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Tropical Explorer
By Anna Malpas
After three years of chilling out in Goa, Alexander Sukhochyov turned his experiences into a book and a movie deal.
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Orange Prize
By Askold Krushelnycky
Serhy Yekelchyk steps back for a wider view of Ukraine's historical relationship with Russia and the West.
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A Buffet for Art Collectors
By Brian Droitcour
The Tretyakov Gallery unveils a new, restaurant-like exhibition hall with an exhibition of works by the avant-garde painter Olga Rozanova.
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From Peking to Paris
By Anna Malpas
The rediscovered photographs of a globetrotting 19th-century Frenchman go on display at the Shchusev Architecture Museum.
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Shostakovich Squad
By Raymond Stults
The venerable Borodin Quartet presents all 15 of Shostakovich's string quartets in a monthlong cycle of concerts at the Moscow Conservatory.
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Oddballs From Finland
By Sergey Chernov
La Sega del Canto, a Finnish duo whose main instrument is the singing saw, performs at the Theater Center Na Strastnom.
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Connected by Blood
By John Freedman
Lebanese-born writer and director Wajdi Mouawad stages "Scorched," his harrowing tale of a family torn apart by civil war, at the Et Cetera Theater.
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Miracles Can Happen
By Tom Birchenough
In "Waiting for a Miracle," Russia's latest foray into the romantic comedy genre, an awkward young woman in St. Petersburg gets help from a fairy.
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Image
By Alexander Osipovich
"Solaris" is among the movies being shown this weekend in a festival devoted to art-house filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.
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Wanted
By Kevin O'Flynn
Some people may not know what a walrus penis looks like.
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Salon
By Victor Sonkin
Set during perestroika, Maya Kucherskaya's novel "The God of Rain" chronicles a young woman's quest for faith.
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In the Spotlight
By Anna Malpas
Not everyone is happy about the selection of Verka Serdyuchka as Ukraine's entry in Eurovision 2007.
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Global Eye
Sword Play
By Chris Floyd
Published: February 18, 2005
'You had to attack civilians, the people, women, children, innocent people, unknown people far removed from any political game. The reason was quite simple: to force ... the public to turn to the state to ask for greater security."
This was the essence of Operation Gladio, a decades-long covert campaign of terrorism and deceit directed by the intelligence services of the West -- against their own populations. Hundreds of innocent people were killed or maimed in terrorist attacks -- on train stations, supermarkets, cafes and offices -- which were then blamed on "leftist subversives" or other political opponents. The purpose, as stated above in sworn testimony by Gladio agent Vincenzo Vinciguerra, was to demonize designated enemies and frighten the public into supporting ever-increasing powers for government leaders -- and their elitist cronies.
First revealed by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti in 1991, Gladio (from the Latin for "sword") is still protected to this day by its founding patrons, the CIA and MI6. Yet parliamentary investigations in Italy, Switzerland and Belgium have shaken out a few fragments of the truth over the years. These have been gathered in a new book, "NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe," by Daniele Ganser, as Lila Rajiva reports on CommonDreams.org.
Originally set up as a network of clandestine cells to be activated behind the lines in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, Gladio quickly expanded into a tool for political repression and manipulation, directed by NATO and Washington. Using right-wing militias, underworld figures, government provocateurs and secret military units, Gladio not only carried out widespread terrorism, assassinations and electoral subversion in democratic states such as Italy, France and West Germany, but also bolstered fascist tyrannies in Spain and Portugal, abetted the military coup in Greece and aided Turkey's repression of the Kurds.
Among the "smoking guns" unearthed by Ganser is a Pentagon document, Field Manual FM 30-31B, which details the methodology for launching terrorist attacks in nations that "do not react with sufficient effectiveness" against "communist subversion." Ironically, the manual states that the most dangerous moment comes when leftist groups "renounce the use of force" and embrace the democratic process. It is then that "U.S. army intelligence must have the means of launching special operations which will convince Host Country Governments and public
opinion of the reality of the insurgent danger." Naturally, these peace-throttling "special operations must remain strictly secret," the document warns.
Indeed, it would not do for the families of the 85 people ripped apart by the Aug. 2, 1980 bombing of the Bologna train station to know that their loved ones had been murdered by "men inside Italian state institutions and ... men linked to the structures of United States intelligence," as the Italian Senate concluded after its investigation in 2000.
The Bologna atrocity is an example of what Gladio's masters called "the strategy of tension" -- fomenting fear to keep populations in thrall to "strong leaders" who will protect the nation from the ever-present terrorist threat. And as Rajiva notes, this strategy wasn't limited to Western Europe. It was
applied, with gruesome effectiveness, in Central America by the Reagan and Bush administrations. During the 1980s, right-wing death squads, guerrilla armies and state security forces -- armed, trained and supplied by the United States -- murdered tens of thousands of people throughout the region, often acting with particular savagery at those times when peaceful solutions to the conflicts seemed about to take hold.
