladio, but Italy would have opposed it. Following Andreotti's revelations, however, [[Narcís Serra]], Spanish Minister of Defence, opened up an investigation concerning Spain's links to Gladio.<ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ITALIA/ESPAnA/ITALIA/ESPAnA/MINISTERIO_DE_DEFENSA/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLaNTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/PODER_EJECUTIVO/_GOBIERNO_PSOE_/1989-1993/FRANQUISMO/elpepiesp/19901117elpepinac_1/Tes Italia vetó la entrada de España en Gladio, según un ex jefe del espionaje italiano] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112040329/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ITALIA/ESPANA/ITALIA/ESPANA/MINISTERIO_DE_DEFENSA/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLANTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/PODER_EJECUTIVO/_GOBIERNO_PSOE_/1989-1993/FRANQUISMO/elpepiesp/19901117elpepinac_1/Tes |date=12 January 2012 }}, ''[[El País]]'', November 17, 1990 {{in lang|es}}</ref><ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/SERRA/_NARCiS_/PSC-PSOE/ESPAnA/MINISTERIO_DE_DEFENSA/CESID/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLaNTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/PODER_EJECUTIVO/_GOBIERNO_PSOE_/1989-1993/elpepiesp/19901116elpepinac_17/Tes Serra ordena indagar sobre la red Gladio en España] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123000949/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/SERRA/_NARCIS_/PSC-PSOE/ESPANA/MINISTERIO_DE_DEFENSA/CESID/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLANTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/PODER_EJECUTIVO/_GOBIERNO_PSOE_/1989-1993/elpepiesp/19901116elpepinac_17/Tes |date=23 November 2011 }}, ''[[El País]]'', November 16, 1990 {{in lang|es}}</ref> The ''[[Canarias7|Canarias 7]]'' newspaper revealed, quoting former Gladio agent Alberto Volo, who had a role in the revelations of the existence of the network in 1990, that a Gladio meeting had been organized in August 1991 on [[Gran Canaria]] island.<ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ITALIA/LAS_PALMAS/red/Gladio/continua/operando/ex/agente/Alberto/Volo/elpepiesp/19910819elpepinac_7/Tes/ La 'red Gladio' continúa operando, según el ex agente Alberto Volo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223042921/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ITALIA/LAS_PALMAS/red/Gladio/continua/operando/ex/agente/Alberto/Volo/elpepiesp/19910819elpepinac_7/Tes |date=23 December 2011 }}, ''[[El País]]'', August 19, 1991 {{in lang|es}}</ref> Alberto Volo also declared that as a Gladio operative, he had received trainings in [[Maspalomas]], on Gran Canaria in the 1960s and the 1970s.<ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/SERRA/_NARCiS_/PSC-PSOE/WORNER/_MANFRED/ESTADOS_UNIDOS/ESPAnA/INSTITUTO_NACIONAL_DE_TeCNICA_AEROESPACIAL_/INTA/MINISTERIO_DE_DEFENSA/NASA/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLaNTICO_NORTE_/elpepiesp/19901124elpepinac_14/Tes El secretario de la OTAN elude precisar si España tuvo relación con la red Gladio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112040349/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/SERRA/_NARCIS_/PSC-PSOE/WORNER/_MANFRED/ESTADOS_UNIDOS/ESPANA/INSTITUTO_NACIONAL_DE_TECNICA_AEROESPACIAL_/INTA/MINISTERIO_DE_DEFENSA/NASA/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLANTICO_NORTE_/elpepiesp/19901124elpepinac_14/Tes |date=12 January 2012 }}, ''[[El País]]'', November 24, 1990 {{in lang|es}}</ref> ''[[El País]]'' also revealed that the Gladio organization was suspected of having used former [[NASA]] installations in [[Maspalomas]], on [[Gran Canaria]], in the 1970s.<ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ESTADOS_UNIDOS/ESPAnA/ESPAnA/ESTADOS_UNIDOS/NASA/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLaNTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/Indicios/red/Gladio/utilizo/vieja/estacion/NASA/Gran/Canaria/elpepiesp/19901126elpepinac_8/Tes Indicios de que la red Gladio utilizó una vieja estación de la NASA en Gran Canaria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318205201/https://elpais.com/diario/1990/11/26/espana/659574008_850215.html |date=18 March 2023 }}, ''[[El País]]'', November 26, 1990 {{in lang|es}}</ref>

