activistpost--2020-02-10--How China Is Changing The World Now!

How China Is Changing The World Now!

Discussion of China now evokes only images of the coronavirus crisis .
However , that will hopefully pass soon – like the SARS , Bird Flu , Swine Flu , and Ebola “ pandemics ” !
Then the world will need to know how China is changing the world .
My previous article , “ When China Rules The World !
” shows the rapid rise of China in the last 50 years and the growing decline of the West after the 2008 crisis .
However , most Americans are probably not aware of the many ways in which China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ US spends billions of dollars on the War on Terror after almost 20 years and its ongoing destruction of the Middle East .
China is surging ahead now with its high-speed bullet trains , education , eradication of poverty , The Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI ) aka The New Silk Road , massive investment in infrastructure all across Africa that is making friends of the 55 African nations , and the growing Chinese student enrollment in the US .
Perhaps one of the most subtle ways China is establishing its lead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Xi Jinping .
Trump often takes a belligerent stance toward other countries and world leaders and has called Xi an “ enemy ” .
However , Xi refers to Trump as a “ friend ” and he is quietly winning over one country after another – including Britain , one of the reasons for China ’ s “ Century of Humiliation.
” As Xi was welcomed royally in Britain , he invested billions of dollars and introduced a Chinese bond .
It is a new day when the “ developing world ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Xi is also quietly befriending Americans from students in Washington state to farmers in Iowa .
When Xi visited Lincoln High School in Takoma , Washington , he spoke of his long-term connection to the city .
When he announced that he was inviting 100 students to visit China , he got a standing ovation .
Those students will become ambassadors for China with their families , neighbors , and friends .
Their trip will be covered in the Tacoma press and the city will be the envy of surrounding cities and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was again a return visit and he spent time in the home of friends he had made on his first trip as a student years earlier .
During his visit , Xi signed the largest soybean deal every made in a single visit .
It is hard to focus on competing with an “ enemy ” who is such a good friend !
Chinese President Xi Jinping ’ s “ super ” state visit to the UK explains that President Xi ’ s visit was the first by a Chinese president to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Elizabeth rolled out the red carpet for the state visit of President Xi in 2015 .
Queen Elizabeth II welcomed the Chinese president at Horse Guards Parade in London .
Xi inspected the guard of honor with the Duke of Edinburgh .
The president joined the royal family for a state carriage procession to Buckingham Palace for a state banquet .
The two countries agreed to build a global partnership for the 21st century .
About 40 billion pounds in deals were struck including the landmark Hinkley Point nuclear power project in southwest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between China and a developed country in a major strategic industry .
The two sides made headway in financial cooperation .
China agreed to issue RMB sovereign bonds in London , the first of its kind outside China .
China ’ s relationship with the UK could provide a template for China ’ s relationship with the European Union .
President Xi called on Britain to join China in establishing a new golden era .
Given that Britain just returned Hong Kong to China in 1997 , ending China ’ s “ Century @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of President Xi helped heal those old wounds .
Perhaps more importantly , it established China as a global leader now surpassing the British Empire .
For China to have the resources to finance Great Britain ’ s nuclear power project establishes China as a dominant power .
For China to issue bonds in London means that China is offering the British people the opportunity to make money by investing in China !
How the tables have turned !
President Xi ’ s style of “ Soft Power ” and diplomacy is winning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Xi may not find it as easy to establish warm relations with President Trump as he has with Queen Elizabeth .
However , he has found another way to connect very warmly to America .
The video “ China ’ s President Xi Jinping visits Lincoln High School ” shows Xi ’ s visit in Tacoma , Washington .
Xi was accompanied by his famous wife Peng Liyuan , a Chinese folk singer .
The high school choir sang a song for which Madame Peng is famous and she stood to take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Xi took the stage after the choir ’ s performance and announced the gift of many books about China that he had donated to the school .
He said he had also given the school a ping pong table .
When President Xi announced that he was inviting 100 students from the high school to visit China , the audience stood and roared its enthusiastic approval !
Of course , that visit will have to be postponed now until the coronavirus crisis is fully resolved !
The 2012 book Together They Hold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China ’ s XI Jinping and Peng Liyuan says : The Mayor of Tacoma , Washington welcomed President Xi and Madame Peng for their second visit to the city after 21 years .
In 1994 , Tacoma established a sister-city relationship with Fuzhou , China , the capital of the Fujian province .
Tacoma has hosted more than 30 delegations for educational , cultural , and business exchanges .
In his remarks , Xi explained that he came to Takoma more than 20 years ago as part of a delegation from Fujian .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and witnessed the signing of the sister-cities agreement .
He later became governor of Fujian province .
President Xi ’ s willingness to take time out from his busy schedule restoring China , building the New Silk Road , building infrastructure all across Africa and meeting with heads of state around the world to meet at a high school is part of what makes him an exceptionally warm global leader .
The fact that Xi has such a long-term connection to Tacoma and Fujian made the visit even more special .
Xi is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with America .
President Xi studied agriculture in Iowa .
In April 1985 , Xi arrived in Muscatine for two weeks with a Chinese delegation studying farming technology .
The future Chinese leader got a first-hand look at how American agriculture .
Doyle Tubandt , president of Muscatine Foods Corporation , recalled how Xi discussed globalization , its scope then unimaginable to many Americans .
Tubandt marveled at today ’ s global economy .
His own company now exports food and pet products to China .
He escorted Xi on a tour of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kept a tin of black tea that Xi gave him as a memento of the visit .
After all these years , the tin is preserved half full .
In 2012 , Tubandt was one of 14 people invited to a private dinner with Xi at the home of Sara Lande .
They had all met Xi on his first trip .
“ You were the first group of Americans I came into contact with , ” Xi told his Iowa friends .
“ To me , you are America.
” Xi ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Muscatine , a small eastern Iowa town known for farming , the largest Heinz plant outside of Pittsburgh , and factories that used to spit out billions of mother-of-pearl buttons before the refinement of plastic .
As Iowa Governor Terry Branstad , now President-elect ’ s Donald Trump ’ s pick for China ambassador , put it : Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iowa Gov .
Terry Branstad raised their glasses in a toast at a State Dinner .
Chris Steinbach , former editor of The Muscatine Journal , said : That kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Xi .
China VP Xi Jinping ’ s nostalgic Iowa visit says that in 2012 when Xi was still Vice President , he looked forward to visiting the home of Cynthia and Dick McClean whom he had visited on his first visit to Muscatine , Iowa to study livestock in 1985 .
Xi asked to see the McCleans and about 17 other people whom he had met on his first trip .
Iowa is a direct beneficiary of China ’ s booming economy .
Over the last decade , China ’ s purchases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ !
In 2000-2010 , Iowa enjoyed a 1200 % increase in exports to China .
China buys soybeans , pork , farm machinery , and other products from Iowa .
The numbers are staggering .
China buys 25 % of American soybeans .
In 2011 , the Chinese market surpassed Canada to become the top destination for US farm exports .
During his visit , Xi signed the largest soybean deal every made in a single visit .
“ Xi Comes to Iowa ” shows Xi ’ s trips to Iowa in 1985 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home of old friends .
Chinese students are reshaping the U.S. education system .
“ Chinese student enrollment surges at University of Iowa ” says that cutbacks in state funding encouraged US colleges like the University of Iowa to recruit students from China to bring in out-of-state tuition .
In 2007 , there were about 100 Chinese undergraduate students .
By 2015 , there were close to 3,000 .
Because China ’ s economy has quadrupled in the last decade , more Chinese parents can afford to send their kids to an American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the prior year , there was a huge explosion of anti-Chinese feelings on Facebook and Twitter .
The school is trying to help the Chinese students acclimate .
“ Too Many International Students in the U.S. ?
” says that at some schools , about 20 % of the class is now from overseas .
Since foreign students usually pay full tuition , that helps schools on tight budgets .
However , many Americans worry that the influx of international students is depriving qualified American youths of slots in top schools .
Many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t get in .
The acceptance rate for in-state students has dropped in recent years and some locals feel misrepresented .
One Chinese Student ’ s Journey to the U.S. explains that Chinese students who attend American universities avoid taking the “ gaokao ” , China ’ s ultra-competitive college entrance exam .
Increasingly , China ’ s expanding middle class is opting out of the competitive educational system .
From 2008-2014 , the number of students taking the exam dropped 10 % .
During that same period , the number of Chinese @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The importance of English in primary school education in China : perceptions of students points out : Since many Chinese are now also studying in the US , a growing number of Chinese are fluent in English and are familiar with American culture .
Because China has such a large population , millions of Chinese can move around the world to live .
Those people may become citizens of their adopted countries and the growing Chinese population will increasingly influence elections .
In the US , some Chinese-Americans are assuming elective office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government .
