FTR#321—The Return of Il Duce, Part II—(One
30-minute segment) (Sources are noted in parentheses.) (Recorded on 8/12/2001.)
Note: FTR#’s 260-315, 317,
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Updating
discussion (from FTR#307) of the
return of the fascist Alleanza Nazionale as part of the coalition government of
Silvio Berlusconi, this program further illustrates how the Berlusconi
government is, through word, symbol and deed, breathing new life into Italian
fascism. As discussed in Miscellaneous
Archive Show M-60—available from Spitfire—Berlusconi
was a member of the crypto-fascist P-2 Lodge. (For an in-depth discussion of the P-2 nexus,
see, among other programs RFA#’s 17-21,
32, 34, Miscellaneous Archive
Shows M-49, M-60, available from Spitfire,
as well as FTR#’s 2, 3, 42, 43, 58, 64,
98, 103, 154, 322. For more about Berlusconi, see FTR#’s 94, 95, 113, 196,
217, 229, 252,
262, 267, 307, 320, 342, 356,
357, 359, 377. In particular, Berlusconi’s connections to the Al
Taqwa/Muslim Brotherhood milieu are worth noting. See FTR#’s 342, 351, 359, 377, 378, 387. For more about the P-2 in
Latin America, see FTR#183.)
1.
Beginning with discussion of the rehabilitation of Salo (the epicenter
of late World War II Italian fascism), the broadcast highlights the interests
of the fascist Alleanza Nazionale in the political resurrection of the memory
of the Salo Republic. After Mussolini capitulated, his followers were
established in the Northern Italian town of Salo, under the stewardship of the
Nazi SS. (For more about the Salo Republic, see, among other programs FTR#320.) “But the elections that swept the Berlusconi
coalition to power in May also replaced the provincial leftists with
rightists—and the project [a memorial to the Salo Republic] was through.
Lombardy had agreed to fund the largest part of the modest starting costs--L70m
(23,000 Euros), with a further L20m from the province and L10m from Salo. Salo
will also provide accommodation—at first in a floor of the lovely Palazzo
Fantoni, later, a permanent home in a more contentious building, the former
home of the Decima Mas, a semi-autonomous, ferociously fascist paramilitary
group. Memories, long calmed, are going to be stirred into life once more.” (“Marketing
Mussolini” by John Lloyd; Financial Times;
8/4-5; 2001; p. I.)
2.
As political analysts have noted, the actions in Salo have much more
than symbolic importance. “The project—in spite of the municipal leftists’ hesitant
consent—is being sucked into the raw and re-opened debate in Italy of a past
that still has the capacity to explode into contemporary politics. The decision
of the little town of Salo, once it becomes real and tangible, will be taken as
a sign of a much larger movement: a movement to make comprehensible—even, for
some, acceptable—the choice many Italians made in 1943 to stay loyal to
fascism.” (Idem.)
3.
“Paul Ginsborg,
who holds a chair in contemporary history at Florence University and is a
high-profile historian of the left, says: ‘Now the centre-right is in power,
there will be huge pressure. This will be especially on the media and on
schools, to change the textbooks, to construct different versions of key events
in the past—fascism, the war, communism. ‘I don’t think this will come from
Berlusconi—he’s not interested. But the Alleanza, the second party in
government, has a real interest in a new history.” (Idem.)
4.
Utilizing the brilliant work of Kevin Coogan, the broadcast draws on
his consummately important text Dreamer
of the Day Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International.
(Copyright 1999 [SC]; Autonomedia; ISBN 1-57027-039-2; visit their website at www.autonomedia.org .) One of the key
figures in the Salo Republic was Prince Junio Valerio Borghese. As noted above,
visitors to Salo will be housed in the former headquarters of Borghese’s Decima
Mas. (For more about Borghese, see FTR#19—available
from Spitfire. For more about
Borghese’s work for the Italian Navy during World War II, see FTR#364.) “A modern condottiere, Borghese was one of
Italy’s most innovative and daring naval strategists, and headed an elite naval
sabotage unit called Decima Flottiglia MAS (or X-MAS) during World War II. His
use of midget submarines against the British caught the attention of Grand
Admiral Karl Donitz, who arranged for Borghese to train German naval sabotage
units. After the collapse of Mussolini’s government in 1943, Borghese’s men
continued to fight for Germany under the overall command of SS General Wolff.
