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Bilderberg

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Bilderberg. The name came from the group's first meeting place, the Hotel de Bilderberg of Oosterbeek, Holland, in May 1954.

Contents

Overview

Over the next 47 years the secret meetings have included most of the top ruling-class players from Western Europe and America. Until he was implicated in the Lockheed bribery scandal in 1976, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands served as chairman. Now, Bilderberg is a symbol of world management by Atlanticist elites. Some observers feel that it borders on the conspiratorial, while others are primarily interested in its implications for power structure research. Bilderberg participants from the U.S. are almost always members of the Council on Foreign Relations. Since 1973, Japanese elites have been brought into the fold through a third overlapping group, the Trilateral Commission." [1] Writing in 2008 for Global Research, Andrew G. Marshall notes that:

"Bilderberg, which has been meeting annually since 1954, is a highly secretive international think tank and some say, policy-forming group made up of representatives from North America and Western Europe and was founded by Joseph Retinger, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and Belgian Prime Minister Paul Van Zeeland. The Bilderberg Steering Committee, made up of around 30 people, (with no official list available), "decided that it would invite 100 of the most powerful people in Europe and North America every year to meet behind closed doors at a different five-star resort. The group stresses secrecy: What's said at a Bilderberg conference stays at a Bilderberg conference."" [2]

According to Richard J. Aldrich (Lecturer in Politics at Nottingham University):

"The Bilderberg Group, an informal secretive transatlantic council of key decision makers, developed between 1952 and 1954... It brought leading European and American personalities together once a year for informal discussions of their differences... The formation of the American wing of Bilderberg was entrusted to (Gen.) Eisenhower's psychological warfare co-ordinator, C.D. Jackson, and the funding for the first meeting, held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Holland in 1954, was provided by the Central Intelligence Agency. Thereafter much of its funding came from the Ford Foundation... The subjects over which the annual meetings ranged were wide... but it is clear that the [1957] Treaty of Rome/ibid/ibid was nurtured by discussions at Bilderberg the previous year." [3]

Bilderberg Conference

"The Bilderberg Conference is an annual three-day conference that brings together some of Europe's and North America's most influential bankers, economists, politicians, and government officials. 'The conference, held in a different Western country each year, is conducted in an atmosphere of rigid secrecy. The conference provides a private, informal environment in which those who influence national policies and international affairs can get to know each other and discuss without committment their common problems.'"

The conference is named after the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, where the first meeting was initiated by Prince Bernahrd of the Netherlands in May 1954. [4]

American Friends of Bilderberg

The U.S. group is directed by Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, Paul Arthur Allaire and Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke.

"Since 1953, the Bilderberg group has convened government, business, academic and journalistic representatives from the U.S., Canada and Europe with the express purpose of exploring the future of the North Atlantic community. The international steering committee includes Conrad Black, publisher of newspapers throughout Canada, the U.S. and the London Telegraph and Jerusalem Post, Vernon Eulion Jordan, Jr., George J. Mitchell, Kissinger and Rockefeller.
"On the agenda for the November [4-5, 1999] meeting [at the Library of Congress] is a panel discussion of the U.S. presidential elections and an exploration of the national security requirements for the 21st century. Among those involved in the discussion of the latter subject will be former U.S. Sens. Gary Hart and Warren Bruce Rudman, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, journalist Leslie H. Gelb and Secretary of Defense William Sebastian Cohen. John McCain, at the special invitation of Kissinger, will speak at breakfast Friday morning and Albert Gore, Jr. will make a Thursday night dinner address, according to the agenda obtained by WorldNetDaily.

Others making presentations include Rep. Bill Thomas of California, Sen. Christopher John Dodd of Connecticut, Evan Bayh of Indiana and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles.