Andrew Yang , a Taiwanese-American , is now campaigning for the US presidency !
In his talk “ When China Rules The World , ” Dr. Martin Jacques warned the West not to assume that English will always be the world ’ s lingua franca – and to learn Mandarin !
However , few Americans speak Chinese or have lived in — or even visited — China .
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace , and freedom news .
Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us on SoMee , Flote , Minds , Twitter , and Steemit .
Provide , Protect and Profit from what ’ s coming !
Get a free issue of Counter Markets today .

By Neenah Payne
Discussion of China now evokes only images of the coronavirus crisis. However, that will hopefully pass soon – like the SARS, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, and Ebola “pandemics”! Then the world will need to know how China is changing the world.
My previous article, “When China Rules The World!” shows the rapid rise of China in the last 50 years and the growing decline of the West after the 2008 crisis. However, most Americans are probably not aware of the many ways in which China is setting new world standards as the US spends billions of dollars on the War on Terror after almost 20 years and its ongoing destruction of the Middle East.
China is surging ahead now with its high-speed bullet trains, education, eradication of poverty, The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aka The New Silk Road, massive investment in infrastructure all across Africa that is making friends of the 55 African nations, and the growing Chinese student enrollment in the US.
Perhaps one of the most subtle ways China is establishing its lead now is through the quiet diplomacy of President Xi Jinping. Trump often takes a belligerent stance toward other countries and world leaders and has called Xi an “enemy”. However, Xi refers to Trump as a “friend” and he is quietly winning over one country after another – including Britain, one of the reasons for China’s “Century of Humiliation.” As Xi was welcomed royally in Britain, he invested billions of dollars and introduced a Chinese bond. It is a new day when the “developing world” is investing in the developed world!

President Xi is also quietly befriending Americans from students in Washington state to farmers in Iowa. When Xi visited Lincoln High School in Takoma, Washington, he spoke of his long-term connection to the city. When he announced that he was inviting 100 students to visit China, he got a standing ovation. Those students will become ambassadors for China with their families, neighbors, and friends. Their trip will be covered in the Tacoma press and the city will be the envy of surrounding cities and states.
When Xi visited Iowa, it was again a return visit and he spent time in the home of friends he had made on his first trip as a student years earlier. During his visit, Xi signed the largest soybean deal every made in a single visit. It is hard to focus on competing with an “enemy” who is such a good friend!
Britain’s State Welcome For Xi Jinping
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “super” state visit to the UK explains that President Xi’s visit was the first by a Chinese president to the UK in a decade. Queen Elizabeth rolled out the red carpet for the state visit of President Xi in 2015. Queen Elizabeth II welcomed the Chinese president at Horse Guards Parade in London. Xi inspected the guard of honor with the Duke of Edinburgh. The president joined the royal family for a state carriage procession to Buckingham Palace for a state banquet.

The two countries agreed to build a global partnership for the 21st century. About 40 billion pounds in deals were struck including the landmark Hinkley Point nuclear power project in southwest England. That marked the first deal between China and a developed country in a major strategic industry. The two sides made headway in financial cooperation. China agreed to issue RMB sovereign bonds in London, the first of its kind outside China. China’s relationship with the UK could provide a template for China’s relationship with the European Union. President Xi called on Britain to join China in establishing a new golden era.
Given that Britain just returned Hong Kong to China in 1997, ending China’s “Century of Humiliation”, this resplendent welcome of President Xi helped heal those old wounds. Perhaps more importantly, it established China as a global leader now surpassing the British Empire. For China to have the resources to finance Great Britain’s nuclear power project establishes China as a dominant power. For China to issue bonds in London means that China is offering the British people the opportunity to make money by investing in China! How the tables have turned!
President Xi’s style of “Soft Power” and diplomacy is winning friends for China around the world.
President Xi’s Visit to Lincoln High School USA
President Xi may not find it as easy to establish warm relations with President Trump as he has with Queen Elizabeth. However, he has found another way to connect very warmly to America. The video “China’s President Xi Jinping visits Lincoln High School” shows Xi’s visit in Tacoma, Washington. Xi was accompanied by his famous wife Peng Liyuan, a Chinese folk singer. The high school choir sang a song for which Madame Peng is famous and she stood to take a bow when that was announced.
President Xi took the stage after the choir’s performance and announced the gift of many books about China that he had donated to the school. He said he had also given the school a ping pong table. When President Xi announced that he was inviting 100 students from the high school to visit China, the audience stood and roared its enthusiastic approval! Of course, that visit will have to be postponed now until the coronavirus crisis is fully resolved!
The 2012 book Together They Hold Up the Sky: The Story of China’s XI Jinping and Peng Liyuan says:
Very few Chinese names have become, as Shakespeare’s Henry V put it: “Familiar in his mouth as household words” to many westerners. Mao, Confucius, Yao Ming, Jackie Chan — there aren’t many. But that is about to change. China’s in the midst of its once-in-a-decade political power transition. The Chinese “princeling” Xi Jinping seems set to assume the Presidency of China in March 2013. […] Peng Liyuan (pronounced ‘Pung Lee-yahn’) has been a household name in China for thirty years. Often known as “the Singing General”, Peng Liyuan is a glamorous and gifted folk singer and operatic soprano as well as being a Major General in the People’s Liberation Army. She is instantly recognizable throughout China and enjoys the adoration of the Chinese people. She is also “the Daughter of the Party” and extremely influential and well-connected regarding politics and the arts in China. Together, Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan are the new “power couple” on the world stage.
The book adds:
A Chinese official without hint of scandal in today’s circumstances is very rare, so rare that Xi Jinping runs the risk of becoming a mysterious man as a result. So it is with his wife, Peng Liyuan, a top celebrity singer also without any scandal or rumor. Even with her huge name, she has never made a single commercial or endorsement, and nor is there even a slight stain on her long and very public career. Both of them should make us wonder, how did they do it? A famous, beautiful and glamorous singer and a son of one of the highest ranking officials become a power couple, live largely separate lives publicly, and end up leading China – nothing could arouse more interest than their stories! For all these reasons they deserve to be in the focus of the media for some time to come.
The Mayor of Tacoma, Washington welcomed President Xi and Madame Peng for their second visit to the city after 21 years. In 1994, Tacoma established a sister-city relationship with Fuzhou, China, the capital of the Fujian province. Tacoma has hosted more than 30 delegations for educational, cultural, and business exchanges. In his remarks, Xi explained that he came to Takoma more than 20 years ago as part of a delegation from Fujian. He was the Party Secretary of Fuzhou and witnessed the signing of the sister-cities agreement. He later became governor of Fujian province.
President Xi’s willingness to take time out from his busy schedule restoring China, building the New Silk Road, building infrastructure all across Africa and meeting with heads of state around the world to meet at a high school is part of what makes him an exceptionally warm global leader. The fact that Xi has such a long-term connection to Tacoma and Fujian made the visit even more special. Xi is showing a commitment to a collaborative relationship with America.
President Xi Visits Old Friends in Iowa
President Xi studied agriculture in Iowa. In April 1985, Xi arrived in Muscatine for two weeks with a Chinese delegation studying farming technology. The future Chinese leader got a first-hand look at how American agriculture. Doyle Tubandt, president of Muscatine Foods Corporation, recalled how Xi discussed globalization, its scope then unimaginable to many Americans. Tubandt marveled at today’s global economy. His own company now exports food and pet products to China. He escorted Xi on a tour of a corn processing plant. Tubandt had kept a tin of black tea that Xi gave him as a memento of the visit. After all these years, the tin is preserved half full.
In 2012, Tubandt was one of 14 people invited to a private dinner with Xi at the home of Sara Lande. They had all met Xi on his first trip. “You were the first group of Americans I came into contact with,” Xi told his Iowa friends. “To me, you are America.” Xi’s visit was a big deal for Muscatine, a small eastern Iowa town known for farming, the largest Heinz plant outside of Pittsburgh, and factories that used to spit out billions of mother-of-pearl buttons before the refinement of plastic.
As Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, now President-elect’s Donald Trump’s pick for China ambassador, put it:
This is the biggest thing to hit Muscatine since Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1979.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad raised their glasses in a toast at a State Dinner. Chris Steinbach, former editor of The Muscatine Journal, said:
It’s obviously a pretty big deal. You never know what will come as a result of this kitchen-table diplomacy. When you get the opportunity to meet somebody in their home or in a private setting, you get to know them differently than at a state dinner. Clearly that worked on Mr. Xi when he was here 27 years ago.
That kind of one-on-one relationship made an impression on Xi. China VP Xi Jinping’s nostalgic Iowa visit says that in 2012 when Xi was still Vice President, he looked forward to visiting the home of Cynthia and Dick McClean whom he had visited on his first visit to Muscatine, Iowa to study livestock in 1985. Xi asked to see the McCleans and about 17 other people whom he had met on his first trip.

