ABSTRACT
The fear of foreign cells inside the United States (US) was based on the size of Italian demographics in large American cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston. US Naval intelligence, in tandem with organized crime, targeted possible spies and saboteurs inside the United States and also set up a waterfront surveillance network to guard against German submarines that might try to resupply in the area. The fear of global communist expansion not only compelled the United States to cooperate with any group useful in its crusade but also justified all available means. The economies of some states were too attached to criminal activities, such that corruption and illicit markets played an important role in the national economy and eventual full engagement could have destabilised the country. In the history of US cooperation with irregular actors against rival states, the most well-known and documented case is probably the Taliban–Al-Qaeda connection in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion.