The list of potential invitees to the Washington conference includes: Dwayne O. Andreas, Michael H. Armacost, Robert Bartley, Samuel R. Berger, C. Fred Bergsten, Richard Bernstein, James H. Billington, Gen. Charles G. Boyd, Bill Bradley, John H. Bryan, William F. Buckley, Jr., William P. Bundy, John H. Chafee, E. Gerald Corrigan, Kenneth W. Dam, Lynne E. Davis, John Mark Deutch, Thomas E. Donilon, Theodore L. Eliot Jr., Dianne Feinstein, Martin S. Feldstein, Stanley Fischer, James J. Florio, Lynn Forester, Charles W. Freedman Jr., Stephen Friedman, Thomas Friedman, David Frum, Richard Furland, Orit Gadiesh, Gen. John R. Glavin, David Gergen, Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Paul Gigot, Katherine Graham, Donald Graham, Marc Grossman, Chuck Hagel, Jim Hoagland, James F. Hoge, Jr., Mrs. Karen Elliott House, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Peter Jennings, Jems Johnson, Peter Kahn, Nancy Landon Kassebaum, Robert M. Kimmitt, Henry Kravis, William Kristol, Jan Leschly, Winston Lord, Jessica Tucher Matthews, Charles Mac Mathias, William J. McDonough, George C. McGhee, Richard A. McGinn, Donald F. McHenry, Sam Nunn, Joseph Samuel Nye, Jr., John M. Page, Jr., Norman Pearlstine, William J. Perry, Thomas R. Pickering, Gen. Colin L. Powell, Sir Kieran Prendergast, Larry Lee Pressler, Clyde V. Prestowitz, Steven Rattner, William Rhodes, William Richardson, Sharon Percy Rockefeller, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, Robert Shapiro, George Soros, Lesley Stahl, James B. Steinberg, George Stephanopoulos, Lawrence H. Summers, G. Richard Thornan, Franklin A. Thomas, Alexander J. Trotman, Wiliam Clay Ford, Jr., Laura D'Andrea Tyson, Lodewijk J.R. de Vink, Dr. Ezra F. Vogel, Paul Adolph Volcker, Stanley A. Weiss, John C. Whitehead, Christine Todd Whitman, James David Wolfensohn and Casimir A. Yost." [5]

Conspiracy Theories

One of the leading researchers on the American right, Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, argues that the perpetuation of the myth that groups such as Bilderberg are all-powerful is a political distraction. "Why are people recycling a right-wing anti-communist conspiracy theory? People need to be less credulous and gullible. Not everyone who has an anti-elitist framework is our ally," Berlet wrote in exasperation on one occasion. [2]

"The www.bilderberg.org site is a prime example of right-wing populist conspiracism. It's owner is worried that we are approaching the Biblical "End Times" and thinks the Bilderberger group might be part of the plot by Satan to build a one world government. This material is a mixture of fact, speculation, and apocalyptic demonization. The Bilderberger conspiracy theory diverts us from a systematic analysis of how wealthy elites control the economy and the political scene. Any structural approach can teach people to see how pointless these individualized conspiracy theories really are. The structural analysis can be Marxist, power structure research such as G. William Domhoff and Holly Sklar, Critical Race Theory, any of several feminist theories, Queer theory. ANY structural critique will steer folks away from dead end conspiracism. The Bilderberger conspiracy theory first got an airing by ultra-conservative Phyllis Schlafly during the Goldwater campaign in 1964.

From "The Hunt for Red Menace:"

"The views on intractable godless communism expressed by [Fred] Schwarz were central themes in three other bestselling books which were used to mobilize support for the 1964 Goldwater campaign. The best known was Phyllis Schlafly's A Choice, Not an Echo which suggested a conspiracy theory in which the Republican Party was secretly controlled by elitist intellectuals dominated by members of the Bilderberger group, whose policies would pave the way for global communist conquest. Schlafly's husband Fred had been a lecturer at Schwartz's local Christian Anti-communism Crusade conferences."
"A few of the Bilderberg permanent U.S. members are: George W. Ball, Gabriel Hauge, Richard C. Holbrooke, Winston Lord, Bill Moyers, and Paul Wolfowitz. The permanent Bilderberg Secretariat is located at: 1 Smidswater, the Hague, the Netherlands (though another address is sometimes reported at 2301 Da Leiden, in the Netherlands) Their address in America was at 345 E. 46th Street, in New York City (which was also the location of the Trilateral Commission and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace). The American Friends of Bilderbergs, with offices at 477 Madison Avenue (6th floor) in New York City, is an IRS-approved charitable organization that received regular contributions from the likes of Exxon, Arco, and IBM; while their meetings are funded by the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and the Carnegie Endowment fund."[3]

In 2005, Bill Hayton of the BBC World Service interviewed the Chair of the Bilderberg Group, Etienne Davignon, a former Belgian diplomat and European Commissioner and now businessman. He dismissed claims that the Bilderberg Group is part of a global consipiracy to rule the world by a self-selected elite of movers and shakers, saying, "When people say this is a secret government of the world, I say that if we were a secret government of the world we should be bloody ashamed of ourselves." [4]

Bilderberg 2009

The 2009 Bilderberg Conference was held at the 5 star Nafsika Astir Palace Hotel in Vouliagmeni, Greece from May 14-17. [5] The focus of the meeting was on the restructuring of the global political economy and addressing the economic crisis [6]. For a complete guest list, please refer to this listof delegates.