Iowa is a direct beneficiary of China’s booming economy. Over the last decade, China’s purchases of Iowa’s products have skyrocketed! In 2000-2010, Iowa enjoyed a 1200% increase in exports to China. China buys soybeans, pork, farm machinery, and other products from Iowa. The numbers are staggering. China buys 25% of American soybeans. In 2011, the Chinese market surpassed Canada to become the top destination for US farm exports. During his visit, Xi signed the largest soybean deal every made in a single visit.
“Xi Comes to Iowa” shows Xi’s trips to Iowa in 1985 and 2012 and his visit to the home of old friends.

Chinese Enrollment Surges in American Universities
Chinese students are reshaping the U.S. education system. “Chinese student enrollment surges at University of Iowa” says that cutbacks in state funding encouraged US colleges like the University of Iowa to recruit students from China to bring in out-of-state tuition. In 2007, there were about 100 Chinese undergraduate students. By 2015, there were close to 3,000. Because China’s economy has quadrupled in the last decade, more Chinese parents can afford to send their kids to an American university. The video says that in the prior year, there was a huge explosion of anti-Chinese feelings on Facebook and Twitter. The school is trying to help the Chinese students acclimate.

“Too Many International Students in the U.S.?” says that at some schools, about 20% of the class is now from overseas. Since foreign students usually pay full tuition, that helps schools on tight budgets. However, many Americans worry that the influx of international students is depriving qualified American youths of slots in top schools. Many California families say their kids can’t get in. The acceptance rate for in-state students has dropped in recent years and some locals feel misrepresented.

One Chinese Student’s Journey to the U.S. explains that Chinese students who attend American universities avoid taking the “gaokao”, China’s ultra-competitive college entrance exam. Increasingly, China’s expanding middle class is opting out of the competitive educational system. From 2008-2014, the number of students taking the exam dropped 10%. During that same period, the number of Chinese students in US schools more than tripled.
The importance of English in primary school education in China: perceptions of students points out:
English has become a compulsory subject from Primary Three in China since 2003 and is gradually being introduced even earlier into the curriculum in many schools. This highlights the official importance of English in both primary school education and society.
Since many Chinese are now also studying in the US, a growing number of Chinese are fluent in English and are familiar with American culture. Because China has such a large population, millions of Chinese can move around the world to live. Those people may become citizens of their adopted countries and the growing Chinese population will increasingly influence elections. In the US, some Chinese-Americans are assuming elective office or are being appointed to roles in government. Andrew Yang, a Taiwanese-American, is now campaigning for the US presidency!
In his talk “When China Rules The World,” Dr. Martin Jacques warned the West not to assume that English will always be the world’s lingua franca – and to learn Mandarin! However, few Americans speak Chinese or have lived in — or even visited — China.

Top image credit: ING
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activistpost--2020-02-10--The Italian Years of Lead: Could the Secret “Strategy of Tension” Foreshadow America’s Future?

While there are some in the United States who believe we are headed toward another Civil War , there is perhaps another , more recent parallel worth exploring – the so-called “ Italian Years of Lead.
” The short version is that in the late 1960s through the early 1980s , Italy was a hotbed of assassination , shoot-outs and bombings between various factions of the far-left , the far-right and the Italian government – with American , British and Soviet intelligence agencies often pulling the strings .
While the death toll was a lot lower than it could have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and oft-overlooked area of history .
When all was said and done , the Italian political landscape had been radically changed .
Thousands of leftists were forced to flee the nation , but ultimately , shocked by the violence , Italian politics moderated .
Did we mention that a Masonic Lodge came very close to overthrowing the government ?
Strap yourself in .
You ’ re about to take a bumpy ride down an obscure historic lane , where “ truth being stranger than fiction ” is most certainly true ( and well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Years of Lead Before diving into the Italian Years of Lead , it ’ s important to understand the political climate of Italy after the Second World War .
The Communist Party was always a strong force in post-war Italian politics .
In the first election after the war ’ s end , in 1946 , the Communist Party received 18.9 percent of the vote .
Going into the second election at the end of the war , the Communist Party was poised for even greater success , buoyed by their alliance with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ replay of what happened in Czechoslovakia .
In both cases , the Communist Party had entered into an alliance with naive Socialists , whom they quickly outfoxed , dominating the electoral combination of nominal equals .
Meanwhile , in Czechoslovakia , a Communist coup d ’ etat was engineered by a section of the government dominated by Communist elected officials .
The CIA stepped in , putting their thumb on the scale in an attempt to prevent the Communists from succeeding in Italy as well .
This was one of the first battles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told , the CIA funneled somewhere between $ 10 and $ 20 million to defeat the Communists ( between $ 106 and $ 212 million in 2019 dollars ) .
In contrast , the Soviets spent between $ 8 and $ 10 million every month to ensure a Communist victory in the elections .
In an incredibly tense and vitriolic campaign , the Christian Democrats eventually bested the Communists , getting 48 percent of the vote to the Communist Party ’ s 31 .
The anti-Communist Socialist grouping netted the balance of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rest , as is common in Italy .
The Christian Democrats formed a broad tent coalition , despite having an electoral mandate that did not require it , bringing in Liberals , Republicans and Social Democrats .
However , this did not end the involvement of the CIA in Italy , nor the strength of the Communist Party .
The CIA spent an average of $ 5 million annually in Italy , both to prop up center-right governments and to weaken the influence of the trade unions , who traditionally supported the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first Italian election after the fall of Communism in 1992 , the Communist Party polled between 22 and 33 percent in Italian elections , a fact that always filled the CIA with dread .
It is worth briefly mentioning that the successor to the National / Republican Fascist Party , the Italian Social Movement , never polled higher than 9 percent .
The CIA was also a key player in Italy through Gladio , the stay-behind organization it backed in Italy to fight a guerilla insurgency against a potential Communist takeover of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s direct involvement in the Years of Lead is a hotly debated topic among historians .
The Hot Autumn of 1969 and 1970 Throughout the 1960s , Italy became increasingly industrialized and modernized , which led to discontent among both the left and the right .
These forces were very briefly united in a series of protests in Italy in 1968 .
However , the similarities between the far-left and far-right were too tenuous , and the establishment parties were largely skeptical of the counter-cultural orientation of the young radicals .
These protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Italy as the “ Hot Autumn.
” This was a series of wildcat strikes throughout Italy in its industrial sectors , largely in response to layoffs due to increased efficiencies in industrial production .
It was the basis of a growing Communist Party , and one that was shifting even further to the left in response to networks of activists known as “ autonomists.
” The Italian Years of Lead were in some part a reaction of the far-right to this ascendant Communist movement .
However , as stated above , international @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truth of how the whole thing started moving is incredibly complex .
The Years of Lead Claim Their First Victim : The Death of Antonio Annarumma The initial movement in the Years of Lead was simply a continuation of the Hot Autumn .
A group of autonomist students and workers occupied a FIAT factory in Milan .
During a related protest in November 1969 , Milan police officer Antonio Annarumma was killed by an iron tube .
The leftists protesters claimed that this was an accident , however , the courts found differently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but certainly not the last , bombing in the Italian Years of Lead .
On December 12 , 1969 , a bomb went off in the National Agrarian Bank ’ s headquarters in Piazza Fontana , some 200 meters from the Duomo .
The bomb claimed the lives of 17 people , with another 88 wounded .
At first , the press and the police blamed the attack on anarchists .
Police arrested prominent anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli , who died under suspicious circumstances when he fell from the fourth-story window of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three police in charge were later investigated , but cleared of any wrongdoing .
Police commissioner Luigi Calabresi was later assassinated by autonomist paramilitary group Lotta Continua as revenge for the death of Pinelli .
Another anarchist , Pietro Valpreda , was arrested and held without charge for three years after a cab driver identified him as his “ suspicious passenger.
” He was later exonerated .
Approximately three years after the bombing , the police finally switched their focus from investigating anarchist operatives to looking into the far-right , neo-fascist grouping Ordine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 3 , 1972 , Italian police arrested Franco Freda , Giovanni Ventura and Ordine Nuovo founder Pino Rauti , who consistently described himself as a non-fascist and a leftist throughout his lengthy political career on the far-right in Italy .
The first two were eventually convicted for two separate bombings in 1987 , and sentenced to 16 years .
The Masonic P2 Lodge – which we will go into in greater detail later – played a key role in running interference for the accused through their member General Gianandelio Maletti , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Italian state security services .
Curiously , the initial reaction of the police was not far off from what Ordine Nuovo had intended .
The bombings were meant not just to create a sense of overall terror , but to implicate the Communist movement in Italy .
