Daniele Ganser | |
|---|---|
_JD.jpg) Ganser in 2018 | |
| Born | 29 August 1972 |
| Alma mater | University of Basel |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, author |
| Known for | NATO's Secret Armies |
| Spouse | Bea Schwarz[1] |
| Children | 2[1] |
| Website | danieleganser.ch |
Daniele Ganser (born 29 August 1972, in Lugano[2]) is a Swiss author and conspiracy theorist.[3] He is best known for his 2005 book NATO's Secret Armies.
His father Gottfried Ganser-Bosshart (1922–2014), whose parents were Germans, was a Protestant pastor of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (SEK).[4][5][6][7] His mother Jeannette Ganser was a nurse.[8][9] He has a sister named Tea.[9]
Daniele Ganser was a senior researcher at the ETH Zurich, Center for Security Studies (CSS).[10] He was president (2006–2012) of the Swiss branch of the "Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas" (ASPO),[11] and taught a course (2012–2017) titled History and Future of Energy Systems at the University of St. Gallen.[2][12]
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See also: Operation Gladio |
In 2004, Ganser published NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe. In this book, Ganser claims that Gladio units were in close cooperation with NATO and the CIA and that Gladio in Italy was responsible for terrorist attacks against the Italian civilian population.[13] Security analyst John Prados observed that Ganser presented evidence that Gladio networks amounted to anti-democratic elements across many nations.[14]
Beatrice Heuser praised the book while also commenting Ganser's book would have been improved by the author using a less polemical tone and had occasionally conceded problems with the Soviets.[15] The political scientist Markus Linden said that Ganser fostered anti-Americanism under the label of Peace Research, while he unilaterally presented Russia positively.[16]
Critics charged that the book failed to provide proof or an in-depth explanation of a conspiracy between NATO, the United States, and European countries. Peer Henrik Hansen criticized Ganser for basing his claim on the US Army Field Manual 30-31B which members of the intelligence community claim is a "Cold War era hoax document."[17][18] Philip H.J. Davies concluded that the book is marred by imagined conspiracies, exaggerated notions and misunderstandings of covert activities and operations within and between the countries, and a failure to place their decisions and actions in the appropriate historical context. Davies argued that Ganser did not perform the most basic necessary research to be able to discuss them effectively.[19] Olav Riste of the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies mentions several instances where his own research on the stay-behind network in Norway was twisted by Ganser.[20] Riste and Leopoldo Nuti concluded that the book's "ambitious conclusions do not seem to be entirely corroborated by a sound evaluation of the sources available."[21] Lawrence Kaplan commended Ganser for making "heroic efforts to tease out the many strands that connect this interlocking right-wing conspiracy", but also argued that connecting the dots required a stretch of facts. Kaplan believes that some of Ganser's theories may be correct, but they damage the book's credibility.[22] John R. Schindler wrote: "With few exceptions, specialists in the history of intelligence considered Ganser's book to be a shoddy work of scholarship. In the first place, he made no effort to hide his biases, noting that he considered CIA covert action to be "terrorist in nature." Then there was the problem that Ganser was making incendiary assertions he could not prove, as he himself admitted to "not being able to find any official sources to support his charges of the CIA's or any Western European government's involvement with GLADIO.""[23]
Daniele Ganser was shown as expert in the German TV documentary film Stay Behind: Die Schattenkrieger der NATO by Ulrich Stoll about stay-behind armies which was broadcast on ZDFinfo in 2014.[24][25]
Ganser calls into question the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission.[26] [27] He also promotes skepticism of the COVID-19 pandemic.[28][29] Americanist Michael Butter calls Ganser the "best-known conspiracy theorist in the German-speaking world". His public doubts about the "official version" of the 9/11 attacks had led to the termination of his university employment.[30]
In 2023, Gansers presentations are considered to contain anti-Americanism, historical negationism, Kremlin propaganda, alternative facts and half-truths and have an audience of over 1000 people in Germany.[31][32][33][34][35] Ganser implies that government and mainstream media would predetermine the way of thinking of the population.[36] The content of Ganser's presentations is popular with a target audience of "conspiracy theorists and democracy skeptics".[37] The director of the Institute for defence policy of the Kiel University, Joachim Krause, criticized: "Mr. Ganser is not a scientist. He's a dumbing down entrepreneur who makes his living by contaminating the brains of people with conspiracy fantasies."[38] Eva Binder and Magdalena Kaltseis from University of Innsbruck described Ganser his presentation in Magic Castle of Austrian city Seefeld in Tirol as "pseudoscientific seduction".[39]
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Articles
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