Conspiracy theories or 'frank and open' ?

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Bilderberg group

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060609/bilderberg_group_060609/20060609?hub=Canada
CTV.ca | Shadowy group meets amid secrecy in Ottawa

"
Shadowy group meets amid secrecy in Ottawa

Updated Fri. Jun. 9 2006 6:23 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A shadowy group of world leaders and decision makers
are meeting in Ottawa this weekend, cloaked in a
blanket of security and secrecy that has conspiracy
theorists' websites working overtime.

Considered one of the world's most powerful and
secret societies, the Bilderberg group's annual
meeting was scheduled to be attended by about 130
people at the Brook Street Resort.

The guest list, according to an unsigned press
release obtained by The Canadian Press, includes the
likes of David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger,
Holland's Queen Beatrix, and New York Gov. George
Pataki.

And the Canadian complement includes Indigo books
CEO Heather Reisman and former New Brunswick premier
Frank McKenna.

British prime ministers Tony Blair has spoken to the
group in the past, as have former Canadian prime
ministers Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien. Stephen
Harper attended in 2003, when he was Opposition
Leader. The prime minister is not expected, however,
to attend this year's conference.

Conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theorists maintain the group has played a
key role in world events, allegedly orchestrating
the move to a common European currency and getting
Bill Clinton elected after he agreed to sign onto
NAFTA. And in Yugoslavia, Serbs have blamed
Bilderberg for starting the war that led to the
downfall of former dictator Slobodan Milosevic.

And according to the release, this year's group will
discuss high oil prices and the best way to deal
with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

But beyond the press release -- which was tantamount
to transparency by Bilderberg standards -- there is
little indication about what will take place within
the hotel.

Canadian writer Daniel Estulin, who has been
following Bilderberg for years, describes it as a
"powerful" group of politicians and business people
with one objective: "To create a one-world
government where you don't have individual nations
-- you have one region, one religion, one
constitution, one church, one currency and one country."

"And you're seeing it right now as you have NAFTA,
the North American Free Trade Agreement, and you
have the European Community (EC)," Estulin, author
of Club Bilderberg, said Friday on CTV's Mike Duffy
Live.

The author claims he has several "intimate friends"
who are Bilderbergers, who are constantly feeding
him information about the proceedings.

Journalists are banned from the proceedings, except
in special cases, and attendees never speak about
what took place inside the meetings.

"No one is allowed to talk about it -- but you have
within the conference itself the members of the
Bilderberg press," said Estulin, adding that members
of The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek
magazine, The Financial Times and Time magazine are
in attendance.

Security measures

Other guests at the Ottawa hotel were asked to
check-out before Thursday, cars left in the parking
lot will be towed, and members of the hotel gym were
told it would be inaccessible for four days.

On Thursday, this year's guests began arriving at
the suburban Ottawa location.

They came in black limousines and sedans with darkly
tinted windows, surrounded by burly security guards
and passing through a security checkpoint a
half-kilometre away from the hotel.

Even uniformed Ottawa police were required to show
identification to private security personnel before
passing through the gates.

The Bilderberg group has been surrounded in high
level secrecy since it was established by Prince
Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1954.

The group, which is known by the name of the Dutch
hotel where the first conference was held, was
originally formed with the goal of establishing
better cooperation and understanding between the
U.S. and Europe.

There are no real members of the group. Instead, a
secret steering committee sends out invitations to
mainly business and political leaders each year.

The group has headquarters in The Hague,
Netherlands, at a building where phone calls are met
by a recorded voice with instructions to leave a
message, and calls are reportedly never returned.

Critics such as Estulin say the group is sinister
and elitist, and that it operates entirely through
self interest.

If the group's motives are legitimate, they ask, why
keep their meetings so secret?

"Now you have 125 of the most powerful people in the
world, and no one seems to want to know what these
people are talking about. If this is not a
conspiracy, I don't know what is," he said.

The group, however, claims secrecy is necessary in
order to stimulate discussions.

"The meeting is private to encourage frank and open
discussion," said the press release.

"There will be no press conference."

Over the past five years, the group's annual
meetings have been held in the following locations:

     * 2000 (June 1-3) Brussels, Belgium
     * 2001 (May 24-27) Gothenburg, Sweden
     * 2002 (May 30-June 2) Chantilly,VA, United States
     * 2003 (May 15-18) in Versailles, France
     * 2004 (June 3-6) in Stresa, Italy
     * 2005 (May 5-8) Rottach-Egern, Germany

With files from The Canadian Press
"

Onzin natuurlijk dat er ook maar een sprake is van
een 'frank and open discussion'. Als het ergens aan
ontbreekt is het 'frank and open'.

Er is zelfs geen persconferentie die zelfs maar een
licht schijnt op de behandelde omderwerpen.

Een democratie onwaardig .....

Is het misschien een terroristische organisatie?

Henk Elegeert

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