Notes on the Extreme Right, 1969-82.  Old Nazis, neo-fascists, false flag operations, drug money, counter-terrorism, movement conservatives, and the Reagan administration

This is a pair of timelines I initially set out in July 2008, along with some tentative conclusions.  The chief purpose of the information here is to document the many ties between the "New Right" (movement conservatives) of the 1970s and CIA front groups, many of them with neo-fascist ties.  (I also believe that these ties led to the adoption of CIA-style "regime change" techniques by much of the right, and that these disruptive tactics have since been responsible for undermining our democratic system..)

A more speculative suggestion made here is that illicit drug money may have begun to flow to consrvative causes around 1973, supporting not only neo-fascists but also "respectable" conservative organizations in the United States whose abundant funding is usually attributed solely to wealthy donors like Joseph Coors, Richard Mellon Sciafe, and the Hunt brothers.

Additional speculations have to do with the rise of the "counter-terrorism" industry in the 1970s and the invention of the War on Terror at the end of the decade.  It is my suspicion that many of the terrorist actions of the period, which were tied by conservative analysts to left-wing radicals and to the Soviet Union, were actually committed by neo-fascists.  Some of these were later revealed to have been false flag operations, but there are hints that even those which can be traced to genuine Islamic groups were instigated not from the left but from the right.

I haz a wiki!

As I reviewed this material, I realized that I'm never going to be able to fulfill my original intention of writing it all up in polished essay form.  The material goes in too many directions, is of various degrees of reliability, and generally doesn't make for a polished history.  On the other hand, a wiki seems ideal for entering timelines, speculations, and background information on individuals, organizations, and events.

I therefore present -- the Trogholm Wiki.


