Declassified documents show that Mongoose was not just an operation to kill Castro but involved a series of schemes designed to cause instability in Cuba. ibid.
‘We must prepare something like a guerrilla network which could then be operated in case of an invasion, so the primary thinking for creating such a unit was we must have the guerrilla unit ready in case of occupation.’ ibid. Daniele Ganser
The man actually responsible for the Petiano bombing was Vincenzo Cinciguerra. He was a member of right-wing terrorist groups … Once his guilt had been established and he was no longer protected by the security services, Cinciguerra became very candid about how Gladio operated. ibid.
This strategic relationship between NATO, neo-fascist terrorist groups and the CIA culminated in an attack on Bologna train station in August 1990: eighteen kilos of military plastic explosive were detonated in a second-class waiting room. Over eighty people were killed and hundreds injured. ibid.
A series of trials ensued in Italy. It wasn’t until 1995, 15 years after the bombing, that a conclusive verdict was reached. 2 members of a neo-fascist group were convicted of the [Bologna] bombing. Also convicted for diverting the investigation were 2 Italian intelligence agents who were members of the P2 Masonic lodge. The grandmaster of that lodge, Licio Gelli, was also convicted for conspiring to divert the investigation. It became clear that P2 was not just a Masonic Order but a CIA-funded parallel government. The list of members of the lodge was found in a raid on Licio Gelli’s house in 1981. Among the 962 names were those of the heads of all 3 Intelligence Services, 48 MPs, industrialists, bankers, media moguls, journalists, civil servants, judges, military officials, and Silvio Berlusconi. ibid.
The billions of dollars would eventually pay off. The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, their system rotting and bankrupt. The intelligence alliance had succeeded and had a new proxy force for covert operations. ibid.
Initial reports have the men taking the 7.48 train to London … The 7.48 train would not have got the four to London in time to catch the tube trains they supposedly bombed. ibid.
The 7.40 train was cancelled that morning. ibid.
In the frames from Woodall motorway services Shehzad Tanweer is clearly shown wearing white trousers. But in the pictures of the four men entering Luton station, Tanweer’s trousers are black. ibid.
Exactly what happened to the tube trains on the morning of July 7th isn’t at all clear. The number of explosions, where and when they took place and what caused them are all disputed with official sources often contradicting each other. ibid.
Throughout the morning the BBC and other major media were quoting officials saying there were far more than just four explosions. ibid.
It is not exactly clear where in London’s tube network the explosions occurred that morning, and which direction the trains were heading in when the explosions hit them. ibid.
Train 311 was northbound on the Piccadilly Line, the direction originally given by TFL, but impossible for a suicide bomber travelling from King’s Cross. ibid.
Exactly where in the carriages the explosions took place is difficult to establish … The explosion being under the train is also indicated by this Sky News interview with another survivor from Aldgate … There are similar accounts from Edgware Road. ibid.
Efforts to preserve the scene at Edgware Road for forensic examination were hampered by police conducting a controlled explosion. ibid.
Precisely what caused the explosions on July 7th is a question that has never been properly answered. Even after the explosion on the bus, officials and the media were saying that power surges had caused blasts or explosions at up to eight tube stations. They were still talking about six explosions at midday when Tony Blair made his first statement. ibid.
Witnesses at all three locations described feelings of electrocution and an explosion that sounded like a power surge. ibid.
The back of the top deck of the bus was completely destroyed and the roof was ripped off. But pictures taken just after the explosion show passengers on the top deck largely unharmed. ibid.
A witness from the top deck of the bus interviewed by the Daily Mail said that she saw police putting up tape to block off the street before the explosion happened. ibid.
‘The 7/7 bombings were it was suggested the work of ‘clean skins’, angry young men previously unknown to the security services. But behind those claims lay an entirely different reality.’ ibid. Channel 4 news report
[witness]: God Almighty, the screaming! You could see bodies hanging out of the bus. And the smell, there was a pungent small. It was like a sensory overload. And then there’s the realisation, this isn’t a car crash, it’s a bomb. 7/7: The London Bombings I, BBC 2025
7 July 2005: London was hit by a wave of bombs. 21 July 2005: Bombers struck again. ibid. caption
When I got on the train, I remember sort of sitting opposite me this young chap, and his behaviour was slightly odd. ibid. witness
I felt like I was lifted up from the floor of the train. ibid.
It all happens in one day, dunnit? ibid. train operator
Reports are just coming in of an explosion at Liverpool Street Station. ibid. BBC news
I’ve had an explosion at Edgware Road. I’ve had an explosion at Russell Square, I think, yeah. And an explosion at Liverpool Street. There are definitely walking wounded … ibid. train operator
Tavistock Square: I saw a big red thing flying at me … it was a bus. ibid. witness
Russell Square: [man with bodycam]: And then we got to the main carriage. There was a lot of bodies inside. Just blown to pieces. 7/7: The London Bombings II
Jean Charles de Menezes: Armed officers have shot a man on the London Underground. ibid. news
The number of people who died in yesterday’s multiple bombings in London has been confirmed tonight at 49. Police have warned it will rise further. A total of 700 people were injured. And today the Queen visited some of the wounded in hospital. ibid.
Four of them together and they’ve all got the same rucksacks. ibid. CCTV rozzer
There was nothing. Half my body had been amputated. 7/7: The London Bombings III, victim in ICU
We have copycat suicide bombers running free on the streets of London. ibid. rozzer
We had identified documents found at the scene … [which] matched the description on the CCTV we’d spotted. ibid.
We are at war and I am a soldier. ibid. video made by bomber
After 12 days of investigation police and MI5 have no knowledge of a wider network or other plots. ibid. caption
Just remember that there are more good people in the world than bad. ibid. London taxi driver gives free return ride to Reading for visiting mother of victim
John Charles Menezes: And they deliver an amount of fatal shots. There was body debris throughout the carriage. ibid. witness
And they [fleeting panicking crowd] were shouting, ‘They’ve blown his head off.’ ibid.
22nd July 2005: [rozzer]: We had shot dead a person in public using a tactic never seen on the mainland before. The enormity of that was not lost on me. 7/7: The London Bombings IV
The problem is the Met didn’t retract what Ian Blair said. ibid. deputy