Difference between revisions of "Le Cercle"
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|founders=Jean Violet | |founders=Jean Violet | ||
|leader= Chairman of Le Cercle | |leader= Chairman of Le Cercle | ||
| − | |interests=War on Terror, Terrorism, Deep politics | + | |interests=War on Terror, Terrorism, National Security, Strategy of Tension, Deep politics |
|description=A highly secretive privately-funded and transnational discussion group set up in the 1950s, believed to have been meeting once or twice a year ever since. | |description=A highly secretive privately-funded and transnational discussion group set up in the 1950s, believed to have been meeting once or twice a year ever since. | ||
| − | |members=James Alan Abrahamson, Jonathan Aitken, Alfredo Alcaino, Richard Allan, Julian Amery, Franz Josef Bach, Norman Bailey, Pat Balestreri, John Barron, Jeff Bergner, John Biggs-Davison, Benoît de Bonvoisin, Raymond Bourgine, John Browne, Francisco Bulnes, Mario Buschemi, Ian Butterfield, Umberto Cappuzzo, John Carbough, Margaret Carlisle, | + | |members=James Alan Abrahamson, Jonathan Aitken, Alfredo Alcaino, Richard Allan, Julian Amery, Franz Josef Bach, Norman Bailey, Pat Balestreri, John Barron, Jeff Bergner, John Biggs-Davison, Benoît de Bonvoisin, Colonel Botta, Raymond Bourgine, John Browne, Francisco Bulnes, David Burnside, Mario Buschemi, Ian Butterfield, Umberto Cappuzzo, John Carbough, Margaret Carlisle, William Casey, Anthony Cavendish, Paul Channon, Alan Clark, Robert Close, William Colby, Etienne Copel, Miles Costick, Percy Cradock, James Crichfield, Brian Crozier, Armand de Decker, François Deniau, Alan Duncan, Lee Edwards, Nicholas Elliot, Philipp Vander Elst, Edo Fernandes, Edwin J. Feulner, Charles Fincham, Brand Fourie, William François, Dick Franks, Charles Alan 'Pop' Fraser, Monique Garnier-Lancon, Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, Rolf Gärtner, Jeffrey B. Gayner, Frans Alfing van Geusam, B. H. Hersow, Dirk W. R. Hertzog, Franz Heubl, Alvarez Gomez-Hurtado, Enrique Gomez-Hurtado, Philip Goodhard, Eldon Griffith, Rolf Graage, Robert J. Hanks, Bruno Heck, Alfons Horten, Hans Graf Huyn, Rosemary Graf Huyn, Fred Ikle, Manuel Fraga Iribana, Donald Jameson, Philipp Jenninger, Pierre Joannon, Jacques Jonet, Peter Jungen, Nicholas de Kerchove, John Killick, Guillermo Kirkpatrick, Robert H. Knight, Friedrich König, Sven Kraemer, Francise Lacoste, Norman Lamont, Edward Leigh, Julian Lewis, John Lichowski, Gerhard Lowenthal, James Lucier, Phillip Malhoud, Alexandre de Marenches, Werner Marx, Neil McLean, Richard McCormack, Neil Mc Leans, Robert McKinney, Pierre Mehaignery, Constantin Menges, Alois Mertes, Herbert Meyer, Thomas E. Moorer, Daniel Muzuera, Karl Heinz Narjes, Richard Nixon, François d'Orcival, Frans Otten, Filippo Maria Pandolfi, Charles Pasqua, Peter Petersen, Antoine Pinay, Carlos Robles Piquer, Robert Pfalzgraff, Jost Pfeiffer, Jaime Nogueiro Pionto, Giulia du Plooy, Robert du Plooy, Jean-François Probst, Jues Pujo, Walter Raymond, Gavin W. H. Relly, Henri Renard, Condesa de Romanones, William V. Roth, Hans Rühle, Luc Beyer de Rycke, Alfredo Sanches-Bella, Captain Santino, Dieter A. Schmidt, William Schneider, A. D. Schulze, Franz-Josef Schulze, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, Gerd Schulte-Hillen, Ted Shackley, Arkady Shevchenko, Arnold M. Silver, Christian Freiherr von Stauffenberg, Richard Stilwell, Frank Steele, 'Schmidthuber', Franz Josef Strauss, Steven Symms, Frances Stockdale Symms, Geoffrey Tantum, Peter Tennant, Eymen Topbas, Paul Vankerhoven, Hans Van Dalsen, Peter van der Byl, Otto von Habsburg, Jean Violet, Juergen Warnke, Paul M. Weyrich, John Wilkinson, John Wodehouse, Bernhard Worms |
}} | }} | ||
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==Meetings== | ==Meetings== | ||
| − | The group | + | The group meets twice a year, once in Washington DC in the autumn and once in the early part of the year in an "overseas" venue. Meetings last 4 days and there are "about 70"<ref name=ind1997/> attendees, almost all male. Some attendees bring their wives, though it is unknown to what extent (if any) they are involved in the meetings.<ref name=ISGP1>https://wikispooks.com/ISGP/organisations/Le_Cercle_membership_list.htm</ref> |
==Attendance== | ==Attendance== | ||
| Line 30: | Line 30: | ||