1969-72: Laying the Foundation for a Right-wing Resurgence
In response to the revolutionary events of 1968-69, the old elite and fascist elements that have been laying low since 1945 start stirring -- founding propaganda outlets and beginning false front operations.  Members of William Buckley's Young Americans for Freedom begin forming questionable associations with the same elements.
Gladio-style events begin in Italy and Portugal in 1969 and are blamed on anarchists.  Stefano Idelle Chiaie is the major architect of the strategy of tension, intended to restore fascism in Italy, and is also in contact with Latin fascists and WACL.
An American affiliate of the World Anti-Communist League, the American Council for World Freedom,  is formed in 1970, headed by former YAFer Lee Edwards.  It attracts both old-line anti-communists and many New Rightists, despite the WACL's fascist connections.
In 1970, ex-Nazi and CIA asset Otto Skorzeny creates the Paladin Group, a neo-fascist mercenary organization related to the WACL.  Headquartered in Spain, it is also allied with the dictatorships in Portugal and Greece and with the Italian neo-fascists behind the strategy of tension.  Skorzeny, who dreams of a Fourth Reich in Latin America, is the mastermind of the fascist revival until his death in 1975.  Skorzeny also had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and may have instigated Mideast terrorist group.  (Alleged Arafat connection.)
On December 7, 1970, there is an abortive fascist coup in Italy by Prince Valerio Borghese (Angleton's old pal) backed by delle Chiaie, and they both then flee to Spain.
Roberto Calvi becomes director-general of Banco Ambrosiano in 1971 and starts transforming it from a small local bank into an international powerhouse, setting up shell companies in places like the Bahamas and Panama and establishing connections to the Vatican, the Mafia, and the Nixon administration.
The World Anti-Communist League is expanding and attracting many European and Latin American fascists.  In 1972, the Mexican neo-Nazi group, the Tecos, joins WACL.  Sandoval Alarcon (who had been involved in the CIA coup against Arbenz in 1954) becomes head of the WACL in Guatemala in 1972.
In 1972, French fascist Jean Le Pen founds the Front National.
The traditional French Connection heroin networks are overthrown in 1972-73 and allegedly replaced by neo-fascist groups associated with WACL and Cuban exiles (Operation 40).  (Henrik Kruger, The Great Heroin Coup.) Mitch WerBell is identified as a central figure in this shift, who trained Cuban exiles and armed Spanish neo-Nazis.  (How does it connect to DEA activity in the Nixon White House?)
1973-75: The Right Gets Dirtier
With neo-fascist takeovers in Chile and Argentina 1973, followed by the collapse of European dictatorships in 1974-75, Latin America becomes the new center of neo-fascism and a hotbed of repression and death squads.
Juan Peron returns to Argentina in June 1973 with his bodyguard of neo-fascist thugs and Cuban drug smugglers.  Massacres begin immediately.
Salvador Allende is overthrown in Chile on September 11, 1973.  P2 and Ted Shackley are said by some sources to be involved.
Peron is elected president of Argentina in October 1973.  José López Rega -- a friend of Skorzeny's and P2 member with links to delle Chiaie known as El Brujo -- dominates the failing Peron.and heads the secret police, which coordinates with the Argentine Anti-communist Alliance, the prototype for Latin American death squads. 
The Rome airport is bombed in December 1973, with participation by Skorzeny's Paladin Group.
The Portuguese dictatorship is overthrown in April 1974, the Greek dictatorship ends in July 1974, and the center of neo-fascist activity moves to Latin America.
Juan Peron dies in July 1974 and is succeeded by his wife Isabel.
The American-Chilean Council is founded in 1974 with many of the same people who are involved in the ACWF, the same ties to YAF, and the same later connections of several members to Reverend Moon.  It will be revealed in 1978 to be a front for the Chilean dictatorship
Sandoval Alarcon becomes Guatemalan vice president in 1974. He sets up death squads, establishes close ties with Taiwan, and creates a model that will spread through much of Central America.  Operation Condor-type activities start appearing in South America.
In 1975, Jesse Helms -- who had been a senator and a center of right-wing organization since 1973 -- visits WACL headquarters in Taiwan and becomes a focus for GOP and CIA connections to the Latin American affiliates.  He attends a WACL conference in Argentina in April, along with Victor Fediay and others.
In 1975, Delle Chiaie, who is working with Chile by this time, plots a fascist coup in the Azores, for which Richard V. Allen and Victor Fediay (an associate of Paul Weyrich) try to get US support.  Delle Chiaie also attempts to assassinate Christian Democrat Bernardo Leighton in October Rome, and he allegedly plots a murder in Chile with Pinochet at Francisco Franco's funeral in November 1975.
In 1975, neo-Nazi Roger Pearson becomes an editor for the American Security Council.
Michael Ledeen is in Italy in 1975-76 and moves sharply to the right.
1976-80:  Fascist Chic
