The
Bilderberg
Group/Conference/Club is, as far as secret societies are
concerned,
relatively new on the world's stage. Established in 1954 the
original conference was held in the
"Hotel
de Bilderberg," Oosterbeek, the
Netherlands (hence the name) between 29 and 31 May. Since then there
have been annual gatherings (some say to decide humanities fate and the
course of future history) behind closed doors at secure
locations in more than a dozen countries on two continents. The conferences, by invitation only, consist of around 130 or so guests drawn from the fields of politics, banking, the media and business. Secrecy and safety are the bywords, security provided by police, security services and the military (up to and including an air umbrella of helicopters and fighter jets).
The original conference was initiated by powerful personages the likes of British politician Denis Healy (originally a nuclear hawk “at least in public,” [1] a proponent of disarmament in later years) and Polish political advisor Jozef Retinger (instrumental in the founding of the European Union), its alleged purpose to promote understanding, good relations and co-operation between Western Europe and North America.
Meetings are organized by a steering committee:
Retinger, the first permanent secretary, was replaced following his death in 1960 by Dutch economist, politician and businessman Ernst van der Beugel. Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands was the meeting’s Chairman until 1976 and his involvement in the Lockheed affair. [2] While the position of Honorary American Secretary General has been held by such notables as Joseph E. Johnson of the Carnegie Endowment, William Bundy of Princeton and Theodore L. Eliot, Jr., a former ambassador to Afghanistan.
Attendees have included Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Sofia of Spain, World Bank president; Timothy Geithner, United States Treasury Secretary; James Steinberg, Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld.
European participants are seemingly being elevated to power positions within the European Union, e.g. Herman Van Rompuy past Prime Minister of Belgium who after attending a “group” dinner at the "Castle of the Valley of the Duchess" in 2009 and presumably receiving their endorsement was chosen shortly thereafter to be the first full time President of the European Council.
Because of the secrecy surrounding Bilderberg meetings and the power wielded by those attending, the “group” is often accused of being mixed up in world plots of a secretive and sometimes nefarious nature. Amongst other things conspiracy theorists maintain Bilderbergers were involved in the collapse of Soviet communism, the rise of a united Europe, the move to a common European currency, getting Bill Clinton elected after he agreed to sign onto NAFTA, starting the war that brought about the downfall of Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic and the latest that US President Barrack Obama‘s administration is infested with Bilderbergers intent on installing a one-world government (shades of the Illuminati) and subverting the will of the American people. [3]
Canadian writer Daniel Estulin (a Russian expatriate living in Madrid), who has been following Bilderberg for years, agrees with much of the above paragraph describing them 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."
Not altogether disagreeing, Bilderberg founding and steering committee member Denis Healy, has in a moment of rare disclosure, stated:
“To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn't go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing.”
According to the American Friends of Bilderberg hosts of the 56th meeting that was held in Chantilly, Virginia. “The agenda dealt mainly with a nuclear free world, cyber terrorism, Africa, Russia, finance, protectionism, US-EU relations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islam and Iran. There were approximately a 140 participants, two thirds from Europe, one third from North America. Their makeup one third from government and politics, two thirds from finance, industry, labor, education and communications. The meeting was private in order to encourage frank and open discussion.
[1] As British Secretary of State for Defense it was Healy who (in the event of the Prime Minister’s death in a nuclear assault) would have been