One of the more common demands of the generic anti-conspiracy-theory camp is, “Show me the organization.” This book review does that.
The conspirators were NATO, the CIA, the Mafia and the Vatican. The organization was a network of clandestine soldiers and the resources needed to conduct warfare throughout Europe. In effect, Gladio was a secret army of occupation left behind after World War II when the official allied combatants decamped. In practice, Gladio was a terrorist network run by the U.S. intelligence community and funded — off the books — by drug and other illegal trafficking.
I suppose there is a construct in which we might hope that our good guys can be nefarious in the name of virtue, but I have my doubts. Gladio, in any case, is confirmation that the “deep state” is real, and undesirable.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
“ Gladio, in any case, is confirmation that the “deep state” is real, and undesirable.”
At best, Gladio is confirmation that the Cold War made strange bedfellows. 75 years ago.
LikeLiked by 2 people
These “strange bedfellows”:
Established heroin supply chains from Asia to France, making Marseille the “center of the Western heroin industry,” an industry grossing $400 billion a year by 1980.
Funded the 1967 coup d’etat in Greece.
Laundered money for South American drug lords like Pablo Escobar.
Staged the Turkish coup in 1960. Killed more than 5,000 Turkish “students, teachers, trade union leaders, booksellers and politicians” in the 1970s. Staged another Turkish coup in 1980, setting up a “tyranny in which thousands more would be tortured while incarcerated.”
Repeatedly tried to assassinate President de Gaulle of France.
Attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
Enlisted hundreds of American journalists and whole news networks (ABC, NBC, Newsweek, Associated Press, and The Saturday Evening Post) to cover up its operations.
“Strange bedfellows” is a peculiar way to describe the deep state’s Gladio.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Still Cold War operations. Among strange bedfellows. Or more apropos, “the enemy of my CC enemy is my friend “.
LikeLiked by 1 person
RE: “Still Cold War operations.”
Why is that important? Does the Cold War mean the deep state never existed, or that it evaporated when the Cold War ended?
LikeLike
“Gladio, in any case, is confirmation that the “deep state” is real, and undesirable.”
Ancient history. This kind of nefarious behavior ran into whistleblowers and the free press about 50 years ago.
LikeLiked by 1 person
From the review: “[I]t is worth first noting that whilst ‘Gladio’ was officially acknowledged and condemned by the European Parliament (in Nov., 1990; Washington and NATO having ever after refused ‘comment’ on the matter), and its multifarious organs and factions ordered dismantled, it is hardly likely that the latter was ever fully enacted. The historical context of ‘Gladio’, then, is really the quintessential backdrop to understanding the trademark false flag events of the modern era.”
LikeLike
The biggest false flag event is the Big Lie. States are restricting voters based on the false flag of a rigged election conspiracy involving thousands of volunteers, officials, judges and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Many of whom are under death threats to them and their families.
Meanwhile, you might ask Alex Jones how his investigation into the “false flag” school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary is going for him.
The same fate is facing the perpetrators of the Big Lie. Civil suits fill in if justice is too slow.
LikeLiked by 3 people
The “Big Lie” is a Big Lie. It isn’t even relevant to the topic at hand.
LikeLike
The Big Lie is a false flag because it shifted blame for a loss on conspiratorial forces. Simple
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a lie because it is a fantasy that exists only in the imagination of anti-Trumpers.
But apart from that, we should keep the language straight: A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party.
Shifting blame for an electoral loss cannot be a false flag unless the loss was intentional.
For example, if the Democratic Party conspired to commit fraud in the 2020 election, then blamed Republicans for spreading a Big Lie about electoral fraud, that would be a false flag operation on the Democratic Party’s part.
LikeLike
“ A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party.”
The actual source of the Trump loss was Trump. He turned off enough of the suburban voters, but he couldn’t accept the loss to Biden.
So redirect the blame via the Big Lie as the false flag. And use that false flag to push for unnecessary voting law changes.
Of course, if you believe the Big Lie, then you are blind to the false flag.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“ It is a lie because it is a fantasy that exists only in the imagination of anti-Trumpers.”
You mean Trump supporters. Must be a typo.
They are the vast majority that believe the election was hacked by Italian satellites, etc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
RE: “The actual source of the Trump loss was Trump.”
Maybe so. Do you believe he lost intentionally? Unless you do, accusing the Democratic Party of conspiracy is NOT a red flag operation.
LikeLike
Of course it is. Classic misdirection. It was the plan from the beginning.
The election is rigged unless he won as he posited during a 2016 debate. He lost in 2020 because the Democrats rigged it, and now we must change hundreds of laws and replace hundreds of election officials based on the false flag of non-existent voter fraud.
Propaganda in big bold letters.
Your nuance is not needed to see the pernicious effect of pond scum like Jones and team Trump. Like the “Maine”, a natural event of coal gasification in a closed space became a false flag for war with Spain.
You post about some events a half century or more ago as evidence of government misdirection. Yet, it is happening today and the perps are the right wing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Do you believe he lost intentionally”
No, but he did tee it up for several months prior to the first ballots being cast.
LikeLike
RE: “Your nuance is not needed to see the pernicious effect of pond scum like Jones and team Trump.”
I’m more concerned about the pernicious effect of your error. Misdirection is not the same thing as a red flag operation. You are committing libel and you don’t even know it. Worse, you refuse to acknowledge history.
LikeLike
Libel?
Blaming Democrats for election fraud when the real fraud is the Big Lie? If that is not a red flag operation, then it is certainly its first cousin.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lest we forget, Silvio Berlusconi was Italian PM as recently as 2011 and has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019. He was very influential in Propaganda Due along with many of the other bigwigs in Italy.
It also tracks with what the FBI appears to now be doing domestically. It is now common practice for them to attempt to entrap lonely young men into agreeing to commit mass shootings/bombings, etc. Many of the recent mass shooters, and the Boston Bombers, were known by and in contact with the FBI. With the threat of the Soviets gone, it is entirely likely they are doing a Strategy of Tension at home to maintain institutional legitimacy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well put. Gladio’s history is worth knowing.
LikeLike
“ Many of the recent mass shooters, and the Boston Bombers, were known by and in contact with the FBI.”
Do you some sources? Are you implicating that the FBI encourages the killers and let them kill? Or, as often seems to be the case, they get a tip then follow up letting the potential killer think he is working with a terrorist and arrest him when he solidifies his plans.
Isn’t that better than investigating the slaughter after the fact?
We’ve had many “red flag” cases where people in positions of authority knew the killer was not right. But you can’t arrest people on a whim or for what they may be thinking. Yet, bring up some laws to solidify proper actions in the face of red flags and conservatives flip out.
(Obama tried to get a law that would prevent a person who was receiving SS disability for mental illness from owning a gun. No go from the gun lobby. WTF?)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Off the top of my head, I remember the Boston bombers, the Vegas shooter, the El Paso Walmart shooter, and most recently, the FedEx shooter all were known to the FBI.
They absolutely do infiltrate groups and encourage members to commit violence. There have been many cases of them doing it to young Muslim men, and some attorneys of the militia guys that tried to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer are claiming the “mastermind” was an undercover agent.
What I’m saying is, whether a plot is executed or “busted” at the last minute, it’s win/win for the FBI. Either they are the heroes who keep us safe, or “this is why you need us and our expanding set of extralegal prerogatives.”
LikeLike