His unit now became a brutal, anti-partisan army that targeted the
Communist-dominated Resistance movement in northern Italy. It also fought
against American Rangers and Canadian troops on the Anzio front. Decima Mas
even had a spy outfit headquartered in Switzerland that worked closely with the
SD [the SS intelligence service].” (Ibid.; p. 331.)
5.
Mr. Coogan relates Borghese’s rescue by former CIA counterintelligence
chief James Angleton—a rescue that presaged Borghese’s work on behalf of the
CIA and NATO during the Cold War. (Note that the OSS--Office of Strategic
Services—was America’s wartime intelligence agency. The MSI—the Italian Social
Movement—was the successor to Mussolini’s fascist party and the predecessor of
the Alleanza Nazionale.) “At the end of the war, Borghese opened up contact with
the OSS’s James Jesus Angleton. Angleton, who later became one of the CIA’s
most powerful officials, ran the OSS’s ‘X-2’ counterintelligence branch for
Italy during the war. He personally saved Borghese from certain partisan
execution by dressing him up in an American uniform and driving him south to
Rome for interrogation. Although Borghese was convicted of war crimes, the
Italian Supreme Court of Appeals ordered him released from jail in 1949. After
regaining his freedom, the Black Prince also became a hero for MSI hardliners.”
(Idem.)
6.
Developing a
relationship with the CIA, Borghese helped develop the “Strategy of Tension,” a
political policy of successfully manipulation of violence and terrorism for the
purpose of suspending democracy. (For more about the strategy of tension, see RFA#’s 19, 22—available from Spitfire. For more about Operation
Gladio, see Miscellaneous Archive Show
M49—available from Spitfire—as
well as FTR#’s 58, 59, 188.) “Borghese’s
importance for the CIA went beyond politics. The CIA-backed SIFAR spy agency
began organizing secret squadrons (many composed of ex-officers of the SID,
Mussolini’s secret police) for espionage and ‘counter-espionage’ operations
against the left in 1949. The CIA then created an underground army of
ex-fascist combat veterans in an operation codenamed ‘Operation Gladio’ (Gladio
being the name for a Roman double-edged sword.) Gladio, however, couldn’t
succeed without Borghese’s tacit approval.” (Ibid.; p. 332.)
7.
More about “Gladio” and its genesis follows. “Operation Gladio was first made public in
August 1990, when then-Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti admitted its existence
to the Italian Parliamentary Committee on Terrorism. To this day, much about
Gladio remains mysterious. It seems that planning for the operation began to
take shape in 1951, around the time Borghese was being actively courted by the
CIA. Gladio was incorporated into Office ‘R’ of SIFAR in 1956. On paper, Gladio
was a NATO-backed ‘Stay Behind’ operation: Any Soviet attack on Italy would
encounter a pre-established a sabotage training school in Sardinia in 1954.
Technically, Gladio was made up of two principal branches: 40 S/B (Stay Behind)
units trained in guerilla warfare, and five rapid deployment units with names
like Alpine Star, Sea Star, Rhododendron, and Azalea. American-supplied
weapons, including hand grenades, sniper rifles, and explosives were also
buried in 139 hiding spots.” (Idem.)
8.
“The Italian
government initially claimed that Gladio was part of a general agreement within
NATO. NATO, however, officially denied any involvement. Revelations that
Gladio-type organizations existed in non-NATO nations like Austria, Spain, and
Switzerland further eroded the NATO cover story. Gladio really seems to have
been what its name means: a double-edged sword to be used against both the
Soviets and any elements inside Italy, from either the left or right, that
might try to take Italy out of NATO. Gladio also served as the backdrop for the
‘strategy of tension,’ which repeatedly destabilized Italian politics with
bombings and other terrorist acts. Popular fear of terrorism, from either the
‘left’ or ‘right,’ could then be used to justify a suspension of constitutional
law or even, in a worst-case scenario, a military-backed Pinochet-like ‘white
coup’ to insure Italy’s continued allegiance to the West.” (Idem.)