André Moyen, former Belgian secret agent, also declared that Gladio had operated in Spain.<ref>[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ESPAnA/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLaNTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/red/secreta/OTAN/operaba/Espana/ex/agente/belga/elpepiesp/19901114elpepinac_15/Tes La red secreta de la OTAN operaba en España, según un ex agente belga] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513180906/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/ESPANA/ORGANIZACION_DEL_TRATADO_DEL_ATLANTICO_NORTE_/OTAN/red/secreta/OTAN/operaba/Espana/ex/agente/belga/elpepiesp/19901114elpepinac_15/Tes |date=13 May 2011 }}, ''[[El País]]'', November 14, 1990</ref> He said that Gladio had bases in Madrid, Barcelona, [[San Sebastián]], and the Canary islands.

=== Sweden ===
In 1951, CIA agent [[William Colby]], based at the CIA station in Stockholm, supported the training of stay-behind armies in neutral [[Sweden]] and [[Finland]] and in the NATO members [[Norway]] and [[Denmark]]. In 1953, the police arrested Swedish Nazi Otto Hallberg and discovered the preparations for the Swedish stay-behind army.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deland |first=Mats |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGZ_NQAACAAJ |title=Brunt! Nationalistisk & nazistisk mobilisering i vår närmaste omvärld under efterkrigstiden |publisher=Bokförlaget Atlas |year=2007 |isbn=9789185677535 |editor-last=Deland |editor-first=Mats |location=Stockholm |language=sv |quote=Fram till krigsslutet och något år därefter verkar hans aktiviteter huvudsakligen ha kanaliserats genom partiet och dess tidning Den svenske folksocialisten, som han redigerade. |editor-last2=Westin |editor-first2=Charles}}</ref> Hallberg was set free and charges against him were dropped.<ref name="ETH chronology" />

In 1990, General [[Bengt Gustafsson (general)|Bengt Gustafsson]], confirmed that a [[Stay-behind|stay-behind network]] had existed in the country, but incorrectly added that neither NATO nor the CIA had been involved.<ref name=JoDIR>{{cite journal |last1=Ganser |first1=Daniele |date=2005 |title=Terrorism in Western Europe: An Approach to NATO's Secret Stay-Behind Armies |url=https://blogs.shu.edu/journalofdiplomacy/files/archives/08_ganser27.pdf |journal=[[Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations]] |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages= |doi= |archive-date=30 June 2023 |access-date=27 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630044036/https://blogs.shu.edu/journalofdiplomacy/files/archives/08_ganser27.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Paul Garbler, a CIA officer who had served in Sweden, corrected that Sweden was a "direct participant" in the network, adding, "I'm not able to talk about it without causing the Swedes a good deal of heartburn."<ref name=JoDIR/>