==Media Attention== | ==Media Attention== | ||
| − | Le Cercle has operated in almost complete anonymity since its creation with only a handful of articles having been written about it. No American sources are known to have identified the group. Le Cercle was mentioned in the early 1980s by the German magazine ''Der Spiegel'' as a result of the controversy surrounding [[Franz Josef Strauss]], a regular attendant. In the late 1990s, Le Cercle received some attention after a scandal broke out involving [[Jonathan Aitken]], who was then chairman of Le Cercle <ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/aitken-dropped-by-the-rights-secret-club-1258522.html Aitken dropped by the Right's secret club]</ref>. Members that were contacted by newspapers refused to answer any questions about the group and sometimes simply put down the phone. | + | Le Cercle has operated in almost complete anonymity since its creation with only a handful of articles having been written about it. No American sources are known to have identified the group. Le Cercle was mentioned in the early 1980s by the German magazine ''Der Spiegel'' as a result of the controversy surrounding [[Franz Josef Strauss]], a regular attendant. In the late 1990s, Le Cercle received some attention after a scandal broke out involving [[Jonathan Aitken]], who was then chairman of Le Cercle <ref name=ind1997>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/aitken-dropped-by-the-rights-secret-club-1258522.html Aitken dropped by the Right's secret club]</ref>. Members that were contacted by newspapers refused to answer any questions about the group and sometimes simply put down the phone. |
Although Le Cercle has been mentioned (very briefly) a number of times in the British press since 1997, it has mainly been [[internet]] [[researcher]]s who have been responsible for bringing an increased amount of attention to this group. The most comprehensive study known first appeared in 2005 on the internet, published on the [[ISGP]] website. | Although Le Cercle has been mentioned (very briefly) a number of times in the British press since 1997, it has mainly been [[internet]] [[researcher]]s who have been responsible for bringing an increased amount of attention to this group. The most comprehensive study known first appeared in 2005 on the internet, published on the [[ISGP]] website. | ||
| Line 46: | Line 46: | ||
==Funding== | ==Funding== | ||
| − | The group is privately funded. In 1971, [[Shell]] contributed a lump sum of £30,000. [[The Ford Foundation]] also donated £20,000 over three years.<ref name='R000033'>{{cite book | last = Teacher | first = David | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Rogue Agents: The Cercle Pinay complex 1951-1991 | publisher = | date = 2008-01-06 | location = | pages = 233 | url = https://wikispooks.com/ISGP/organisations/Rogue_Agents_the_Cercle_Pinay_complex_1951_1991.pdf | doi = | id = | isbn = }}</ref> | + | The group is "privately funded". [[Robin Ramsay]], editor of [[Lobster Magazine]] believes the [[CIA]] funds the group. In 1971, [[Shell]] contributed a lump sum of £30,000. [[The Ford Foundation]] also donated £20,000 over three years.<ref name='R000033'>{{cite book | last = Teacher | first = David | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Rogue Agents: The Cercle Pinay complex 1951-1991 | publisher = | date = 2008-01-06 | location = | pages = 233 | url = https://wikispooks.com/ISGP/organisations/Rogue_Agents_the_Cercle_Pinay_complex_1951_1991.pdf | doi = | id = | isbn = }}</ref> |
{{SMWDocs}} | {{SMWDocs}} | ||
Revision as of 19:23, 7 April 2015
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'Le Cercle or '[1] is a foreign policy think-tank specialising in international security. Set up after World War II, the group has members from twenty-five countries and is believed to meet bi-annually, in Washington, D.C. and maybe other places. "Atlantic Cercle, Inc." was registered at the home of the notorious CIA covert operations officer, Ted Shackley.
Contents
Origins
Le Cercle used be known as the Pinay Circle, or Cercle Pinay by its original French founders. Although the group was named after a French statesman who was prime minister from March to December 1952, the real organizer of this group was Jean Violet, a close associate of Pinay since 1951.
