(by Massimiliano D'Elia) Lia Staropoli, President of the "ConDivisa - Sicurezza e Giustizia" Association, yesterday recalled "the Day of the Memory of the Fallen of the Information and Security Services":
“March 22 represents an important event to remember those in our Intelligence service who sacrificed their lives to serve our country, in silence, with self-denial and a sense of duty. The operators of the Information and Security System of the Republic are Servants of the State who, without acclaim and without notoriety, facing every risk, ensure the Homeland "knowledge and cognition", in order to safeguard the Republic from any threat coming from both inside and from the outside, placing the Democratic Bodies in a position to make the best decisions in the interest of the Italians. Men and Women to whom citizens owe gratitude and respect. Today we remember the sacrifice of Vincenzo Li Causi, Nicola Calipari, Lorenzo D'Auria, Pietro Antonio Colazzo and many others like them, faceless and nameless, but with the blood of which our daily serenity is soaked. Someone said: "We did not pursue glory and power, but our honor and that of the homeland".
March 22 of each year, therefore, is the day of remembrance of the fallen of the information services, so it was decided by a Council of Ministers last year, where the favorable opinion was expressed for the launch of a " memory ”for these silent servants of the state.
Just as it happened with the institution of November 12 as a day to remember the military and civilian Fallen of the international missions for peace, March 22 also represents the recognition of the country for those who silently sacrificed their lives to safeguard of republican democracy.
We try to discover, therefore, the structure that exists but "does not exist" that provides us with a unique security framework, especially in a "critical" moment such as today's where the threat of terrorism is persistent, declared and already perpetrated in almost all western countries.
The information system for the security of the Republic is structured as follows:
President of the Council of Ministers
Delegated authority
Interministerial Committee for the Security of the Republic (CISR)
Department of Security Information (DIS)
Information Agency and External Security (AISE)
Information and internal security agency (AISI)
But what makes such a structure dependent on the Head of Government?
On the website of the Presidency of the Republic - Security Agencies there is a more than exhaustive explanation of what they do, in absolute secrecy.
“The activities of the Information System for the security of the Republic are normally identified with intelligence, a term now commonly used but not always known in all its complexity. From a technical point of view, intelligence is the tool that the State uses to collect, store and disseminate to interested parties - whether public or private - the information relevant for the protection of the safety of institutions, citizens and businesses. This fundamental and essential role is assigned to the Information System for the security of the Republic which, for this purpose, makes use of professionalism, coming from various fields, who act according to specific procedures to safeguard the confidentiality of operators and their activities.
Many actors in the field interact: the two intelligence agencies - AISE and AISI - with their operatives, the Department of Information for Security (DIS) with its analysts and experts in the various sectors, the various police forces called to collaborate in the entire operation, each according to their role and responsibilities. History, of course, never happened, nor are references to facts, people, places, situations real. Some of these events, however, may one day occur in a not entirely dissimilar way. And in this case you will be able to know better what the intelligence department really does. In addition to this, among the activities of the System, institutional collaboration with the armed and police forces, other state administrations and public and private research bodies should be mentioned; relations with the judicial authorities; controls by Parliament, the Court of Auditors and administrative bodies; the protection of state secrets and classified information. "
Ultimately it is correct and socially necessary to recognize one day in the memory of how many of them have fallen into service in anonymity. It is right for their families to know that the State exists and that Italians will pay homage to their loved ones on March 22 every year, only in this way they will not fall into oblivion and remembering them will mean publicly recognizing their service for the country.
Thanks, then, to all of you who continue, in silence, to work for the security of our country and it is only for what you do that we are all safe in our cities, in our daily lives.
We will never stop thinking of you, the police forces, the armed forces, the militarily organized bodies, in short, to all the security workers who then in the end pursue the same goal the peace and the proseprity of their country.
The 12 November and the 22 March, each year, will be two days in which we will remember with deferential gratitude and deep pride!