Former Italian President Francesco Cossiga, 82 years old, died last night in a Roman hospital where he had spent the last week, mostly in and out of coma, unable to breath without assistance. He was one of the most colorful Italian politicians and served in various key positions of the government, including Interior Minister and Prime Minister, during some very tough times in the 1970s and 80s.
When we were living in Rome, I saw quite a bit of Cossiga, who ran a sort of intellectual eating society where many of the country’s leading historians, philosophers, businessmen and artists congregated for great food and candid conversation. As I recall, he organized these evenings every 2-3 weeks, and I was fortunate to attend several. He was always generous with his time, and I think I was one of the few Americans to know him well. During the period his friend Aldo Moro was held captive by the Red Brigades, Francesco suffered terribly. I spent an entire day with him at that time, and I have rarely seen a man in such anguish; he felt personally culpable for Moro’s fate, and when the terrorists killed him, Cossiga–in an act rare for men in power–immediately took responsibility and resigned.
He was a Christian Democrat and deeply religious. He loved going to mass in the beautiful church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and I wasn’t surprised to find that he had left very detailed instructions for his funeral (private, in his native Sardinia) and burial (alongside his father in Sassari). No state funeral for him.
He was a rarity in many ways. He was an outsider, like all Sardinians in Rome. He had a terrific sense of humor. He was a serious student of history. He was an Anglophile, and read and spoke English fluently, which set him apart from almost all his peers. And, as the story of his little salon shows you, he loved good conversation and of course good food and wine.
While prime minister, he tried to gain American support for “normalization” with the Italian Communist Party. I think he did this because Moro had long argued that it was both good for Italy and inevitable, but perhaps he also believed it. In any event, he organized a trip to Washington during the Carter years for two leading Communists, to talk to the “shadow government” of thinkers and scribblers. It was a fiasco.
Then, during Reagan, Cossiga was one of the leaders of the Italian acceptance of the Pershing missiles that thwarted the Soviets’ design to intimidate Europe with their own big missiles. The Germans had said they would take the Pershings, provided at least one other continental European country did the same. Working in tandem with Prime Minister Craxi, Cossiga led the Parliament to vote ‘yes.’
In recent years, he acquired a reputation for eccentricity, and he became one of the most outspoken and beloved political leaders in the country. I am sure that there is widespread grief today across the ideological landscape. Francesco did it right, demonstrating good character, great wit, and serious thinking. Not many like that.
A handsome tribute to a Sardinian who did much to undo the
damage done by another Sardinian, Antonio Gramsci.
David: since you rightfully bring up Gramsci and the incredible evil he helped unleash, why do we not understand that these type of men continue to work in the shadows for a cause no sane person would believe? How long before we, as a society, end those who engage in secret oaths and then sit on our legislative branches and judicial chairs forwarding an agenda (whether conscious or not) against everything people with common sense and morals are against? When will we, as JFK stated before they blew his brains out, end the “tolerance” of secret societies who have proven to damage civilization over and over again in their quest for a “universal brotherhood” that is, in reality, an economic agenda to rule the world’s riches, resources and peoples to the elite’s liking. When will we run those who take oaths on the koran in a secret lodge out of town. BTW: if anyone claims I have committed suicide after this query, please don’t believe it.
Touching piece, Mr. Ledeen.
We surely need more men like that. We need men of character for these troubled times.
Michael: my sarcastic “suicide” statement at the end of my reply to David was to make this point: I am sure you are well aware of the P2 scandal that swirled around Italy (exploding into the light of day in the ’80s), in which it has even been suggested that the members of that “lodge” were ultimately responsible for the murder of Moro as they were financing the “brigades.”
So what happened to those at the heart of that P2 scandal? Calvi, a supposed “suicide” in London, later declared a murder; his secretary, a supposed “suicide” from her office window the same day; and Sindona, who after eating breakfast in his jail cell made his last statement before collapsing: “They have poisoned me.”
What I am trying to point out is that we, as a society, have this mistaken impression that this is no longer going on (or that it doesn’t happen here in America); on the contrary, it is the same as it ever was. Those who hold the financial strings in these secret societies hold also our political system as a hostage as proven in the amount of government officials involved in the P2 scandal.
And it is all because of the teachings of one Antonio Gramsci and those who continue to follow his beliefs. The resignation of a good man like Cossiga, who could have led his nation properly and morally, is another example of the wound that continues to fester because of our disbelief that someone other than those whose faces we see control the destiny of so many.