The Left Strikes Back : The Formation of the Red Brigades In reaction to Ordine Nuovo and inspired by Latin American guerilla movements , as well as similar movements on the continent , the Brigate Rosse was formed in 1970 .
As was the case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Germany at the time , they saw the post-war government as a mere continuation of the previous fascist regime , now backed by NATO .
They grew out of a series of strikes against the Sit-Siemens corporation .
The bulk of their initial leadership were young and had been expelled from the Italian Communist Party ’ s youth movement for their extremism .
Their first action was a simple one : They set ablaze the car of Sit-Siemens corporate leader , Giuseppe Leoni .
No one was hurt .
The Red Brigades and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions throughout the Italian Years of Lead , and will pop up a number of times throughout this article .
A failed fascist coup would soon increase the tensions in Italy .
The failed fascist coup of 1970 probably had very little chance of success .
Still , it became a watchword on the Italian left .
Hundreds of members of Neo-Nazi group National Vanguard plotted to overthrow the government with 187 allies from the Italian Forestry Service , of all places .
The plan was to seize the offices of RAI , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what the Forestry Service members were in charge of .
Vanguard militants planned to assassinate the President of Italy , Giuseppe Saragat , as well as Italian police chief Angelo Vicari , while seizing the Quirinale , the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense .
The Vanguard would then have a large cache of weapons at the ready .
High-ranking military officials including Air Force General Giuseppe Casero were involved , as was the Sicilian mafia .
The plotters believed they would be supported by NATO forces in the Mediterrenean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was marginal within the CIA and other intelligence services , which saw the status quo as the best policy in the region .
A couple of people entered the Ministry of the Interior , but the coup otherwise went nowhere , as it was called off at the last minute .
All 46 plotters were eventually acquitted , because the coup was such a massive failure .
The Years of Lead Ramp Up : After the Coup While the coup was somewhat comical in its ineffectiveness , it was like throwing gas on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Armored car driver Alessandro Floris was assassinated by the October 22 Group .
The arrest of his assassin , Mario Rossi , led to the dismantling of the group by Italian police , who quickly stumbled onto the cache of weapons and propaganda the group was hoarding .
This group was considered a precursor of the Red Brigades who , in April 1974 , kidnapped a judge in an attempt to free October 22 Group prisoners .
Police officer Luigi Calabresi was the next victim , assassinated on May 17 , 1972 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then shifted their focus to neofascist militants .
Three members of Lotta Continua were eventually convicted 16 years after his death .
Next was the May 31 , 1972 bombing in Peteano , which claimed the lives of three carabinieri .
This was initially blamed on Lotta Continua as well , however , it was later found out to be the work of neofascist terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra .
Much like the earlier neofascist bombing , this was a false flag , with the intention of making the Italian state act in a more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ services helped Vinciguerra escape Italy to the safe harbor of Francisco Franco ’ s Spain .
Further investigation found that Nuovo Ordo had worked closely with the Italian state security services to help execute the bombing .
On April 16 , 1973 , two members of Potere Operaio attacked the house of Italian Social Movement member Mario Mattei with a flammable device .
He escaped unscathed , while his two sons , aged 8 and 22 , burned to death .
Their charred bodies were found embracing one another after the fire was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Italian Social Movement , a small , but mainstream party in Italy , played no part in the Italian Years of Lead , whose right-wing actors were cut from a far more radical bent than the Social Movement ’ s parliamentarians .
One month later , the police headquarters in Milan was bombed by anarchist Gianfranco Bertoli .
The attack killed four and wounded 75 .
In May of 1974 , the Piazza della Loggia in Brescia was bombed by Ordine Nuovo .
Eight people died and 102 were injured .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Italian Social Movement were murdered in Padua , murder initially ascribed ( like the burning of Mario Mattei ’ s home ) to infighting within the Italian right .
The Red Brigades later claimed the murders – their first .
Previously , the organization had only participated in bank robberies , kidnappings and bombings .
A second fascist coup was planned for July 1974 , but never executed .
On August 4 , 1974 , Nuovo Ordine bombed the Italicus Express train , killing 12 and injuring 48 .
While Nuovo Ordine claimed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to justice .
For those having trouble keeping track , the right-wing terrorist groups mostly bombed things in an attempt to get the government to crack down , while the left-wing terrorist groups specialized in kidnappings and targeted assassinations .
Some Red Brigade leaders were arrested in 1974 , but the organization continued – as did the violence .
Indeed , the violence began to be somewhat accepted as part of life in Italy at the time .
The far-left sympathizers generally claimed that the violence attributed to the far-left was in fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the far-right .
The murders , bombings and kidnappings are too numerous to go into detail starting around 1975 .
This was the year that left-wing groups killed MSI militant Mikis Mantakas during a riot and MSI militant Sergio Ramelli was beaten to death by members of Avanguardia Operaia ( a successor group to Lotta Continua ) with wrenches .
Left-wing student activist Alberto Brasili was stabbed to death by neo-fascists and carabinieri Giovanni D ’ Alfonso was murdered by the Red Brigades .
Things only intensified in 1976 .
Left-wing group Prima @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Neo-fascist Pierluigi Concutelli assassinated Judge Vittorio Occorsio .
In 1976 , there were several more murders , almost all of them perpetrated by left-wing terrorist groups , including the murder of Carlo Casalegno , deputy director of liberal newspaper La Stampa .
In 1978 , there were no fewer than 12 murders by left-wing groups , most of them by the Red Brigades , including a security chief for FIAT motors , three police officers , three judges , a university professor , and a notary .
Things had reached a fever pitch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return to a peaceful normal .
Italy finally turned a corner when the Red Brigades went a step too far : They kidnapped Italian former Prime Minister Aldo Moro , who at the time was the president of the mainstream center-right party in Italy , the Christian Democrats .
The former Prime Minister ’ s car was ambushed by members of the Red Brigades on March 16 , 1978 .
The assailants fired 91 shots at his five bodyguards , all of whom were killed in the attack .
Prima Linea militant Mario @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he knew that everything was going to change – the Red Brigades had finally bitten off more than they could chew .
The actual motive of the attack is not entirely clear , but it was probably to disrupt negotiations between Christian Democracy and the Communist Party of Italy .
The latter was finally being brought into government , albeit in indirect roles , for the first time since the end of the Second World War .
Moro wrote 86 letters during the 55 days he was held in captivity , including to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also to his family .
Some were sent and delivered , others were discovered later .
Conclusive evidence demonstrates that Moro was not tortured .
He was , however , put on a “ trial ” by a “ people ’ s court ” of Red Brigades , with predictable results .
The Red Brigades wanted to trade him for terrorists imprisoned , and eventually requested only one .
Moro ’ s body was found on the day of his murder , May 9 , 1978 .
The P2 Lodge has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The response of the Italian government – and indeed , the Italian public – to the kidnapping and murder of a former Prime Minister was sweeping and had consequences far beyond a simple winding down of the Italian Years of Lead .
First and foremost , the Historic Compromise brokered between the Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist Party was over .
It had been unpopular with Italy ’ s European allies .
But the kidnapping of a man considered the natural next president of the republic killed it stone dead .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major parties to rule in a grand coalition .
The Historic Compromise officially ended in November 1980 .
The president , Giovanni Leone , resigned less than a month after the kidnapping .
The government ’ s response was largely seen as a failure .
The Communist Party declined in influence , while the Christian Democracy remained steady until the early 90s , when it began to be supplanted by the more popular Lega Nord , now known simply as the Lega .
It is worth noting that , much as the MSI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups , so too were the far-left terrorist groups largely opposed by the Communist Party and outright despised by trade unionists .
Oddly , despite a massive government clampdown , 1979 was the bloodiest year of the Years of Lead , with 659 attacks , including 11 assassinations .
Among the victims that year were four policemen , a Lieutenant Colonel of the carabinieri , a trade unionist , a bartender and investigative journalist , a judge , and a university student .
All of these were committed by leftist terrorist groups .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ teachers and five students in the legs that year .
1980 topped 1979 in terms of assassinations with a total of 17 .
The victims that year included five policemen , a carabinieri general , a petrochemical manager , a cook , four judges , a security guard , and a journalist .
Prima Linea even turned on one of its own that year , killing William Vaccher on suspicion of treason to the group .
All but one of these were committed by left-wing groups .
While the Italian left had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new group on the far-right , the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari , formed by dissident members of the Italian Social Movement explicitly with the purpose of committing counter-attacks against the left , was planning something big – the Bologna Massacre .
This bombing of the Bologna Centrale train station killed 85 and wounded more than 200 .
While the group denied involvement , several of its members were sentenced for the bombing .
