Editing Allen Dulles (section)

== Operation Gladio ==
Allen Dulles, CIA Director from 1953 to 1961, was instrumental in establishing and directing [[Operation Gladio]], NATO’s clandestine “stay-behind” network designed to resist a potential Soviet invasion in Europe during the 1950s. In Italy, where Gladio took a subversive turn, Dulles authorized the CIA’s collaboration with the Italian Military Secret Service (SIFAR) to launch the operation in 1956. He approved substantial financial allocations, channeled covertly through CIA accounts, to fund the recruitment and training of Gladio operatives and the establishment of secret arms caches across Italy for guerrilla warfare.

Dulles’ oversight extended to ensuring Gladio’s operational secrecy, coordinating with NATO and Italian intelligence to maintain its autonomy from civilian oversight. His strategic directives allowed the CIA to supply logistical support, including weapons and communication equipment, to prepare Gladio units for potential conflict. However, under his tenure, Gladio’s mission expanded beyond defense, supporting the “strategy of tension”—a series of CIA-backed terrorist attacks, later exemplified by the Piazza Fontana bombing (1969), to create instability and block the Italian Communist Party’s rise. 

Dulles facilitated CIA partnerships with anti-communist Italian factions, including military and intelligence figures, some linked to the [[Propaganda Due P2]] Masonic lodge, which became a Gladio coordinating hub. While direct evidence tying Dulles to P2’s leader, [[Licio Gelli]]is limited, his policies enabled these alliances. His activities, exposed in 1990, reveal a Cold War strategy that prioritized anti-communism, fueling Italy’s “Years of Lead” through covert subversion.