I am only advocating that we let the light in on these dark holes so that at least we may know who is who and act accordingly as a free people. It is no different than the argument we should know who is funding the murder mosque in New York (thesis vs. antithesis = synthesis).
there are certainly conspiracies, in Italy and elsewhere. but to somehow draw a line from Gramsci to P2 seems fanciful. why not start with Brutus? remember that Gramsci was a member of a covert political party…which tried to kill him in prison.
Michael: thanks for your reply. I believe the connection is found in the mysterious murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini, the details of which, as you know, is too complicated to go into here. But that is what I believe is done behind the scenes where anyone can be a “sacrificial lamb” to bring their order out of chaos.
“Pasolini was busy working on a novel entitled “Petrolio”, in which he alluded to the assassination of Enrico Mattei, the President of ENI. Pasolini wrote that Eugenio Cefis, whom he called by the fictitious name of “Troya”, then becomes President of ENI, which “implicates him in the murder of his predecessor”. According to SISMI (Military Intelligence and Security Services), Cefis was the founder of the P2.”
Pasolini, as a follower of Gramsci, serves his purpose to keep those of the same ilk within P2 who might speak silent forever. Exposing the “shadow government” in which he tries to expose mafia influence is the very same influence in which the Carbonari achieved their control over so much of Italian society. One cannot have it both ways, and an idealist (even those we disagree with) is usually the victim.
It is in this complexity of “tension” that one finds it hard to follow the cards under the hands of the magician.
Indeed, as you so rightfully point out, even Gramsci can, for the right purposes, serve the ultimate cause by his elimination.
Complicated, yes; impossible, no.
well all i can say is that i interviewed Pasolini’s assassin in prison and i don’t believe a word of the version you were given. i was New Republic correspondent in Rome during the P2 affair. i always thought it was nonsense. indeed, such nonsense that i myself have been accused of somehow being in cahoots with the chief (alleged) malefactor, one Licio Gelli, whom i have never met. we can talk some day, it’s a ridiculous story (too many key people are missing from the alleged conspiracy. no andreotti, no communists, etc.).
Michael: very interesting. An inside perspective is always worth a thousand “official” reports, so I sincerely respect your viewpoint. What really struck me as to its authenticity is the fact that you yourself were “accused” of being in “cahoots.” Have had that experience and know that feeling well. Thanks for your firsthand info.
I still hold to my initial premise that there are way too many “secret” societies and government operations for us as citizens to know truly what is going on and who is controlling who. Operation Gladio comes to mind.
And from a family perspective on the American side:
“CIA insiders dubbed the team the ‘White Hand’ … an allusion to their joint venture with Mooney and the Outfit, or ‘Black Hand.’ ”
–Double Cross, Sam and Church Giancana, 1992
If you are ever in the Palm Springs area (you have the e-mail address of an ex-New Yorker, former editor/journalist for the L.A. Herald Examiner when it was still alive), would enjoy an enlightening and informative conservation.
great. save that thought. i know we are going to sanfran in the fall; don’t have any plans to go to the desert yet.
Mr. Ledeen. On the Aldo Moro assassination -
I take Claire Sterling’s view that RB did the act in order to pull the official commie party out of “moderate” mode. But there are 3 key mystery’s i wonder about – and you have talked to key players in all parts:
1. In Gen. Pacepa’s book he discusses how he had gone with [romanian dictator c--- dont feel like spelling it] to yugoslavia during this whole mess, and the yugoslav intel was in contact with RB, whom they had long and heavy influence on, and could not talk RB out of execution. but wouldnt they want a wider rift between the italians and soviets? maybe that played a role?
2. according to jan sejna’s interview with you, as well as RB confessions and StB documents from Mitrokin, the Czechs had a closer relationship with RB then any other Commie bloc nation. but StB docs say they didnt want Moro killed either. why did their relationship go on undaunted?
3. Moro’s deal with the Palestinians was certainly in Palestinian interests. why did the Palestinian relationship with RB continue undaunted as well?
the only other thing would be this claim from CBC that a) a radio station reported the kidnapping before it happened (but i have not heard that anywhere other then this CBC documentary) b) the pathetic performance of the police, searching every room but the right one (true?) (same CBC doc)
anyway – great post
I don’t know, anything I said would be a guess.
related article to my above post, btw
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,948169,00.html