Christian Democratic Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga ’ s statement on the attack cuts to the heart of the difference between the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Lead : In short , the strategy of the left was more akin to a Third World guerilla insurrection , while the right hoped to provoke the state into clamping down on the left through false flags and other large-scale acts of terrorism .
Two members of the NAR were convicted , Francesca Mambro and Giuseppe Valerio “ Giusva ” Fioravanti , the latter a former Italian child actor .
The pair later married and had a daughter .
Both admit to having committed terrorist acts , but maintain their innocence with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Years of Lead Wind Down Left-wing violence in Italy related to the Years of Lead continued as far as 1988 .
However , after the Bologna Massacre , things had died down considerably .
1981 saw three kidnappings resulting in two murders .
The third , the kidnapping of American General James L. Dozier , then deputy-chief of NATO ’ s Southern European forces , was freed by an anti-terrorist squad .
In 1982 , the Red Brigades attacked a military convoy , killing a corporal and two police officers .
The assailants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , two guards were killed by Red Brigades during a bank robbery .
1983 was completely quiet , and thus might be a good place to mark the end of the Years of Lead proper .
However , in 1984 , American diplomat and Director General of international peacekeeping force , Multinational Force and Observers , Leamon Hunt , was killed by the Red Brigades .
In 1985 , the Red Brigades killed an economist and a policeman .
In 1986 , they assassinated the Mayor of Florence .
Italian Air Force General @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1987 .
In 1988 , the Red Brigades committed their final assassination , that of Senator Roberto Ruffilli .
On October 23rd of that year , the Red Brigades declared that their war against the state was over .
In 1985 , French President Francois Mitterand declared that he would not extradite convicted terrorists back to Italy .
Instead , he aimed to integrate them into French society .
Brazil and Nicaragua have likewise provided safe haven for left-wing terrorists of the Italian Years of Lead , most notably Alessio Casimirri , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ owns a restaurant in Nicaragua .
Epilogue : The P2 Affair and the Strategy of Tension While the players were mostly firmly identifiable either as being on the left or on the right , one group played both sides : The shadowy Masonic Lodge in exile Propaganda Due , also known as the P2 Lodge .
While the very mention of Freemasonry generally has people reaching for their tin foil hats , the P2 Lodge ’ s involvement in the Years of Lead – and other clandestine machinations within the Italian State – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obstruction and obfuscation of the resulting investigations .
The P2 Lodge and the extent of its influence was discovered in March 1981 , when police found a list of 962 alleged members , including future Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and pretender to the Italian throne Victor Emmanuel .
The ensuing scandal forced the resignation of the Italian government at the time .
In July 1982 , the ultimate aims of the Lodge were discovered , two documents entitled “ Memorandum sulla situazione italiana ” and “ Piano di rinascita democratica.
” These documents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trade unions as the biggest threats , proposing a grand alliance between the Christian Democrats and the Communists as the way forward .
It also outlined a means to control the media and political parties through extensive bribery .
A government report commissioned by the successors of the Communist Party , the Left Democrats , as well as Swiss historian Daniele Ganser have claimed that the Years of Lead were in large part the result of a “ strategy of tension ” by NATO , the CIA , Gladio and their allies ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is where actors , generally in the government , create or allow a state of hostility for the purpose of making political capital out of it .
It is entirely possible that the Years of Lead occurred due to a purposeful lack of action on the part of the Italian government , which saw the chaos as an opportunity for greater power .
America is a long way from its own Years of Lead .
What ’ s more , one of the principal ingredients – material support from powerful foreign governments – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the American political landscape becomes both increasingly radicalized and polarized , with extremist groups on the left and right growing in numbers , militancy and desperation , it ’ s not too hard to imagine that they might start shooting at one another in the very near future .
That won ’ t kick off a civil war , but it will make life in America considerably more tense and unpleasant .
Sam Jacobs is the lead writer and chief historian with Ammo.com , and is the driving intellectual force behind the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is proud to see his work name-checked in places like Bloomberg , USA Today and National Review , but he is far more proud to see his work republished on websites like ZeroHedge , Lew Rockwell and Sons of Liberty Media .
How many firearms does Sam own and what ’ s his everyday carry ?
That ’ s between him and the NSA .
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By Sam Jacobs
While there are some in the United States who believe we are headed toward another Civil War, there is perhaps another, more recent parallel worth exploring – the so-called “Italian Years of Lead.”
The short version is that in the late 1960s through the early 1980s, Italy was a hotbed of assassination, shoot-outs and bombings between various factions of the far-left, the far-right and the Italian government – with American, British and Soviet intelligence agencies often pulling the strings.
While the death toll was a lot lower than it could have been, it’s a fascinating and oft-overlooked area of history. When all was said and done, the Italian political landscape had been radically changed. Thousands of leftists were forced to flee the nation, but ultimately, shocked by the violence, Italian politics moderated.
Did we mention that a Masonic Lodge came very close to overthrowing the government? Strap yourself in. You’re about to take a bumpy ride down an obscure historic lane, where “truth being stranger than fiction” is most certainly true (and well documented).
Background of the Italian Years of Lead
Before diving into the Italian Years of Lead, it’s important to understand the political climate of Italy after the Second World War. The Communist Party was always a strong force in post-war Italian politics. In the first election after the war’s end, in 1946, the Communist Party received 18.9 percent of the vote. Going into the second election at the end of the war, the Communist Party was poised for even greater success, buoyed by their alliance with the Socialist Party – an almost exact replay of what happened in Czechoslovakia. In both cases, the Communist Party had entered into an alliance with naive Socialists, whom they quickly outfoxed, dominating the electoral combination of nominal equals.
Meanwhile, in Czechoslovakia, a Communist coup d’etat was engineered by a section of the government dominated by Communist elected officials. The CIA stepped in, putting their thumb on the scale in an attempt to prevent the Communists from succeeding in Italy as well. This was one of the first battles in the burgeoning Cold War. All told, the CIA funneled somewhere between $10 and $20 million to defeat the Communists (between $106 and $212 million in 2019 dollars). In contrast, the Soviets spent between $8 and $10 million every month to ensure a Communist victory in the elections.
In an incredibly tense and vitriolic campaign, the Christian Democrats eventually bested the Communists, getting 48 percent of the vote to the Communist Party’s 31. The anti-Communist Socialist grouping netted the balance of the remainder, with small parties picking up the rest, as is common in Italy. The Christian Democrats formed a broad tent coalition, despite having an electoral mandate that did not require it, bringing in Liberals, Republicans and Social Democrats.
However, this did not end the involvement of the CIA in Italy, nor the strength of the Communist Party. The CIA spent an average of $5 million annually in Italy, both to prop up center-right governments and to weaken the influence of the trade unions, who traditionally supported the Communist Party. From 1948 until the first Italian election after the fall of Communism in 1992, the Communist Party polled between 22 and 33 percent in Italian elections, a fact that always filled the CIA with dread.
It is worth briefly mentioning that the successor to the National / Republican Fascist Party, the Italian Social Movement, never polled higher than 9 percent.
The CIA was also a key player in Italy through Gladio, the stay-behind organization it backed in Italy to fight a guerilla insurgency against a potential Communist takeover of the country. The extent of Gladio’s direct involvement in the Years of Lead is a hotly debated topic among historians.
The Hot Autumn of 1969 and 1970
Throughout the 1960s, Italy became increasingly industrialized and modernized, which led to discontent among both the left and the right. These forces were very briefly united in a series of protests in Italy in 1968. However, the similarities between the far-left and far-right were too tenuous, and the establishment parties were largely skeptical of the counter-cultural orientation of the young radicals.
These protests set the stage for what is known in Italy as the “Hot Autumn.” This was a series of wildcat strikes throughout Italy in its industrial sectors, largely in response to layoffs due to increased efficiencies in industrial production. It was the basis of a growing Communist Party, and one that was shifting even further to the left in response to networks of activists known as “autonomists.”
The Italian Years of Lead were in some part a reaction of the far-right to this ascendant Communist movement. However, as stated above, international intelligence agencies were deeply involved and the truth of how the whole thing started moving is incredibly complex.
The Years of Lead Claim Their First Victim: The Death of Antonio Annarumma
The initial movement in the Years of Lead was simply a continuation of the Hot Autumn. A group of autonomist students and workers occupied a FIAT factory in Milan. During a related protest in November 1969, Milan police officer Antonio Annarumma was killed by an iron tube. The leftists protesters claimed that this was an accident, however, the courts found differently.
This was followed by the first, but certainly not the last, bombing in the Italian Years of Lead. On December 12, 1969, a bomb went off in the National Agrarian Bank’s headquarters in Piazza Fontana, some 200 meters from the Duomo. The bomb claimed the lives of 17 people, with another 88 wounded.