Meetings
The group meets twice a year, once in Washington DC in the autumn and once in the early part of the year in an "overseas" venue. Meetings last 4 days and there are "about 70"[2] attendees, almost all male. Some attendees bring their wives, though it is unknown to what extent (if any) they are involved in the meetings.[3]
Attendance
Full article: Le Cercle membership lists
The identity of attendees is less known than that of other secret society meetings such as the Bilderberg group and was a matter of almost complete conjecture until 2011 when ISGP researcher, Joël van der Reijden published 5 guest lists for Le Cercle meetings, gleaned from from the private papers of French Cercle visitor Monqiue Garnier-Lancon at Stanford University. Their authenticity in unknown but he believes them genuine and they fit what little is known of the group.[4]
These lists included a similar set of deep state actors - i.e. politicians, spooks, bankers, diplomats, deep political actors, military officers, oil experts, editors and publishers who may or may not have retired from their official functions. The participants usually come from western or western-oriented countries. Many important members tend to be affiliated with the aristocratic circles in London or obscure elements within the Vatican, and accusations of links to fascism and Synarchism are anything but uncommon in this milieu.
German guest #8 of the June 1983 Le Cercle meeting has a single name 'Schmidthuber' and a designation 'Minister of State of Bavaria'. This may be a reference to Peter Schmidhuber who was in the private office of Franz Josef Strauss, or this may be an alias of Strauss himself, who was indeed Minister President of Bavaria and is known to have attended le Cercle.
Media Attention
Le Cercle has operated in almost complete anonymity since its creation with only a handful of articles having been written about it. No American sources are known to have identified the group. Le Cercle was mentioned in the early 1980s by the German magazine Der Spiegel as a result of the controversy surrounding Franz Josef Strauss, a regular attendant. In the late 1990s, Le Cercle received some attention after a scandal broke out involving Jonathan Aitken, who was then chairman of Le Cercle [2]. Members that were contacted by newspapers refused to answer any questions about the group and sometimes simply put down the phone.
Although Le Cercle has been mentioned (very briefly) a number of times in the British press since 1997, it has mainly been internet researchers who have been responsible for bringing an increased amount of attention to this group. The most comprehensive study known first appeared in 2005 on the internet, published on the ISGP website.
Leaders
Chairmen of Le Cercle include Julian Amery (1985 until the early 1990s[5]), Christian Schwarz-Schilling and Jonathan Aitken. The group's leader as of [When?] has been recorded as Norman Lamont, former British Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Activities
Promotion of European Integration
Le Cercle (like the Bilderberg Group, to which it is often compared) is strongly focused on European integration, going back to the efforts of its early members to bring about a Franco-German rapprochement. The significant presence of Paneuropa-affiliated Opus Dei members and Knights of Malta, together with statements of the Vatican and Otto von Habsburg, clearly indicate there's an agenda in the background to some day bring about a new Holy Roman Empire with its borders stretching from the Atlantic to the Black Sea and from the Baltic Sea to North Africa. Interestingly, the latest generation of British Cercle members, whose predecessors were keen on joining the European Union, now do everything in their power to keep Britain out of the emerging European superstate, having lost faith they can become a significant force within Europe. Their American associates, however, would like for them to continue the effort of breaking into the Franco-German alliance and possibly to establish a new Anglo-German alliance.
Strategy of Tension
- Full article: Strategy of Tension
- Full article: Strategy of Tension
Der Reijden infers that Le Cercle may be connected to the Strategy of Tension. Noting the presence of Baron Benoit de Bonvoisin in the group, he remarks that "That's major news, because Baron de Bonvoisn, besides a key Belgian figure in the Strategy of Tension, is the most key name in the Belgian X-Dossiers."
