View source for SISMI

{{Short description|Military intelligence agency of Italy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox government agency
|agency_name     = Military Intelligence and Security Service
|nativename      = '''Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare'''
|nativename_a    = SISMI
|nativename_r    =
|logo            = SISMI COA.png
|logo_width      = 75 px
|logo_caption    = The SISMI coat of arms
|seal            = Emblem of Italy.svg
|seal_width      = 100px
|seal_caption    =
|formed          = 24 October 1977
|preceding1      = SID
|preceding2      =
|dissolved       = 3 August 2007
|superseding     = [[Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna]]
|jurisdiction    = [[Government of Italy]]
|headquarters    =
|employees       =
|budget          =
|minister1_name  = [[Arturo Parisi]] 
|minister1_pfo   = [[Italian Minister of Defense|Minister of Defence]] (last)
|minister2_name  =
|minister2_pfo   =
|chief1_name     = Admiral [[Bruno Branciforte]]
|chief1_position = Director
|chief2_name     =
|chief2_position =
|parent_agency   =
|child1_agency   =
|child2_agency   =
|website         = [https://web.archive.org/web/20021003100931/http://www.serviziinformazionesicurezza.gov.it/pdcweb.nsf/pagine/ee_homepage serviziinformazionesicurezza.gov.it]<!-- broken link -->
|footnotes       =
}}

'''{{Lang|it|Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare|italic=no}}''' ('''{{Lang|it|SISMI|italic=no}}'''; {{Langx|en|Military Intelligence and Security Service}}, {{Literal translation|Service for the Information of Military Safety}}) was the [[military intelligence]] [[intelligence agency|agency]] of [[Italy]] from 1977 to 2007.

With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISMI was replaced by [[Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna]] ('''AISE''').<ref name="gazzettaufficiale.it">Legislative Act n.124 of 08/03/2007, reported on the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic, General Series, n.187 of 08/13/2007. [http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/gurifulcrum/dispatcher?service=1&datagu=2007-08-13&task=sommario&numgu=187&tmstp=1189016330697]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.{{in lang|it}}</ref>

==History==
Since the end of World War II, [[Italian intelligence agencies]] have been reorganized many times ([[Servizio Informazioni Militari|SIM]] 1900–49, [[SIFAR]] 1949–65, [[Servizio Informazioni Difesa|SID]] 1965–77) and last [[SISDE]] (civil) and  SISMI (military) from 1977 to 2007, in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under [[Civilian control of the military|civilian control]].

The agency was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community, which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy's intelligence agencies.

* In 1977, with Legislative Act n.801, the SISMI was created after a former chief of the SID, [[Vito Miceli]], was arrested in 1974 for "conspiring against the State" (See [[Golpe Borghese]] of the 1970). Thus the intelligence agencies were reorganized in a [[democracy|democratic attempt]]. This re-organization mainly consisted of:
** The split of SID, the intelligence agency at that time, into two separate agencies with different roles: [[SISDE]] (the domestic one) and SISMI (the military one).
** The creation of [[CESIS]], with a coordination role between the two intelligence agencies and the [[President of the Council of Ministers of Italy|Presidency of the Council of Ministers]].
** The creation of the Parliamentary Committee, [[COPACO]], to oversee the activities of the two agencies.
* Since 1 August 2007, with Legislative Act n.124 of 08/03/2007, following the reform of the Italian intelligence agencies, SISDE, SISMI and CESIS were replaced respectively by [[Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Interna|AISI]], [[Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna|AISE]] and [[Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza|DIS]],<ref name="gazzettaufficiale.it"/> and the COPACO was granted additional oversight and control powers.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

The first director of the service was [[Giuseppe Santovito]] (1978–1981), succeeded by General Nino Lugaresi was SISMI's director from 1981 to 1984; he testified on [[Gladio]]. General [[Nicolò Pollari]] was SISMI's second-last director; he resigned on 20 November 2006 after being indicted in the ''[[Abu Omar case]]'', so Prime Minister [[Romano Prodi]] replaced him with Admiral [[Bruno Branciforte]].{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Admiral [[Bruno Branciforte]] was SISMI's last director, in charge until 3 August 2007.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007 the [[military intelligence]] was eliminated, and the Italian intelligence was divided into internal and foreign.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

==Mission==
SISMI was responsible for intelligence and security activities involving the military defence of Italy and for the integrity of the Italian State.

