The Pete Quiñones Show - Episode 1087: Operation Gladio - Part 1 - Introduction - w/ Thomas777

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

104 MinutesPG -13Thomas777 is a revisionist historian and a fiction writer.Thomas begins a series explaining the NATO project known as Operation Gladio.Thomas' SubstackThomas777 MerchandiseThomas' Book "Steelstorm Pt. 1"Thomas' Book "Steelstorm Pt. 2"Thomas on TwitterThomas' CashApp - $7homas777Pete and Thomas777 'At the Movies'Support Pete on His WebsitePete's PatreonPete's SubstackPete's SubscribestarPete's GUMROADPete's VenmoPete's Buy Me a CoffeePete on FacebookPete on TwitterBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-pete-quinones-show--6071361/support.

You catch them in the corner of your eye. Distinctive, by design. They move you, even before you drive. The new Cooper plugin hybrid range. For Mentor, Leon, and Terramar. Now with flexible PCP finance and trade-in boosters of up to 2,000 euro. Search Coopera and discover our latest offers. Coopera, design that moves.

Finance provided by way of higher purchase agreement from Volkswagen. Financial Services, Ireland Limited. Subject to lending criteria. Terms and conditions apply. Broke wagon Financial Services Ireland Limited. Trading as Cooper Financial Services is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Ready for huge savings? We'll mark your calendars from November 28th to 30th

because the Liddle Newbridge Warehouse sale is back. We're talking thousands of your favourite Liddle items all reduced to clear. From home essentials to seasonal must-habs. When the doors open, the deals go fast. Come see for yourself. The Lidl Newbridge Warehouse Sale, 28th to 30th of November. Lidl, more to value.

You catch them in the corner of your eye. Distinctive, by design, they move you, even before you drive. The new Cooper plugin hybrid range. For Mentor, Leon and Terramar. Now with flexible PCP finance and trade-in boosters of up to 2,000 euro. Search Coopera and discover our latest offers. KUPRA, design that moves. Finance provided by way of higher purchase agreement

from Volkswagen Financial Services, Ireland Limited, subject to lending criteria. Terms and conditions apply. Volkswagen Financial Services Ireland Limited, trading as Kupra Financial Services is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. If you want to support the show and get the episodes early and ad-free, head on over to freemambionthe-wall.com forward slash support. There's a few ways you can support me there.

One, there's a direct link to my website. Two, there's subscribe star. Three, there's Patreon. Four, there's substack. And now I've introduced Gumroad, because I know that a lot of our guys are on Gumroad, and they are against censorship. So if you head over to Gumroad and you subscribe through there, you'll get the episodes early and ad-free, and you'll get an invite into the telegram group. So I really appreciate all the support everyone's giving me. And I hope to expand the show even more than it already has.

Thank you so much. I want to welcome everyone back to the Pekignano show. How you doing, Thomas? Doing well, man. Thanks for hosting me, as always. Of course. I'm going to start something new here. Don't really know, have an idea of how many episodes you have in mind for this,

but this is a pretty big topic and a requested topic. So Operation Gladio. Yeah, I suggest we play it by ear, figuratively and literally, and see how long it takes us to cover the material and not just what we consider a more than adequate capacity, but that the subs like want to hear about. Gladio is one of these misunderstood things. You know, there's a great deal of brutality

of a particular sort. I mean, the Cold War, the Cold War was in condition of neither war nor peace. So even behind the verbal lines of peace in divided Europe, you know, there was a certain callousness that bled into contemplation of what was not just necessary

but also reasonable. You know, the moral uh metric shifted okay I mean obviously in in Southeast

Asia what was very much late bear was that you know okay the face of modern warfare very much reduces attrition to a um

to to a you know to a subjective goal you know, that must be coded in the most concrete terms possible and studied as to you know, the

impactfulness on victory odds you know that quite literally the manufacturer of human corpses facilitates or does not facilitate. But again, too, you know, there were like peace didn't really rain

anywhere in the Cold War. that was a contested battle space and obviously Europe proper you know the the inter-german border west you know thank God that didn't become an active battle space but I'm always citing like William Odom anyone who served anyone was deployed there you know on either side would relay that like these were not a peace condition that felt like being at war. You know, it was not remotely like any other, you know, peace time posting. And people look at something like Operation Gladio, they, it's a gross affront, I guess, you know, not just to their, not just that they're, they're kind of like moral, conceptual horizon.

Just in absolute terms. but the idea that this kind of thing will be carried out in our conditions of peace is just like abominable to abominable to them and interestingly it's lumped in with the Phoenix program

which obviously did what obviously was like a you know a MagVSog operation and MacVSog was very adjacent CIA in those days it was a

Mac we saw again and US civilian intelligence operation, you know, they constituted, you know, direct action, um, targeting of discrete personages who constituted the NLF infrastructure, you know, because of your fighting a non-state actor, obviously the human beings are the infrastructure of your ops, okay? But, you know, people discussed it, uh, during, obviously the, the, you know, people discussed it, uh, during, obviously the, the, the, um, the, you know, the, um, the uh the gates committee hearings they kind of gilded the CIA and people talk about it today um like oh this what what horrible overreach it's it's unbelievable America and Americans could do something like this which is really kind of preposterous man because that by definition you know not just an asymmetrical war

but an ideological war in a Cold War battle space you know whereby on of everything else you know there's this kind of profound difference between combatants you know culturally racially you know every other way okay I mean if you come as no surprise anybody and I don't want to go too far afield but yes there were instances of corruption within the Phoenix program you know some some army the army of the Republic of Vietnam, like intelligence officer, like, got mad at some guy, like, carrying out with his wife, and this guy ended up on the list, and ended up getting whacked, and that's horrible, and it's indefensible. But in absolute terms, you know, presuming a basic integrity of the officers and NCOs involved, and I believe it wasn't, exclusively officers and NCOs, and particularly in those days of special forces, that was a pretty rigidly maintained.

scheme you know um had it been where it was implemented as intended not only was it highly effective in my opinion but

it was far far far more justifiable and moral terms you know then deploying arc light raids you know that dropped 500 pound bombs on you know on on women kids and old people

you know the middle of a Bryce Patty. But you know so when people talk about Gladio as if they're discussing, you know, something like a real life horror film, you should look at it in those terms that is to have for

mentioned, you know, and or you consider the same thing as people do who suggest to like the Penachet regime, like the distilled essence of evil. It's become this kind of bogey man, this conceptual bogey man for whatever reason. I speculate there's some seminal text, whether it's by Howard Zand or Chomsky, and I realize Chomsky's done some worthwhile things, but I think even his most ardent defenders, at least, you know, who are tuned into your content, would agree with me that, you know, his, his objectivity was compromised by these deeply, I argue, almost theologically felt conceptual bias.

but there's a number of things going on with Guadio, okay? First of all, the Cold War was a totally abnormal conflict. You know, I'm always making the point again and again. One of the reasons it's completely foolhardy, you know, whether it's Lindsay Graham or whether it's, you know, the kind of pitiable, you know, soon to be former president of Biden. Talking about, like, you know, Putin, not Russia, Putin, like, he's not going to start. stopping Ukraine, he's gonna attack Poland. Like this, like this idea that

states, you know, like madman just kind of somehow by accent of fate or by guile and ruthlessness, you know, capture apparatus of space and proceed to, like, capture land. Like somehow, like, the more, like, if you collect enough fertile women in soil,

they can grow, like, sorghum or something, like you win. Like, I even know what their notion is, but even, that was obsolescent really even by the Second World War save for the fact of

the need of for Germany or Japan or one of the disadvantaged con badens when I say disadvantaged I mean vis-vis their power potential to you know become a true superpower you know yes

Gross from and is the Ready for huge savings We'll mark your calendars from November 28th to 30th because the Liddle Newbridge Warehouse Sale is back. We're talking thousands of your favourite Liddle items all reduced to clear. From home essentials to seasonal must-habs, when the doors open, the deals go fast. Come see for yourself. The Liddle New Bridge Warehouse Sale, 28th to 30th of November.