=== Switzerland ===
{{Main|Projekt-26}}
In Switzerland, a secret force called [[Projekt-26|P-26]] was discovered, by coincidence, a few months before Giulio Andreotti's October 1990 revelations. After the "[[secret files scandal]]" (''Fichenaffäre''), Swiss members of parliament started investigating the Defense Department in the summer of 1990. According to Felix Würsten of the [[ETH Zurich]], "P-26 was not directly involved in the network of NATO's secret armies but it had close contact to [[MI6]]."<ref name="ETHConference">[http://archiv.ethlife.ethz.ch/e/articles/sciencelife/NatoGeheimarmee.html The Dark Side of the West] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224183600/http://archiv.ethlife.ethz.ch/e/articles/sciencelife/NatoGeheimarmee.html |date=24 December 2010 }}, Conference "Nato Secret Armies and P-26," [[ETH Zurich]], 2005. Published 10 February 2005. Retrieved February 7, 2007.</ref> Daniele Ganser (ETH Zurich) wrote in the ''Intelligence and National Security'' review that "following the discovery of the stay-behind armies across Western Europe in late 1990, Swiss and international security researchers found themselves confronted with two clear-cut questions: Did Switzerland also operate a secret stay-behind army? And if yes, was it part of NATO's stay-behind network? The answer to the first question is clearly yes... The answer to the second question remains disputed..."<ref name="GanserINS">Ganser, Daniele. "[http://www.danieleganser.ch/The_British_Secret_Service_in_Neutral_Switzerland_1211543138.html The British Secret Service in Neutral Switzerland: An Unfinished Debate on NATO's Cold War Stay-behind Armies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713210754/http://www.danieleganser.ch/The_British_Secret_Service_in_Neutral_Switzerland_1211543138.html |date=2010-07-13 }}", published by the ''Intelligence and National Security'' review, vol.20, n°4, December 2005, pp. 553–580 {{ISSN|0268-4527}} print 1743–9019 online.</ref>

In 1990, Colonel Herbert Alboth, a former commander of P-26, declared in a confidential letter to the Defence Department that he was willing to reveal "the whole truth". He was later found in his house, [[Projekt-26#Murder of Herbert Alboth|stabbed with his own bayonet]]. The detailed parliamentary report on the Swiss secret army was presented to the public on 17 November 1990.<ref name="ETH chronology" /> According to ''The Guardian'', "P-26 was backed by [[Projekt-27|P-27]], a private foreign intelligence agency funded partly by the government, and by a special unit of Swiss army intelligence which had built up files on nearly 8,000 "suspect persons" including "leftists", "bill stickers", "[[Jehovah's witnesses]]", people with "abnormal tendencies" and [[anti-nuclear]] demonstrators.
On 14 November, the Swiss government hurriedly dissolved P26 – the head of which, it emerged, had been paid £100,000 a year."<ref name=Gladiofile>[[Richard Norton-Taylor]], "[http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/gladio_graun_5dec1990.html The Gladio File: did fear of communism throw West into the arms of terrorists?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230182021/https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/gladio_graun_5dec1990.html |date=30 December 2022 }}", in ''[[The Guardian]]'', December 5, 1990</ref>

In 1991, a report by Swiss magistrate Pierre Cornu was released by the Swiss defence ministry. It found that P-26 was without "political or legal legitimacy", and described the group's collaboration with British secret services as "intense". "Unknown to the Swiss government, British officials signed agreements with P-26 to provide training in combat, communications, and sabotage. The latest agreement was signed in 1987... P-26 cadres participated regularly in training exercises in Britain... British advisers – possibly from the SAS – visited secret training establishments in Switzerland." P-26 was led by [[Efrem Cattelan]], known to British intelligence.<ref name=swiss>Norton-Taylor, Richard. [http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/swiss.subversion_graun_20sep1991.html UK trained secret Swiss force] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210093307/https://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/swiss.subversion_graun_20sep1991.html |date=10 December 2022 }}" in ''[[The Guardian]]'', September 20, 1991, p. 7.</ref>