9.
Before continuing to analysis of Berlusconi, his fascist coalition
government and the retrenchment of Mussolini/Salo veterans under his
administration, the broadcast reviews German political philosopher’s Carl
Schmitt’s postulations, developed as part of his theory of “conservative
revolution” during the Weimar Republic. “The suspension of constitutional law and a ‘legal’
military seizure of power to restore public order were both practical postwar
applications of Carl Schmitt’s constitutional theories. Recall that Schmitt
first became famous in Germany for his ‘theory of exception’ that justified the
suspension of parliamentary democracy in an emergency. Schmitt argued that the distinction
between sate and civil society had been rendered obsolete in the modern world
by the clash of hostile interest groups, as evidenced by the class struggle.” (Ibid.;
pp. 332-333.)
10. A key component of the
“Strategy of Tension” and Operation Gladio, an associate of Borghese, and a
part of the electoral coalition that Berlusconi rode to power was Giuseppe
“Pino” Rauti—the founder of Ordine Nuovo.
(For more about Rauti’s alignment with Berlusconi, see FTR#320.) “The most important of these [Gladio-related] groups was
Giuseppe “Pino” Rauti’s Ordine Nuovo
[New Order, or ON], which had split from the MSI after its 1956 congress
chanting, ‘Fewer double-breasted suits and more cudgels.’ Rauti’s move was
ideologically inspired by Evola, whom Rauti worshipped. Rauti also maintained
close ties to Italian military intelligence: Organizations like Ordine Nuovo
were regularly employed as street fighters against the left; they also engaged
in bombings and killings, and helped create a popular climate for more repressive
measures against ‘anarchy’ from either the right or left—a kind of political
yin/yang that justified the flourishing of the secret state. As part of the
strategy of tension, rightist operatives and police agents used left and
anarchist groups that they had created, or legitimate sects that had been
infiltrated.” (Ibid.; p. 334.)
11. After the successful
electoral bid that was supported by Rauti’s forces, Berlusconi proceeded to
appoint fascists associated with the old Salo Republic, the MSI and its newer
reincarnation the Alleanza Nazionale. Other key Berlusconi appointees were from
the Liga Norda of Umberto Bossi. (For more about Bossi, see, among other
programs, FTR#267.) “A former
soldier of Benito Mussolini’s nazi-fascist Salo Republic has become a minister
in Silvio Berlusconi’s government in Italy, in which members of the neo-fascist
National alliance and the xenophobic Northern League have taken key posts after
the right’s recent election victory.” (“The New Italy: The Rise of
Fascism Within and Without” by Alfio Bernabei; The Searchlight; July/2001; p. 28; visit their website at www.searchlightmagazine.com .)
12. The program briefly reviews
the subject of the Salo Republic, before discussing Mirko Tremaglia’s role with
both Salo and with the Berlusconi administration. “Mussolini formed the puppet state in 1943
when, rescued by the Germans, he came under the direct control of Adolf Hitler.
The headquarters were in Salo, northern Italy, which was, in fact, German
territory. Soldiers of the Salo Republic were among the staunchest supporters
of nazi-fascism. Their task was to slaughter Italian partisans who were by then
fighting in a bitter civil war to weaken the German Army and the Italian
Blackshirts in order to help the Allied forces, which were slowly moving north
to liberate the country.” (Idem.)
13. As indicated above, in
Berlusconi’s Italy, what was old is new again. Tremaglia’s role as leader of
“the Two Italys” (one at home and one abroad) is revealing in light of the
P-2’s operations abroad. (See RFA#19—available
from Spitfire—and FTR#’s 5, 183.) “The elevation to the role of minister in
Berlusconi’s team of Mirko Tremaglia, 75, described as a Salo Republic military
[veteran] who has never sought to distance himself from his past, has provided
the clearest indication of the degree of encouragement the newly formed
government intends to give to the neo-fascists throughout Italy and the world.
