Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between The Vatican, The CIA, and The Mafia

by Paul L. Williams

This disturbing exposé describes a secret alliance forged at the close of World War II by the CIA, the Sicilian and US mafias, and the Vatican to thwart the possibility of a Communist invasion of Europe. Journalist Paul L. Williams presents evidence suggesting the existence of “stay-behind” units in many European countries consisting of five thousand to fifteen thousand military operatives. According to the author’s research, the initial funding for these guerilla armies came from the sale of large stocks of SS morphine that had been smuggled out of Germany and Italy and of bogus British bank notes that had been produced in concentration camps by skilled counterfeiters. As the Cold War intensified, the units were used not only to ward off possible invaders, but also to thwart the rise of left-wing movements in South America and NATO-based countries by terror attacks.

Williams argues that Operation Gladio soon gave rise to the toppling of governments, wholesale genocide, the formation of death squads, financial scandals on a grand scale, the creation of the mujahideen, an international narcotics network, and, most recently, the ascendancy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit cleric with strong ties to Operation Condor (an outgrowth of Gladio in Argentina) as Pope Francis I.

Sure to be controversial, Operation Gladio connects the dots in ways the mainstream media often overlooks.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Conspiracy Theories, Espionage, Crime, True Crime

505 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2015

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, a decent but flawed look into the relationship between the CIA, various organized crime outfits, and international money laundering. The overarching points the author covers about the interlinked nature of the CIA, the Mafia, and the global drug trade to finance Gladio and other black operations he establishes reasonably well, its just when he really digs into the individuals he goes off on some wrong paths.

I think a lot of the places he veers off course largely stem from the issue a lot of libs and reactionaries run into when they look into this parapolitical stuff, which is they come at it backwards and see it as the individual wills of a small group of people moving material forces around for their whims, rather than that entities like the CIA and the Council on Foreign Relations aren't like, esoteric satanic cabals, they're simply manifestations of the ruling class exerting its influence to further its material interests. The accumulation of capital into the hands of the ruling class naturally leads them to pursue policies to maintain and further consolidate their wealth and power, which manifests in the various arms of the state, both official and congressionally sanctioned and otherwise. The individuals involved are not really super relevant its the capital forces they represent. But by coming at it focusing on the individuals, and filtering it through various ideologies like racism, orientalism, etc, idealists go off course and end up in weird reactionary dead ends

[Zach Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel largely the same way with this as I did reading Peter Dale Scott's "The Road to 9/11". That is, it's full of information and details such as names and places, but it's lacking in an ideological analysis that provides the reader with an understanding of the material forces undergirding the stories. Condensing down the main ideas of this book, it could have been accomplished in under 100 pages. That being said, those ideas are quite interesting and important: the Vatican being a money laundering agent for the mafia in cahoots with the CIA as it was launching the global drug trade at the height of the Cold War.

[Jacob Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic claims: 1) That the CIA allied with the Sicilian and U.S. mafia in establishing the US heroin trade, using the profits to fund covert anti-communist operations around the world. 2) That the money involved in these transactions was laundered through Vatican and other Catholic-run banks.

Some of this seems reasonably well documented, but the author has a tendency to blur together different issues in different times and places, creating the impression of a vast, sprawling conspiracy... but in the process coming to seem like one of those people ranting about the Illuminati or UFOs.

One of the interesting takeaways was the story of the Masonic lodge "Propaganda Due"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaga...
which included many of the powers that be in late 20th century Italy, including a range of Catholic clergy (who are prohibited by canon law from being masons).

Anyway, certainly worth reading if you like conspiracy theories. There's a lot of stuff about the nuances of money-laundering which can be a bit tedious to read, unless that's your cup of tea.

[Antonio Nunez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a secret operation set up by the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA, consisting of setting up sleeper counterinsurgency groups throughout Western Europe in the event of a Soviet invasion. The cells would sabotage the occupation authorities and prepare a counter invasion by the US and its allies. The operation was codenamed Gladio, for the short swords used by Roman gladiators in the arena. It was the brainchild of Allen Dulles when he was negotiating the surrender in Northern Italy of SS Colonel Wolff against explicit agreement between the Allied Powers. The core of Gladio was made up of the most anticommunists elements, mainly unrepentant fascists and sympathizers. The weapons they used were caches left behind by the Germans and initial funding was provided by plundered assets, particularly the gold of the Croatian central bank that had been looted by the Ustashas and left for safekeeping in the Vatican.

According to Williams, further financing was obtained from heroin traffic in league with Chiang Kai Shek, and later with the Vietnamese. This required an alliance with the various Italian and Corsican mafias, as well as with the money laundering capabilities of the IOR, the Vatican bank. Afterwards the cocaine trade with South America would pick up the slack. Gladio eventually went global. Through the Turkish hard right (the Grey Wolves) it penetrated the Muslim world and through Argentinian members of P-2 (a sinister Masonic lodge made up of the most powerful men in Italy) also Latin America. The counterpart to Gladio in this part is the of the world was operation Condor, an alliance between dictatorships to cooperate in the persecution of opponents on a continental scale. Back in its Italian home ground Gladio applied the strategy of increasing tensions between the government and the leftists in order to promote a coup d'etat that would lead to a rightist dictatorship. Thus, P-2 sponsored multiple terrorist actions that claimed hundreds of lives in what came to be named "the years of lead". According to Williams, the murder of leftish Christian Democrat Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades was in fact arranged by P-2, since it had been able to penetrate the radical Marxist group.

And this is where the book becomes hard to rate. It is full of explosive yet unsubstantiated revelations. The CIA arranged for the murder of John Paul I because he was going to spill the beans on the IOR and reveal Gladio. Yet he is also described as insubstantial, a nonentity with a nervous smile. The CIA had John Paul II elected because he would let the IOR continue its business as usual as long as it provided funds for the Pope's anti-Soviet activities through Lech Walesa and the Solidarity trade union. When the Pope made overtures to the Soviets the CIA and other intelligence agencies arranged the Agca attempt on his life and blamed it on Bulgarian intelligence. The German intelligence uses the Grey Wolves to control Turkish German residents.

Is any of this true? Williams picks up these rumors and presents them as facts. Yet rumors they remain.

A very interesting part of the book near the end refers to the connections between Gladio and the Turkish Deep State. He refers in great detail about the enmity between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and US based cleric Fethullah Gullen. I knew nothing about this before reading the book but it was in the news when Erdogan blamed Gullen for a failed insurrection in July 2016. So there may be something even in the wilder assertions by the author.

Another unappealing aspect of the book is the glee the author displays when recounting the shenanigans of some clerics as evidenced by his continuous references to "Holy mother Church" and his relentless antipathy to John Paul II and his defense of murderous Latin American guerrillas such as the Tupamaros. He is deeply anti-Catholic. He sometimes seems unhinged by his hatred for the Church. In fact, recently he was the subject of a criminal investigation after he falsely accused an Egyptian researcher of having stolen radioactive materials from a research facility.

