Operation Wedge

Operation History

On July 3rd 1989 there was a secret meeting at the Czechoslovak Ministry of Interior that ordered:

to recruit anywhere from 500 to 50 thousand people [preferably from the workers' level - i.e., those of communist background] to file petitions ... and to organize 'opposition' inside independent groups....

[Editor's note: The Czech nation could never rise up against the communists by itself. A revolution was next to impossible for ordinary people to start. These petitions had to be done so the Perestroika could begin in Czechoslovakia. Ordinary people back then had no interest or will to start any kind of revolt against the communist regime. They are not even capable of this now, under a looser system of control.]

07-24-1989
Another secret meeting at the FMI of Czechoslovakia:

1) It ordered the coordination of all operations [regarding the Velvet Revolution] with the Fifth Directorate of the KGB. [According to Petr Cibulka, this directorate was responsible for the "dissidents"].

2) It also ordered a cutoff of all communications between the "uncontrolled" remaining anti-communist opposition and any foreign entity or organization.

As a KGB defector predicted

Former KGB Major Anatoliy Golitysn wrote in 1984, anticipating the transformation of Eastern Europe: "If 'liberalization' is successful and accepted in the West as genuine, it may well be followed by the apparent withdrawal of one or more communist countries from the Warsaw Pact to serve as a model of a 'neutral' socialist state for the whole of Europe to follow. Some 'dissidents' are already speaking in these terms."

Golitsyn later explained, "It is through flexible maneuvers such as these that the ruling communist parties, in contrast with the damaging rigidities of their performances during the Stalinist period, will provide the international communist movement with ... strategic backing...."

Additional notes from Jan Malina

According to Petr Cibulka, true dissidents were locked up on trumped up charges [the police had no reason to arrest Petr in 1989] so that Civic Forum wouldn't have a problem in the leadership during the first days of the "revolution".

Because of this, Havel & Company. had no problem assuming the leadership of Civic Forum while Petr and others were never let inside the leading circles.

Petr in his book describes how he was allowed to speak only once in front of the people. This happened in Prague, and from that time on Civic Forum's leadership wouldn't let him anywhere near a microphone.

In his book there are pictures of old commie agents around Petr. These agents were pretending to be friends but in reality they were keeping an eye on Petr.

Readers are encouraged to consult Miroslav Dolejsi's analysis of the "Velvet Revolution." Consider a few of his points:

There was an independent student investigation of police brutality during the November 17th 1989 demonstrations in Prague.
Havel never published this investigation's report, and neither did anyone else.
Dolejsi points out that the leadership of Civic Forum consisted mainly in people who were tied to the "former" communist regime; for example, Petr Pithart whose father used to be Czechoslovak communist ambassador to France until 1968.
Also there are more names, including Klaus, Dienstbier and also the most significant point of all: Havel let a known communist agent and a member of the communist party, Calfa, to be part of Havel's Civic Forum and his new government.
Calfa was later forced out but it was significant back then that Havel, supposedly anti-communist, let this known commie inside the government Havel himself was forming.