Operation Underworld and operation Husky: When the U.S. government teamed up with the mafia
During World War II, the U.S. government became extremely concerned about the sabotaging of New York docks. The feds decided to develop “Operation Underworld”, asking for help from a very unusual ally: the Mafia.
This curious partnership started from a suspicious fire aboard the SS Normandie, which erupted without explanation on February 9, 1942, while the ship was docked near Manhattan. The authorities were concerned that the Italian immigrants who were working at the dock might have been loyal to the Italian leader Benito Mussolini, so the government asked Mafia for help.
They contacted Lucky Luciano, who was serving prison time back then. In exchange for a reduced sentence, he agreed to help. Luciano sent word to his men to look out for any suspicious activity at the docks. But he did more than that. He also helped the U.S. government with strategic maps and photographs when they invaded Sicily.
Operation Northwoods: The government operation that wanted to start a war with Cuba
Back in 1962, the top U.S. military brass came up with a plan to neutralize Fidel Castro, the famous revolutionary communist leader who had risen to power in Cuba three years prior. They came up with Operation Northwoods, which was a series of false flag attacks they were hoping to incite a war between Cuba and the U.S. Following a failed CIA-led Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, the U.S.
Air Force General Edward Lansdale, who was the chief of operations for the anti-Castro Cuba Project, or Operation Mongoose, decided to appeal to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
MK-Ultra: The covert operation that used LSD for mind control
In the 1950s, the CIA started to suspect that some American POWs who returned from imprisonment during the Korean War were brainwashed. They were fearful that the Soviet Union stole the headstart on developing mind control technology, so the agency decided to launch their own program named MK-Ultra.
For over 10 years, MK-Ultra wanted to harness a proper mind control pill. According to NPR, MK-Ultra director Sidney Gottlieb thought that the drug could be LSD, so he spent over $24,000 buying up the world’s supply. The covert operation took place in America, and involved 80 institutions and 185 researchers, as the Smithsonian Magazine declared.