At first, the press and the police blamed the attack on anarchists. Police arrested prominent anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli, who died under suspicious circumstances when he fell from the fourth-story window of the police building while in custody. The three police in charge were later investigated, but cleared of any wrongdoing. Police commissioner Luigi Calabresi was later assassinated by autonomist paramilitary group Lotta Continua as revenge for the death of Pinelli.
Another anarchist, Pietro Valpreda, was arrested and held without charge for three years after a cab driver identified him as his “suspicious passenger.” He was later exonerated.
Approximately three years after the bombing, the police finally switched their focus from investigating anarchist operatives to looking into the far-right, neo-fascist grouping Ordine Nuovo (New Order). On March 3, 1972, Italian police arrested Franco Freda, Giovanni Ventura and Ordine Nuovo founder Pino Rauti, who consistently described himself as a non-fascist and a leftist throughout his lengthy political career on the far-right in Italy. The first two were eventually convicted for two separate bombings in 1987, and sentenced to 16 years.
The Masonic P2 Lodge – which we will go into in greater detail later – played a key role in running interference for the accused through their member General Gianandelio Maletti, the head of the Servizio Informazioni Difesa, the Italian state security services.
Curiously, the initial reaction of the police was not far off from what Ordine Nuovo had intended. The bombings were meant not just to create a sense of overall terror, but to implicate the Communist movement in Italy.
The Left Strikes Back: The Formation of the Red Brigades
In reaction to Ordine Nuovo and inspired by Latin American guerilla movements, as well as similar movements on the continent, the Brigate Rosse was formed in 1970. As was the case with many far-left groups in Italy and Germany at the time, they saw the post-war government as a mere continuation of the previous fascist regime, now backed by NATO.
They grew out of a series of strikes against the Sit-Siemens corporation. The bulk of their initial leadership were young and had been expelled from the Italian Communist Party’s youth movement for their extremism. Their first action was a simple one: They set ablaze the car of Sit-Siemens corporate leader, Giuseppe Leoni. No one was hurt.
The Red Brigades and Ordine Nuovo each committed a number of actions throughout the Italian Years of Lead, and will pop up a number of times throughout this article. A failed fascist coup would soon increase the tensions in Italy.
The Failed Fascist Coup d’etat: Golpe Borghese
The failed fascist coup of 1970 probably had very little chance of success. Still, it became a watchword on the Italian left. Hundreds of members of Neo-Nazi group National Vanguard plotted to overthrow the government with 187 allies from the Italian Forestry Service, of all places.
The plan was to seize the offices of RAI, the state Italian broadcaster. This is what the Forestry Service members were in charge of. Vanguard militants planned to assassinate the President of Italy, Giuseppe Saragat, as well as Italian police chief Angelo Vicari, while seizing the Quirinale, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense. The Vanguard would then have a large cache of weapons at the ready. High-ranking military officials including Air Force General Giuseppe Casero were involved, as was the Sicilian mafia. The plotters believed they would be supported by NATO forces in the Mediterrenean, however, support for the coup was marginal within the CIA and other intelligence services, which saw the status quo as the best policy in the region.
A couple of people entered the Ministry of the Interior, but the coup otherwise went nowhere, as it was called off at the last minute. All 46 plotters were eventually acquitted, because the coup was such a massive failure.
The Years of Lead Ramp Up: After the Coup
While the coup was somewhat comical in its ineffectiveness, it was like throwing gas on the fire of the Years of Lead. Armored car driver Alessandro Floris was assassinated by the October 22 Group. The arrest of his assassin, Mario Rossi, led to the dismantling of the group by Italian police, who quickly stumbled onto the cache of weapons and propaganda the group was hoarding. This group was considered a precursor of the Red Brigades who, in April 1974, kidnapped a judge in an attempt to free October 22 Group prisoners.
Police officer Luigi Calabresi was the next victim, assassinated on May 17, 1972. Police first suspected Lotta Continua, then shifted their focus to neofascist militants. Three members of Lotta Continua were eventually convicted 16 years after his death.
Next was the May 31, 1972 bombing in Peteano, which claimed the lives of three carabinieri. This was initially blamed on Lotta Continua as well, however, it was later found out to be the work of neofascist terrorist Vincenzo Vinciguerra. Much like the earlier neofascist bombing, this was a false flag, with the intention of making the Italian state act in a more authoritarian manner. The Italian state security services helped Vinciguerra escape Italy to the safe harbor of Francisco Franco’s Spain. Further investigation found that Nuovo Ordo had worked closely with the Italian state security services to help execute the bombing.
On April 16, 1973, two members of Potere Operaio attacked the house of Italian Social Movement member Mario Mattei with a flammable device. He escaped unscathed, while his two sons, aged 8 and 22, burned to death. Their charred bodies were found embracing one another after the fire was over. It is worth noting that the Italian Social Movement, a small, but mainstream party in Italy, played no part in the Italian Years of Lead, whose right-wing actors were cut from a far more radical bent than the Social Movement’s parliamentarians.
One month later, the police headquarters in Milan was bombed by anarchist Gianfranco Bertoli. The attack killed four and wounded 75. In May of 1974, the Piazza della Loggia in Brescia was bombed by Ordine Nuovo. Eight people died and 102 were injured. One month later, two members of the Italian Social Movement were murdered in Padua, murder initially ascribed (like the burning of Mario Mattei’s home) to infighting within the Italian right. The Red Brigades later claimed the murders – their first. Previously, the organization had only participated in bank robberies, kidnappings and bombings. A second fascist coup was planned for July 1974, but never executed. On August 4, 1974, Nuovo Ordine bombed the Italicus Express train, killing 12 and injuring 48. While Nuovo Ordine claimed responsibility, no perpetrators were ever brought to justice.
For those having trouble keeping track, the right-wing terrorist groups mostly bombed things in an attempt to get the government to crack down, while the left-wing terrorist groups specialized in kidnappings and targeted assassinations.
Some Red Brigade leaders were arrested in 1974, but the organization continued – as did the violence. Indeed, the violence began to be somewhat accepted as part of life in Italy at the time. The far-left sympathizers generally claimed that the violence attributed to the far-left was in fact false flag operations on the part of the far-right.
The murders, bombings and kidnappings are too numerous to go into detail starting around 1975. This was the year that left-wing groups killed MSI militant Mikis Mantakas during a riot and MSI militant Sergio Ramelli was beaten to death by members of Avanguardia Operaia (a successor group to Lotta Continua) with wrenches. Left-wing student activist Alberto Brasili was stabbed to death by neo-fascists and carabinieri Giovanni D’Alfonso was murdered by the Red Brigades.
Things only intensified in 1976. Left-wing group Prima Linea assassinated MSI lawyer Enrico Pedenovi. Neo-fascist Pierluigi Concutelli assassinated Judge Vittorio Occorsio. In 1976, there were several more murders, almost all of them perpetrated by left-wing terrorist groups, including the murder of Carlo Casalegno, deputy director of liberal newspaper La Stampa. In 1978, there were no fewer than 12 murders by left-wing groups, most of them by the Red Brigades, including a security chief for FIAT motors, three police officers, three judges, a university professor, and a notary.
Things had reached a fever pitch and it seemed that Italy would never return to a peaceful normal.
Italy Turns a Corner: Kidnapping of Aldo Moro
Italy finally turned a corner when the Red Brigades went a step too far: They kidnapped Italian former Prime Minister Aldo Moro, who at the time was the president of the mainstream center-right party in Italy, the Christian Democrats.
The former Prime Minister’s car was ambushed by members of the Red Brigades on March 16, 1978. The assailants fired 91 shots at his five bodyguards, all of whom were killed in the attack. Prima Linea militant Mario Ferrandi said that at the time, he knew that everything was going to change – the Red Brigades had finally bitten off more than they could chew.
The actual motive of the attack is not entirely clear, but it was probably to disrupt negotiations between Christian Democracy and the Communist Party of Italy. The latter was finally being brought into government, albeit in indirect roles, for the first time since the end of the Second World War. Moro wrote 86 letters during the 55 days he was held in captivity, including to figures such as Pope Paul VI, but also to his family. Some were sent and delivered, others were discovered later.
Conclusive evidence demonstrates that Moro was not tortured. He was, however, put on a “trial” by a “people’s court” of Red Brigades, with predictable results. The Red Brigades wanted to trade him for terrorists imprisoned, and eventually requested only one.
Moro’s body was found on the day of his murder, May 9, 1978. The P2 Lodge has been implicated in Moro’s kidnapping.
The response of the Italian government – and indeed, the Italian public – to the kidnapping and murder of a former Prime Minister was sweeping and had consequences far beyond a simple winding down of the Italian Years of Lead.
