well i'm not 100% sure, but it seems that they are saying that it's a put up job by the Italian state .
I reckon I'll go along with that . After all what would the War on terrorism be with out some good old fashioned terrorists, and thee EU has to do it's bit to keep up the old chesnuts warm . The Italian state / government has always been good at the odd outrage and London has always been a safe haven for some of their hard right oppo's / those responsible .. Fiore and Co'

THE ITALIAN ‘STRATEGY OF TENSION’ AND NATO’S ‘STAY BEHIND’ NETWORKS

Recent events in Italy have led certain people to ask if we are witnessing the implementation a new ‘strategy of tension’ by Italy’s bourgeoisie. Unfortunately, many seem either completely unaware of the history of state manipulation of terrorism in Italy, or only vaguely so. The obfuscators in the bourgeois media of course encourage this unfortunate ignorance, for by rewriting recent history they hope nobody will be able to put more recent events into historical context in order to understand the present spectacle of terrorism.

From the late 1960’s through to the early 1980’s, Italy witnessed waves of social upheaval and class conflict. Alongside these conflicts, Italy also witnessed the phenomenon of ‘terrorism’, ostensibly carried out by extra-parliamentary groups of the far left and far right. However, the spectacle of Italian terrorism concealed powerful interests, both domestic and international.

In addition to the more ‘mundane’ terror that Italy’s various neo-fascist groups dished out on the streets to their enemies, far right organisations were involved in the most spectacular and devastating episodes that frame the ‘years of lead’ (as the period in question came to be known): the bombing of a bank in Milan’s Piazza Fontana in 1969, and the blowing up of Bologna railway station in 1980. However, the neo-fascist groups that were ostensibly behind these attacks were well integrated into the state apparatus, via the so-called Gladio Networks. Beyond this, the fact that the objectives of far right organisations are broadly identical to those leading the state, and that many of their supporters and activists were drawn from the states apparatus of repression, makes it very easy for them to be infiltrated and manipulated by the state. As always, there have been various attempts to explain state involvement in far right terrorism in terms of ‘infiltration’ of the state by the far right, the actions so-called ‘rouge elements’, etc. Liberals and leftists are particularly keen on this sort of apologetic obfuscation. A more accurate picture of events would been provided by the neo-fascist terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra: “every bombing in Italy after 1969 was linked to one group…The orders are given by an apparatus belonging to the state, specifically by a secret parallel structure of the Interior Ministry.”

The Gladio Network was set up during the 1950’s as part of a wider “stay behind” network established throughout European countries aligned to NATO at the end of WWII, to go into action in the event of an Eastern Bloc invasion or domestic Communist ‘subversion’, using secret arms caches. They were under the overall control of US intelligence, involving domestic intelligence groups and committed ‘anti-communists’. The latter group inevitably contained a large number of neo-fascists. Lucio Gelli, Grandmaster of P2 – the establishment Masonic lodge and at times effective parallel government of Italy – confirmed this, reporting that many Gladio members in Italy were drawn form the ranks of fascist veterans of Mussolini’s last stand, the Salo Republic. The US also pumped huge amounts of money into the coffers of far right organisations, supposedly as a bulwark against the left, especially the large Italian Communist Party (PCI).

The Gladio networks, and the extra-parliamentary far right in general, were utilise by ruling class elements to carry out actions as part of what became known as the “Strategy of Tension”. The general aim of this strategy, developed in the face of working class militancy, was to create a heightened sense of disorientation, fear and atomisation amongst the general population, leading to an increased identification with authority. While some initially hoped that this would lead to a military take over, this strategy became a more general response in periods of social unrest and political crisis. The Pizza Fontana bombing illustrates this perfectly, taking place as it did at the height of the social upheavals of the ‘Hot Autumn’ of 1969. As the Situationist Gianfranco Sanguinetti observed, writing in the late 1970’s about the spectacle of state manipulated terrorism, the aim of such events as the Piazza Fontana bombing was to “make the whole population…believe that it has at least one enemy in common with this state, and from which the state defends it on condition that it is no longer called into question by anyone.” In other words, the ‘war against terrorism’ – the bourgeoisie has been running this racket for quite some time now! – was meant to inject a sense of common national interest into the population (particularly the working class) at times of social crisis. Immediately after the Piazza Fontana bombing in 1969, Sanguinetti, in a short flyer entitled ‘Is the Reichstag Burning?’ denounced the bombings as state provocations, unlike the vast majority of the left at the time, who generally took police and media lies at face value: ‘THE BOMB IN MILAN EXPLODED AGAINST THE PROLETARIAT, it was intended to wound the least radicalised categories in order to ally them with power, and to tighten the ranks of the bourgeoisie for the witch hunt…’