SISMI reported to the Italian [[Italian Minister of Defense|Ministry of Defense]] and operated both inside and outside of Italy's borders. It was feasible that domestic Intelligence and Security, which normally fell under SISDE's jurisdiction (since it reported to the [[Italian Minister of the Interior|Ministry of the Interior]]), also involved SISMI, unless the security threat came from organized crime.

Its duties included:
* clearing activities with the Prime Minister;
* nominating the Director of the Service and his assistants under [[Comitato interministeriale per le informazioni e la sicurezza|CIIS]] supervision.

== The directors ==
*General [[Giuseppe Santovito]] (First director, 13 January 1978 – August 1981)
*General [[Nino Lugaresi]] (August 1981 – 4 May 1984)
*Admiral [[Fulvio Martini]] (5 May 1984 – 26 February 1991)
*General [[Sergio Luccarini]] (27 February 1991 – 19 August 1991)
*General [[Luigi Ramponi]] (19 August 1991 – 9 August 1992)
*General [[Cesare Pucci]] (10 August 1992 – 12 July 1994)
*General [[Sergio Siracusa]] (12 July 1994 – 3 November 1996)
*Admiral [[Gianfranco Battelli]] (4 November 1996 – 30 September 2001)
*General [[Nicolò Pollari]] (1 October 2001 – 20 November 2006)
*Admiral [[Bruno Branciforte]] (21 November 2006 – 3 August 2007)

== Motto and logo ==
SISMI's motto, as seen on its logo, was "{{lang|la|Arcana intellego}}" ([[Latin]] for "Understanding hidden things"). The verb "{{lang|la|intellego}}", which literally means "I comprehend", was chosen because «it evokes the noble root of intelligence, a discipline aimed at unravelling mysteries and holds in itself a constant tension directed to its final goal: knowledge».<ref>The Italian Intelligence and Security Services Official website – SISMI's Coat of Arms Description [http://www.serviziinformazionesicurezza.gov.it/pdcweb.nsf/pagine/coatarmssismi].{{in lang|en}}</ref>

Its coat of arms was granted by a decree of the [[President of the Italian Republic|President of the Republic]] dated 28 January 2004.

==Recent controversies==

=== Nicola Calipari and Giuliana Sgrena ===
{{main|Rescue of Giuliana Sgrena}}
In 2005, [[Nicola Calipari]], a high-ranking SISMI hostage negotiator, was killed at a [[U.S. Army]] checkpoint in [[Baghdad]] by [[Mario Lozano]], purportedly after a communication breakdown between the Italian intelligence community and the occupying forces.

=== Yellowcake forgery ===
{{main|Yellowcake forgery}}
In 2005, SISMI was implicated in the [[yellowcake forgery]] scandal. The forged documents purporting to detail an Iraqi purchase of yellowcake uranium from [[Niger]] were given to a "cutout" named [[Rocco Martino]] by a colonel in SISMI, Antonio Nucera.<ref>{{citation|url=http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/006908.php|title=The Italian Connection, Part II|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902073156/http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/006908.php|archive-date=2012-09-02 |access-date=2015-07-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> The head of SISMI, after claiming his agency received the documents from external sources, met with then-Deputy National Security Advisor, [[Stephen Hadley]], on 9 September 2002.

Reportedly, the SISMI director vouched for the documents' authenticity at the meeting;{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} as a result, the White House attempted to insert a reference to uranium from Africa in President Bush's upcoming address to the United Nations, scheduled for 12 September 2002. The [[CIA]] removed the reference 24 hours before the address was given. In bypassing the CIA, Pollari ignored the established protocol for contacts between Italian and American intelligence agencies.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=7789|title=Yellowcake Dossier Not the Work of the CIA|date=26 October 2005 |access-date=19 May 2016}}</ref>

President Bush later used the same discredited information when delivering his January [[2003 State of the Union address]].

