SISMI Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare ( " Military Intelligence and Security Service " ) was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977 - 2007 . With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007 , SISMI was replaced by Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna . History . Since the end of World War II , Italian intelligence agencies have been reorganized many times ( SIM 1900 - 49 , SIFAR 1949 - 65 , SIOS 1949 - 97 , SID 1965 - 77 , SISDE , SISMI , 1977 – 2007 ) in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under civilian control . The agency was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community , which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy ' s intelligence agencies . The first director of the service was Giuseppe Santovito ( 1978 – 1981 ) , succeeded by General Nino Lugaresi was SISMI ' s director from 1981 to 1984 ; he testified on Gladio . General Nicolò Pollari was SISMI ' s second last director ; he resigned on 20 November 2006 after being indicted in the " Imam Rapito affair " , so Prime Minister Romano Prodi replaced him with Admiral Bruno Branciforte . Admiral Bruno Branciforte was SISMI ' s last director , in charge until 3 August 2007 . Mission . SISMI was responsible for intelligence and security activities involving the military defence of Italy and for the integrity of the Italian State . SISMI reported to the Italian Ministry of Defense and operated both inside and outside of Italy ' s borders . It was feasible that domestic Intelligence and Security , which normally fell under SISDE ' s jurisdiction ( since it reported to the Ministry of the Interior ) , involved SISMI too , unless the security threat came from organized crime . Its duties included : Motto and logo . SISMI ' s motto , as seen on its logo , was " " ( Latin for " Understanding hidden things " ) . The verb " " , which literally means " I comprehend " , was chosen because « it evokes the noble root of intelligence , a discipline aimed at unravelling mysteries and holds in itself a constant tension directed to its final goal : knowledge » . Its Coat of Arms was granted by a decree of the President of the Republic dated 28 January 2004 . Recent controversies . Nicola Calipari and Giuliana Sgrena . In 2004 , Nicola Calipari , a high - ranking SISMI hostage negotiator , was killed at a U . S . Army checkpoint in Baghdad by Mario Lozano , purportedly after a communication breakdown between the Italian intelligence community and the occupying forces . Yellowcake forgery . In 2005 , SISMI was implicated in the yellowcake forgery scandal . The forged documents purporting to detail an Iraqi purchase of yellowcake uranium from Niger were given to a " cutout " named Rocco Martino by a Colonel in SISMI , Antonio Nucera . The head of SISMI , after claiming his agency received the documents from external sources , met with then - Deputy National Security Advisor , Stephen Hadley , on 9 September 2002 . Reportedly , the Sismi director vouched for the documents ' authenticity at the meeting ; as a result , the White House attempted to insert a reference to uranium from Africa in President Bush ' s upcoming address to the United Nations , scheduled for 12 September 2002 . The CIA removed the reference 24 hours before the address was given . In bypassing the CIA , Pollari ignored the established protocol for contacts between Italian and American intelligence agencies . . President Bush later used the same discredited information when delivering his January 2003 State of the Union address . Imam Rapito . In July 2006 , the Italian judiciary power issued arrest warrants for several SISMI officials involved in the joint CIA - SISMI operation resulting in the unlawful extraordinary rendition of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr , which SISMI Director Pollari had formally denied in testimony before a committee of the national legislature . Among these were : Nicolò Pollari himself would later be indicted on 5 December 2006 , and sentenced to 10 years in jail on February 12 , 2013 . Marco Mancini was sentenced to 9 years in jail . They appealed against this ruling . On 16 February 2007 , an Italian judge ordered twenty - six Americans and five Italians ( including Pollari ) to stand trial over the case on the 8th of June , 2007 . As part of the judiciary investigation , a SISMI - run black operation targeting center - left politician Romano Prodi and a vast domestic surveillance program was uncovered . Pompa prevailed upon the newspaper " Libero " to print allegations that Prodi , when serving as European Commissioner , had authorized the CIA prison flights via Italy . Targeted in the surveillance program were " La Repubblica " reporters Giuseppe D ' Avanzo and Carlo Bonini , who broke the yellowcake forgery story . Spying on magistrates . Italian magistrates searching the SISMI ' s headquarters in August 2007 found documents proving that the intelligence agency had spied over various European magistrates between 2001 and 2006 , whom it considered carrying a " destabilization " potential . These included the Medel , a European association of magistrates , as well as three French judges , including Anne Crenier , former president of the Syndicat de la magistrature French union , who is married to Italian magistrate Mario Vaudano who works at the European Anti - Fraud Office ( OLAF ) .