Partly in response to the grim spectacle of state organised ‘far right’ terrorism, along with more general attacks on the working class by the ruling class and its state apparatus, 1970 witnessed the formation of the Red Brigades (R.B.’s). While the main impetus for their creation largely came from genuine workers and Leftist intellectuals, inspired by the PCI dominated anti-fascist partisans of WWII, the organisation was based on a rigid Leninist ideology and structure, and a militaristic conception of the class struggle. During 1974, the original leadership of the R.B.’s, including Renato Curcio and Alberto Franceshini, were arrested, which paved the way for Mario Moretti and his strategy of constant military escalation. There were suggestions at the time, and subsequently, that Moretti was an agent provocateur. Marco Pisetta and Silvano Girotto also infiltrated the group, along with the ex-Franciscan friar Salvano Girotto (known as “Brother Machine Gun”), amongst many others.

On the 16 March, 1978 Christian Democratic Party leader Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the Red Brigades, in an operation notable for its brutality and military precision. Moro was an advocate of a ‘history compromise’ in Italian politics. This would involve the opening up of the state to the Communist Party (PCI). Moro correctly perceived the completely reformist nature of the PCI. He hoped that this policy would diminish the radicalism of the working class. Powerful factions of the Italian ruling class, as well as American ruling class, were totally opposed to PCI participation in government. Moro became increasingly preoccupied with US opposition to his policy of historic compromise with the PCI. During a 1974 visit to America as Italian foreign minister, Henry Kissinger warned Moro off his policy of compromise with the PCI. After he was kidnapped, the CIA refused to co-operate in the hunt for Moro. On the 9 May, Moro’s body was found in the trunk of a car on Rome’s Via Caetani, symbolically halfway between the headquarters of the Christian Democratic and Communist Parties’. Significantly, during the 1960’s a secret coup plot called “Piano Solo”(Plan Solo) organised by fascist-sympathiser, intelligence chief and carabinieri leader General De Lorenzo called for the assassination of Moro, who had promised an “opening to the left” - i.e., letting the Italian Communist Party (PCI) into government, a precursor of his “Historic Compromise”. The planned coup was called off at the last minute due to a compromise between the Socialist Party and right-wing Christian Democrats. De Lorenzo went on to create a secret organisation named “La Rosa Dei Venti” (Rose of the Winds), aimed at grouping together those sympathetic to De Lorenzo and his plan. This conspiracy was a direct precursor to the strategy of tension and P2.

On 2 August, 1980 a powerful bomb exploded in the second class waiting room at Bologna railway station, resulting in 85 deaths and 200 injuries. Fascists ostensibly carried out the bombing, a series of right-wingers later being convicted and then acquitted for carrying out the attack. However, it soon became clear that more powerful interests lay behind the attack. It is established that the explosives used were from a NATO Gladio arsenal, and subsequent investigations implicate Gelli and P2 as being those behind the massacre. (When interviewed by British television upon his release from prison and asked if he had any part in the bombing, P2 boss Gelli simply smiled and stated that ‘the Communists had to be kept out of the government’!) In January of the following year, Gelli attends Ronald Reagan’s inauguration. He would later spend a whole week with George H.W. Bush, the ex-CIA director (1970’s), vice-president (1981-88), and future president (1989-93) (also the father of the present cretin inhabiting the White House, in case anyone didn’t know). In 1990, Dick Brenneke, who claims to have been a CIA operative, makes a series of allegations concerning American involvement with P2 and the strategy of tension. Amongst these was that George Bush not only had knowledge of CIA involvement with P2 and the strategy of tension, but that the one time director of the CIA was one of the masterminds of these events.

In December 1981 the US General James Lee Dozier is kidnapped by the Red Brigades, sparking the largest manhunt in Italian history. The Mafia aids the manhunt, which is far larger than that for Moro. The successful location and release of Dozier by the authorities spells the ‘beginning of the end’ for the Red Brigades. However, during the late 1990’s, the organisation re-emerged with the assassination of Massimo D’Antona, a government advisor on labour law. In a 28-page document, the killing is claimed by the R.B.’s (full name now ‘Red Brigades for the construction of the fighting Communist Party’!). D’Antona’s widow – amongst others – voices doubts about the motives of her late husbands supposed killers, suggesting that he may have been killed at the behest of “conservative forces”. The supposed re-formation of the R.B.’s takes place in the wake of the upsurge of the Italian Right, and the emergence of the billionaire media magnet and football club owner Silvio Berlusconi and his ‘party’ Forza Italia (a football slogan) as a political force in Italy – Berlusconi is a onetime member of the P2. During the early 1990’s, at the time of the entry of Berlusconi's Forza Italia into Italian political life, a series of bizarre bombings take place. These include attacks on an art gallery in Milan, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and the Rome cathedral of St John's in Lateran, which are rather implausibly blamed on the Mafia. In 1999 it would be claimed that Berlusconi was in fact behind the bombings, which occurred shortly before his election as Prime Minister at head of the so-called Freedom Alliance (which included Forza Italia, the regionalist-xenophobic Northern Leagues and the ‘post-Fascist’ National Alliance).