This book is a heavy dish, made with unknown ingredients, that yet has an intriguing taste. Don't recommend it for conspiracy theory fans or they'll find themselves unable to sleep for many nights.

[Æ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In my 30-year career in the Drug Enforcement Administration and related agencies, the major targets of my investigations almost invariably turned out to be working for the CIA.” — Dennis Dayle, former chief of an elite DEA enforcement unit.

This is the craziest book I’ve ever read. This is the type of book that, even describing it, sounds insane. But it is heavily sourced and written by a respectable author. High recommend for anyone who wants to learn about US crimes against humanity.

To describe Project Gladio in one sentence…
Project Gladio was a CIA-backed operation to sell heroin to the Italian-American Mafia and give that money to the Vatican Bank to fund fascist paramilitary organizations and mobsters tasked with subverting democracy and committing false-flag terrorist acts to frame and derail anti-capitalist political groups in Italy and across Europe.

Part 1: The USA has always sympathized with Nazis

The fact that the US was not on the same side of the Nazis in WW2 is a historical fluke. They were (and still are) much more closely ideologically aligned with Nazi Germany than their ally of circumstance: the Soviet Union. Before, during, and after WW2, the US government and business interests have had strong sympathies with Nazis and their ideology.

Allen Dulles, director of the OSS (precursor to the CIA), said “We’re fighting the wrong enemy” in 1942, in reference to Nazi Germany. He planned treasonous back room deals with the Nazi high command while the war was still happening, trying to achieve a separate peace. Read “The Devil’s Chessboard” for more on him.

“Hohenlohe [a liaison between Dulles and German High Command] was surprised to learn that Dulles not only endorsed the Nazi proposal, but also maintained that a strong Germany was necessary as a bulwark against Bolshevism…”. See: Operation Sunrise
These guys loved Nazism if it meant stopping communism. This is a foundational ideology of US capitalists to this day. They will always side with fascists to protect capitalism. Whether libertarians, Soc-Dems, Neoliberals, when it comes down to it, they always end up backing fascists.

Dulles worked with Nazi General Reinhard Gelhen to create Nazi “stay-behind units” as a police force against the soviets. “Gehlen had been asked by the OSS to set up stay-behind units made up of fellow Nazis to spy on the Soviet Union.” They later became the BND under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in 1956.

A US director of a covert agency working with literal Nazis to keep Nazis in power during and after WW2. The US funded and supplied these Nazi units with the help of Dulles’ other Nazi friend Karl Wolff.

These stay-behind units became integrated into “Operation Gladio”.

Part 1.1: US&Vatican-backed Nazi ratlines

The Vatican and OSS helped Nazis escape justice around the end of WW2, helping them flee to SA (primarily Argentina)

“At the close of the war, the pope [Pius XII], along with Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini, his Undersecretary of State, had worked with Dulles and the OSS to create the ratlines used to help Nazis escape Europe, something he viewed as an essential means to address the threat of Communism. Several prominent Nazis, including Walter Rauff—who had led an extermination unit of the SS across Italy—still remained sheltered within Vatican City, ready to join in the struggle against the Red Menace.”

Klaus Barbie, “[t]he so-called ‘Butcher of Lyons’ was responsible for 4,342 murders and 7,591 deportations to death camps during his two-year posting in the French city. After the war, US intelligence placed him in a safe house in Augsburg, provided him with a sanitized identity, and granted him a generous stipend of $1,700 a month. In 1983, the Justice Department belatedly admitted that US intelligence officials had arranged for Barbie's escape to Bolivia (where he became known as Klaus Altmann and opened a sawmill in La Paz), and that they had lied by denying to French Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld that he was under their protection.” This Nazi was critical in the CIA’s anti-communist terror campaigns throughout South America.

Part 1.2: US-Backed Nazi Argentina

“On March 25, 1976, two days after the coup, William Rogers, assistant secretary for Latin America, advised Kissinger that the military takeover of Argentina would result in ‘a fair amount of repression, probably a good deal of blood.’ To this warning, Kissinger responded, ‘Yes, but that is in our interest.’” If there were really any justice in this world, Henry Kissinger would be rotting in a jail cell.

In April, 1976, the US gave the Argentinian military dictatorship $50,000,000. Also “In April 1976 the public was invited by two groups calling themselves the Aryan Integral Nationalist Fatherland and the Pious Christian Crusade to attend Masses in the Buenos Aires cathedral ‘for the eternal rest of our blood brother in Christ, Adolf Hitler.’” The regime went on to commit a Jewish Pogram.

Argentina’s “Dirty War” (1976-1983) resulted in up to 30,000 people killed or disappeared.

Part 2: Drugs for Guns

The newly anointed CIA did not want the citizenry of the United States of America to know about the fact that they were arming fascists to overthrow democracy in ally nations, but they needed money.

“Gladio was a covert operation and had not been initiated by an act of Congress or a mandate from the Pentagon. Few federal officials knew of its existence. The $200 million in original funding came from the Rockefeller and Mellon foundations. But a new and steady stream of revenue had to be created almost overnight....”

Therefore, the CIA oversaw the growing of poppies for the manufacture of heroin, which was sold to buy guns and bombs for the fascists in Europe & SA. The heroin was sold to gangsters in the USA and resulted in the skyrocketing of opiate addiction in the US after WW2. In 1947, the CIA began working with the Mafia to transport heroin into the US.

Part 3: The Mafia and the Vatican

“During the summer of 1947, the terms of the working relationship between the CIA and the Mafia were ironed out by Frank Wisner and Angleton. Meyer Lansky and Helliwell would work in tandem to handle the financial aspect of the narcotics venture through General Development Corporation, a shell company in Miami. Angleton would handle any legal disputes between the mob and the CIA through New York lawyer Mario Brod.”

The CIA oversaw the Italian-American Mafia as they sold heroin, specifically targeting Harlem and other black areas. The CIA’s money couldn’t go to the fascist paramilitary groups directly… “It had to be channeled through a financial firm that would not be subjected to scrutiny by US treasury agents, Italian bank examiners, or international fiscal monitors. Only one institution possessed such immunity, and it was located in the heart of Vatican City.”

The Vatican Bank served as a money-launder to turn the CIA’s dirty drug money into clean money for the Gladio stay-behind units. This makes sense, given that they were also sheltering literal Nazis.

“In 1945, the pope had held private audiences with Wild Bill Donovan [executive director of the OSS and chairman of the World Commerce Corporation] to discuss the implementation of Gladio and had decorated him as a crusader against Communism with the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Sylvester”

The Vatican has already been proven to be a cesspool of pedophiles and their protectors. It is not a legitimate democracy. It is a rogue state with diplomatic immunity from Italy. It’s not a surprise at all to assert that it is full of crime. The damn place has no regulatory body! “As a sovereign state, the Holy See cannot be subjected to any ruling by any foreign court. It remains an institution with over $50 billion in securities, gold reserves that exceed those of some industrialized nations, real estate holdings that equal the total area of many countries, and opulent palaces containing the world's greatest art treasures.”