Liddle, more to value. You catch them in the corner of your eye. Distinctive. By design. They move you. Even before you drive. The new Cooper plugin hybrid range. For Mentor, Leon and Terramar.

Now with flexible PCP finance and trade-in boosters of up to 2000 euro. Search Coopera and discover our latest offers. Coopera. Design that moves. Finance provided by way of higher purchase agreement from Volkswagen Financial Services Ireland Limited, subject to lending criteria. Terms and conditions apply. Volkswagen Financial Services Ireland Limited.

Trading as Cooper Financial Services is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. ...is the basis of political and military challenges, which becomes synonymous in discrete and totally unusual ways under such conditions, but also like Laban's Rom, even if you to wholly reject outright, you know, the kind of national socialist view of Blute and Ross and everything else. I mean, that, that's, there were, that was, um, the 20th century was, uh, you know, essentially it was, um, it was the grand clash of, uh, it was the grand clash of civilizations to determine, like, what globalism would be, okay? So, once the Cold War said it in earnest, you know, your, you're, you were fighting your ops because they'd become the same. standard bearers of an idea.

And America was always kind of returning the serve to the communists because that, both that conceptual environment, as well as, you know, what military imperatives were prioritized within that paradigm, you know, that, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, it was the, and they were adjacent. elements, you know, who are the ones pursuing a revolutionary imperative. So, I mean, that was the problem.

And that was one of George Kennan's points, you know, in the long memo or whatever. You, it's not that, you know, we've got to challenge the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact for every inch of ground. It's that we've got to put itself in a position. We're not simply reacting and returning the serve. You know, now, how do you do that?

If, again, your ops are the standard bearers of an idea, you know, and really your victory metric to accomplish global domination, destroy all competing ideologies, you know, assimilate people

into this world society. essentially you know that was envisioned by the Nuremberg you know ideology but you know obviously the Soviet Union was the Concord of the United States the Soviet Union had totally fallen apart so any future victory scenario would entail the United States basically inheriting the mantle of what was envisioned you know by the Nuremberg ideology program but the way that you know the way that you win that is by eradicating the enemy idea and in under the Condition of the act of war that constitutes the

eradication of humans who are the standard bearers of you know the enemy idea such that you know ongoing a variety of criteria or perhaps even just one singular, distinctively resilient criteria that they can't be re-educated or somehow like assimilated into a new paradigm. Okay, obviously this has implications for, you know, the absolute enmity between the Reich and European Jewry, such that European Jewel was a self-conscious, self-identified political actor um but i

that's a bit outside the scope of what we're talking about but there's complications that were emergent here that uh must be considered within those realities that is explicated okay and this is very important

now interestingly and perhaps this won't surprise anybody you know really the pioneers of political warfare as, you know, from the side of, you know, the colonialist power, or kind of perspective of, you know, the more powerful combatant, or, if you will, you know, the party combatant who, like America,

who was, you know, perpetually returning to serve when Opford decided to act, You know, the United Kingdom really kind of perfected what became asymmetrical warfare doctrine and political warfare doctrine. Okay. We're talking about Operation Banner and how Frank Kitson, you know, in Northern Ireland, especially going to our viewing of resurrection, man. Frank Kitson, one of his, I mean, basically the key takeaway from his kind of operational theory. If it can be distilled down to one kind of core principle on how to wage war against an insurgency is you've got to create a counter gang, but you've got to do this in some way that's basically organic. You know, you've got to work with what the Germans call the mention material that's on the ground. You've got to sort of mold them and their political and military conceptual horizon around what's instinctively already presence, you know.

and you've got to sort of transform those energies into something that's you know deadly or more efficient more military with a capital M you know and more workable in an integrated command capacity you know then would just kind of be there you know like autoconically or whatever um and of course kits in uh you know despite the fact that uh he was only the commander on the ground in an operation banner in northern ireland for about two or three years that um conflict model endured the duration of hostilities and i made the point uh again and again um that uh you know when when the provisional IRA and an adjacent Republican armed groupings and others would insist that

there was formal collusion underway between the British security element and loyalists. That was true. Okay. Now, that doesn't mean that, you know, Frank Kitsen got together and hired some mercenary types and said, okay, you're now the Ulster Volunteer Force. You know, or you're now ready in commando. It was nothing like that. Like what they did was,

they looked at what, they looked at what was already developing on the ground. You know, in, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the sectarian war on the street where, like, literal battle lines were being established between, you know, sectarian living, like, between living spaces based on sectarian criteria. And you had these militias, just spontaneously forming, you know, So they began approaching, you know, guys like Gusty Spence, you know, who was indispensable in the recreation of the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1966. Spence had served in combat in Greece with the British Army.

Okay. The UVF was kind of the sphere-punct of loyalism. You know, the UDA was this kind of like mass vigilante movement. which wasn't outlaw until 92, but UFF, which was technically like their direct action wing, that was very,

very, very much cultivated by British intelligence and military elements, okay? And by 1993, loyalists were outkilling the IRA. You know, suddenly, like, it just became very, very good at targeting people who

were either, um, you know, provisional IRA members or you know Sinn Féin representatives or social democrats, they went a dead for whatever reason. Like suddenly

loyalists became very, very good at what they did. Okay, I mean, no means saying like what they did was good, but wasn't about a rationality. You know, and that Kitson's old point was, look, you know, and he was comparing impugitive terms where the British do

the Americans and the Germans. He's like, you know, you don't, you don't bring just more and more firepower to bear, you know, against, uh, against an insurgency. You know, you're, you're going to kill a whole lot of people. You know, many of whom are, you know,

women, kids, old people and just, you know, other people who are, you know, clearly non-combatants. And you're probably going to, you're probably going to create more insurgents than you annihilate, but also there's got to be a kind of like minuet like ridiculous as it sounds between forces under arms you know for them to for once hostile conduct is made for them to remain engaged and actually you know push for victory you know by by by you know by killing the enemy you know um if you if you

you sick your counter gang loose unlike this gang of like Mao Mao rebels if you lose like the UVF on the PIRA when they make contact they're going to fight it out and slaughter each other in a way that wouldn't happen if you know

you you know you you roll cruceder tanks into the streets when the IRA does anything you don't like you know they'll disappear literally into the ether and then the like lob a satchel charge into like the turret hatch, you know, like when one of your people like

pops his head out for smoke, you know, and there's something that's kind of understated, needing to mirror what opt for is in order to annihilate him, um, and kind of like the post-conventional Westphalian, uh, landscape. Now, Ready for huge savings? We'll mark your calendars from November 28th to 3rd. 30th because the Liddle Newbridge Warehouse Sale is back. We're talking thousands of your favourite Liddle items, all reduced to clear. From home essentials to seasonal must-habs, when the doors open, the deals go fast. Come see for yourself.

