Politicians On Gladio
Whilst the existence of a "stay-behind" organization such as Gladio was disputed, prior to its confirmation by Giulio Andreotti, with some skeptics describing it as a conspiracy theory, several high-ranking politicians in NATO countries have made statements appearing to confirm the existence of something like what is described:
- Former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti ("Gladio had been necessary during the days of the Cold War but, that in view of the collapse of the East Bloc, Italy would suggest to NATO that the organisation was no longer necessary.")
- Former French minister of defense Jean-Pierre Chevènement ("a structure did exist, set up at the beginning of the 1950s, to enable communications with a government that might have fled abroad in the event of the country being occupied.").
- Former Greek defence minister, Ioannis Varvitsiotis (Greek: Ιωάννης Βαρβιτσιώτης) ("local commandos and the CIA set up a branch of the network in 1955 to organise guerrilla resistance to any communist invader")
As noted above, the US has now acknowledged the existence of Operation Gladio.
Read more about this topic: Operation Gladio
Famous quotes containing the word politicians:
“Unpleasant questions are being raised about Mother’s Day. Is this day necessary? . . . Isn’t it bad public policy? . . . No politician with half his senses, which a majority of politicians have, is likely to vote for its abolition, however. As a class, mothers are tender and loving, but as a voting bloc they would not hesitate for an instant to pull the seat out from under any Congressman who suggests that Mother is not entitled to a box of chocolates each year in the middle of May.”
—Russell Baker (20th century)