In a 2005 conference presenting Daniele Ganser's research on Gladio, [[Hans Senn]], General Chief of Staff of the [[Swiss Armed Forces]] between 1977 and 1980, explained how he was informed of the existence of a secret organisation in the middle of his term of office. According to him, it already became clear in 1980 in the wake of the Schilling/Bachmann affair that there was also a secret group in Switzerland. But former MP, Helmut Hubacher, President of the [[Social Democratic Party of Switzerland|Social Democratic Party]] from 1975 to 1990, declared that although it had been known that "special services" existed within the army, as a politician he never at any time could have known that P-26 was behind this. Hubacher pointed out that the President of the parliamentary investigation into P26 (PUK-EMD), the right-wing politician from Appenzell and member of the Council of States for that Canton, [[Carlo Schmid (Swiss politician)|Carlo Schmid]], had suffered "like a dog" during the commission's investigations. Carlo Schmid declared to the press: "I was shocked that something like that is at all possible," and said to the press he was glad to leave the "conspirational atmosphere" which had weighted upon him like a "black shadow" during the investigations.<ref>{{Cite journal
|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13502168.html
|access-date=2008-10-28
|title=Schwarzer Schatten
|date=1990-12-10
|journal=[[Der Spiegel]]
|issue=50
|language=de
|pages=194b–200a
|archive-date=16 January 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116190657/https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-13502168.html
|url-status=live
}}{{Verify source|date=October 2008}}</ref> Hubacher found it especially disturbing that, apart from its official mandate of organizing resistance in case of a Soviet invasion, P-26 had also a mandate to become active should the left succeed in achieving a parliamentary majority.<ref name="ETHConference"/>

== Daniele Ganser and criticism ==
{{primary sources|date=January 2023}}
{{undue weight section|date=January 2023}}
Swiss conspiracy theorist [[Daniele Ganser]], in his 2005 book ''NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe''<ref name="Ganser2"/> accused Gladio of trying to influence policies through the means of [[false flag]] operations and a [[strategy of tension]]. Ganser alleges that on various occasions, stay-behind movements became linked to [[right-wing terrorism]], crime and attempted coups d'état.<ref name="Ganser1"/> In ''NATO's Secret Armies'' Ganser states that Gladio units closely cooperated with NATO and the CIA and that Gladio in Italy was responsible for terrorist attacks against its own civilian population.<ref>Andreas Anton, Michael Schetsche, Michael K. Walter ''Konspiration'' p. 175, Springer VS 2014, {{ISBN|978-3-531-19324-3}}</ref>

=== Criticism of Ganser ===
Peer Henrik Hansen, a scholar at [[Roskilde University]], wrote two scathing criticisms of the book for the ''International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence'' and the ''Journal of Intelligence History'', describing Ganser's work as "a journalistic book with a big spoonful of conspiracy theories" that "fails to present proof of and an in-depth explanation of the claimed conspiracy between USA, CIA, NATO and the European countries."  Hansen also criticized Ganser for basing his "claim of the big conspiracy" on ''[[US Army Field Manual 30-31B]]'', a supposed Cold War-era forged document.<ref>Peer Henrik Hansen, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20070826145603/http://www.intelligence-history.org/jih/reviews-5-1.html Review of NATO's Secret Armies]," ''Journal of Intelligence History'', Summer 2005. ''Web Archive – archived website of August 26, 2007''</ref><ref>Peer Henrik Hansen, "Falling Flat on the Stay-Behinds," ''International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence'', January 2006, 182-186.</ref> Hayden Peake's book review ''Intelligence in Recent Public Literature'' maintains that, "Ganser fails to document his thesis that the CIA, MI6, and NATO and its friends turned GLADIO into a terrorist organization."<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in-intelligence/volume-49-no-3/the-intelligence-officers-bookshelf/ ''The Intelligence Officer's Bookshelf''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514044853/https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in-intelligence/volume-49-no-3/the-intelligence-officers-bookshelf/ |date=14 May 2021 }} Hayden Peake, ''CIA,'' April 15, 2007</ref> Philip HJ Davies of the Brunel University Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies likewise concludes that the book is "marred by imagined conspiracies, exaggerated notions of the scale and impact of covert activities, misunderstandings of the management and coordination of operations within and between national governments, and... an almost complete failure to place the actions and decisions in question in the appropriate historical context." According to Davies, "the underlying problem is that Ganser has not really undertaken the most basic necessary research to be able to discuss covert action and special operations effectively."<ref>Philip HJ Davies, "Review of NATO's Secret Armies," ''The Journal of Strategic Studies'', December 2005, 1064–1068.</ref> Olav Riste of the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, writing for the journal ''Intelligence and National Security'', mentions several instances where his own research on the stay-behind network in Norway was twisted by Ganser and concludes that "a detailed refutation of the many unfounded allegations that Ganser accepts as historical findings would fill an entire book."<ref>Olav Riste, "Review of NATO's Secret Armies," ''Intelligence and National Security'', September 2005, 550-551.</ref> In a later joint article with Leopoldo Nuti of the University of Rome, the two concluded that the book's "ambitious conclusions do not seem to be entirely corroborated by a sound evaluation of the sources available."<ref>Olav Riste and Leopoldo Nuti, "Introduction: Strategy of 'Stay-Behind'," ''The Journal of Strategic Studies'', December 2007, 930.</ref>

