Operations Gladio And Northwoods

Many people are now aware of the links between
sections of the US government  and organized crime,
especially since the Iran Contra episode.  Anyone
who reads a history of the CIA or the American
missile program also knows that hundreds of Nazis
were recruited to work for US government agencies.
US involvement in”false flag” operations, COINTELPRO,
and  the subversion and overthrow of foreign
governments are not exactly  state secrets.
But  this list of crimes is  not half of it. To get a full
taste of the US government's fascist-criminal-terrorist
alliance one must turn to  “Operation Gladio.” Gladio
was set up by the OSS, predecessor of the CIA after
WW2, as the US feared  the possibility of a
Communist-Socialist government  in Italy. Gladio
continued to operate all through the '50s, '60s and
'70's and was responsible for most of the spectacular
terrorist attacks in Italy, such as the Milan's Piazza
Fontana bombing (18 dead) and the Bologna Train
Station bombing (12 dead) . As Operation GLADIO:
The secret U.S. war to subvert Italian democracy
by Arthur E. Rowse,    states  
 Among other things, the U.S. government: forged secret
alliances with the Mafia and right-wing elements of
the Vatican to prevent the left from playing any role
in government;  recruited Mussolini's ex-police into
paramilitary bands secretly financed and trained
by the CIA, ostensibly to fight Soviets, but
really to conduct terror attacks blamed on the left;
Employed the gamut of psychological warfare
tactics, including paying millions in slush funds
to political parties, journalists, and other
influential contacts to tilt parliamentary
elections against the left;  Created a secret
service and a parallel government structure
linked to the CIA whose ``assets'' attempted
several times to overthrow the elected government;
and  targeted Prime Minister Aldo Moro, who was
later kidnapped and murdered under mysterious
circumstances after offering to bring communists
into the Cabinet .
For the rest of the Gladio story, see .
http://miami.indymedia.org/news/2006/09/5759.php 
If Italy's Gladio wasn't  enough, it appears there were
similar organizations in other countries.
See http://www.strategytalk.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=36554& 
For other articles on Gladio
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4158945,00.html
http://www.copi.com/articles/guyatt/gladio.html

Operation Northwoods
While Gladio shows the length to which the US government
would go in subverting foreign governments and carrying out
terrorist attacks, Northwoods  indicates the level to which
they would go on their own soil. Northwoods, was, according
to the Wikipedia article  (1) was a 1962 plan to generate
U.S. public support for military action against the Cuban
government...as part of the U.S. government's
Operation Mongoose anti-Castro initiative.
The plan, which was not implemented, called for
various false flag actions, including simulated or real
state-sponsored acts of terrorism (such as hijacked planes)
on U.S. and Cuban soil. The plan was proposed by
senior U.S. Department of Defense leaders, including the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Louis Lemnitzer. 
Suggested   actions included, sinking an American  ship,
destroy American aircraft, sink a boat load of Cubans.
The related Operation Mongoose  had as possible tactics
attacks on Trinidad and Jamaica by phony Cuban forces,
and  (bribing) one of Castro's subordinate commanders
to initiate an attack on [the US Naval base at] Guantanamo. 
And media pundits wonder why so many people are
suspicious of the orthodox versions of  what happened
on 911.  Who is being naive here?

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods 
See also http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/northwoods.html