The Bilderberg conference, a gathering of the world’s political and financial elite with a veil of secrecy enforced by an army of security guards and a full-scale media blackout, is now underway in Switzerland.
The meeting is bankrolled by Swiss taxpayers, even as Europe tightens its belt and forces through brutal austerity cuts.In a talk with RT, Tony Gosling, an investigative journalist from the UK, sheds light on what may be happening behind closed doors.RT: When it comes to the Bilderberg Group, wild conspiracy theories abound. Why do you think they attract this reaction from people?Tony Gosling: I think, it’s pretty obvious to me, that this is the most convenient way to distract attention, say, to sort of mix up this very important meeting with other silly conspiracy theories. I can tell you my blood is boiling at the lack of coverage in the Western world. If you had all of the leaders of the main banks in the West, all of these royalty, all of the chief executives, as well as people like George Osborne, with his treasury team there – I mean, we are talking about an incredibly important meeting – even if one of these groups were to meet up together, it would be in our headlines. But since they are all at the same place, you would expect more coverage.RT: But isn’t that the choice of the group: they want a media blackout, so they can discuss openly and anonymously among themselves, without being reported erroneously or whatever? They don’t want the media to be there, is that right?TG: They don’t want the media, that’s because, I think, what they are up to in there is absolutely no good. We have to look at what NATO is up to, and this is very important to understand – the very close links between NATO and the Bilderbergers. It was set up round about the same time as NATO, just after World War II, by the CIA and the Council on Foreign Relations, who had been talking about this during and after World War II. The person who actually got this organization started was himself – this is Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands – a former SS officer. And the idea that this organization is not important, not important enough for us to know about in this country, is just ridiculous. Because what’s happening here is, we are spending our years voting in local and general elections, and this arrogant bunch is choosing our party leaders. So, it almost doesn’t matter which way we vote, we still find that this secret, artificial consensus, which is cooked up at these Bilderberg meetings, spreads now around the world.And it’s not just me saying that. There is Will Hutton, who actually went to one of these meetings when he was still the editor of The Observer newspaper here in Britain. That’s his assessment, that the consensus that they decide at Bilderberg forms the backdrop against which worldwide, actually, mainly Western, policy is made – certainly countries in the NATO zone.RT: Can you be a bit more tangible? Do you have other ideas of what they could be discussing then over the next four days? What are the other subject areas? You are talking about policy, but what else?TG: They will definitely be looking at the developments from the “Arab Spring.” And also, one of the key things they do, certainly kind of behind the scenes, is they bring on people they think may be on their program, their idea of economics, their idea of global strategy. And what they do is they see if these politicians – up-and-coming politicians – are the ones they want to be party leaders in the future. I mean, even people like the secretary general of NATO is chosen there.But you ask for what exactly they are talking about… Clearly, they will be looking at the euro. The euro has been a disaster. And one of the things that irritates me is that they are asking us, as you just said, to trust them. I don’t think we can trust them. Look at the financial mess they’ve made across the entire Western world. And also look at the way that NATO is now tearing up the UN Charter. Now, the UN Charter is not just any old document. This is the main piece of international law which was put together at the end of World War II. So, they can’t just tear this up and go into countries like Libya with impunity.RT: The G8 is accused of being an elite organization and not achieving very much. Is there a lot of difference between this sort of group and the G8? And does the Bilderberg Group really achieve anything? You suggest that they do, but it’s just yet another round of talks and people enjoying themselves in luxury surroundings, isn’t it?TG: What they do achieve, if you can call it achievement, is things like the Iraq war. One of the most important leaks that came out of the 2002 Bilderberg conference is that there was a consensus there to start a war on Iraq. Now, that’s all proven to be a complete disaster. So, I wouldn’t call what they are doing in there achieving anything.RT: Is there really concrete evidence that suggests that they will set an agenda like that to create a war? If it’s all happening behind closed doors and under secrecy, how can you, as a journalist, be sure that that sort of thing is discussed there and decided on?TG: I’ve just explained to you: the leaks that were coming out in 2002 were about this, where most people in the rest of the world were thinking it’s a ridiculous idea.The other thing is that former members of that organization, former Bilderbergers, have said, for example, that the initial meetings of the European Union were cooked up inside. So, these are big thinkers. These people are thinking very, very long term. As I said, in World War II this was brewed up. And the first meeting only took place in 1954. So, these are big, worldwide strategic thinkers. But it is, actually, I mean, people talk about conspiracies having to do with a kind of new world order, a world government. Actually, thankfully, these people are just in the NATO zone. They may have big ideas about a world fascist super-state – that’s not impossible – but the fact is: I don’t think that’s going to happen. If anything, it’s more likely to be war, you know. And that’s the way things seem to be going right now, because we’ve got the financial crisis and also increased problems in the Middle East particularly. And in Pakistan, of course, as well, and Afghanistan, where NATO is.