Lawrence Kaplan wrote a mixed review commending Ganser for making "heroic efforts to tease out the many strands that connect this interlocking right-wing conspiracy," but also arguing that "connecting the dots between terrorist organizations in NATO countries and a master plan centred in NATO's military headquarters requires a stretch of facts that Ganser cannot manage." Kaplan believes that some of Ganser's conspiracy theories "may be correct," but that "they do damage to the book's credibility."<ref>Lawrence Kaplan, "Review of NATO's Secret Armies," ''The International History Review'', September 2006, 685-686.</ref> In a mostly positive review for the journal ''Cold War History'', Beatrice Heuser praises Ganser's "fascinating study" while also noting that "it would definitely have improved the work if Ganser had used a less polemical tone, and had occasionally conceded that the Soviet Empire was by no means nicer."<ref>Beatrice Heuser, "Review of NATO's Secret Armies," ''Cold War History'', November 2006, 567-568.</ref> Security analyst John Prados writes "Ganser, the principal analyst of Gladio, presents evidence across many nations that Gladio networks amounted to anti-democratic elements in their own societies."<ref>John Prado ''Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA'' 2006, p. 95, {{ISBN|9781615780112}}</ref>

The US [[State Department]] stated in 2006 that Ganser had been taken in by long-discredited Cold War era disinformation and "fooled by the forgery". In an article about the Gladio/stay-behind networks and ''US Army Field Manual 30-31B'' they stated, "Ganser treats the forgery as if it was a genuine document in his 2005 book on 'stay behind' networks, ''Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe'' and includes it as a key document on his website on the book."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080710005257/http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Jan/20-127177.html State Department].</ref>

== US State Department's 2006 response ==
The [[US State Department]] published a communiqué in January 2006 that, while confirming the existence of NATO stay-behind efforts, in general, and the presence of the "Gladio" stay-behind unit in Italy, in particular. These units were established with the purpose of aiding resistance in the event of Soviet aggression directed westward. However, the communiqué dismissed claims of any United States ordered, supported, or authorized terrorism by stay-behind units.

The State Department said that the accusations of US-sponsored "[[false flag]]" operations are rehashed former Soviet [[disinformation]] based on documents that the Soviets [[Forgery|forged]]; specifically the [[US Army Field Manual 30-31B|Westmoreland Field Manual]]. The alleged Soviet-authored forgery, disseminated in the 1970s, explicitly formulated the need for a "strategy of tension" involving violent attacks blamed on radical left-wing groups in order to convince allied governments of the need for counter-action. It also rejected a Communist Greek journalist's allegations made in December 2005.<ref name="StateDept" />