Perfect place to do crimes. A gangsters paradise.

Part 4: Subverting Democracy

The CIA had carte blanche to do whatever they wanted. Their fundamental ideology was the maintenance of the US as a oligopolistic superpower, and destabilize any government or organization that even slightly threatened US hegemony. To them, the ends justified the means. So whether it was rigging elections, assassinating political figures, overthrowing democratically elected governments, funding death squads, bombing civilians, or funneling addictive drugs into the USA’s underprivileged communities, that was all perfectly acceptable to them.

As previously mentioned, two world wars caused by imperialist capitalist nations resulted in a skyrocketing of anti-capitalist sentiment. Italian Communists helped win the war against Mussolini.

“Postwar Italy stood poised to become the first Communist country in Western Europe. Hundreds of thousands of northerners had either actively supported or actively fought for the partisan movement that had finally forced the German army out of Italy. It was the partisans who had captured Mussolini and who had hung him upside down with his mistress; it was the partisans who continued to assassinate Fascists after the war ended; and it was the partisans who constituted the [Italian Communist Party]. By 1946, the division in the country had become acute, with the people in the north wanting a Communist republic and the people in the south wanting a Catholic monarchy.”

Guess which side the USA sided with! The 1948 election in Italy started the new era of US imperialism: The US-backed subversion of democracy to install fascist dictators that were pro-US business interests. To achieve this, the US funded fascist paramilitary groups.

“In the months before [Italy’s] 1948 national election, the CIA dumped $65 million of its black money into the Vatican Bank. […] The CIA's black money for mob muscle was paid out by the Vatican bank from ecclesiastical organizations, including Catholic Action. […] Don Calo and an army of thugs, including Vito Genovese's cousin Giovanni Genovese, burned down eleven Communist branch offices and made four assassination attempts on Communist leader Girolamo Li Causi. The gang…also opened fire on a crowd of workers celebrating May Day in Portella della Ginestra, killing eleven and wounding fifty-seven. […] Throughout 1948, in Sicily alone, the CIA-backed terror attacks resulted in the killing of on average five people a week. […] Monsignor Don Giuseppe Bicchierai, acting upon papal authority, assembled a terror gang charged with the task of beating up Communist candidates, smashing left-wing political gatherings, and intimidating voters. The money, guns, and jeeps for the Monsignor's terror attacks were furnished by the CIA from surplus World War II stockpiles. […] On Election Day, Don Calo and his men stuffed ballot boxes and bribed voters with gifts of freshly laundered drug money…. The mob's tactics worked, and the Christian Democrats triumphantly returned to power. In his memoirs, William Colby, who would later become the director of the CIA, wrote that the Communists would have gained 60 percent of the vote without the Agency's sabotage.”

The quotes above are just a small fraction of what the US government did through Project Gladio, and Project Gladio is just one small piece of their international terror campaign.

When I say ‘The United States Federal Government is the largest terrorist organization on earth,’ I mean that quite literally. Whether the CIA, the DoD, the State Department or the rest, they are together responsible for the vast majority of global terror over the last 70 years. When I say “Everyone to the left of Bernie Sanders gets assassinated by the CIA” I mean that literally. Historically everyone within The West who garners any political power and is politically to the left of Bernie Sanders ends up getting assassinated by the CIA or one of their terror groups.

Part 5: Vietnam, et al.

As the CIA-backed terror campaigns exploded across Europe, their heroin money started to run dry. So they expanded to French Indo-China: Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, with the help of the Corsican Mafia.

“In 1949, the CIA and the Luciano syndicate sorely needed the talents of the Corsicans for the creation of a new narcotics network. But the labor unions in Marseilles [France], where the heroin laboratories were located, remained controlled by Communists, who refused to load and unload ships coming from French Indochina, where the rebel army of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (a force that would morph into the Viet Cong) was fighting for independence from the French Union.”

This really makes the tapestry of history come together nicely. Why did we invade Vietnam, a French colony on the other side of the world? “To stop the spread of Communism?” Yes, by shoring up the heroin manufacturing in Vietnam to fund their covert operations and overt global terror campaigns. Fucking bananas.

Part 6: The US-led Global Terror Campaign - SPEED ROUND

The US-led global terror campaign is so vast and extensive that my summary can never do it justice. Here are some things you can google to learn more…

• Operation Paper (not to be confused with Operation Paperclip)
• Operation Mockingbird
• Counter-Guerrilla: CIA backed military coup in Turkey in 1960, resulting in the extremist Nationalist Action Party to take power. Also staged another coup in 1980 “that toppled the government of Bülent Ecevit and the Democratic Left Party. Upon hearing the news, President Jimmy Carter phoned Paul Henze, the CIA station chief in Ankara, and said, with great relief, ‘Your people have made the coup!’” Shouts out to war criminal Jimmy Carter.
• Grey Wolves of Turkey: “the CIA unleashed them to fight the PKK—the Kurdistan Workers Party. Formed in 1978, the PKK sought to establish a Marxist-Leninist state in a swath of land […] which they called Kurdistan.”
• Fethullah Gülen - A guy trying to undermine the Turkish government whom the CIA protects from extradition to a NATO country. Worked with Graham Fuller.
• Yaşar Öz, whom the FBI busted for drug smuggling but was let go because he had “diplomatic immunity, along with special NATO clearance”
• Operation Demagnetize
• Operation Eagle, 1968
• Operation Condor
• Liberation Theology - A sect of Christianity taught by many South American Catholics. “In 1975, the Bolivian Interior Ministry—a publicly acknowledged subsidiary of the CIA—drew up a master plan with the help of Vatican officials for the elimination of liberation theology.”
• Argentina’s “Dirty War” (1976-1983)
• Project Haven - The 1977 IRS investigation into Castle Bank, which was used for the transferring of heroin money. “Such evidence led to a grand jury investigation. But after the jury was assembled, the investigation was called off. The CIA had issued a warning to the US Justice Department that the pursuit of criminal proceedings against the Castle Bank would endanger ‘national security.’
• Operation Phoenix - “a Stalin-like program that resulted in the assassination of an estimated forty thousand South Vietnamese civilians who were suspected of collaborating with the Viet Cong.”
• Operation Cyclone - spreading radical militant islam throughout Central Asian republics, resulting in the rise of Al Qaeda
• The BCCI, one of the CIA’s favorite corporate banks for transferring drug money
• Kintex - Bulgarian illegal arms trafficker and “used extensively by NATO and the CIA”
• Air America, Frederick Luytjes, & Wilkes-Barre/Scranton airport - The plane company, pilot, & route set up by the CIA to smuggle drugs and money for Pablo Escobar.
• The October Surprise - The time George H. W. Bush committed treason to help Ronald Reagan win the presidency
• The Brabant Massacre in Belgium
• Iran-Contra: Am I really supposed to believe that was a one-off?
• The Uyghurs and Graham Fuller (the craziest part of the book. Stupid text limit)
• “European Parliament resolution on Gladio - Joint resolution replacing B3-2021, 2058, 2068, 2078 and 2087/90”