Bilderberg 2008

The 2008 Bilderberg Conference was held at the Westfields Mariott Hotel in Chantilly, Virginia right outside Washington, D.C. from June 5-8. Major topics of discussion included cyber terrorism, the Middle East, a nuke-free world, and Africa, according to a press release. There was speculation that then Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton attended the secretive meeting. The complete list of attendees included James A. Johnson, who was named to the three-person team vetting possible running mates for Barack Obama. Rampant speculation in the blogosphere said the Obama-Clinton meeting was held to arrange Hillary Clinton as Obama's vice-presidential candidate.[7]

Bilderberg 2007

The 2007 Bilderberg Conference was held at the Ritz Carltonin Istanbul, Turkey from May 31-June 3. Notable guests included Henry Kissinger; Etienne Davignon, Bilderberg Group President; and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. For a complete guest list, please refer to this listof delegates.

Bilderberg 2006

The 2006 Bilderberg Conference was held at the luxurious Brookstreet Hotel in Kanata, Ottawa, " a leading high-technology campus in Ottawa, Canada". [8], where just one month earlier the low-profile but influential neoconservative [Civitas Society] had gathered.

According to Holly Lake reporting for the Ottawa Sun of the Sun Media Group, "The Brookstreet Hotel was off limits to all but staff and Bilderbergers this weekend. Outside, heavy security staffed metal gates blocking all access to the hotel's empty parking lot. Two police cruisers patrolled the lot but even police officers who can usually go anywhere couldn't approach the hotel without a special Bilderberg-issued pass." The article continued, "Bilderberg is criticized for being accountable to no one and circumventing democracy by privately discussing public issues -- and some suspect setting public policy. Members say they're building transatlantic understanding, frankly talking about issues, but they prefer to do it in private where invited participants can speak freely. Secret meetings that have Indigo Books CEO Heather Reisman, Richard Perle, one of George W. Bush's top advisors, billionaire David Rockefeller and Holland's Queen Beatrix in the same group? [9]

Other information

The papers of C.D. Jackson, donated to the Dwight David Eisenhower Presidential Library in 1972, include the following files:

  • Bilderberg - 1964 [unofficial meetings of leading citizens in govt. and industry in U.S., Europe, & Canada for discussions of international problems]
  • Bilderberg- 1962-63
  • " 1958-9-60-61 (1)(2)
  • " 1957
  • " Group

The Finding Aid to the Dwight David Eisenhower Diaries also include references to the Bilderberg meetings:

  • DDE Diary - November 1954 (1) (2) [DDE to Prince Bernhard on Committee - Bilderberg Meetings were unofficial private annual gatherings of prominent U.S. & European citizens to discuss international affairs ...

See (type URL in address line): http://www.ibiblio.org/lia/president/EisenhowerLibrary/finding_aids/DDE's_Diary.html

See 1964 Congressional Record testimony for further "official" information:

  • Bilderberg Group Info. Includes: The Congressional Record - US Senate, April 11, 1964.
  • Bilderbergs. Includes: The Congressional Record - US Senate, April 11, 1964.

Contact

Charles W. Muller
American Friends of Bilderbergs, Inc.
477 Madison Ave., 6th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Phone: +1 (212) 879 0545

Articles & sources

Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. ↑ This does not constitute an official explanation for Bilderberg. However, this description appears to be consistently given on various international web sites. Narrative taken from Name Base web site.
  2. ↑ Andrew G. Marshall, "Barack O’Bilderberg: Picking the President", Global Research, June 9, 2008.
  3. ↑ Richard J. Aldrich, taken from an aritlc in Diplomacy and Statecraft for March, 1997. Dr. Aldrich is the author of The Hidden Hand: Britain, America and Cold War Secret Intelligence, John Murray, 2001.[1]
  4. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed. Vol. 2, p. 211.
  5. ↑ Annon, "The next Bilderberg meeting: Secret roster, agenda for Washington conference", WorldNetDaily, October 12, 1999.

Books

(Extensively researched and documented scholarly works by a professor of history at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and mentor to U.S. President Bill Clinton, these books, completed in the 1960s, are now somewhat dated but provide excellent historical background.)

External links

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