=== Imam Rapito ===
{{main|Imam Rapito affair}}
In July 2006, the Italian judiciary power issued arrest warrants for several SISMI officials involved in the joint CIA-SISMI operation resulting in the unlawful [[extraordinary rendition]] of [[Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr]], which SISMI Director Pollari had formally denied in testimony before a committee of the national legislature. Among these were:

* former Deputy Director [[Marco Mancini]]
* General [[Gustavo Pignero]], agency chief for Northern Italy
* Mancini's aide [[Giuseppe Ciorra]]
* [[Pio Pompa]], an aide to SISMI Director [[Nicolò Pollari]] (he was indicted for "abusive interception" against the vice-president of ''[[La Repubblica]]'', [[Giuseppe D'Avanzo]]<ref name="Biondani">Paolo Biondani and Guido Olimpio. 11 July 2006 ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'', "Un centro segreto Cia-Sismi" [http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2006/07_Luglio/10/sismi.shtml available here] {{in lang|it}}</ref>)
* former Trieste Station Chief [[Lorenzo Pillinini]]
* former Padua Station Chief [[Marco Iodice]]
* Milan Station Chief [[Maurizio Regondi]]

[[Nicolò Pollari]] himself would later be indicted on 5 December 2006 and sentenced to 10 years in jail on February 12, 2013. Marco Mancini was sentenced to 9 years in jail. They appealed against this ruling.

On 16 February 2007, an Italian judge ordered twenty-six Americans and five Italians (including Pollari) to stand trial over the case on 8 June 2007. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6368269.stm]

As part of the judiciary investigation, a SISMI-run black operation targeting centre-left politician [[Romano Prodi]] and a vast [[SISMI-Telecom scandal|domestic surveillance program]] was uncovered. Pompa prevailed upon the newspaper ''Libero'' to print allegations that Prodi, when serving as European Commissioner, had authorized the CIA prison flights via Italy. Targeted in the surveillance program were ''[[La Repubblica]]'' reporters [[Giuseppe D'Avanzo (journalist)|Giuseppe D'Avanzo]] and [[Carlo Bonini (journalist)|Carlo Bonini]], who broke the yellowcake forgery story.

=== Spying on magistrates ===

Italian magistrates searching the SISMI's headquarters in August 2007 found documents proving that the intelligence agency had spied over various European magistrates between 2001 and 2006, whom it considered carrying a "destabilization" potential. These included the [[Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés|Medel]], a European association of magistrates, as well as three French judges, including Anne Crenier, former president of the [[Syndicat de la magistrature]] French union, who is married to Italian magistrate Mario Vaudano who works at the [[European Anti-Fraud Office]] (OLAF).<ref>[http://www.repubblica.it/2007/03/sezioni/cronaca/sismi-mancini-10/dossier-sismi/dossier-sismi.html Ecco i dossier del Sismi sui generali "di sinistra"], ''[[La Repubblica]]'', 6 July 2007 {{in lang|it}}</ref><ref>[http://rue89.com/2007/07/12/trois-juges-francais-espionnes-par-les-services-secrets-italiens Trois juges français espionnés par les services secrets italiens], ''[[Rue 89]]'', 12 July 2007 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Italian intelligence agencies]]
* [[SIOS]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.serviziinformazionesicurezza.gov.it/pdcweb.nsf/pagine/ee_sismi The Italian Intelligence and Security Services Official Website – SISMI] {{in lang|en}}
*[http://www.serviziinformazionesicurezza.gov.it/pdcweb.nsf/pagine/ee_homepage The Italian Intelligence and Security Services Official Website – Home Page] {{in lang|en}}
*[http://www.serviziinformazionesicurezza.gov.it/pdcweb.nsf/pagine/ee_storia The Italian Intelligence and Security Services Official Website – A Brief History] {{in lang|en}}

{{External national intelligence agencies}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sismi}}
[[Category:SISMI| ]]
[[Category:Military of Italy]]
[[Category:Italian intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Military intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1977]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 2007]]