Part 6.1: Just Italy

• Piano Solo - A CIA-backed coup plot in Italy in 1963
• The Golpe Borghese - December 7 1970, Another CIA-backed coup plot in Italy
• The Sicilian Coup plot of 1972, which almost resulted in Sicily becoming the a US State.
• Piazza Fontana bombing, December 12 1969 - CIA-backed false flag attack that killed 17 and wounded 88. Giovanni Ventura, a collaborator of the attack, provided “confidential CIA files. One document, dated May 4, 1969, listed a number of detailed steps to be taken, including ‘a possible wave of terror attacks to convince public opinion of the dangers of maintaining the [government's] alliance with the left.’”
• Peteano Massacre - May 31 1971, Neofascist terrorist attack blamed on communist groups
• Piazza della Loggia bombing
• Italicus Rome-Munich Express Bombing
• Prime Minister Aldo Moro Kidnapping & murder
• CIA plot to assassinate Pope John-Paul II - “The arrangements had been made by members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, P2, and the Safari Club, a covert organization that had been established by Henry Kissinger. The gunmen would be Çatlı and Ağca.”
• Coup plot outlined in “Memorandum sulla Situazione Italiana” and “Piano di Rinascita Democratica”
• “Parliamentary Commission of the Italian Senate for the Investigation of Terrorism in Italy” and “The So-Called Parallel SID—Operation Gladio”

Part 7 - “Reigning in” the CIA
“In the wake of Watergate and revelations about the CIA's involvement in the toppling of the government of Salvador Allende in Chile, Congress passed the Foreign Assistance (Hughes–Ryan) Act in 1974, which stipulated that the president must be personally informed of all covert operations and must endorse a ‘finding’ that such operations are necessary for ‘national security.’”

From its founding in 1947 to 1974, the CIA had ~3 decades of free reign to do whatever without oversight even by the President.

But nothing has changed since 1974 in the CIA. Their reign of global terror has continued on to this day. We must call for nothing short of the CIA’s complete abolition and prosecution of crimes committed by its agents and directors.

Part 8 - Operation Cyclone

After the US lost the war in Vietnam, they needed a new place to grow heroin. They chose Afghanistan. In 1975, there was a conflict between the Afghan government and fundamentalist Pashtun tribesmen. “The tribesmen were led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who became the new darling of the CIA.”

“Hekmatyar urged his followers to throw acid in the faces of women not wearing a veil, kidnapped rival Islamic chieftains, and, in 1977, began to build up an arsenal, courtesy of the CIA.” Coooool.

The CIA was aiding radical Islamic sects in Afghanistan way before the Soviet Union invaded. “Throughout 1978, a year before the Soviet invasion, Hekmatyar and his mujahideen burned universities and girls’ schools throughout Afghanistan and gained feudal control over many of the poppy farmers.” Poppy cultivation skyrocketed. In 1979, the Afghani president was killed in a coup. The new guy, Hafizullah Amin, previously served as president of a CAI front organization, was educated in the west, and was highly amenable to the interest of the CIA, which was funding his regime.

“Fearing a fundamentalist, US-backed regime at its border, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan on December 27, 1979.” And who can blame them, really?

“To provide more support for the mujahideen, the CIA used Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden's mentor, to set up a cell of al-Qaeda within Masjid al-Farooq on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. The cell, known as the al-Kifah Refugee Center, acted as a front for the transference of funds, weapons, and recruits to Afghanistan.” …uuhhh...Did Operation Cyclone inadvertently result in 9/11?

[Nick John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say what an excellent writing style for one and also what excellent research has been done by the author to bring all this to light. I do think his underlying assumptions ruin the conclusions a little bit. I think his assumption that the CIA and the Vatican are secretly Nazis because they used whatever groups they could to fight against communism and defend neoliberalism world hegemony is where he goes off the rails.

He misses the understanding that the remaining right wing groups acted as perfect foil to allow capitalism to save face its not that everyone is secretly a fascist so let's be sympathetic to communists now. I also doubt many of the extravagant claims of the Jewish community in this book. Like most cases they purposely tell lies to further there own agenda aswell.

Overall though what is found in this book is deeply troubling and mind opening. I makes me think that none of these CIA Ops every really ended especially when it comes to Gladio and Mockingbird. It is also interesting to see how much the Vatican's corruption follows up even to our present Pope. I highly recommend this book especially to Third Positionist leaning Catholics you will be shocked and amazed at what is presented here and it may tie some loose ends in your mind about certain topics in regards to your faith and poltics.

[Al Lock · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might be an interesting book if labeled as historical fiction. Unfortunately, it is an "account" that is built by threading together conspiracy theory and imagining threads of events that may not really exist. It might make a good movie screenplay, but it isn't good history. It relies far too much on reportage instead of primary or even secondary sources, without critical evaluation.

[Authentikate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This non-fiction spy thriller blew my mind! Not one for conspiracy theories, Operation Gladio detailed the evil collusion between the CIA, the mafia and the Vatican in ways one would suppose it to be a conspiracy theory had Mr. Williams' research not been so exhaustive and well cited.

The operation dubbed Gladio came into being after WWII, necessitated by the need for the US to monitor communist activities via small "stay behind" units made up of spies. In order to pay for the costs associated with the upkeep of these stay behind units, the CIA began to import drugs from Asia (often transported on government planes/Later NATO planes) to sell to inner-city African-Americans via hand-picked mafia connections.

Before the proceeds from the CIA drug sales could be put to use, the money needed to be laundered, covering its origins. To accomplish this task, the CIA via the mafia contacted their "sources" at the Vatican. Who would ever suspect the Catholic Church in laundering drug money, after all? Furthermore, the Vatican bank was an institution unto itself, beyond investigation from outside (and as it turned out, even inside) sources, this making the bank beyond reproach.

As the operation unfolded over the years, the CIA had its hand in picking the players to ensure the operation's success: journalists; government officials within and without the US; foreign operators; mafia bosses; catholic cardinals; even The Pope!

The operation had tentacles in foreign governments, global banks, drug manufacturing, drug import and sales, mass murder, political assassinations, coups, etc... The operation involved the uber-secretive Freemasons and even planted Masons within the church.

The book documents specific examples of each of the above doings and will give the reader pause, especially as they learn of the assassination of Pope John Paul I.


A fascinating read!