The pace of neo-fascist activity picks up and there even seems to be a sort of neo-fascist chic on the right.  The Moon/WACL/Latin America/Taiwan/New Right grouping goes into high gear.
Revelations of its fascist ties cause the US affiliate of the World Anti-Communist League to collapse, and neo-Nazi Roger Pearson forms a new US affiliate in 1975
Operation Condor is launched in November 1975, with tacit US support, as an attempt by seven Latin American dictatorships to eradicate left-wing opposition.  Anti-Cuban exiles are also involved, including Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch.  The assassination squads are allegedly headquartered in Colonia Dignidad.  According to Robert Parry, operations are funded by Bolivian cocaine money, laundered through Miami banks.
An Argentine junta takes over in a coup in April 1976 and institutes the "dirty war."  Some member of the junta also belong to P2.  Jesse Helms allegedly encourages the coup.
In 1976, Lee Edwards, Richard Viguerie, Howard Phillips, and Paul Weyrich try but fail to take over the racist American Independent Party from Lester Maddox.
In 1975-77, Lyndon LaRouche makes contact with the Liberty Lobby and starts meeting with European fascists.  He also hooks up with Mitch WerBell.
The Council for Inter-American Security is formed in 1976 and included many of the same New Rightists as the American-Chilean Council.  It has extensive ties to both ASC and Reverend Moon.
In 1976-77, there is an explosion of fascist and neo-Nazi groups in Europe.
In 1977-78, Pearson is on the editorial board of the Heritage Foundation's Policy Review.  
In 1978, Pearson becomes head of the WACL as a whole, and it takes in many European fascists and Gladio figures, including Delle Chiaie.  
In the late 1970's, the Turkish Grey Wolves are running a heroin smuggling network that also sells NATO weapons in the Middle East.  Both the CIA and Banco Ambrosiano are involved, and allegedly delle Chiaie is as well.
Kidnapping and murder of Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, March-May 1978.
John Paul I becomes pope in August 1978, dies in September, and is succeeded by John Paul II.
December 1979 - American Security Council sends John Singland and Daniel O. Graham to Guatemala to assure them of more sympathetic support if Reagan is elected.
1980 - CIS produces the "Santa Fe document," encouraging anti-Communist activism in Latin America, which becomes the official foreign policy of the Reagan administration.  Roger Fontaine (Ray Cline's son-in-law) is prominently involved and also has ties with d'Aubuisson.
1980 - Roger Pearson's attempts to bring fascists into WACL and oust more moderate groups lead to internal conflict and negative press coverage.  Pearson leaves WACL and his US affiliate collapses.
July 17, 1980 - Cocaine Coup in Bolivia carried out by Argentine neo-fascists using the Operation Condor slush fund, local drug lords, and Klaus Barbie, who has been running a drugs and assassination business there with delle Chiaie..  WACL, Reverend Moon, and P2 are all said to be involved.
Aug. 2, 1980 - Bologna train station bombing.  Delle Chiaie involved.
Sep. 12, 1980 - Military coup in Turkey with CIA support.
September 1980 - Conference called in Argentina by the Latin American Anti-Communist Confederation develops plans to spread an Argentine model of fascist dictatorships throughout Latin America.  Delle Chiaie (who at that time is engaged in cocaine smuggling and assassination in Bolivia, along with Klaus Barbie) is there. P2 and probably Banco Ambrosiano are also involved.  Jesse Helms' aide John Carbaugh attends and meets Sandoval protege Roberto d'Aubuisson, who pays an illegal visit to Helms in December.
Following the CAL conference, Argentine military advisers start training the El Salvador junta in death squad techniques.  Massacres and disappearances accelerate.
1981 - mid-1982:  The Fall of P2
Mar. 17, 1981 - Police raid offices of Propaganda Due (P2) and home of Licio Gelli in the wake of the Banco Ambrosiano scandal. Michael Ledeen allegedly tries to squash the list of P2 members on behalf of Haig and Kissinger.
May 13, 1981 - Assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II.  Ledeen and Pazienza are central to promulgating claims that Bulgarians behind it.  The actual perpetrators appear to be the Turkish Grey Wolves -- who also have links to delle Chiaie -- and P2 may be involved as well.
1981 - John Singlaub forms a new US affiliate of WACL with funding from Joseph Coors and attempts to improve its image.  Howard Phillips and Andy Messing are key figures.
November 1981 - John Singlaub founds a new US branch of the World Anti-Communist League with funding from Joseph Coors and the Hunt brothers. It successfully sheds its fascist image and forms connections with most the the US right.
Mar-Jun 1982 - Falkland Islands War.
May 17, 1982 - Reverend Moon launches the Washington Times.
c. June 1982 - The Italian government learns that Banco Ambrosiano cannot account for $1.3 billion, a shortfall which Opus Dei allegedly tries to shore up.  Roberto Calvi flees the country on June 11.
June 18, 1982 - Roberto Calvi found hanged under a bridge in London, breaking the Banco Ambrosiano scandal wide open..



