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Sibel Edmonds talks about her new novel, The Lone Gladio, and explains some of the key elements of her fictional narrative based on the “deep state”, Operation Gladio, and CIA covert operations.
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Edmonds is the FBI whistleblower who told her own story in the nonfiction memoir, Classified Woman. Her new novel is based on those experiences and what she learned from dozens of members of her National Security Whistleblowers Coalition. She explains why she chose to write this novel, and some of the history of Operation Gladio, which remains mostly classified. Gladio originated during the Cold War, and has morphed into a monster that Edmonds says continues to operate–she connects it to al Qaeda and al Nusra.
She also offers a fascinating distinction between the black ops of the CIA and what her novel calls “the company”, a transnational collaboration of the CIA, Britain’s MI6, the Pentagon and NATO. We talk about the true mission of NATO in the context of Russia and Ukraine.
Edmonds has just seen the film Kill the Messenger about journalist Gary Webb, and praises it for its general accuracy. She was particularly struck by a scene where Webb, who has been abandoned by his editors, faces them down as he accepts a journalism award. Edmonds had a similar experience when she accepted an award in a room full of reporters and editors who had marginalized or ignored her disclosures.
To the final question about any regrets over her whistleblowing, Sibel gave a surprising answer.