[Vladimir Ghinculov · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another conspiracy theory book. Although interesting in its subject the style is very annoying. Putting sentences or facts one next to the other is not proof of their causation. When I was younger I found these theories funny, even entertaining, but as I grew older I just see the sophistry and stupidity.

[George Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed accounting of Italy’s years of lead, the shadowy forces behind them, and the way that the ruling class was able to transplant their southern European operations globally. What i found most interesting was the importance of the heroin trade, both during the cold war and in modern day. Oil is typically thought of as the One Commodity, the thing that wars are fought over and wealth is measured it, but heroin is just as important to global trade and American hegemony. I wish there was a ‘The Prize’ style 700 page book about the heroin trade but alas.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. However the analysis overall is pretty flawed. There is a great deal of info to sort through and without question under a more deft hand (say Alfred McCoy) that info could be contextualized into a coherent and piercing narrative.

[Strong Extraordinary Dreams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read twice. Awesome, what books are for. A true revelation, systematic, complete, fundamental. It really is the "Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia"

[Cary Brecher · Rating 3 out of 5]

a very good introduction to the topic while still being incredibly detailed and covering a lot of complex relationships; slight overreliance on secondary sources; author's a larouche guy which is unfortunate but overall a strong work

[Rastislav · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give the book 5-stars because it's a very useful summary of very important events in modern history that remains unknown to many.

The scale of manipulation, disinformation and murder cannot be forgiven, much less forgotten and should not be overlooked.

I understand well that Gladio may have served at some stage a praiseworthy goal of containing the Soviet Union. I'm not a zealot, not a fervent supporter of any political party. However evil the Soviet Union might have been, especially toward its own people, we should forget neither the preceding tsarist regime nor the Western military intervention on Russian soil when the Bolsheviks refused to continue to participate in the war. The relationship began on an evil note...

The extent and lengths to which mighty and influential people in the West went to supposedly "combat evil" is simply unacceptable.

I'm not even evoking the famous principle: "The end DOES NOT justify the means" aka "You can't fight evil with evil".

It's way beyond that. Italy, South America and others - even Turkey and, of course, Greece - suffered greatly in this manipulative game.


The book is precise enough in recounting the intellectual origins, the beginnings and the zenith of Gladio.

It reads well, but leaves some things unexplained. The style and method of chapter division and contents is acceptable. The chronology is clear enough, the amount of information is ample.

Of course, no book is flawless but this is a very important book for all history geeks and professionals.

[Stephen Tubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I hold the Vatican and the CIA in low esteem the reasoning and conclusions are entirely plausible. The narration is excellent.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Helter Skelter

[Robby Cowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

You’re telling me the Vatican has longstanding ties with the Sicilian mafia and now they got a pope from Chicago? Mamma Mia!

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

#Binge Reviewing my previous Reads # Espionage

Paul L. Williams’ *Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia* plunges the reader into the shadowy world of post-World War II Europe, where ideology, power, religion, and crime converged in a way that redefined the very notion of democracy and statehood. This is not a conventional history book; it is an investigative odyssey, a deep dive into the clandestine networks that operated beyond the scrutiny of parliaments, courts, and public accountability. The book’s scope is vast, spanning decades, countries, and institutions, yet Williams manages to maintain narrative coherence, guiding the reader through a labyrinth of covert operations, political manipulation, and moral compromise. From the outset, the reader is confronted with a Europe that, beneath its surface of post-war reconstruction and economic optimism, is a theater of secret allegiances, unacknowledged power, and calculated violence, orchestrated by actors who operate simultaneously in the political, religious, and criminal spheres.

Williams situates the narrative within the broader historical and geopolitical context of the Cold War, emphasizing the existential anxiety that defined Western Europe after 1945. The spectre of communism, real or perceived, loomed over nations attempting to rebuild from the devastation of war. In this environment, secrecy was not a mere operational necessity; it became a principle of governance. Operation Gladio, the secret NATO “stay-behind” networks, was designed ostensibly to resist a potential Soviet invasion. Yet, as Williams meticulously documents, these networks evolved beyond defensive contingency into instruments of political manipulation and covert influence, blending ideological imperatives with tactical violence and clandestine alliances. The book makes it clear that Gladio’s operations were neither ad hoc nor chaotic; they were deliberate, coordinated, and deeply embedded within the structures of state and society, yet hidden behind layers of plausible deniability.

Central to Williams’ thesis is the argument that Gladio represented a convergence of power among disparate and ostensibly incompatible institutions: the CIA, the Vatican, and organized crime. The CIA provided strategic direction, funding, and intelligence coordination; the Vatican leveraged its influence over political actors and public opinion, particularly in Italy; and the Mafia executed operations on the ground, providing muscle, logistics, and an infrastructure of fear. Williams’ account is detailed and, at times, exhaustive in demonstrating how these actors operated in symbiosis, each compensating for the limitations of the others. The narrative reveals a Europe in which ideological struggle, political ambition, religious authority, and criminal pragmatism were entangled, producing outcomes that were both devastating and astonishingly effective.

The book excels in reconstructing specific events that illustrate the scope and ambition of Gladio operations. Williams provides meticulous accounts of bombings, political manipulations, and subversive actions, situating them within a coherent strategic framework. Incidents such as the Bologna train station bombing, manipulations of Italian political parties, and targeted terrorist acts are not presented as isolated or random, but as deliberate components of a broader strategy designed to shape public perception, suppress leftist influence, and reinforce Western alignment. The reader is drawn into a world in which the boundaries between protection and coercion are deliberately blurred, and in which democratic norms are subordinated to the imperatives of clandestine strategy. Williams’ prose, precise and methodical, allows the reader to follow these complex events with clarity, while never losing sight of their human and moral consequences.

A defining feature of the book is its exploration of moral ambiguity. Williams documents the complicity of state and non-state actors who justified extraordinary measures in the name of ideological necessity. The Vatican’s alleged involvement introduces an ethical dimension rarely examined in intelligence studies, illustrating how moral and religious authority can be mobilized in service of political strategy. The Mafia’s participation adds another layer of complexity, revealing how profit-driven criminal actors became essential partners in an ideological struggle. Throughout, Williams interrogates the consequences of operating in secrecy, demonstrating how rationalizations, compartmentalization, and ideological certainty enabled actors to commit acts that would be unconscionable in any transparent democratic system. The reader is confronted repeatedly with the tension between strategic efficacy and moral compromise, a tension that underpins the narrative’s ethical and psychological intensity.

Williams’ narrative is immersive and cinematic, blending investigative rigor with storytelling that maintains suspense and immediacy. The prose balances exposition with tension, alternating between detailed operational accounts and broader reflections on political and historical implications. This style enables the reader to comprehend both the micro-level logistics of Gladio operations—fund transfers, communications, coordination of attacks—and the macro-level consequences for European politics and society. The book emphasizes that Gladio was not a monolithic entity, but a decentralized network of semi-autonomous cells, each with operational latitude and ideological directives. This structural insight illuminates both the ingenuity and the unpredictability of clandestine networks, illustrating how operational autonomy, when combined with strategic alignment, can produce outcomes of extraordinary impact.