The Liddle New Bridge Warehouse Sale, 28th to 30th of November. Liddle, more to value. Those people who love going out shopping for Black Friday deals, they're mad, aren't they? Like, proper mad. Brenda wants a television and she's prepared to fight for her. it. If you ask me, it's the fastest way to a meltdown. Me, I just prepare the fastest way to get stuff and it

doesn't get faster than Appliancesdelivered.aE. Top brand appliances, top brand electricals and if it's online, it's in stock. But next day delivery in Greater Dublin. Appliances delivered. org.ae. Part of expert electrical. See it, buy it, get it tomorrow. Or you know, fight Brenda.

There's so much rugby on sports extra from Sky. They've asked me to read the whole lad at the same speed I usually use for the legal bit at the end. Here goes. This winter sports extra is jampacked with rugby For the first time we've bet every Champions Cup match exclusively live Plus action from the URC The Challenge Cup and much more

Thus the URC and all the best European rugby All in the same place Get more exclusively live tournaments than ever before on Sports Extra Jampack with rugby Phew, that is a lot of rugby Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months Search Sports Extra New Sports Extra customer only

Standard Pressing applies after 12 months further terms apply Oh What was Gladio and how does that have to do with like anything I was just talking about. Well, around 1952, America and the UK, this is when they became really, truly,

kind of like fully indexed in military terms. Not just at the operational and kind of command and control level and drilling with one another, you know, like in the inter-German border, you know, be at the North German plains,

which is primarily the British that Benelux. state's responsibility and like the foldy gap which is primarily American armored cavalry's area of operation but they like a conceptual indexing

like took a route and I believe a lot of this owed to the fact that by January 52 um obviously both you know American forces as well as you know the British army had been engaged you know in a very brutal conflict in Korea

okay their learning curve was expanding in all kinds of ways relating to the study of war okay they developed this need within the minds of you know military analyst types on the civilian side and kind of like think tank whiz kids

who were ubiquitous in the Cold War as we've talked about but also you know military officers you know from from from company level upward. You know, like we need we need to develop some kind of tactical

and strategic imperatives, you know, relating to asymmetrical warfare that allows, you know, the, the realization of, you know, kind of like the full spectrum of our, of our killing power. But again, without,

um, without allowing politics to creep into decision making, you know, in a way that, you know, it's kind of proven fatal in some key instances vis-à-vis the managerial state. You know, like the experience of the Gaul and Algeria, like first and foremost. I mean, I think DeGal was not a, I don't think highly of them, but just in purely objective terms. I mean, that's one example. But so in 1952, and especially after the experience of fighting the people's liberation army of China,

you know, and this, this kind of like endless ability of them to absorb casualties, you know, and utilize combined arms with Soviet help, and there's a lot of Soviet pilots flying sorties over Korea. And kind of horrifyingly, a number of American POWs ended up in the Soviet Union and never returned. But be as it may, you know, it became clear that when war, comes and mind you this was you know this was long before a strategic Perry existed between the United States and Warsaw Pact but I mean it was also before the it was also when like manned manned bombers were you know the the zenith of kind of strategic nuclear platforms but um

The understanding was in basically every scenario game that, you know, the Warsaw Pact is going to overrun Europe. They're going to smash. That the National Volks Army, which emerged later, but in 1952, a combination of Volkspilat-Sai, who were the East German Army and all but name and a group of Soviet forces in Germany, were responsible for the operational sector I'm about to describe. After 56, it became the National Vokes Army's domain. They were going to smash through the inter-German border, you know, which at the time the Berlin Wall wasn't there.

After the Berlin Wall was created, interestingly, there were these weak points where, like, charges could, like, blow holes, you know, so that the National Vox Army could storm through with armor, but be as it may, the understanding that was when war came, the National Vox Army, they're going to storm West Berlin while, you know,

the Warsaw Pact, overshoots, uh, Berlin, um, assaults, uh, across the North German plane, smashed to the defaulted gap, almost certainly utilizing chemical weapons and possibly tapping the nuclear weapons if necessary.

And NATO at best could hold out for 72 hours, you know, until the Soviet army reaches the Rhine. And then even if NATO has the capacity to reconstitute, it's not going to have the forces in being in order to prevent, you know a further Soviet push, you know, the Atlantic Ocean. Okay, so you're looking at a situation where, okay, you know,

and in these days, mind you, the catalyst changed for why this was considered in terms almost exclusively of conventional warfighting, save again for, you know, the tactical deployment of chemical and

nuclear weapons. This endured 30 years later, but for very different reasons, and we'll get into that. But the fact is, in a basically conventional fight, NATO is going to be overrun by the

massive superiority of forces in being by Warsaw Pact. Okay. the only hope really of liberating the continent in these cases would be some sort of infrastructure infrastructure in situ that can be activated you know in order to generate an insurgency like a pre-existing insurgency basically and this had never really been attempted before unless you count the Viet Cong, but it's kind of a different thing. But,

um, you know, the understanding was that, uh, men were selected, who were designated, you know, to be stay behind elements. Um, all the way up to, I believe,

battalion level. Um, arms cachets were hidden. Escape routes were prepared. Um, politically loyal civilians were recruited who in turn developed their own um like social infrastructure around what was to become the core mission in event of a soviet conquest um

the truly clandestine truly clandestine cells were established who made contact with one another but didn't even make contact with each other's respective handlers, you know, or with the above board but still highly secret gladio designated elements. And this was largely devised by the United Kingdom, which during World War II, what came to be called the United Kingdom's Special Operations Executive. Okay. Gladio was largely created with the experience and involvement of former SOE officers. I had the pleasure, a man who was a dear friend of my family and who was actually,

one of the reasons that I was going to Loyola University is because he taught there. His name was Samo Sarkeesian. As he might have gleaned, he was Armenian. His parents were Armenian immigrants. Um, he was in the special forces. He was in a heavy action in Korea in the infantry. And he was one of the first true green berets, you know, to pass the Q-course and get the green array. And why they recruit him, it wasn't just because he was an excellent combat soldier. It's because he was Armenian.

You know, he could stay behind and blend in. you know and um the earliest um like special forces became something somewhat different or it included that mission as well as like many other adjacent uh ones as time went on but uh that really is the birth of special forces it's very much a cold war um creature you know I'm not saying that's bad or something actually think I actually think I actually know any special forces is in a lot better shape these days than I think so kind of got a lot of problems but I don't want I don't want to upset that the our friends who are military guys and they I mean like our little friends of ours like I'm not talking like Randos and I I they don't mean they know I hold him in tremendous respect but at the point being uh you know

it uh this was very much um you know it's taken very seriously and um not only was like for example like my my mentor and family friend the Sarkeesian like not only was he of you know Armenian immigrant stock but uh the dialectical inflection he could affect that locals, you know, this was very, very sophisticated in operational terms, especially for the time. Now, something interesting happened as all is developed. And the center of Gladio, because of the gladio was Italy. Okay, now, now why Italy? you know Italy

I maintain that the real evidence of the Marshall plan it wasn't it wasn't just it wasn't what Stalin said and just you know kind of bind the Bundes Republic to American debt or whatever like yeah I mean that was like an

added benefit but I mean the Bundes Republic was done I mean they were they were being more without planned out of existence like Italy in the other hand just geostrategically as well as in sheer economic terms for, you know, a European zone of commerce and industry. You know, they were incredibly important.

