NATO's Secret Army: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe (Contemporary Security Studies) (Paperback)

~ GANSER DANIELE (Author)
Key Phrases: grey wolf, covert action department, covert action operations, United States, Western Europe, Cold War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Much of this is appearing in English for the first time and it would be hard to overstate its importance. - Lobster

Product Description

This fascinating new study shows how the CIA and the British secret service, in collaboration with the military alliance NATO and European military secret services, set up a network of clandestine anti-communist armies in Western Europe after World War II.

These secret soldiers were trained on remote islands in the Mediterranean and in unorthodox warfare centres in England and in the United States by the Green Berets and SAS Special Forces. The network was armed with explosives, machine guns and high-tech communication equipment hidden in underground bunkers and secret arms caches in forests and mountain meadows. In some countries the secret army linked up with right-wing terrorist who in a secret war engaged in political manipulation, harrassement of left wing parties, massacres, coup d'états and torture.

Codenamed 'Gladio' ('the sword'), the Italian secret army was exposed in 1990 by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti to the Italian Senate, whereupon the press spoke of The best kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II (Observer, 18. November 1990) and observed that The story seems straight from the pages of a political thriller. (The Times, November 19, 1990). Ever since, so-called 'stay-behind' armies of NATO have also been discovered in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Greece and Turkey. They were internationally coordinated by the Pentagon and NATO and had their last known meeting in the NATO-linked Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) in Brussels in October 1990.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (February 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714685003
• ISBN-13: 978-0714685007
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #468,652 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interpretative key for the understanding of many European misteries, August 1, 2005

By	Francesco Lovecchio (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author is a Swiss researcher who has nicely managed to document in one volume the modus operandi of a secret stay-behind army in Europe which operated since the end of WWII until the end of the Cold War. The book provides a complete documentation of the general patterns of this army across Europe that if taken in isolation would seem improbable. This super secret Army was operating in all Western European countries under different codenames and coordinated by the Allied Clandestine Committee and the Clandestine Planning Committee under the umbrella supervision of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) within the NATO and with the active supporting role of the Pentagon, CIA and the British MI6. The goal of this army was to operate behind enemy lines setting up resistance movements in case of a Soviet invasion of Europe. The secret army was clandestine and illegal in many countries and staffed by loyal anti-communist soldiers and rightwing activists recruited from various sectors, many with a past with the nazis or fascist armies during WWII. These armies have been employed also against the national communist (and in some case socialist) parties (Demagnetize Operation) under the complacence of domestic intelligence services with several suspect cases of assassinations and some documented cases of terrorist attacks against civilian targets, or in overturning democratically elected governments (Greece and Turkey) too dangerously left-leaning. Italy plays an important part in this story since Italy was theatre of several operations and last but not least, a former prime minister eventually admitted before Parliament in 1990, after the investigations of a judge, that a stay-behind army had operated since WWII, opening a Pandora's box of revelations. To each country are dedicated 18 specific chapters (UK, USA, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria) with specific documented episodes, that offers a clarifying picture of this super secret organization. Much remains to be discovered, but the merit of this book is to have put together scattered information in a well organized way. Recommended.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What every European should know, December 2, 2005

By	Anton Raath (Leuven, Belgium) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A book both enlightening in its academic post-mortem of recent Western European history and terrifying in its subtext of what might still be in store for the region. Ganser reveals the role of Nato (and specifically the United States) in right-wing terror attacks on European soil, and to some degree breaks through the wall of secrecy surrounding the Gladio units set up in the aftermath of World War II. Nato's Secret Armies is an essential guide to understanding post-war European politics and the powerful realpolitik of EU-US relations.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Key to Understanding our present circumstances, June 8, 2007

By	C. Littleton "San Francisco Dave" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It does not require a great deal of reading between the lines of NATO's Secret Army to awaken to the grim reality that Americans must now reckon with. The author's description of the "strategy of tension" is chilling. Anyone claiming "disinformation" immediately identifies themselves as an "insider" that others must be wary of. Ultimately, perhaps the most important book of the 21st century.