The British-US Propaganda Machine
In 1970, MI6/CIA propagandist Brian Crozier founds the Institute for the Study of Conflict, a right-wing think-tank and anti-communist propaganda organ devoted to the study of terrorism.  The ISC encourages the use of surveillance and military intervention against "left-wing insurgency."
Robert Moss (also a former MI6 officer with CIA connections) is in Chile in 1970-72, planting black propaganda to make trouble for Allende by causing friction with Argentina.  In 1973, Moss publishes a pro-Pinochet book, Chile's Marxist Experiment.
Joseph Coors begins funding Paul Weyrich in 1971.
Richard Mellon Scaife funds Crozier's ISC lavishly from 1973-79 after the CIA declines to do so.  (Crozier, who had been a CIA contract employee by the 60's, says he was introduced to Scaife by the CIA.)
Weyrich founds the Heritage Foundation in 1973, and thanks to Coors' generous support it is accepted as a legitimate think-tank and not merely a propaganda outlet.
ISC propaganda plays a role in the 1974 British election, including a report blaming left-wing militants for industrial unrest.
In 1975, Brian Crozier sets up a DC branch of the ISC, despite a ban on CIA-backed propaganda within the US.  He is also involved in the founding of the National Association for Freedom, a British free-market group of corporate leaders and military and intelligence figures. Robert Moss, who had been involved with Crozier's ISC, is a NAFF member and editor of its journal.
In 1976, the Safari Club is established -- apparently having some connection with the Pinay Circle -- and the Saudis fund the CIA through secret accounts at Riggs Bank.  The Saudis are starting to invest in the US at this time, and James Bath is representing Salem bin Laden's interests in Houston.
In 1976, Crozier sets up a private advisory committee, Shield, to get Margaret Thatcher elected prime minister.  In 1977-79, it produces papers recommending covert action against "subversives" and contingency planning against domestic unrest under a potential Thatcher government.
In 1977, George H.W. Bush leaves the CIA and goes to work for First International Bancshares, which has ties to BCCI.
On February 11, 1977, Crozier and others (including General Vernon Walters) create a private intelligence agency, The 61.
Menachem Begin becomes prime minister of Israel in 1977 and sets up the first Likud government.  Israel starts to cozy up to the right in the US and to paint itself as an indispensable US ally in the Middle East.  The Israelis are selling arms in Central America and may already be involved in the Enterprise's cocaine operations.
Ledeen returns to the US in 1977-78 and becomes a fellow of Ray Cline's CSIS and the first executive director of JINSA, which was founded in 1976 to press for US arming of Israel.  He may be in contact at this time with James Jesus Angleton, whom he has described as a mentor, and who is also dealing with the Israelis.  He is involved in heavy leaking to Mossad.
In 1978, Prince Turki Ibn Faisal Ibn Abdelaziz becomes the head of Saudi intelligence.  BCCI starts to acquire US banks through frontmen like Ghaith Pharaon.
In 1978-80, Robert Moss and Arnaud de Borchgrave collaborate on writing The Spike -- a thriller about a KGB plot to take over the United States by subverting the media and progressive groups -- with the support of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers and CSIS (both connected with Ray Cline), as well as the Heritage Foundation.
Feb. 11, 1979 - Shah of Iran overthrown.  Iranian opponents of the ayatollahs get into the heroin trade to support their opposition.
May 1, 1979 - Bush formally announces presidential campaign.  Ray Cline organizes support by former (and some current) intelligence officers, including Theodore Shackley.