Tremaglia’s main task will be to look after the interests of the many millions
of Italians living abroad and may seek to revamp Mussolini’s cherished ambition
of the ‘two Italys’, one within the border and one abroad, acting in unison to
form an internationalist fascist vanguard.” (Idem.)
14. Tremaglia’s appointment was
not an atypical occurrence under Berlusconi. “The presence of Tremaglia and of so many cabinet
ministers directly associated with fascism or neo-fascism, although widely
expected after the election result, has outraged a number of Italian
commentators. The list of ministers reads like a who’s who of the neo-fascist
or xenophobic tendencies. The Communication Minister, Maurizio Gasparri, was
the national president of both the neo-fascist Fronte della Gioventu, or Youth
Front, and Fuan-Destra Universitaria and joined the MSI when Fini became its
leader in 1988. The Environment Minister is Altero Matteoli, who was also
regional leader of the MSI. The Agriculture Minister, Giovanni Alemanno, was a
member of the MSI and secretary of the Youth Front. The minister in charge of
devolution and social change is none other than Umberto Bossi of the xenophobic
Lega Nord, the once separatist movement that over the years has done so much to
ignite racist sentiments first against southern Italians and then against
immigrants as a whole.” (Idem.)
15. Reviewing Berlusconi’s
membership in the P-2, the program alludes to the coup attempts conducted under
the umbrella of Gladio and the Strategy of Tension. (For more about this, see RFA#19—available from Spitfire.) “These were piloted by whoever was behind
Gladio and the P2 Masonic Lodge. References to ‘Berlusconi l’amerikano’, spelt
with a ‘k’ in place of the ‘c’, have appeared in the Italian press, as has the
term ‘biduista’ applied to the current government and taken as an allusion to the
P2, the so-called ‘government within the government’ that was headed by Licio
Gelli and listed the premier among its members.” (Ibid.; pp. 28-29.)
16. At a large and
widely-publicized anti-globalisation demonstration in Genoa in July of 2001,
the demonstrators were handled by Gianfranco Fini, the Deputy Prime Minister.
The treatment allegedly accorded them echoes the fascist politics of the
Musolini era. “ROME
LETTER: ‘If you want to know just why the police decided to raid the Genoa Social
Forum centers on the Saturday night, you should put that question to the
honorable Fini.’ The speaker is Vittorio Agnoletto, spokesman for the Genoa
Social Forum (GSF), the main Italian, pacifist anti-globalization movement. The
‘honorable Fini’ is ex-Fascist Alleanza Nazionale leader and current Deputy
Prime Minister, Gianfranco Fini.” (“Was Former Fascist Behind Genoa
Crackdown?” by Paddy Agnew; Irish Times;
8/1/2001; accessed at www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2001/0801/wor11.htm
.)
17. After discussing the
self-discrediting violence that many of the demonstrators at Genoa engaged in,
the article goes on to ask some important questions. “Consistent reports through the last week,
however, that detained protesters were made to shout ‘Viva il Duce’ and ‘Uno,
due, tre, Pinochet’ would suggest that elements in the security forces went
beyond their brief. . . . ‘What was Deputy Prime Minister Fini doing at police
HQ in Genoa? What were four Alleanza Nazionale deputies doing in the
Carabinieri Operations Room?’” (Idem.)
18. Shortly after the
demonstrations, a bomb attack in Genoa suggested that the “years of lead” and
the Strategy of Tension might not be past events in Italy. “A bomb extensively damaged the courthouse in
the northern Italian city of Venice early yesterday morning, before a visit to
the city by Mr. Berlusconi, [Reuters reports from Venice]. The prime minister
called for calm, but described the bombing as ‘a worrying escalation of
violence’. He said Italian institutions had become the target of what he called
‘an international movement that was not born in Italy but appears to have as
its aim a fight against the Italian government..’” (“Berlusconi
Defends Call to Move Food Summit” by Jo Johnson; Financial Times; 8/10/2001; p. 2.)