First and foremost, the Historic Compromise brokered between the Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist Party was over. It had been unpopular with Italy’s European allies. But the kidnapping of a man considered the natural next president of the republic killed it stone dead. The intention was for Italy’s two major parties to rule in a grand coalition. The Historic Compromise officially ended in November 1980.
The president, Giovanni Leone, resigned less than a month after the kidnapping. The government’s response was largely seen as a failure. The Communist Party declined in influence, while the Christian Democracy remained steady until the early 90s, when it began to be supplanted by the more popular Lega Nord, now known simply as the Lega.
It is worth noting that, much as the MSI was at odds with the far-right terrorist groups, so too were the far-left terrorist groups largely opposed by the Communist Party and outright despised by trade unionists.
Oddly, despite a massive government clampdown, 1979 was the bloodiest year of the Years of Lead, with 659 attacks, including 11 assassinations. Among the victims that year were four policemen, a Lieutenant Colonel of the carabinieri, a trade unionist, a bartender and investigative journalist, a judge, and a university student. All of these were committed by leftist terrorist groups. Additionally, the Red Brigades shot five teachers and five students in the legs that year.
1980 topped 1979 in terms of assassinations with a total of 17. The victims that year included five policemen, a carabinieri general, a petrochemical manager, a cook, four judges, a security guard, and a journalist. Prima Linea even turned on one of its own that year, killing William Vaccher on suspicion of treason to the group. All but one of these were committed by left-wing groups.
The Biggest Attack: The Bologna Massacre
While the Italian left had been pushing big numbers with assassination, a new group on the far-right, the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari, formed by dissident members of the Italian Social Movement explicitly with the purpose of committing counter-attacks against the left, was planning something big – the Bologna Massacre. This bombing of the Bologna Centrale train station killed 85 and wounded more than 200. While the group denied involvement, several of its members were sentenced for the bombing.
Christian Democratic Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga’s statement on the attack cuts to the heart of the difference between the left- and right-wing actions during the Years of Lead:
“Unlike leftist terrorism, which strikes at the heart of the state through its representatives, right-wing terrorism prefers acts such as massacres because acts of extreme violence promote panic and impulsive reactions.”
In short, the strategy of the left was more akin to a Third World guerilla insurrection, while the right hoped to provoke the state into clamping down on the left through false flags and other large-scale acts of terrorism.
Two members of the NAR were convicted, Francesca Mambro and Giuseppe Valerio “Giusva” Fioravanti, the latter a former Italian child actor. The pair later married and had a daughter. Both admit to having committed terrorist acts, but maintain their innocence with regard to the Bologna Massacre.
The Years of Lead Wind Down
Left-wing violence in Italy related to the Years of Lead continued as far as 1988. However, after the Bologna Massacre, things had died down considerably. 1981 saw three kidnappings resulting in two murders. The third, the kidnapping of American General James L. Dozier, then deputy-chief of NATO’s Southern European forces, was freed by an anti-terrorist squad.
In 1982, the Red Brigades attacked a military convoy, killing a corporal and two police officers. The assailants were never apprehended. Later that year, two guards were killed by Red Brigades during a bank robbery.
1983 was completely quiet, and thus might be a good place to mark the end of the Years of Lead proper. However, in 1984, American diplomat and Director General of international peacekeeping force, Multinational Force and Observers, Leamon Hunt, was killed by the Red Brigades. In 1985, the Red Brigades killed an economist and a policeman. In 1986, they assassinated the Mayor of Florence. Italian Air Force General Licio Giorgieri was assassinated by the Brigades in 1987. In 1988, the Red Brigades committed their final assassination, that of Senator Roberto Ruffilli.
On October 23rd of that year, the Red Brigades declared that their war against the state was over.
In 1985, French President Francois Mitterand declared that he would not extradite convicted terrorists back to Italy. Instead, he aimed to integrate them into French society. Brazil and Nicaragua have likewise provided safe haven for left-wing terrorists of the Italian Years of Lead, most notably Alessio Casimirri, one of Moro’s kidnappers who owns a restaurant in Nicaragua.
Epilogue: The P2 Affair and the Strategy of Tension
While the players were mostly firmly identifiable either as being on the left or on the right, one group played both sides: The shadowy Masonic Lodge in exile Propaganda Due, also known as the P2 Lodge.
While the very mention of Freemasonry generally has people reaching for their tin foil hats, the P2 Lodge’s involvement in the Years of Lead – and other clandestine machinations within the Italian State – are very well documented, primarily through obstruction and obfuscation of the resulting investigations.
The P2 Lodge and the extent of its influence was discovered in March 1981, when police found a list of 962 alleged members, including future Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and pretender to the Italian throne Victor Emmanuel. The ensuing scandal forced the resignation of the Italian government at the time.
In July 1982, the ultimate aims of the Lodge were discovered, two documents entitled “Memorandum sulla situazione italiana” and “Piano di rinascita democratica.” These documents identified the Italian Communist Party and the trade unions as the biggest threats, proposing a grand alliance between the Christian Democrats and the Communists as the way forward. It also outlined a means to control the media and political parties through extensive bribery.
A government report commissioned by the successors of the Communist Party, the Left Democrats, as well as Swiss historian Daniele Ganser have claimed that the Years of Lead were in large part the result of a “strategy of tension” by NATO, the CIA, Gladio and their allies (including the P2 Lodge). This is where actors, generally in the government, create or allow a state of hostility for the purpose of making political capital out of it.
It is entirely possible that the Years of Lead occurred due to a purposeful lack of action on the part of the Italian government, which saw the chaos as an opportunity for greater power.
The American Years of Lead?
America is a long way from its own Years of Lead. What’s more, one of the principal ingredients – material support from powerful foreign governments – seems to be lacking. However, as the American political landscape becomes both increasingly radicalized and polarized, with extremist groups on the left and right growing in numbers, militancy and desperation, it’s not too hard to imagine that they might start shooting at one another in the very near future.
That won’t kick off a civil war, but it will make life in America considerably more tense and unpleasant.
Article source: Ammo.com
Sam Jacobs is the lead writer and chief historian with Ammo.com, and is the driving intellectual force behind the content in the Resistance Library. He is proud to see his work name-checked in places like Bloomberg, USA Today and National Review, but he is far more proud to see his work republished on websites like ZeroHedge, Lew Rockwell and Sons of Liberty Media.
How many firearms does Sam own and what’s his everyday carry? That’s between him and the NSA.
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activistpost--2020-02-10--Multiple Depts Caught Not Only Ignoring Rape Kits, But Destroying Them With No Investigation

Plymouth , MN — Illustrating the careless and utterly ineffective nature of many police departments in the United States is the fact that rape kits go untested from coast to coast .
However , one recent and particularly egregious case out of Minnesota shows just how brazen police can be in ignoring rape victims .
Police in Plymouth , Minnesota aren ’ t just ignoring the rape kits , they are destroying them without investigation .
For those who may be unaware , after being raped , victims are subject to more humiliation by having to undergo DNA evidence testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Thinking that this will help catch their abuser , most victims undergo these tests .
When one woman — who wishes to remain anonymous — walked into the Plymouth police station after being brutally raped , she underwent this humiliating experience in an attempt to catch her rapist .
After providing the rape kit , she assumed police would investigate it .
However , they did not .
Not until nine years later did this woman find out police never sent the kit to the lab and instead destroyed it .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to beat and rape many more victims .
He would eventually get caught in Colorado and now sits in jail .
But this predator could ’ ve been caught years earlier had it not been for these criminally negligent cops .
According to a report out of KARE 11 , this woman is not alone and departments across the state have destroyed hundred of kits .
Even though Minnesota recently received a $ 2 million federal grant to DNA test the state ’ s backlog of thousands of untested rape kits , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 220 kits will never be tested because they ’ ve already been destroyed .
Overall , police agencies across the state destroyed more than 450 rape kits in unsolved and uncharged cases .
Legal experts told KARE 11 it would be almost impossible to bring charges in a case involving a destroyed rape kit .
Regardless of whether it was tested , due to the wording in a state law passed 20 ago , KARE 11 discovered that destroying a rape kit likely starts the statute of limitations on when a case @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victims in the cases from ever seeing justice , even if new information surfaces .
“ What you ’ re discovering is that these statutes of limitations are going to be a detriment to victims because somebody destroyed the kits , ” said DFL Rep. Kelly Moller .
History shows that when these kits are investigated , rapists are caught .
It ’ s that simple .
So , the negligence and complacency in refusing to investigate these rape kits borders on criminal behavior , especially considering what happens when police actually investigate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , lawmakers across the country have set out to shift the “ culture ” of ignoring rape kits—and it is working .
New York City District Attorney Cyrus Vance has helped to allocate $ 38 million in funding to help 20 states process previously untested rape kits .