Williams is also adept at portraying the human dimension of clandestine operations. The book foregrounds the personalities, ambitions, and decisions of operatives, politicians, and religious actors, emphasizing that outcomes were shaped as much by human agency as by strategic design. CIA operatives are depicted navigating complex geopolitical landscapes, Vatican officials balancing moral and political imperatives, and Mafia figures calculating risk and reward. These portrayals humanize the narrative, reminding the reader that clandestine networks are not abstract structures, but the product of choices, motivations, and compromises of flesh-and-blood actors. The ethical dilemmas, fears, and calculations of these individuals provide a compelling psychological texture to the operational and historical analysis.

Another remarkable aspect of the book is its attention to continuity and long-term impact. Williams demonstrates that Gladio and similar clandestine networks did not vanish with political inquiry or public exposure; rather, remnants persisted, continuing to influence political events, intelligence operations, and public perception. This observation reinforces the central thesis that clandestine alliances are rarely ephemeral; they create enduring legacies that extend far beyond immediate strategic objectives. The narrative thus becomes a meditation on the persistence of hidden power, revealing how secrecy, organization, and moral rationalization allow networks to endure and shape historical trajectories in ways that are often invisible to the public eye.

Williams situates the narrative within a transnational context, linking European clandestine operations to broader Cold War strategies and intelligence networks worldwide. The book traces connections to operations in Latin America, Asia, and beyond, emphasizing that Gladio was part of an integrated global architecture of ideological containment and covert influence. This perspective positions the book not merely as a chronicle of Italian or European history, but as a study in the mechanics of global clandestine governance, illustrating the complex interplay of national sovereignty, transnational strategy, and non-state actors in shaping political outcomes. The global dimension underscores the systemic and enduring consequences of covert networks, highlighting their relevance to contemporary debates about intelligence, security, and state accountability.

Throughout the book, Williams emphasizes the ethical and societal consequences of Gladio operations. He documents the toll on civilian populations, the erosion of public trust, and the destabilization of democratic institutions. The tension between the pursuit of ideological objectives and the preservation of human life and legal norms is a recurring theme, compelling readers to confront uncomfortable questions about the balance between security and morality. Williams does not offer facile resolutions; instead, he presents evidence and analysis that allow readers to appreciate the complexity of clandestine operations and the difficulty of holding actors accountable in secretive environments. The ethical complexity of Gladio operations is thus central to the narrative’s enduring impact.

Operational detail is another strength of the book. Williams provides comprehensive accounts of funding mechanisms, logistics, coordination of attacks, and communication protocols within the Gladio network. These operational insights reveal the extraordinary sophistication of clandestine structures, illustrating how efficiency, planning, and strategic alignment enabled networks to achieve both visibility and deniability. The reader gains an understanding of how decentralized cells, when coordinated with precision and strategic foresight, can execute operations of enormous scale and impact. Williams’ meticulous attention to detail enhances the credibility of the narrative and allows readers to appreciate both the brilliance and danger inherent in such clandestine architectures.

The book is also psychologically rich, offering insight into the motivations, fears, and ambitions of the actors involved. Williams portrays intelligence officers, religious figures, and organized crime operatives as individuals navigating moral ambiguity, operational risk, and personal ambition. These portraits deepen the narrative, revealing the human dimension of clandestine operations and highlighting the interplay between institutional objectives and personal agency. The psychological texture adds immediacy and depth, allowing readers to grasp not only the mechanics of Gladio but the lived experience of those who operated within it. The interplay between strategic foresight and human fallibility is central to understanding both the successes and failures of the network.

Williams’ book is ultimately an exploration of the interplay between secrecy, power, and morality. It challenges conventional understandings of statecraft and intelligence, demonstrating how clandestine networks can manipulate political outcomes while eluding oversight and accountability. By situating Gladio within the broader context of Cold War geopolitics, organized crime, and religious influence, Williams illuminates the structural, operational, and ethical dimensions of covert operations. The narrative is immersive, combining the rigor of investigative journalism with the suspense and immediacy of a thriller, compelling readers to grapple with the complexity of hidden power and its consequences.

In conclusion, Paul L. Williams’ *Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia* is a meticulously researched, densely argued, and gripping account of one of the most shadowy episodes of the Cold War. The book offers an unprecedented examination of clandestine networks, their operational sophistication, their moral and ethical ambiguities, and their enduring consequences. Williams demonstrates how ideological imperatives, religious authority, criminal enterprise, and state power intersected in ways that shaped European politics for decades, leaving legacies that continue to reverberate. The memoir is at once an exposé, a cautionary tale, and a reflection on human agency in the service of secrecy and power. For readers interested in intelligence, history, organized crime, or the ethical complexities of clandestine operations, Williams’ book is an essential, immersive, and unforgettable read, offering both illumination and provocation, a window into a world where the hidden mechanisms of power operate with precision, audacity, and moral ambiguity.

Read this of you are an aficionado of espionage and encourage others to read it too.

[Raza · Rating 4 out of 5]

in simple terms, op gladio was cia arranged scheme to get black money to stay behind units in europe for combating communism. it packed its bags in europe around 1988, but continues in turkey and latin america. Most of the leading figures of this piepline were killed or died of natural causes as were many investigators who tried to link all the departments together.
Basically, american P.L.Helliwell, intelligence spook, thought of a scheme to launder (through vatican IOR bank) millions fo dollars from drug sales (herione to black communities of USA) and distribute them to paramilitary units inside europe and turkey where it could be utilized to target communists/socialists. Most devastating effect of gladio was on Italy which suffered from multiple terro attacks in 70;s conducted by gladio units that were blamed on radicals and leftists. Mnay italian military agents and industralists were aware of this scheme through their membership in the Masonic Lodge P2. Vatican bankers created a host of shell companies and banks to launder this money in a complex financial web. In latic america, this operation became known as Op. Condor, but the spirit was the same: give money to dictatorships and terror squads that were anti-communist.

The vatican, through its clergy and BANK, were silent partners in Gladio(Calvi and Sindona were both silenced after their useful stints with the bank finished) Eventually, the op was wrapped up in eruope as Soveit union was near breakup. But gladio units in turkey were kept on the pay (THe grey wolves) since the americans wanted to control the muslim populations of new central asian republics through Turkish Islam. (Gullen is being propped up by USA and cia operatives continue to house his schools in various countries).

while the vatican and its shell companies are no longer used in drug for arms Gladio pipeline, CIA continues to harbour drug omney from poppy fields in Afg (not now) and launder it through american banks (they are fined whenever they are caught) while the Vatican is still in bed with Sicilian mafia and continues to launder their money (while keeping a fee).