Okay. Italy had to be brought into NATO. Italy also had to be repaired from the devastation it had suffered. You know, and throughout the 50s and 60s, you know, Italy ended up becoming, I think, for a time, you know, like the fifth largest economy in the world. You know, Italy also, it never underwent a denotification process. There was still a very active Communist Party there, you know, that didn't just participate in challenge for seats. But they insinuated themselves into coalition governments regularly.

you know and on the other side you had openly fascist and national socialist parties that were rabidly they weren't just rabble anti-communists they were rabidly anti-soviet they still viewed the Soviet Union like as their ops

okay and I maintain you know the big or maybe you don't know I mean you're a real-earned guy but some of this stuff is trivia you know, Yaqui had a huge falling out with Mosley and Mosley refused the published Imperium

through the Union movement brand because Mosley was like an arch cold warrior you know, like 110%. And a lot of people are like, well, he was trying to find his way back to respectability in British political life. I don't think that's the case. I think you really believe that.

If you love amazing Christmas value, you love this fantastic offer on celebrations, roses, heroes, and quality street tubs. All now only $3.99. An amazing low price on elite Kimberly Biscuits was $1399, now only $9.99. Great value on these must-have Tato and King Party Boxes was $5.49, now only $4.99. If you love Christmas, you love Aldi. While stocks last, Kimberly and Party Box offer available until November 30th. Hopps and Wild? Wild and Hopps.

The dream team. They're back in Disney's Zootropolis, too. Funny, fox. This is a make or break assignment. In cinemas, November 28th. No snake has set foot in Zutropolis in forever. Don't miss the wildest adventure of the year. There's a snake.

I want the fox and that rabbit. All right, carrots. Any idea where you want to start? Disney Zootropolis 2 in cinemas November 28. Good luck. I love you. There's so much rugby on Sports Extra from Sky. They've asked me to read the whole lad at the same speed I usually use for the legal bit at the end.

Here goes. This winter sports extra is jam-packed with rugby. For the first time we've got every Champions Cup match exclusively live, plus action from the URC, the Challenge Cup, and much more. Thus the URC and all the best European rugby all in the same place. Get more exclusively live tournaments than ever before on Sports Extra. Jam-packed with rugby. Phew, that is a lot of rugby.

Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months. Search Sports Extra. New Sports Extra customers only. Standard Pressing applies after 12 months for the 3. terms of play. Okay. Well, anybody who knows, anybody who knows what Mosley went through in the next, you know, 15 to 20 years knows

that he, he, he knew he wasn't getting back into the mainstream of politics. Yeah, I mean, that's ridiculous. He was saying,

I think he's going to go prime minister or something. I mean, like on the Firmule thinking, what it's, uh, yeah, there's video on YouTube of him in like, 1962 going into some British town to talk.

And there are people chasing him, trying to beat him. Oh, yeah. It's a preposterous claim and like who's he trying to impress. And it's like Mosley, even in the, even in the interwar years like, I mean, Mosley did his own thing. He was, uh, he indexed very much with Hitler. But at the point, he disagreed with Hitler on. He was like open about it. I mean, like any, yeah, he, one of the reasons he's a hero of mine. He was very like free thinking man. But. So, it will be. being this back to

where we were Italy being Italy being Grand Jerville of Gladio again. It wasn't just because the political, the internal political situation, you know, the need to bring Italy back into the fold of Europe or into its pernumbra, you know, what was then the

European coal and steel community, you know, and to bring it up the snuff as as a real, as a real, you know, like regional power into itself. But also you had in Gladio, was you had you had a whole lot of very fit very committed fascist men of military age who had experience you know what I mean these this is nothing kind of duty that it's just regular guys are

going to sign on for you know even if they're basically patriotic and anti-communist like you need uh like you need basically like like fascist jihadi for something like this okay um you know and it's also too you know how do you how do you recruit men for for these roles do you you know just like put an ad out you know and like the then equivalent of you know Craigslist or something you know like as it wasn't 2006 you don't uh you know you don't just uh you know you know you know we're building a stay behind fascist army you know would you look to be part of it you know they they had like um you know NATO uh intelligence as well as uh you know like the NATO's kind of command and control element um which would have been at that point um the supreme allied command in Europe

they had to basically which is why I brought up you know Kitsen and his point of countergangs They basically had the index with, you know, the fascist resistance that still existed there and these national socialist guys who never changed their stripes and who were very, very active. You know, you basically had to index with them when some kind of trust sell them on the merits of the mission and, you know, convince them to essentially start training for this, you know, what was then a very important. very like real contingency and organize these people into cells you know um like a cell stroke that's actually workable that allows them you know to become habituated to their the command structure of uh of whatever um i don't know what the force levels would have meant exactly but you know whatever arm element they were part of but also it it got them habituated at drilling with one with another and all the all the kind of

psychosocial um imperatives that one needs to cultivate if you're gonna send you know a what is called military sociology a primary group of men um you know into action but uh a lot of this you know a lot of people didn't know about any of this i mean people like my dad did but like uh i'm not my dad's so secret squirrel but he was in a position to know about certain things that other people didn't. But the general public, it really didn't know about the scope, breath, and purpose of Gladio until about October 1990, okay? And that was very interesting because basically like right about a year after the Interimian border collapsed, a lot of these, a lot of these a lot of these kinds of like deep, dark secrets of the Cold War, if we're going to way that way.

were just kind of like things that had been very eyes only like suddenly came to light. I think the people that were in control of a lot of this data, they knew that this was very rapidly, you know, going to be kind of censored and taken out of circulation, which is exactly what happened.

So, yeah, it's a sense of like it's now or never. If you love amazing Christmas value, you love this fantastic offer on celebrations, roses, heroes, and quality street tubs, all now only $399. An amazing low price on elite Kimberly biscuits was $1399, now only $999. Great value on these must-have Tato and King Party Boxes was $549, now only $4.99. If you love Christmas, you love Aldi.

While stocks last, Kimberly and Party Box offer available until November 30th. Hops and Wild. Wild and Hops. The dream team. They're back in Disney Zootropolis, too. Funny, fox. This is a make or break assignment. In cinemas November 28th. No snake has set foot in Zootropolis in forever.

Don't miss the wildest adventure of the year. There's a snake! I want the fox and that rabbit. All right, carrots. Any idea where you want to start? Disney Zootropolis 2 in cinemas November 28th. Good luck. I love you! Now, so in October 1990,

I'm going to butcher this name and I'm so sorry. Julio Andrade He issued four of this series of revelations Relating to the internal situation Like of the Western bloc Like pretty much from, you know, the emergence in NATO And especially Kind of the starting point was, you know, mid-Korean war

Like when Gladiol first became kind of you know, became more than just sort of, you know, like an abstract, you know, model bandied about it among like war college types. Giulio Andrade, I think it was something of like an Italian adan hour, man, but not quite. I think he was far more of a compelling person I don't mean that negatively but my point is that he wasn't even considering the Italian situation he was unusual for a post

for a European executive Andrade he was the 41st Prime Minister of Italy he served in seven governments 72 73, 76, 79, 1992. He was really, and he was the leader and the primary organizer

of the Christian Democrats from the earliest days. And here's something people don't understand. The Christian Democrats in Europe, they're not just like the Republicans or the Tories. They were basically the Vatican Party in Italy, to a lesser degree in Europe. Germany, like after World War II. Okay, they were genuinely conservative.