In the lead up to the anti-G8 mobilisation in Genoa during July 2001, a parcel bomb that is sent to a police station explodes, injuring a cop. No one claims responsibility for the bomb, but the media speculate that the bomb is the work of “militants on the fringe of the…protesters” (Guardian), failing to mention the historical context of the Italian states’ manipulation of, and heavy involvement in terrorism in the recent passed. During the massive anti-G8 demonstrations of July 2001, police subject demonstrators to systematic brutality, attacking the demonstrations organisational headquarters and the Independent Media Centre. Hundreds are arrested, many being subjected to intimidation and torture. One protester, Carlo Giuliani, is shot dead by the carabinieri. Following the Genoa repression, a Venice court is bombed hours before Silvio Berlusconi is due to visit the city. Twenty groups claim responsibility for the bombing! ‘Anti-terrorist’ police search the homes of two neo-Nazi sympathisers. In addition, a bomb explodes at the headquarters of the right-wing Northern League in the Italian town of Vigonza, near Venice. No group claims responsibility. Early this year, the Berlusconi government launched a series of raids against the network of social centres, which are connected to the ‘White Overall’ movement. In March 2002, Marco Biagi, an advisor to the Berlusconi government on labour law reform, is assassinated. The police suggest that the same gun was used to kill Massimo D’Antona three years previously! The killing, which takes place on the eve of a massive anti-government mobilisation against labour ‘reform’, is claimed by the Red Brigades over the Internet. The statement also praises the attack on the World Trade Centre in the USA on ‘anti-imperialist’ grounds. The planned anti-government mobilisation goes ahead, but the media portrays the massive demonstration as an anti-terrorist mobilisation (much of the Left and the Trade Unions play along with this, to some extent).

State involvement in the very terrorism our rulers so loudly declared war against has become an increasingly apparent phenomenon across the world. The example of the so-called Nijvel gang in Belgium could be cited here. This gang carried out a series of bizarre and brutal armed robberies on supermarkets in the province of Brabant between 1982 and 1985, which led to the deaths of 28 people with very small amounts of money being stolen. When it was revealed that the weapons used to carry out these murders, which have become known as the Brabant massacres, came from police arsenals the gang became linked to the far-right organisation Westland-New Post who in turn linked to the Belgian police and security apparatus. It has since come to light that the Nijvel gang were operating as part of a "strategy of tension" similar to that carried out in Italy during the early seventies, connected to NATO’s “stay behind” networks.

‘STRATEGY OF TENSION’/GLADIO NETWORK

• ‘Operation Gladio’ – a very short summary of Italian aspects of Gladio  http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA%20Hits/Gladio_CIAHits.html

• ‘Operation Gladio’ - Not particularly good short summary of Italian aspects of Gladio
 http://www.copi.com/articles/guyatt/gladio.html

• Namebase anti-spook database on Gladio -  http://www.pir.org/main3/Operation_Gladio.html

• Statewatch Italian ‘Strategy of Tension’/Gladio press-cuttings archive
 http://www.poptel.org.uk/cgi-bin/dbs2/statewatch?query=Gladio&mode=records&row_id=7255

• Philip Willan’s Guardian articles (see book and note below concerning this useful idiot):

‘Three jailed for 1969 Milan bomb’
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4213990,00.html
‘Paolo Emilio Taviani’ ‘…was among the founders of the Gladio stay-behind network…’  http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4207688,00.html
‘Terrorists 'helped by CIA' to stop rise of left in Italy’
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4158945,00.html
‘US supported anti-left terror in Italy'
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4033098,00.html
‘Bomb trial may call Bush Sr’
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3963717,00.html
‘Andreotti cleared for second time’
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3917546,00.html
‘Andreotti's acquittal puts Italy's supergrass system in the dock’
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3906104,00.html
‘Andreotti walks free as court clears him of murder plot’
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3905627,00.html
‘Professor wins retrial for killing of police chief’
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3895325,00.html
‘Infiltrators blamed for murder of Italian PM’ – ‘Spies working for the Italian secret services who infiltrated the Red Brigades were the masterminds behind the kidnapping and murder of the former prime minister Aldo Moro in 1978, according to one of the group's founders.’  http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3852325,00.html

• A Situationist view:

