Operation Gladio was a post-World War II effort by NATO bloc spy agencies to suppress the dialectic swing away from fascism towards left-leaning political movements in Europe. The Italian branch of the stay-behind network was established using [[Junio Valerio Borghese]] as the primary OSS and later CIA asset. Unlike some fascist collaborators executed alongside Mussolini, Borghese was chaperoned to [[Vatican City]] by OSS spook James Angleton and became the figurehead of Italy's post-war fascist movement through his role in Gladio operations.[^1] Trieste, part of the former [[Republic of Salo]] and a seaport city with a strong left-leaning labor union movement after the war, was one of the first targets of Operation Gladio using former Decima Flottiglia MAS operatives under [[Junio Valerio Borghese|Borghese]]'s direction in 1953. In Belgium, a political faction aligned with the Parti Social Chretien (Christian Social Party, CSP) at its fringes was connected to Belgium's neo-fascist movement and Operation Gladio. Prominent figures involved with this political faction, and with the [[Societe Generale de Banque]] financial firm backing it, were identified in the [[X-Dossier]] as powerful figures in a network of child abusers linked to [[Jean-Michel Nihoul]].[^1] The [[X-Dossier]] contains accounts of youths being tortured and murdered at orgies attended by prominent members of Belgian society, including politicians, magistrates, barons, and royalty closely linked to Europe's neo-fascist movement and Operation Gladio. The ASCO Industries NV factory belonging to [[Roger Boas]], a close associate of politicians, lawyers, and financiers orbiting the CSP, was identified by X1 as a site where snuff films were produced. The intersection of Gladio networks, fascist political movements, and the child abuse networks documented in the [[X-Dossier]] pointed to overlapping membership among Belgium's political and industrial elites.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). *Eye of the Chickenhawk*. United States: Thehotstar.