== In popular culture ==
* An analogue of Operation Gladio was described in the 1949 fiction novel ''An Affair of State'' by [[Pat Frank]].<ref>[[Pat Frank]].  ''An Affair of State''.  J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1949</ref> In Frank's version, U.S. Department of State officers recruit a stay-behind network in Hungary to fight an insurgency against the Soviet Union after the Soviet Union launches an attack on and captures Western Europe.
* {{IMDb title|0172496|Gladio}}. Three-part BBC TV documentary, 1992. Directed by [[Allan Francovich]].
* [[Chris Ryan]]'s 2001 novel ''The Watchman''. It gives an outline of Gladio together with the discovery of a hidden arms and equipment cache dating back to 1940 and subsequently assigned to Gladio.
* {{IMDb title|0418110|Romanzo Criminale}}. Drama, 2005. Concerning the "[[strategy of tension]]" and the [[Banda della Magliana]]. Directed by [[Michele Placido]].
* ''[[Valley of the Wolves: Gladio]]'', a 2009 Turkish drama.
* {{IMDb title|2262010|NATO's Secret Armies}}. Documentary, 2010. Directed by [[:de:Andreas Pichler (Regisseur)|Andreas Pichler]].
* {{IMDb title|1827423|Gladio – Geheimarmeen in Europa}}. German documentary, 2011. Directed by Frank Gutermuth and Wolfgang Schoen.
* In the 2012 ''[[Archer (2009 TV series)|Archer]]'' episode "Lo Scandalo", the character [[Malory Archer]] mentions having been involved in Operation Gladio when younger. It is described by [[Lana Kane]] as "a weird crypto-[[fascist]] CIA shitshow, starring [[Allen Dulles]] and a bunch of former [[Nazis]]."
* [[Umberto Eco]]'s 2015 novel ''[[Numero Zero]]'', {{ISBN|978-1-910-70108-9}}
* {{IMDb title|6960220|The Fox}}, a 2017 English drama with Gladio as a main plot point, produced in the Netherlands by Alex ter Beek and Klaas van Eikeren.
* The 2019 Dutch film and series, ''[[Amsterdam Vice]]'', includes stay-behind ammunition dumps as part of the plot.

== See also ==
* [[Werwolf]], a stay-behind organization by [[Nazi Germany]]
* [[Operation Northwoods]]
* [[Operation Condor]]
* [[CIA activities in Italy]]
* [[Fifth column]]
* [[Alpo K. Marttinen]]
* [[Propaganda Due]]
* [[Terrorism]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==
=== English ===
* [[William Egan Colby]] and Peter Forbath (1978). ''Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA''. {{ISBN|0671228757}}.
* [[Daniele Ganser]] (2005). [https://libcom.org/files/NATOs_secret_armies.pdf ''NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe''.] {{ISBN|0714685003}}.
* [[Sibel Edmonds]] (2014). ''The Lone Gladio''. {{ISBN|0692213295}}.
* [[Paul L. Williams (author)|Paul L. Williams]] (2015). ''Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia'', [[Prometheus Books]]. {{ISBN|978-1616149741}}.
* Francesco Cacciatore (2021). "Stay-behind Networks and Interim Flexible Strategy: The 'Gladio' Case and US Covert Intervention in Italy in the Cold War." ''[[Intelligence and National Security]]''. {{doi|10.1080/02684527.2021.1911436}}.