Is the Reichstag Burning? - Sanguineti’s immediate response to the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing - ‘THE BOMB IN MILAN EXPLODED AGAINST THE PROLETARIAT, it was intended to wound the least radicalized categories in order to ally them with power, and to tighten the ranks of the bourgeoisie for the witch hunt…’  http://www.notbored.org/reichstag.html

Prefaces to Gianfranco Sanguinetti’s On Terrorism and the State (unfortunately, full text not available on-line. Available in English translation from: B.M.Chronos, London, WC1V 6XX.):
-1979 Italian Edition -  http://www.notbored.org/italian-preface.html
-1980 French Edition -  http://www.notbored.org/french-preface.html

Sanguinetti archive -  http://www.notbored.org/sanguinetti.html

• Autonomist intellectual Tony Negri’s reflections on the period (‘Reviewing the Experience of Italy in the 1970’s’)  http://www.en.monde-diplomatique.fr/1998/09/11negri …and a critique  http://www.notbored.org/negri.html

• ‘Fascism and the Establishment: Italy – the Strategy of Tension’  http://struggle.ws/freeearth/fe3_italy.html

• Extract from Chomsky  http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/dd/dd-c11-s01.html

• The following material that is in varying degrees useful, but unfortunately not available on line (nearly all out of print):

Anon. The Italian State Massacre (London: Libertaria Books, 1972)

Bale, Jeffrey M., ‘Right-wing Terrorists and the Extra-parliamentary Left in Post-World War 2 Europe: Collusion or Manipulation’ in Lobster (18) 1989.  http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/issue18.htm

Christie, Stuart, Stefano Delle Chiaie: Portrait of a Black Terrorist (London: Refracts/Anarchy, 1984)

Ginzburg, Carlo, The Judge and the Historian: Marginal Notes on a Late-Twentieth-Century Miscarriage of Justice (London, 2000). On this case, see  http://www.sofri.org/english.html

Sanguinetti, Gianfranco, On Terrorism and the State (London, 1982)

Willan, Philip, Puppet Masters: the Political Use of Terrorism in Italy, (Constable, London, 1991) - This book should be handled with care, due to the author’s pedalling of outrageous Italian Communist Party inspired disinformation directed against the Autonomist Marxist intellectual Tony Negri. See review by Larry O'Hara, ‘Blinded by the Light’, in issue 23 of the British para-political magazine Lobster  http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/issue23.htm


Gianfranco

BOMBS FROM ITALY AND LIES
Posted by: DarkerCloud

The only people who can tell who sent the bombs are the people who posted them. Italian Anarchists should examine their places for intruders who are planting incriminating evidence.

And be careful, take a look at what happened to Judi Bari. We know there are liars in the State, and liars in the BBC, and all the media.

These letter bombs are being sent by Fascists, probably working as agents of the State. Anarchists would certainly not be sending bombs that would be opened by Workers. Have those who are putting this story about met any Anarchists? Anarchists seem to be the soggiest lot of NVDA activists it is possible to find.

You dont know what NVDA means? Non Violent Direct Action. Or go and ask the Anarchist Donald Rooum about bombs.

Know this: Those who tell you an Anarchist Group sent those letter bombs are themselves the senders. In spirit if not reality. It is probably another ploy on the lines of the Reichstag, or WTC, a good excuse for introducing Fascism.

And Note Well: Fascists are those who maintain Capitalism when it reaches the Monopoly stage. Tory Blair and Gordon Brown, Blunkett and John Prescott have to become Fascists or the Capitalism they depend on collapses. Unfortunately they did not have the benefit of a Central Labour College education. They are ignorant bigots in line with the imbeciles presently being mass produced in the Universities. Deliberately by New Labour in their own image. Abandon Hope!

if this play on the intitials FAI is true, somewhat suspicious to me is the nature of the bombs. as i understand it, the letter "bombs" are not really bombs, and have not killed or maimed anyone. instead of exploding and sending deadly shrapnel everywhere, they have been more like flash grenades or incendiary devices. they create a fierce burning flash but not an explosion.

perhaps my information about these devices is wrong, and they have exploded and killed people, but if this were a frame up campaign run by the state or the far right or some combination of both, given the risks of their little "adventure" being figured out, perhaps they could not take the risk of actually killing anyone, and must instead send letter "bombs" which grab worldwide media attention but do no real deadly harm...

the sad fact remains that in this world today, many governments have just as much reason for the continuation of terrorism as actual terrorists. 100's of billions of dollars/pounds/euros in increased defense spending, geo-political power plays over precious natural resouces, election campaigns requiring "strong looking" leaders, rightwing statist domestic agendas typified by increasingly authoritarian law enforcement, all of which are justified by the never ending prescence of a spectral terrorist network that can strike "at any time" without warning. if terrorism were actually defeated, if gains were actually made, all of these agendas would go up in smoke...