Many gladio investigators were silenced including a pope (murdered in '78)and so any journalists.

The book offers a sweeping look at history. The writer sometimes fails to connect all the dots between
all disparate events as one cohesive story but there is enough truth underneath the story that one fumes at this crazy operation which CIA industrialists and IVY league educated post WW2 spooks conjured up to advance american global domination and defeat communism.

lets hope the stars shine better in future.

[Elisabeth Ahlefeldt-Laurvig · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most amazing book. It unravels CIA covert operations ever since the end of WWII and especially the illegial finacing of these by encouraging new plantation of drugs and initiating a drug trade which with the help of major banks - including ones in the US and not least the Vatican - whitewashed these funds.
Everything spurred on by a fear of communism.
A lot of Italian "incidents" were financed and organised through this covert arm of the CIA (Operation Gladio), as well as in other European countries, most notable financial help to the Solidarity movement in Poland. Who would think they were financed by whitewashed drug money organised by the CIA?
Who did the people of Operation Gladio involve, well not just the mafia, but very high ranking people across Europe, not least inside the Vatican.
A must read for anyone interested in European history in the 20th century.

[dr_set · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an amazing recount of some of the darkest events of the XX century. The book is superbly annotated but the credibility of the authors sources is suspect. Many of the sources are secondary (other books such as this one) and other are shady websites with little or no credibility. Many of the “facts” that the author takes for undisputed truth are highly controversial when not directly contradicted by the oficial version.

What follows is a resume of the text:

At the end of WWII top members of the US intelligence OSS, among them Allen Dulles, “Wild” Bill Donovan, and James Jesus Angleton, started to prepare for an eventual confrontation with the Soviet Union. To achieve this goal they recruited and protected Nazis such as Reinhard Gehlen and Klaus Barbie to form a number of clandestine armies in many countries of Europe. This would be known as “Operation Gladio”.

To help many of the Nazis escape from Europe to Latin America, the americans formed and alliance with the Vatican.

The Vatican saw the atheist communists as a direct competitor for “the souls of men” and a mortal threat to their existence. They helped many Nazis escape to Latin America by providing them with fake passports.

As the operation grew, the newly formed CIA under Allen Dulles, saw the need to secure immense amounts of black money to finance it. The solution came from a previous scheme concocted by Col. Paul E. Helliwell while he was serving as Chief of Special Intelligence for the OSS in China to provide covert assistance to General Chaing Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang (KMT—the Chinese National Army) to raise funds for his army's planned war against the Communist forces of Mao Zedong. Helliwell mounted a fleet of planes to run heroin into China to secure the need funded. This would become the model for “Air America” the CIA drug operation to smuggle heroin from Vietnam to sell in poor black neighborhoods in Harlem.

The drug network would expand with time to include the Italian mafia in America and Italy, the Turkish mafia, the Corsican mafia, the Latin America drug lords such as Escobar and many other criminal organizations. The black money from the drug trafficking will be laundered by the Vatican Bank under the control of archbishop Paul Marcinkus, also known as “the gorilla” and a series of shadowy corporations created by the CIA and the mob bankers.

Throughout the 1950s, hundreds of Italian clerics and members of the Church's “black nobility” joined the Mafia in support of Operation Gladio. To protect the clandestine nature of this Catholic Gladio and the other stay-behind units, meetings of the anti-Communist forces were conducted in Masonic lodges. Eventually, several “stay-behind” units in Italy evolved into covert Masonic organizations. The main of such units became known as Propaganda Due, or P2.

The time was right for the CIA to unleash the full force of Gladio through a strategy of tension, which would cause the people of Italy first and many other countries later to view the Communists as a threat to their lives and well-being by infiltrating and impersonating the radical left to cause violence in the form of terrorist attacks and killings to force the need to repress the rise of communism.

After the URSS invasion of Afghanistan, the CIA's main concern was no longer left-wing political activity in Italy and Western Europe but rather the situation in Afghanistan. To drive the “evil empire” to the point of total collapse, the CIA would infuse the holy war with munitions and money and training, until the war in Afghanistan became the Agency's most expensive covert undertaking.

Operation gladio would conclude with the fall of the URSS and the exposing of the network to great public scandal prompting the europeans parlaments to launch full investigations on the matter.

Throughout the 1990s, hundreds of Uyghurs were transported to Afghanistan by the CIA for training in guerrilla warfare by the mujahideen. Graham Fuller, CIA superspy, offered this explanation for radicalizing the Chinese Muslims:
“ The policy of guiding the evolution of Islam and of helping them [Muslims] against our adversaries worked marvelously well in Afghanistan against the Red Army. The same doctrines can still be used to destabilize what remains of Russian power, and especially to counter the Chinese influence in Central Asia.”

This policy of destabilization was devised by Bernard Lewis, an Oxford University specialist on Islamic studies, who called for the creation of an “Arc of Crisis” around the southern borders of the Soviet Union by empowering Muslim radicals to rebel against their Communist overlords.

This new policy implemented after the end of the cold war would be aptly called “Gladio 2” and continues to this day.

[Andrew Hanrahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Operation Gladio is a thorough telling of the behind-the-scenes cold war that started during WWII lasting into the 21st century. If you were not previously aware of Operation Gladio and the connections to the CIA your world view will change drastically. The focus of the book is the Vatican, the Mafia, the OSS and CIA, and Italy, one of the few places that actually investigated the anti-communist, far-right, facist underground armies.

Right-wing terrorists committing mass murder in the name of communist groups and creating the opioid epidemic (which systematically and intentionally was targeting black neighborhoods) is, somehow, so thoroughly ignored and unacknowledged in American media that while you read you'll think you crossed into an alternate reality. In a weird way, there's so much evidence that you have to question how American politicians and journalists can be so willfully ignorant (or blatantly lying). American officials have acknowledged many parts of the story, but somehow the CIA gets away with just saying "we can not confirm nor deny, matter of national security."

The reason we know any of this is a little bizarre: Italian officials stumbled upon evidence of the plots and their members while investigating banking-related crimes. Imagine how many plots there were across the world that were never found out, or were kept secret at the threat of (or actual) violence.

My only negative comment is that near the very end, it seemed to me the author started drifting into theories that had little to no evidence surrounding the last decade or so. Definitely be critically thinking as you read this.

Audiobook narrated by Michael Prichard: I did not like the narration. There were many mispronounced words (in English) and occasionally the narrator would totally botch the flow of the sentence. It bothers some more than others but is overall listenable.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2 / 5 ⭐

Sooo I didn't realize this dude was such a conspiracy theorist...