They were socially right-wing. They had a very strong identification with the Catholic Church and Catholic, what Alistair Magendar, I guess we'd call virtue ethics, although I'm sure they had, I'm not Catholic and I'm no read Italian. I'm sure they had different sources to draw upon. But my point being the Christian Democrats, they, their their heritage probably had more to do with

you know the kind of political culture one had in Austria in the interwar years than it did with with somebody like like you know like like a aden hour okay for example much as like I said there there were some basic similarities and um andradi had an interesting uh perspective as any he's viewed these days as probably the most powerful and prominent like political like executive political figure of uh of the italian first republic you know since you know since 1945 basically

okay um and i'm going so deep into his biography because it's essential to understanding gladio okay and you'll see why or like what i mean in a minute um

he begins a protege of a man named el cede de gisperi um Gasperi became a member of the parliament of Trinino, which was a part of the Austrian

Reichstadt. It was one of these Italian territories that was semi-autonomous, but was under the sovereignty of the Habsburg Empire. Okay? Because

Sperry began the first world war is politically neutral. He sympathized very, very strongly with Pope Benedict and said basically, like, you know, if you're a good Catholic and, you know, like a good Italian,

you know, you're going to abide, you know, Pope Benedict's ultimately, ultimately, honestly, what we're ultimately unsuccessful, you know, like, but very well-intentioned, very sincere efforts towards peace. Carl the 1st of Austria was another figure very much kind of like indexed with this perspective

who who who who you know who Gasperi saw you know eye to eye with

but Gasparion someone on became somewhat radicalized okay um in 1919 he was one of the founders of what became the Italian People's Party along with Luigi

Sturzo he served as a deputy in the Italian Parliament for a few years from 21 to 24 which is obviously you know the fascist decency was 1922 he was

enthusiastic about support of his party the PPI and the first government around the first cabinet around Mussolini because the way he viewed it was that you know this is this this is what we need the standing as a Bolshevism because Bolshevism is going to destroy the Catholic Church and they're already you know it's like they're doing to the Orthodox Church and he wasn't wrong you know and Mussolini's um Muslim relations with Catholicism was complicated it was kind of like Charles

Maras, okay? And it's hard for, like, first of all, I don't believe Musa was an atheist even though he wasn't, you know, God-fearing in the sense we're talking about, but it's, when it's really much put themselves in, you know, kind of of a 20th century

modernist perspective, especially when shaped by the Great War and, you know, the kind of certain dehumanizing paradigms like they're in, all of which seem to mirror each other and some sort of like grand constellation tailored to

rob man of his ability to live both they historically and is a discreet personality on it's not as like Marxist Pavlin or something it's um you know they're very

very much the core of the European right like the true right like thought in these terms um um but uh as uh as musuline's grip kind of became absolute and unlike Hitler who you know was a huge uh or a tremendous aspect of his assency owed uh you know strategic use of plebiscites you know Mussolini was much more

there was only a call the personality on Mussolini and there there definitely wasn't a you know from the from from the center right to the to the truly fascist you know

Musilini had a very strong mandate for a 20th century executive but he was prone to almost like quasi Leninist

you know, sort of utterances that henceforth just became the law. You know, he mostly fundamentally fundamentally

altered the structural balance of power between the executive and and, um, and um,

and, um, and the power and and the electoral system itself, as well as the parliament, which is largely becoming someone gilded anyway, by the acerbo law, which basically guaranteed, like, the National Fascist Party, you know, like a certain percentage of cabinet seats, okay?

So it essentially became a one-party state without, you know, something like the enabling, act to finesse it. And for the record, too, and this is a subject for a different series or episode, but you know, Hitler didn't take the oath of

office as Consler. There's so much rugby on Sports Extra from Sky. They've asked me to read the whole lad at the same speed I usually use for the legal bit at the end. Here goes. This winter sports extra is jam-packed with rugby. For the first time we've got every Champions Cup match exclusively live. Plus action from the The challenge cup and much more.

Thus the URC and all the best European rugby all in the same place. Get more exclusively live tournaments than ever before on Sports Extra. Jam packed with rugby. Phew, that is a lot of rugby. Get Sports Extra on Sky for 15 euro a month for 12 months. Search Sports Extra. New Sports Extra customers only. Standard Pressing applies after 12 months for the terms apply.

Fearing the weekly shop? Your money now goes even further with our new Aldi price drops. Fill your bag with your faves. Fresh wraps, pesto. Maybe pancakes? You know, good food, the bits you need, and the treats you deserve. Then head to the till, check the bill, and breathe. Save even more with ALDI price drops. You know, and then, or even later, after the Enabling Act, you know, when he became a consular and fear of the German Reich,

he didn't suddenly declare that, like, you know, now, like, you know, Oregon of the States, are all, you know, are all apparatus of the party. You know, and the internal police apparatus was very directly co-opted by national socialists and became an organ of the party, which is interesting kind of itself. But other than that, that's one of the reasons there was this kind of agonistic pluralism in the Third Reich

where in some ways people didn't, couldn't quite grasp like where you know sort of like the state bureaucracy stops and the party bureaucracy began or you had you had um orleans of government that literally had like an identical mandate you know but one was you know like a branch of the SD which was the counteral of the SS like another was you know um like an internal security department that was um you know tied to the ab there you know which had absolutely no like accountability to the same chain of command but um the uh what ultimately happened was uh these kinds of these kinds of like reform is by the by bully pulpit flex like figuratively and literally um this led to this led a great deal of turmoil in the early years of the national fascist party and its and its single party rule um there's a great deal of violence against other parties which refuse to accept uh you know the assertible law and it's kind of refuse to accept

you know El Duce's sort of self appointed mandate um this caused the PPI to fracture um

digusbury became uh he remained on as a secretary of uh of the anti-fascist

faction that remained um Until November 20th, until November, November, until November, until November, 2006, you know, in a true climate, it kind of overviolence and intimidation became the norm. You know, the, the PPI was, was formally dissolved. You know, Gisperi himself was arrested in March of 27. he did four years in prison the Vatican negotiated

his release you know which again um the indexing um and the relationship between the Vatican and uh the Christian Democrats and their precursors um that's really important you know to understanding

the politics the inner warriors in the early Cold War but um you know he was he was after his release in 1928 he was basically unpersoned you know he had difficulty finding employment he was in

serious financial difficulties um his some of his church contacts you know secured him a job as a cataloger in the Vatican library which probably saved his life and after he spent the next

the next 14 years until the collapse of the of the kingdom of Italy I mean the rum state in 43 I mean the rum state of the Salo Republic endured but

you know it's the big contribution of Gaspari one of the major international one of the major international newspapers in those days a political newspaper and new a political newspaper having international

circulation was a big deal he wrote a column where uh this was in nine this was in nine thirty four i mean when he had absolutely no love for the national fascist party but uh he uh he celebrated the defeat the the social democrats and uh in Austria, we claimed were, you know, on a mission of de-Christianizing Austria and, you know, that they were covert allies of the Bolsheviks. And he declared to know uncertain terms that the German church, that we, you know, in Italy, we should follow an example of the German Catholic Church, you know, and we should prefer known certain terms, you know, national socialism to Bolshev, Bolshevism. You know, like, Bolshevism is the mortal enemy of Christ and of the Catholic Church. So this is, you know, these alliances are more complicated than people will allow. You know, it's, um, during, uh, during World War II, um, this is one disparity has to formally established the, the Christian Democrats. I think it was clear to me you saw the writing on the wall that, you know, the actions were going to lose the war.

