Sword of Shadows: Operation Gladio’s Ghost Armies

Beneath postwar Europe, secret armies waited. Armed, trained, and coordinated by NATO—yet answerable to no elected government.

This episode of Unsettled: The Hidden Record reveals Operation Gladio, the covert network of “stay-behind” forces organized by the U.S. and its allies during the Cold War. These clandestine units were created to resist Soviet occupation, but over time, many were linked to bombings, assassinations, and destabilization campaigns within their own countries.

In Italy, Belgium, and beyond, the line between defense and domestic manipulation blurred. Documents surfaced. Politicians denied. And in 1990, the Prime Minister of Italy admitted Gladio had been real all along.

Who controlled these ghost armies? And how far were they willing to go to shape history from the shadows?