May 4, 1979 - Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister of Great Britain
July 3, 1979 - CIA starts aiding the anti-government mujuheddin in Afghanistan.  (Six months before the Soviet invasion on December 24.)  Leads to explosion of heroin trade, with money-laundering through BCCI.
July 2-5, 1979 - War on Terror invented at a conference at Netanyahu's Jonathan Institute, attended by Bush, Ray Cline and Theodore Shackley, Claire Sterling (a close associate of Ledeen), a bunch of Neocons, Brian Crozier, and Robert Moss.  Moss claims a Soviet-controlled PLO unit is forming a secret police in Iran.
Sometime in 1979 - Michael Ledeen returns to Italy and is closely connected with P2 and SISMI.  He and Shackley are associated.  The Italians see him as an Israeli agent of influence.
September 1979 - Brian Crozier leaves ISC and in 1980-85 serves as head of the Pinay Circle.
Sep. 22, 1979 - Possible Israeli-South African nuclear test.  (Israel has been buying uranium from South Africa since the late 60's.)
November 1979 - Brian Crozier's The 61 becomes more active and focuses on destroying the British nuclear disarmament movement through infiltration and front groups.
End of 1979 - Western Goals founded as a private right-wing group spying on leftists.  John Rees is the chief spymaster.  Funding comes from Nelson Bunker Hunt.  John Singlaub is on the advisory board.
Jan. 27, 1980 - Nugan Hand Bank collapses with its founder's suicide.
March 1980 - Richard Perle becomes a private consulant, but he retains his Senate security clearance until the end of May.  His clients include Israeli arms dealers.
Sometime in 1980.  Michael Ledeen begins collaborating with Francesco Pazienza, a SISMI agent and member of P2 who helps cover up the Bologna bombing.
July 1980 - Billy Carter registers as a Libyan agent, setting off "Billygate."  Ledeen and Pazienza were responsible for luring him into it.
October 1980 - Israel selling spare parts to Iran in defiance of Carter administration.  Also selling high-tech weapons to China
Oct-Nov 1980 - "October Surprise."  (Shackley and Ledeen rumored to be involved.)  Reagan elected
Nov-Dec 1980 - Ledeen and Pazienza act as go-betweens between Italy and the Reagan transition team.
Jan. 20, 1981 - Reagan inaugurated and immediately focuses on terrorism.  Alexander Haig is his Secretary of State and Michael Ledeen is an anti-terrorism adviser to Haig.  William Casey is head of the CIA and Richard V. Allen is National Security Adviser.Joseph Coors is a leading member of Reagan's kitchen cabinet and the Heritage Foundation is heavily influential on policy.  Casey funds Brian Crozier's anti-nuclear disarmament movement activities.
Early 1981 - Haig allegedly gives Israel the okay to sell spare parts to Iran after discussions with Robert McFarlane and Mossad agent David Kimche.  Around this time, Kimche starts organizing the Contras and supplying them with advisers.
Mar. 30, 1981 - Reagan assassination attempt.
June 7, 1981 - Israel bombs Iraqi nuclear reactor.
Jan. 4, 1982 - Richard V. Allen leaves the Reagan administration, allegedly as a result of infighting.
February 1982 - Robert McFarland and David Kimche devise a plan for Israel to help organize the Contras and supply them with Israeli advisers.  Mike Harari creates a network of Israelis, Americans, and Panamanians to provide Yugoslavian weapons to the Contras.   They also smuggle cocaine from Columbia to the US, using Costa Rican airstrips.
February 1982 - Vice President George H.W. Bush forms the South Florida Drug Task Force to combat cocaine smuggling. 
June 6, 1982 - Israel invades Lebanon.  Had allegedly gotten the go-ahead from Haig.
June 25, 1982 - Alexander Haig abruptly resigns as Secretary of State.