He published and deliberately limited circulation to what appears to be, you know, like a handful of cadres who he trusted. the essay amounted to a program for the new Christian Democrat Party and it was titled quite literally ideas for reconstruction okay Gasparry from that point on he was like the undisputed kind of hansho not as the Christian Democrats which were a new to the constellation of

of political values contained in one you know, pretty pretty autocratic and well-managed party. But they ended up dominating parliament for decades. You know, and they were basically right-wing. I mean, I don't mean that in 20th century terms.

I mean, they were very much like a nationalist, Catholic, you know, very, you know very pro very very very patriotic you know uh like racialism didn't feature into their equation to the same degree that it did and does some continental tendencies but this was a genuine like right-wing tendency okay um and uh when southern italy was conquered by the allies Gospherry became basically like the main representatives of the Christian Democrats

and what became known to the National Liberation Community or the National Liberation Committee like dissident elements that you know we're all kind of jockeying for you know patronage by the Allies and you know

who would give them the mandate and uh you know security element in order to in order to insinuate themselves as you know the prominent prominent like cadre or party like ruling the country um it uh gisbury first uh became a minister without portfolio and a government led by Ivan Benomi um

later um in Ferritio Perry's cabinet he became with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and that's kind of when that's kind of one these ideas he's been cultivating like got wide

sort of circulation you know and in my opinion he was always a more kind of thoughtful individual than ad an hour I think of Adonauer is kind of like a great peruvial horse trader and

like literally like an incredibly like skilled politician but I there was there was no real vision there like good or bad I mean there's I Han Trudeau had something to say about Edna hour but I'm not gonna repeat it less like YouTube

Fires or something but I look to be fair I compared to some possibilities he's like I had an hour looks pretty good and Gasperi I think was positively hero I'm considering a lot of a lot of um you know the challenges he was facing um

quite literally not just uh you know his his soul and sanity but his life and limb um finally uh Gasperi from 45 to 53 he was prime He was prime minister of a successive Christian Democrat-led governments. Now, if you know anything about Italian politics, that's, that's like absurd longevity. Okay, that's like, that's, that's basically a British prime minister, like, ruling for like, you know, like 18 years, okay? Like, like, I'm not making for the Italian, this is like a fact, but, uh, this, uh, you know, this, I only was declared a republic. immediately.

They signed a peace treaty, like a phone piece tree with the algorithm 47. They were one of the original NATO members in 49. You know, and again, Gaspari

and the Christian Democrat delegation, they actively courted the United States. You know, and again, I don't buy into the mythology of like, oh, the Marshall Plan just created magic money and made Europe like rich again. That's complete nonsense. But there were infrastructural

needs and there was a need for capital in key sectors in order for Europe to be able to like realize its great power potential. And the Marshall Plan when

it's when it's capital inflows we're truly targeted in a way that indexed with necessary developmental schemes it was highly effective and he he lobbied very very hard for a for participation in the Marshall Plan the Marshall Plan I get it really did in the case of Italy I don't get a term you know like economic miracle like the Spanish miracle or the South Korean miracle um you know because it's it's just another everybody kind of like

conscious or not to like a make economics this like obscure thing but I act like like it's literally some kind of magic and it doesn't owe to you know the the human ability to um you know to truly like build equity you know from uh from the raw stuff of of capital again quite literally and um you know the uh the the marshal plan itself did not revive europe but at the same time again um the european coal and steel community was essential um and um you know disparities like

like pushing to make this you know a policy priority and you know making it an unconditional imperative you know for his government was essential um

when uh hops and wild wild and hops the dream team they're back in Disney Zootropolis too Funny fox. This is a make or break assignment. In cinemas November 28.

No snake has set foot in Zutropolis in forever. Don't miss the wildest adventure of the year. There's a snake! I want the fox and that rabbit. All right, carrots. Any idea where you want to start? Disney Zootropolis 2 in cinemas November 28. Good luck!

I love you! When he did take... When he did is become Prime Minister of that first time. succeeding Frutio Perry he inherited a coalition that included both Italian Communist Party and Italian Socialist Party

delegates along with other smaller parties that were nominally independent or had names like the liberal Republican Party or the action party

but you know some of which had very much you know were were communists adjacent, if not, you know, I would know, proxies. To Gisbury's credit, his deputy prime minister, Palmyro Togliotti, did cooperate in Gospers' attempts to soften the terms of

the impending Allied peace treaty. with Italy, you know, again, you know, seeing very much what was being done to Germany. This was, this, this is, you know, him lobbying so heavily and so very publicly for relief through and cooperation therein the European Recovery Program, you know, which was the tangling for the Marshall Plan. You know, this was opposed vociferously by the communists. But Gisbury did manage to hold this, you know, initial prime ministership together, despite all odds,

especially when you consider, you know, the fact that he was dealing with the cabinet has very much stopped, but that was very much stocked. by ops. The it was under Gospherry's watch that Italy would, you know, the one significant

referendum on his watch posed a question as to whether Italy was to remain a monarchy or become a republic. You know, and again that, I believe very much was was Gasperi's like

Machiavellian streak. You know, like I said, like he, um, like Franco's regime, um, post-war, though Gasperi obviously was a far more

edible figure. Um, one of the ways that, uh, they were able to, you know, kind of bring the Vatican into the fold. Um,

and not just, administrative capacities and in terms of insinuating a kind of moral legitimacy which you know carried a lot of cachet still in those days but also it allowed it allowed for a certain freedom of movement in global politic vis-vis what you know other countries would respond to that they wouldn't have, you know, if Italy was merely, you know, a client regime in the United States with all the trappings there in, including, you know, the stripping away of the Roman church from, you know, not just authority in government and administration, but also in national life. that he was chief of the Italian

delegation at the World War II Peace Conference in Paris you know he remained harshly critical of the sanctions that remained on imposed on Italy

only to various intrigues and some which were just kind of born a vengeance driven sensibilities, especially considering that, you know, Italian leadership was not going to be placed on trial or, you know, or certain of these kinds of show trial homicides under auspices of, you know, justice. But he did gain very strong concessions from the allies that guaranteed Italian sovereignty.

particularly as regarded the Balkans. Some of the eastern border territory was lost Yugoslavia, but the free territory of Trees was divided between the two states. And obviously, you know, NATO, meaning at that point, just America, like, you know, signed on as the guarantor of these borders. Now back to Andrade again this is important to understand and I will not boring way it does

but um you figure out what I am I get my senior moments back to Andrade um andrade had achieved a cabinet rank at a very young age and by the time by the end of his tenure he'd he occupied virtually every major office of the post-war Italian state and he again was seen as quite literally

like the unofficial liaison with the Vatican you know in foreign policy terms Andrade you know very much the prologie Gasperi, you know, he guided the European unions, like Italy within kind of the, what, the East Union, the E.C., the EU, Andrade guided Italy's integration into it. And fascinating to me, if you know what my kind of research interests are, and if you kind of understand the

nuances of what Gladio was to the men who staffed it, which was something very different than the men who conceived of it, that wanted to utilize it for strategic purposes, you know, that were fairly transparent. Andrade pursued close relations with the Arab world. you know and he uh he had a strong strong following not just in Italy but uh especially through Catholic Europe but also like you know throughout the utility throughout the totality of what was becoming you know the burgeoning um EC EU um he'd substantially mediated corruption He always seen the transformation of the country from, you know, a basically rural country into literally the world's fifth largest economy. That's totally insane. That's only comparable, I think, to, like, South Korea went from having an economic profile comparable to a Burkina fossil to, like, being, like, the number nine world economy.