Last month, it was widely reported that the Pentagon is considering a similar program in Iraq. What was not reported, however -- except in the Iraqi press -- is that at least one pro-occupation death squad is already in operation. Just days after the Pentagon plans were revealed, a new militant group, "Saraya Iraqna," began offering big wads of American cash for insurgent scalps -- up to $50,000, the Iraqi paper Al Ittihad reports. "Our activity will not be selective," the group promised. In other words, anyone they consider an enemy of the state will be fair game.
| To Our Readers | Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage? Then please write to us. All we ask is that you include your full name, the name of the city from which you are writing and a contact telephone number in case we need to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you. Email the Opinion Page Editor | Strangely enough, just as it appears that the Pentagon is establishing Gladio-style operations in Iraq, there has been a sudden rash of terrorist attacks on outrageously provocative civilian targets, such as hospitals and schools, the Guardian reports. Coming just after national elections in which the majority faction supported slates calling for a speedy end to the American occupation, the shift toward high-profile civilian slaughter has underscored the "urgent need" for U.S. forces to remain on the scene indefinitely, to provide security against the ever-present terrorist threat. Meanwhile, the Bushists continue constructing their long-sought permanent bases in Iraq: citadels to protect the oil that incoming Iraqi officials are promising to sell off to American corporations -- and launching pads for new forays in geopolitical domination.
Perhaps it's just a coincidence. But the U.S. elite's history of directing and fomenting terrorist attacks against friendly populations is so extensive -- indeed, so ingrained and accepted -- that it calls into question the origin of every terrorist act that roils the world. With each fresh atrocity, we're forced to ask: Was it the work of "genuine" terrorists or a "black op" by intelligence agencies -- or both?
While not infallible, the ancient Latin question is still the best guide to penetrating the bloody murk of modern terrorism: Cui bono? Who benefits? Whose powers and policies are enhanced by the attack? For it is indisputable that the "strategy of tension" means power and profit for those who claim to possess the key to "security." And from the halls of the Kremlin to the banks of the Potomac, this cynical strategy is the ruling ideology of our times.
Annotations
The Pentagon's 'NATO Option' CommonDreams.org, Feb. 10, 2005
NATO's Secret Armies Linked to Terrorism? International Relations and Security Network, Dec. 15, 2004
Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies Parallel History Project, Nov. 29, 2004
Synopsis of Secret Warfare: Operation Gladio International Relations and Security Network, Dec. 15, 2004
Gladio: The Secret U.S. War to Subvert Italian Democracy Independent Media Center, Jan. 31, 2004
Unknown Militant Group Declares War on Extremists in Iraq Al Ittihad via Focus News, Jan. 11, 2005
U.S. Arming Baathist Militia's to Combat Shiite Cleric Rule Asia Times, Feb. 15, 2005
The Coming Wars New Yorker, Jan. 17, 2005
Sectarian Massacres Shake Iraq The Guardian, Feb. 12, 2005
Iraqi Election Catapults Critic of U.S. to Power Los Angeles Times, Feb. 14, 2005
Iraq Winners Allied With Iran are the Opposite of U.S. Vision Washington Post, Feb. 14, 2005
COINTELPRO: Alive and Kicking San Francisco Bay Guardian, Jan. 25, 2001
US Role in Salvador's Brutal War BBC, March 24, 2002
Guatemala: Memory of Silence Report of the Commission for Historical Clarification,"
Reagan's Dark Global Legacy Counterpunch, June 7, 2004
Dark Reagan Legacy in Central America Reuters, June 7, 2004
Reagan Set Roots for al Qaeda News24 South Africa, June 7, 2004
Reagan and Guatemala's Death Files Consortiumnews.com, May 26, 1999
The US-Guatemala File: Training State Terrorists Consortiumnews.com, May 26, 1999
The Ghost of Terror Past Salon.com, Jan. 11, 2002
US Wants to Build Network of Friendly Militias to Fight Terrorism AFP, August 15, 2004
Opening Statement of Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz House Armed Services Committee, Aug. 10, 2004
Guatemala to Pay Paramilitaries BBC, Aug. 10, 2004
Efrain Rios Montt Background More or Less (Australia), June 18, 2004
Rios Montt: Authoritarian Fundamentalist Proceso (Mexico), April 15, 2001
CIA Admits 'Tolerating' Contra Drug Trafficking Consortiumnews.com, June 8, 2000
Wackenhut: Inside the Shadow CIA Spy Magazine, Sept. 1992
The CIA's Gentlemanly Planner of Assassinations Slate.com, Nov. 1, 2002
Declassified Files Confirm US Post-War Collaboration With Nazis San Francisco Bay Guardian, May 7, 2001
Nixon Rigged 1971 Uruguay Elections National Security Archive, June 20, 2002
JFK and the Diem Coup National Security Archive, Nov. 5, 2003
CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents National Security Archive, May 23, 1997
Guatemala: Memory of Silence Report of the Commission for Historical Clarification,"
Death, Lies, and Bodywashing Consortiumnews.com, May 27, 1996
The Secret CIA History of the Iran Coup, 1953 National Security Archive, Nov. 29, 2000
CIA Acknowledges Ties to Pinochet's Repression National Security Archive, Sept. 19, 2000
U.S. Documents Show Embrace of Saddam Despite WMD, Aggression and Human Rights Abuses National Security Archive, Feb. 23, 2003
Copyright © 2005 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.
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