Italy: A Double-Edged Sword

A Double-Edged Sword

The story seems straight from the pages of a political thriller. During the early days of the cold war, the Italian government, assisted by the CIA, sets up a clandestine paramilitary network designed to resist a communist invasion. Code name: Operation Gladio, as in a gladiator's double-edged sword. Skip ahead to last July, when a Venetian magistrate named Felice Casson, investigating a 1970s car bombing in Peteano, uncovers the network while searching through files at SISMI, the Italian intelligence service. When Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti admits Gladio did exist, a national scandal ensues. Most disturbing are suspicions that renegade Gladio agents...

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