Like, granted, there was, like, massive subsidies and infrastructural aid, you know, that was kind of like the reward for, you know, contributing so very much in not just in um not just in in treasure but in blood you know to the Vietnam War but um it's truly remarkable um to consider especially when it's something that just seems like impossible today to me man you know like um under current historical conditions but um the uh his uh he was a huge uh androddy's um ops claim that he was a neoliberal that's kind of like the catch that's kind of like the the favored uh sort of slander you know of um of these kinds of postwar um european politicians you know who rejected kind of like the Keynesian model and um you know began to realize that

this over regulation and state planning was was was quite literally crushing what were made in national industry but it also it was you know it was um it was actually like you know enslaving Europe to the dollar like even more than a you know even even even more than today I mean by like a wide mile it's not even close but um I he was only a supply cider but he you know like I said I think I you know I I don't think seriously especially people who aren't really learned in economics you know when he band you this uh like oh he was a neoliberal and like God's in the right do that too that that means that you have no like credibility or

something as a right winger it's like I don't I you know the the political was the economic and I mean that that's that's a liberal conceit man that's not the way you should think of things anyway um but uh you know andradi again is also is a his two other kind of big commitments were um you know staunchy supporting and indexing with the Vatican and um you know a strong hostility towards um the italian communist party and the soviet union now remember how we're talking about the English, the British

rather, is funny of Scots and the Ulsterman among the ranks of those vasterds and how they really were the pioneers of asymmetrical warfare well

around around the 1970s very late 70s. Well, here, General Sir John Hackett, he was former commander-in-chief of the British Army on the Rhine, which was, again,

they were the primary British Army element on the inter-German border. Okay. They were kind of the equivalent of of 12th black horse the folding gap. Okay. He confirmed over a series of interviews and, like,

talks, you know, at various, you know, war college-type venues. This was on November 16th, 1990s. So, again, you know, right on the heels of these earlier disclosures about Gladio. Well, Hackett, like I said of no in certain terms

that a contingency plan involving quote stay behind and resistance in depth was drawn up after 1995 and was absolutely essential okay

a protege of his Anthony Farr Hockley a former commander in chief of NATO forces in northern Europe, which would have been area operation would have been Norway, Denmark, the North, the Scandinavian, the North Sea. He reiterated to the Guardian magazine that, yes, what, General Hackett that suggested was absolutely true.

Now, the British were big on public diplomacy, in a way America wasn't. You know, I think a couple of years back, it's before there was as many options available on Twitter to, you know, do spaces and things. And I don't believe I've ever done on pot about it, but I've posted many images, of the Soviet military power

magazine that you could purchase in any post office and it was released every year from I believe 81 until 1990 it was put out by the Defense Intelligence Agency it was full of this incredible artwork

because obviously a lot of these weapons platforms NATO didn't have actual photographs of them, but, you know, they knew they existed. But this was obviously an effort at, you know, true public diplomacy, like, educates the public on a question of policy significance or political goings on, you know, that, you know, they wouldn't, they wouldn't ordinarily be availed to, you know, a body of work that could sort of explain such colleagues matters in concise terms. And it seems to be quaint, like in the Internet era, but Britain was always big on this. America was less big on this. You know, but in the Cold War, there were a few kind of...

very striking examples and soviet military power was one of them well what the british did was and um my dad had these books on his bookshelf as when i was a little kid and i they completely blew my fucking mind but um this head sir general sir john hackett he wrote a book in 1978 and it was marketed as a novel um in America. I don't believe it was marketed as such in the UK. And in the UK, it had a different epilogue, and we'll get into that in a minute. But it was called the Third World War August 1985. It was a fictionalized account that reads kind of like threads. I know threads, you know, was a movie.

But, you know, it doesn't have a traditional, like, fiction, structure you know it'll jump to some you know like Warsaw Pact like early warning post you know um and uh East Germany you know and it'll like jump to you know some Soviet missile base in Kazakhstan and they'll like jump to like you know the president's like situation room but uh what it basically is is it's it describes a scenario okay um that being that in August 1885 the Soviet Army in Warsaw Pact to

assault West Germany the there's a follow-up in 1982 called the Third World War the untold story which elaborated on the original with some details of this

counterfactual universe but also again like it it is it added a kind of, what I think was an alibi for American audiences. It's fascinating. But for context, some of the heck it believed in, you know, this was a, the final really critical phase of the Cold War, you know, like 78, 79, like 85.

This was for Able Archer era. You know, it was a foreon conclusion. to a lot of these a lot of these general law officers that there was going to be a war in Europe, okay? And

basically their job was not just to protect, you know, the people of the United Kingdom or the people of the United States or, you know, the people of Italy, you know, depending on the executive we're talking about to the fullest of their abilities and also to, you know, to do everything they can to fight and win a nuclear war.

Farrar Hockley, who is Hackett's protégate, I mentioned a minute ago, during this time, he started advocating strongly for the creation of a new home guard. and anticipation of a potential Soviet assault. You know, the home guard of World War II was like lampooned and stuff like Dad's Army. I don't know if you ever seen that. But Farahawgley and Haggit were serious about having able-bodied young men, you know, like basically take on the role of a gladio element in event of Warsaw Pact assault of the island. Okay.

So in the books, or in the book, we'll start with kind of I think is the primary source, which is the first edition. In the Third World War, the Untold Story, they describe basically the political situation as it stood then in terms of you know alliances

allegiances then active battle spaces there was some speculation about space-based weapons platforms but otherwise it was all based on like forces and being you know at that next extent force levels and weapons systems that actually existed

and could expect it to be performed, could expect it to perform an action as described in the narrative. But the novel starts. The 1984 presidential election, Walter Mondale, who's the Democratic nominee, loses the former Governor Thompson of South Carolina, who's obviously supposed to be Ronald Reagan. Okay.