I listened to the audiobook, so I didn't have access to the cited sources, though from what a few other reviews say, a lot of the citations are tenuous at best. Regardless, from what I can tell (just from a few wikipedia searches) probably 50-70% of the main facts presented here are concrete or at least widely acknowledged (if not altogether well known). Another 10-20% or so is maybe real and happened and uncovering those facts is more difficult and/or they aren't well documented. And then another 10-30% of the facts are just made up and/or he's just drawing connections that aren't there. This is just my feeling after trying to verify some facts while listening.

My main issue with the book is in how Williams presents the facts. There is no distinction between the veracity levels of the facts presented. Everything is presented as a sure known thing even though it is almost all shrouded in secrecy. For example he talks about the CIA/P2 basically assassinating multiple Popes and then fixing the Papal elections with no acknowledgement that this is all speculation and (as far as I can tell) there is no evidence (other than there being some weirdness around the reporting of one of the Pope's deaths.

All that said, there's enough presented here to make you realize how broken and corrupt our system is and how devastating our meddling around the world has been for us and the whole world. All in the name of fighting "the evils of Communism". Really it makes us look quite evil not them. If Williams had been more restrained and presented the facts where they lie and acknowledge what parts were more speculative or unverifiable, this would be a great book... As it stands, it's almost not worth reading.

[Whitlaw Tanyanyiwa Mugwiji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia is a book by Paul L. Williams that exposes the dark history of a secret network of paramilitary groups that operated in Europe after World War II. Gladio was the codename for these clandestine "stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (precursor of NATO) and the CIA, as a precautionary measure, in case the Axis overpowered the Allied forces. However, Germany and Italy were defeated, and the focus of the CIA and these groups immediately turned to the Soviet Union and communism.

The groups were involved in assassinations, coups, false flag attacks, and other covert operations across Europe to counter the perceived threat of communism. Williams draws on declassified documents, testimonies, and journalistic investigations to reveal that these groups were trained and funded by the CIA through drug money that was laundered clean through the Vatican bank.

The book is a comprehensive and well-researched account of a controversial and complex topic. Williams does not shy away from exposing the crimes and corruption of powerful institutions and individuals, providing ample evidence and sources to back up his claims. He also explores the historical and political context of Gladio's emergence and evolution, showing how it influenced the course of European and global history. The book is very informative, I would say more suited for scholars than for popular reading. While the book unravels a web of intrigue, conspiracy, and violence that spans through decades and across continents, it is bogged down in too much detail to be thrilling and captivating.

The book should appeal to anyone interested in history, politics, the Catholic Church, espionage, and or crime. It is a book that will make the reader challenge their own assumptions and question what they know about the morals of the US government and the Roman Catholic church. It is a book that will expose the reader to a hidden reality that is both fascinating and frightening.

[?0?0?0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul L. Williams's, "Operation Gladio", is written so that even the braindead reader such as myself can grasp the totality of the madness that is Operation Gladio, an all-too real conspiracy that began as the allied forces were on their way to victory and went into full force in post WW2 Europe and anywhere on the planet either supplying or buying heroin. Williams's book shows how the funds from heroin went into the creation of the CIA (and all the forces and personalities, as well), to right-wing extremists posing as communists in Italy and around the globe murdered countless people to stop any advances from communists to gain power, and, of course, the connection to the Vatican and in particular the Vatican bank.
While this doesn't read like other more scholarly texts concerning this and other issues related to it, that fact makes for this book to be the perfect starter for those unfamiliar with Gladio.
If there's one complaint: after Gladio, allegedly, came to an end, the author proposes that it's still active - and it is - in the guise of the new war on terror. While I don't disagree, I find some of his assertions lacking the sufficient evidence such wild claims require. However, evidence is in abundance throughout the entirety of this book save for the final chapter.

[Alex Frame · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did the originally formed OSS then CIA secretly conduct US foreign policy?
Did CIA partnering with the Italian mafia and the Vatican bank and many other financial institutions launder funds from a large multi faceted drug importation business to finance their clandestine post WW2 operations funding numerous coups and terrorists like the early mujahadeen in Afghanistan fighting the Soviets.
This book tracks many of these operations and how money was channelled from the drug operations in Afghanistan, South East Asia and South America and lists by name the institutions and some of those involved (and my there are some big names) and their fates.
Being a hegemonist is an expensive business
Suffice to say if you blew or threatened to blow the whistle on these operations your end was not a good one.

[Llewellyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a crazy goddamn book. So much of this was new to me even for someone who reads a decent amount on CIA history. Would even say it's 100x more damning than Gary Webb's supposed expose.

The short version is that not only was the CIA heavily involved in Italian politics and bombings post WWII, but also part of an ongoing network between the mafia, heroin traffickers, weapons traffickers, and the Vatican. I had heard that Iran-Contra was not an isolated scandal, but the tip of the iceberg of a larger world of CIA drug and weapons trafficking to fund black bag operations, and this book is all about it.

Even the small section about BCCI was more enlightening than the two books I tried reading on that subject.

Certainly a lot of what's there is controversial and maybe in dispute, but many of the crazy details I found were easily backed up by Wikipedia entries and more.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm conflicted about rating this book. If even half of what it describes is true, it is a revelation about the complicity of the CIA, US government, and Vatican in political subversion, relentless terrorist attacks, and the explosion of the international drug trade after WWII. I know, I know. Too preposterous to be believed. The book is well foot-noted, but many of the sources are other books, so it's difficult to determine the veracity of all the claims. Still, those episodes that have been previously exposed (CIA support for the Pinochet coup in Chile, Iran-Contra affair, etc.) provide an overall air of authenticity. This may not be the "vast right-wing conspiracy" that Hillary Clinton was referring to, but it sure deserves the epithet.

[J.R. Emry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book chronicling NATO atrocities and how they were funded. An expose of the genocides and war crimes of the Anglo-American Establishment. Definitely filled a few gaps in my knowledge. I was, for ecample, aware of CIA heroine dealing in American inner cities to fund black projects. This filled in the details. Similarly, this book gives a plausible theory as to why the Clinton Administration provided the weaponry to the Turks to genocide the Kurds.

This fits in the pattern well considering I'm very aware of NATO support of genocidal factions in Syria - since my Church was a primary target of that. And although not addressed in this book, the geopolitical shenanigans definitely carry out to NATO's coup, church persecution, and the current war in Ukraine.

[keatssycamore · Rating 3 out of 5]

there's a lot of interesting information in this book but I felt it wasn't as buttoned up & cautious as Valentine or Webb so I m staying a little cautious. Author also seemed to me to, at the end, show he's somewhat of an islamophobe though, tbh, that stuff is of a piece with the way the book puts catholics/vactican out front moreso than CIA. Not in an awful way as the author isn't excluding CIA. I think he just has a perspective on supra-government entities and organized crime that I'm not convinced isn't slightly reversed and that's without getting into how it's ALL just capitalism at work. Regardless, those are quibbles and the significant amount of indisputable information you will gather from the book makes it a worthwhile read.