=== Non-English ===
* Claudio Sestieri; Giovanni Pellegrino; Giovanni Fasanella: ''Segreto di Stato: la verità da Gladio al caso Moro''. Torino: Einaudi, 2000. {{ISBN|9788806156251}} (see [http://www.stragi.it/index.php?var=Segreto+di+Stato.+La+verit%E0+da+Gladio+al+caso+Moro&op=search&target=pagine civic website of Bologna]) {{in lang|it}}
* Jan Willems, Gladio, 1991, [[EPO (publisher)|EPO-Dossier]], Bruxelles ({{ISBN|2-87262-051-6}}). {{in lang|fr}}
* Jens Mecklenburg, ''Gladio. Die geheime Terrororganisation der Nato'', 1997, Elefanten Press Verlag GmbH, Berlin ({{ISBN|3-88520-612-9}}). {{in lang|de}}
* Leo A. Müller, ''Gladio. Das Erbe des kalten Krieges'', 1991, RoRoRo-Taschenbuch Aktuell no 12993 ({{ISBN|3499 129930}}).  {{in lang|de}}
* Jean-François Brozzu-Gentile, ''L'Affaire Gladio. Les réseaux secrets américains au cœur du terrorisme en Europe'', 1994, [[Éditions Albin Michel]], Paris ({{ISBN|2-226-06919-4}}). {{in lang|fr}}
* [[Anna Laura Braghetti]], Paola Tavella, ''Le Prisonnier. 55 jours avec Aldo Moro'', 1999 (translated from Italian: ''Il Prigioniero''), Éditions Denoël, Paris ({{ISBN|2-207-24888-7}})  {{in lang|it|fr}}
* Regine Igel, ''Andreotti. Politik zwischen Geheimdienst und Mafia'', 1997, Herbig Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH, Munich ({{ISBN|3-7766-1951-1}}). {{in lang|de}}
* François Vitrani, "L'Italie, un Etat de 'souveraineté limitée' ?", in ''[[Le Monde diplomatique]]'', December 1990. {{in lang|fr}}
* Patrick Boucheron, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20081116130435/http://www.editions-verdier.fr/v3/oeuvre-jugehisto.html L'affaire Sofri: un procès en sorcellerie?]", in ''[[L'Histoire]]'' magazine, n°217 (January 1998) Concerning [[Carlo Ginzburg]]'s book ''The judge and the historian'' about [[Adriano Sofri]] {{in lang|fr}}
* "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080613171404/http://w3.grhi.univ-tlse2.fr/cahier/select_articles/foro.htm Les procès Andreotti en Italie]" ("The [[Giulio Andreotti|Andreotti]] trials in Italy") by Philippe Foro, published by [[Université Toulouse II|University of Toulouse II]], ''Groupe de recherche sur l'histoire immédiate'' (Study group on immediate history). {{in lang|fr}}
* Angelo Paratico: ''Gli assassini del karma'' Roma: Robin, 2004. {{ISBN|978-8873710646}}.

== External links ==
* {{cite wikisource |title=European Parliament resolution on Gladio}}
* [http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/colltopic448a.html ''Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies'']. Edited by Daniele Ganser and Christian Nuenlist, 29 Nov 2004. [[Parallel History Project]], [[ETH Zürich]]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20080328042037/http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Jan/20-127177.html ''Internet Archive'' mirror])
* [https://libcom.org/files/NATOs_secret_armies.pdf ''NATO's Secret Armies'']. by Daniele Ganser, 2005. Full text. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719144638/https://files.libcom.org/files/NATOs_secret_armies.pdf|date=June 19, 2023}}
* [http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/booklaunch76c1.html Lectures] from book launch of ''NATO's Secret Armies''.
* [http://www.php.isn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/news/mediadesk/gladio.html Reviews] of ''NATO's Secret Armies''.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGHXjO8wHsA ''Operation Gladio'']. BBC documentary (1992). Directed by [[Allan Francovich]].
* [https://vimeo.com/43912356 ''NATO's Secret Armies'']. Documentary (2009). Directed by Andreas Pichler.

{{Cold War}}
{{FBI}}
{{Central Intelligence Agency}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Operation Gladio| ]]
[[Category:1956 establishments in Europe]]
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[[Category:Organizations established in 1956]]
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[[Category:CIA activities in Russia and Europe|Gladio, Operation]]
[[Category:Cold War history of Norway]]
[[Category:Contemporary British history|Gladio]]
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[[Category:History of Greece (1949–1974)]]
[[Category:History of the Italian Republic]]
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[[Category:Military operations involving NATO|Gladio]]
[[Category:Military scandals]]
[[Category:Stay-behind organizations]]
[[Category:False flag operations|Gladio]]
[[Category:Western Union (alliance)]]
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[[Category:Central Intelligence Agency operations|Gladio]]
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