As a result of this movement , according to law enforcement officials , more than 1,000 arrests and hundreds of convictions have been made from testing the backlog of kits going back months , years and , in some cases , decades .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also allocated $ 154 million to help in clearing the backlog of kits as well .
Until this policing for profit paradigm shifts , we can expect to see other massive backlogs continue to pile up and be destroyed .
Sadly , law enforcement in America often chooses profit over people .
Tens of thousands of raids on people for suspected illegal substances take place every year , while hundreds of thousands of rape kits collect dust in police departments across the country .
If you were murdered today , there ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ catching the person who did it .
That number drops to 3 % if you ’ re raped .
50 years ago , that number was much higher .
What happened ?
The answer to that question can be found by looking at where police allocate much of their time and resources .
Civil asset forfeiture pays .
Busting low-level drug dealers by the dozen and confiscating their drugs , guns , cars , houses , and money pays .
Writing tickets for victimless crime pays .
Pulling you over for window tint @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and expired license plates ; these are the things that pay—not solving crimes .
In criminal justice , clearance rates are used as a measure of crimes solved by the police .
The clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of crimes that are “ cleared ” ( a charge being laid ) by the total number of crimes recorded .
In the United States , the murder clearance rate in 1965 was more than 90 percent .
Since the inception of the war on drugs , the murder clearance rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 65 percent per year .
This decline is in spite of there being far fewer murders .
It is also in spite of new technological developments to help police solve crimes , like DNA testing , advanced forensic labs , and unethical surveillance state technology .
Despite the near complete erosion of the constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure , the clearance rate for murder continued its free fall .
This highlights the fact that no matter how many rights are given up or freedoms diminished , police can not guarantee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potential crime if it happened to you .
While police are failing to investigate murders , the rate at which they are ignoring rape is nothing short of criminal .
Every 98 seconds , someone is sexually assaulted in the United States .
According to the Department of Justice , there are hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits collecting dust in police evidence rooms nationwide , and many other estimates suggest that this number could be as high as one million .
As a result of this horrific negligence , roughly 3 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually solved .
This is in spite of the fact that many rape kits have a high chance of leading to an arrest since most rapists are career criminals who have their DNA on file .
In some cases , the victims even know who their attackers were , but they can not prosecute these criminals because the evidence has yet to be processed by police .
Arresting rapists and murderers simply falls short in the two areas police are worried about—revenue collection and keeping their inflated drug war budgets flowing .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happens when police go after actual criminals instead of people who choose to partake in substances deemed illegal by the state .
Sadly , however , it has taken hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives for police to finally prosecute these actual criminals and the victims who attempt to hold them accountable are still being ignored .
“ I ’ m shocked , and nothing around the lines of sexual assault cases should shock me anymore , ” said DFL Rep. Kelly Moller , a prosecutor who has worked on sexual assault @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is very upsetting to know that these kits have been destroyed and really eliminating the chance for justice for these survivors.
” Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA .
This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state .
Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world .
Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Steemit , and now on Minds .
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace , and freedom news .
Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $ 1 per month at Patreon .
Follow us on SoMee , Flote , Minds , Twitter , and Steemit .
Provide , Protect and Profit from what ’ s coming !
Get a free issue of Counter Markets today .

By Matt Agorist
Plymouth, MN — Illustrating the careless and utterly ineffective nature of many police departments in the United States is the fact that rape kits go untested from coast to coast. However, one recent and particularly egregious case out of Minnesota shows just how brazen police can be in ignoring rape victims. Police in Plymouth, Minnesota aren’t just ignoring the rape kits, they are destroying them without investigation.
For those who may be unaware, after being raped, victims are subject to more humiliation by having to undergo DNA evidence testing in the form of a rape kit. Thinking that this will help catch their abuser, most victims undergo these tests.
When one woman — who wishes to remain anonymous — walked into the Plymouth police station after being brutally raped, she underwent this humiliating experience in an attempt to catch her rapist. After providing the rape kit, she assumed police would investigate it.
However, they did not. Not until nine years later did this woman find out police never sent the kit to the lab and instead destroyed it. As a result, the rapist went on to beat and rape many more victims. He would eventually get caught in Colorado and now sits in jail. But this predator could’ve been caught years earlier had it not been for these criminally negligent cops.
“They could have stopped him,” said the woman. “But I went through all of that for nothing. That is the worst feeling in the world.”
According to a report out of KARE 11, this woman is not alone and departments across the state have destroyed hundred of kits. Even though Minnesota recently received a $2 million federal grant to DNA test the state’s backlog of thousands of untested rape kits, a KARE 11 investigation has found that more than 220 kits will never be tested because they’ve already been destroyed. Overall, police agencies across the state destroyed more than 450 rape kits in unsolved and uncharged cases. Legal experts told KARE 11 it would be almost impossible to bring charges in a case involving a destroyed rape kit. Regardless of whether it was tested, due to the wording in a state law passed 20 ago, KARE 11 discovered that destroying a rape kit likely starts the statute of limitations on when a case can be prosecuted. That can keep victims in the cases from ever seeing justice, even if new information surfaces. “What you’re discovering is that these statutes of limitations are going to be a detriment to victims because somebody destroyed the kits,” said DFL Rep. Kelly Moller.
History shows that when these kits are investigated, rapists are caught. It’s that simple. So, the negligence and complacency in refusing to investigate these rape kits borders on criminal behavior, especially considering what happens when police actually investigate them. As TFTP reported last year, lawmakers across the country have set out to shift the “culture” of ignoring rape kits—and it is working.
New York City District Attorney Cyrus Vance has helped to allocate $38 million in funding to help 20 states process previously untested rape kits.
As a result of this movement, according to law enforcement officials, more than 1,000 arrests and hundreds of convictions have been made from testing the backlog of kits going back months, years and, in some cases, decades.
According to the AP, the Justice Department has also allocated $154 million to help in clearing the backlog of kits as well.
Until this policing for profit paradigm shifts, we can expect to see other massive backlogs continue to pile up and be destroyed. Sadly, law enforcement in America often chooses profit over people. Tens of thousands of raids on people for suspected illegal substances take place every year, while hundreds of thousands of rape kits collect dust in police departments across the country.
If you were murdered today, there’s only a 60% chance of police catching the person who did it. That number drops to 3% if you’re raped. 50 years ago, that number was much higher. What happened?
The answer to that question can be found by looking at where police allocate much of their time and resources.
Civil asset forfeiture pays. Busting low-level drug dealers by the dozen and confiscating their drugs, guns, cars, houses, and money pays. Writing tickets for victimless crime pays. Pulling you over for window tint, seat belts, arbitrary traveling speeds, and expired license plates; these are the things that pay—not solving crimes.
In criminal justice, clearance rates are used as a measure of crimes solved by the police. The clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of crimes that are “cleared” (a charge being laid) by the total number of crimes recorded.
In the United States, the murder clearance rate in 1965 was more than 90 percent. Since the inception of the war on drugs, the murder clearance rate has plummeted to an average of less than 65 percent per year.
This decline is in spite of there being far fewer murders. It is also in spite of new technological developments to help police solve crimes, like DNA testing, advanced forensic labs, and unethical surveillance state technology.
Despite the near complete erosion of the constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure, the clearance rate for murder continued its free fall. This highlights the fact that no matter how many rights are given up or freedoms diminished, police cannot guarantee your safety — or even solve a potential crime if it happened to you.
While police are failing to investigate murders, the rate at which they are ignoring rape is nothing short of criminal.
Every 98 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted in the United States.
According to the Department of Justice, there are hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits collecting dust in police evidence rooms nationwide, and many other estimates suggest that this number could be as high as one million.
As a result of this horrific negligence, roughly 3% of rape cases in America are actually solved. This is in spite of the fact that many rape kits have a high chance of leading to an arrest since most rapists are career criminals who have their DNA on file.
In some cases, the victims even know who their attackers were, but they can not prosecute these criminals because the evidence has yet to be processed by police.
Arresting rapists and murderers simply falls short in the two areas police are worried about—revenue collection and keeping their inflated drug war budgets flowing.
The hundreds of convictions mentioned above illustrate what happens when police go after actual criminals instead of people who choose to partake in substances deemed illegal by the state. Sadly, however, it has taken hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives for police to finally prosecute these actual criminals and the victims who attempt to hold them accountable are still being ignored.
“I’m shocked, and nothing around the lines of sexual assault cases should shock me anymore,” said DFL Rep. Kelly Moller, a prosecutor who has worked on sexual assault reform in the legislature. “It is very upsetting to know that these kits have been destroyed and really eliminating the chance for justice for these survivors.”
Article source: The Free Thought Project
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Minds.
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Follow us on SoMee, Flote, Minds, Twitter, and Steemit.
Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.