1. The 70's were all about fascism.  In 1970, the old Nazis and neo-fascists start to come out of the shadows and implement an explicitly fascist agenda, emboldened both by the passage of time since World War II and by the radicalism of the late 60's. Stefano delle Chiaie initiates Gladio-type false flag events beginning in 1969.  Former Nazi Otto Skorzeny consciously sets out to create a fascist revival in 1970.  (Sometimes referred to as the Fascist International or the International Fascista.)

2. The explosion of Islamic terrorism in the early 70's, much of it directed against Israel, may have been part of a Gladio-type strategy by fascist instigators.  The ongoing attempts in the late 70's and through the 80's to blame Middle Eastern terrorism on Soviet masterminds could then be seen as serving both a coverup of a fascist anti-Semitic agenda and a strategy of tension to pave the way for suppression of the left and increasingly autocratic regimes.  (Michael Ledeen's attempt to blame the Bulgarians for the attempt by the Turkish fascist Grey Wolves to assassinate the pope in 1981 would be a particularly clearcut example.)

3. Fascist groups allegedly wrest the heroin trade out of the hands of the mob in 1972-73.  (See Henrik Kruger, The Great Heroin Coup.)  This has something to do with Mitch WerBell and Lucien Conein, two of the old OSS guys who were involved in drug enforcement along with E. Howard Hunt in the Nixon White House.  Drug-smuggling Cuban exiles (Alpha 66, Operation 40) also play a significant role.  If this is true, it could be an extremely important part of the puzzle, explaining the new sources of wealth that are sometimes fancifully attributed to "Nazi gold" or "Japanese gold."

4. Whatever the cause, it seems clear that extreme right-wing groups begin to enjoy unprecedented wealth in this period, and raises the possibility that even the rise of New Right in the US in the 70's may been involved these fascist heroin networks.  It may be a coincidence that figures like Scaife and Coors start lavishly funding the right around 1973, just when the fascists are alleged to have taken over the heroin trade -- but it's also entirely conceivable that some of that money may have come from drugs or other overseas sources and merely been laundered through wealthy US donors.

5. Apart from the funding question, it's an established fact that the New Right has multiple links to overseas fascists throughout the 70's, although it is not clear with what degree of conscious awareness.  Several 70's groups that attract many members of the New Right have clear fascist affiliations -- the World Anti-Communist League, the American-Chilean Council, the Council for Inter-American Security.  Former members of Young Americans for Freedom, founded by E. Howard Hunt's pal, former CIA officer William Buckley, are particularly active in these organizations, which also include extreme anti-communists of an earlier generation.  Sen. Jesse Helms, who becomes a center for New Right organizing starting in 1973, is personally involved in meeting with and supporting Latin American fascists and death squad leaders starting in 1975.  The Reverend Moon is also a pivotal figure, linking many New Right groups to Asian and Latin American fascists.

6. By 1975, a new phase is starting.  The Greek and Portuguese dictatorships fall in 1974.  Skorzeny and Francisco Franco both die in 1975.  The center of the fascist revival moves to Latin America, particularly Chile and Argentina.  Around 1976-78, at a time of growing conservatism, fascists and racists go public to a far greater extent and seem to be seeking social acceptability.  With the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 and Ronald Reagan in 1980, conservatism seems to be triumphing.  Neo-fascism simultaneously reaches a peak of influence and even arrogance with the Cocaine Coup in Bolivia and plans to spread the Argentine model of military dictatorship throughout Latin America.

7. However, in some manner that is not entirely clear, the neo-fascists overreach.  Instead of becoming respectable, they discredit any group with which they are associated.  Although Reagan and Bush seemed willing to make use of some of these neo-fascist elements, they are never fully committed to them.  By 1982, the Reagan administration has pulled back from its initial enthusiasm for Latin American death squad regimes. The Falkland Island War in Mar-Jun 1982 may play some role in this shift, as may the Banco Ambrosiano scandal and exposure of P2 in 1981-82.  By mid-1982, both Richard V. Allen and Alexander Haig are out of the administration.. After that point, US policy (and perhaps the drug trade as well) will be dominated for a decade by the Israelis and the Saudis (and BCCI) rather than by European or Latin fascists.

8. The fascist background does hang on in a more covert manner in the US through the 80's, particularly among the more fervent Contra-supporting groups and allies of Reverend Moon and in the circles surrounding Jesse Helms and the Heritage Foundation.  Jack Abramoff and his associates come out of these latter circles, and Abramoff's association with the South African apartheid regime appears to be very much a part of this submerged fascist agenda.  The Council for Inter-American Security would also continue to be influential on Reagan administration policy towards Latin America.  It would attempt to improve the image of Roberto d'Aubisson, would spy on left-wing opponents to Reagan's Contra policies, and would attempt to link left-wing groups to an alleged Soviet-inspired global terror network, helping to incite FBI intimidation and harassment of leftists..

9. There are many unanswered questions about what happens after the fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of BCCI, whether the passing of the older generation of fascists and rabid anti-communists leaves any obvious heirs, and whether the profits of the international drug trade are currently being applied to any particular political agenda.