Most of what's going on as, you know, in the world situation, as it's perceived and witnessed by, like, Reagan in his cabinet, is detailed by, you know, President Thompson's advisors, you know, who are briefing him on the international situation, like, from the time he takes office, you know, until, and then beyond the outside of hostilities. you know so the answer the book as a uh... becoming a real powerhouse uh... they've increasingly with the exception of North Korea and Vietnam liberalize their economies

and sort of you know ease back from any kind of political interdependence with the Soviet Union from a strategic and military perspective um

China has a as like a dang type figure at the helm it was like not like a reformer kind of in like the Western you know like faux democracy sense but he's basically become hostile to communism and all but name um he's trying to flip

North Korea and Vietnam against Russia by basically buying them off and pursue a kind of gradual you know, insurglement to the Soviet Far East. The India, which is the Soviet Union's only real

strong ally in the region you know it continues to deteriorate. They're the exception to like Asia's prosperous condition. It's literally deteriorating. The Arab Cold War is intensifying as a Nazareth government in Egypt. That's basically, you know, like a left-wing nationalist. like some communist adjacent um...

dictatorship is cringing towards war with uh... Saudi Arabia South Africa has become a federation like a racially divided federation under a bantutan bandu stand system which is basically stable but lives under constant threat by Nigeria

which is now like fully committed to the South African border war as are like actual Soviet troops. Ethiopia has fallen apart, including Eritrea. The Soviets try to shore up the situation and install their own proxy government, but this fails. And then the book shows like a world map, like what the implications, both of the things, are like in a hypothetical like you know Reagan like a situation room like on every front like the Soviets are are losing the Cold War you know it's uh meanwhile the Politburo which presumably the trifecta of uh because it's probably written in 78 the

trifecta they drop off Grameko and Usenov is kind of like the real or the Trumpvert rather like they're the real executive of the USSR, you know, with the increasingly kind of disabled, um, Brezhnev as the figurehead. Um, and drop of, uh, for his, like, counterpart in the story, he basically drops the same speech that he did in 80 or 81, where he talked about how, you know, the Soviet Union was, like, could not compete, you know, like in the information revolution. And, you the amount of computing power in the country was pathetic you know compared to any developed state and if this wasn't altered within a decade and remedied like the soys would lose the Cold War basically an identical speech is

given by you know the stand-in for and drop-off or you know again the Trombard just mentioned you know the Poetboro accepts these conclusions proffered by this composite executive character character and it's going to consensus that you know the total

stagnation of the economy means that the Soviet armed forces will not be able to retain technological parity with the West for beyond a decade and that the only way like the Soviet Union can bring the Cold War

to a victorious conclusion is to assault Western Europe, annihilate NATO, you know, kind of forever banish American forces from the continent, you know, and then, you know, the sue for peace from a position of a strength and, if not benevolence. the poet bro understands that although resistance from NATO is guaranteed that before the United States had not a counteroffensive the threat of the threat especially of tactical nuclear weapons

and the use of chemical weapons and the potential in the case of the former of horizontal escalation will knock some NATO states out of the war further compromising their ability to reconstitute amid the massive kind of gap

in numerical forces in being so the Soviet diplomatic corps also believes that they can cause a schism in the Western defense court on by convincing France to

stay out of the conflict. You know, France is not a NATO member. They remain adjacent. But during this period, relations between NATO and France were particularly frosty. The Poet Broad decides that there's three options before them. Variant A

will constitute a large, a massive, preemptive nuclear strike against Europe alongside a specialized paratrooper elements deployed in areas not

under direct nuclear assault followed by a seven-day land invasion to the Linz Frankfurt Dunkirk line to another event it's so bad in any event assault the proverbial

center with nuclear weapons like without regard for counter value attrition like assault the periphery with special operations elements and then um smash through uh then now it radiated um you know former main line of resistance you know with Warsaw packed armor you know and then um upon reaching uh again the

lends Frankfurt Dunkirk line basically within you know a stone's throw of of the ocean you know to demand uh demand nato come to peace terms um variant b is identically above but with full deployment of chemical weapons and high explosive conventional ordinance but a complete ban on the use of uh nuclear weapons um variant c would be a conventional invasion with tactical nuclear strikes being employed if if NATO was able to hold before

Warsaw Pact reaches the Rhine within seven days. The Polam Vero ultimately decides on variant C to avoid horizontal escalation and the development of what almost certainly would you know snowball into a general nuclear war especially based upon the platforms then deployed

and the particularly kind of dangerous coupling of their sensitivity to sensory data but the lack of ability to gauge you know the the the the the the strength of forces from where the you know the enemy device detected is is as many mergers you know but what like short story long um what basically carries the day for NATO is like these stay behind like gladiol units and like the U.S. Marine Corps. They were able to flip Yugoslavia out of a position of neutrality and like actual hostility against the Soviet Union. With the exception of like some aspects of, you know, of ethnic serves.

like serving in the security apparatus, you know, with police and military. But, you know, the Soviet Union stalls, basically, because when Warsaw Pact, they hit West German forces at Kreefeld, attempts to chase them out of the Netherlands, and compounding, you know, the setback of the high attrition they took, you know, these, these, these, these, these Dutch militias, you know, like, raise up and, and just, uh, and just smash, you know, essentially these, these already weakened, uh, the Soviet columns, you know, they're, they're essentially, they're essentially, you know, becoming kind of like, where they sit only to their lack of access to fuel but you know it's obvious that this book was published to present a scenario to the British people I mean it's like it's a policy it's it's a war plan it's a war plan slash war

gaming manual coupled with you know, an argument in favor of, you know, this tactical doctorate is how Britain can best protect itself, an event of World War III. And however, this taste, well, people might find the kind of place in such things. It's essential. And people need to be behind these aforementioned elements, you know, for them to be effective. you know um not just in you know material and um logistical terms but uh in terms their operational morale and everything else now it's gets very interesting when um you know the uh the early force structure of gladiow elements like turns out to be like out now you know fascists you know especially in Italy and there's a parallel here I think it was

Roberto Fiore who was a I think it's the Italian the Italian liberation movement to the Italian national movement you know the legacy of the National Fascist Party they had a schism develop within the ranks, not unlike that of the national front, you know, into the, into the, into the political, into the political soldier wing and like the flag group, which I find totally fascinating. And it bears directly on what we're going through today within our own, um, within our own resistance culture. And we'll get into that next episode. I'm sorry if that went, uh, too long but I'm like really tired otherwise I keep on going but um I hope that's an acceptable stopping point um there's a lot more to take in and this is kind of a logical

stopping point I'll see what I mean we're in the next episode if that's cool yep that works um do plugs real quick and well then yeah man you can find me on Twitter at capital R EAL underscore number seven HMAS 7777 you can find it on substack real Thomas 7777.com I got a pot on there I got long from on there I got a MERS line now if you be so kind like me drop the MERSC address in the description section and you can buy like really dope shirts and flags and stuff like that that i think are really cool um my uh the artist who who mocked him up here creig he's he's he's fucking incredible he's an incredible dude and a fine artist um i'm working on this documentary of r and taylor i'm going to the dnc convention in a few weeks and again i am sorry to everybody i had to miss nashville this weekend but i I gotta save my strength, man. I'm sorry to sound like some, like, banged-up,

freaking old lady or something, but, um, as far as my plugs, like, seeking you shall find, man, and my Instagram.

You know, I'm all over the place. Um, I'm trying to bear down now on, on, on, um, you know,

this, uh, this documentary kind of video content type stuff, which I, which I think is, not that, I don't know, I'm pretentious. I think there's a profundity to it, man,

but also it's, this is important history that's going to be lost. But that and my manuscript is kind of like my big focus right now. But I'm always available to do pods, man. Like, never, ever hesitate to ask me. And yeah, let's reconvene in, and do part two of Gladiio.

And we should watch another movie, too, man. So we can... Oh, yeah. Oh yeah, but we're going to do that. When we sign off, I'm going to recommend a movie. Yeah, man. Yeah. Well, thanks again, Pete.

Yep, take care.