Funding
The group is "privately funded". Robin Ramsay, editor of Lobster Magazine believes the CIA funds the group. In 1971, Shell contributed a lump sum of £30,000. The Ford Foundation also donated £20,000 over three years.[6]
Related Quotations
| Page | Quote | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deep state actor | “Crozier himself makes the point that many of the prominent politicians invited to sit in on Cercle strategic sessions had no knowledge of their hosts' more clandestine operational activities – if only because of the "need to know" principle. Nonetheless, a stalwart multi-functionary on the Boards of several groups linked to the Cercle can be presumed to have some deeper involvement beyond just lending his name to the cause.” | David Teacher | |
| Hans Langemann | “the Circle consists of a loose gathering of various conservative and anti-Communist politicians, publicists, bankers and VIPs that meets some twice a year in various parts of the world. Its origins stem from the former French Prime Minister Antoine Pinay. The Circle, which still exists today, also invites guest speakers... One recent development is the establishment within the Circle of a command staff or of an inner circle which then works out particularly suitable means for action on current political questions.” | Hans Langemann | 1980 |
| Le Cercle/Exposure | “For instance, in the late 1970s Le Cercle supported NATO's decision to station new medium-range nuclear weapons — Cruise and Pershing II missiles — in Britain, Germany, Belgium and Holland targeted against the USSR. Le Cercle helped to discredit the European peace protest movement which emerged against the backdrop of the nuclearization of Europe through aggressive counter-intelligence, provocations and disinformation.” | Ekaterina Blinova | 8 August 2015 |
| Helmut Schmidt | “Participants at Le Cercle meetings report that a major issue has been how to bring about the demise of West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's government. This issue dominated the last biannual meeting of Le Cercle that was hosted by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the official think tank of opposition leader Franz Josef Strauss's Christian Social Union, in Munich last May. Le Cercle's participants have been able to carry out an inside-outside job to destroy the Schmidt coalition government since then. While Strauss's CSU carried out a heavy-handed wrecking job that included an implicit alliance with the Strasserite fascist Green Party, sources report that Helmut Sonnenfeldt and Henry Kissinger took the inside track since the ouster of Secretary of State Alexander Haig, threatening, cajoling, and misleading Schmidt into his disastrous pragmatic political course.” | Helmut Schmidt Scott Thompson | 1982 |
Employee on Wikispooks
| Employee | Job |
|---|---|
| Geoffrey Tantum | Le Cercle/UK secretary |
Known members
281 of the 318 of the members already have pages here:
| Member | Description |
|---|---|
| James Abrahamson | U.S. Air Force general responsible for space imaging and the Strategic Defence Intiative. Abrahamson later directed Stratesec, a company which had unparalleled access to the World Trade Center prior to 2001. He was a member of the deep state intelligence coordinating conference Le Cercle. |
| Konrad Adenauer | German (deep?) politician, CDU leader |
| Jonathan Aitken | UK deep politician, Cercle chair, convicted perjurer |
| Georges Albertini | French deep state operative. Man-behind-the-scenes for many politicians. |
| Alfredo Alcaino | Chile born Cercle visitor, deep state connected lawyer |
| Rupert Allason | Writer of books and articles on the subject of espionage. Attended Le Cercle. |
| Richard Allen | US National Security Advisor, Cercle, Iran-Contra... |
| Julian Amery | MI6, deep politician who chaired Le Cercle for several years. |
| Hooshang Amirahmadi | Iranian American spook who attended Le Cercle. |
| Michael Ancram | Likely took over from Norman Lamont as European chair of Le Cercle. |
| Bruce Anderson | UK pro-torture spooky journalist, Le Cercle, attended a "terrorism" related conference chaired by Harold Elletson in 2009. |
| Robert Anderson | Le Cercle, Bilderberg, |
| Giulio Andreotti | "The ultimate insider of Italian political life", who as Italian Prime Minister publicly confirmed the existence of Operation Gladio |
| Magdeleine Anglade | French member of Le Cercle who took over the role of Monique Garnier-Lançon |
| Richard Armitage | "A sophisticated member of the top echelons of the U.S. government" |
| Kaúlza de Arriaga | Portuguese soldier politician who attended a November 1977 meeting of Le Cercle with his aide |
| Bernard Asso | Spooky French lawyer |
| Nadhmi Auchi | Cercle-connected fraudster |
| Shaukat Aziz | Tri-national Citibank executive with "close ties" to the US deep state. Parachuted in to become Prime Minister of Pakistan. Cercle member. |
| Franz Josef Bach | A leading German member of the Cercle, who organised the 1982 meeting in Wildbad Kreuth. |
| Norman Bailey | Spooky economist who taught "Economics for Foreign Policy Makers." Admitted on the record that the PROMIS database and search application has been given to the NSA |
| John Barron | A spooky journalist who wrote on the evils of the KGB. |
| Margaret Beckett | UK foreign secretary, Le Cercle attendee |
| Alfredo Sánchez Bella | Spanish spook and possible deep politician |
| Erik Bennett | A secretive UK military advisor in Oman and a Cercle attendee. |
| Jeff Bergner | Cercle attendee. Project for the New American Century. German Marshall Fund. Hudson Institute |
| Wayne Lee Berman | US Businessman with deep political connections. |
| Benazir Bhutto | Prime Minister of Pakistan. YGL. Assassinated in 2007. |
| John Biggs-Davison | UK politician who attended Le Cercle |
| Brian Binley | Ex-conservative MP. Le Cercle. |
| W. Michael Blumenthal | US/Secretary of the Treasury in the 1970s, Bilderberg, Le Cercle, CFR |
| Crispin Blunt | Sandhurst, Le Cercle, MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee |
| John Bolton | Neocon US deep state operative who was Trump's National Security Advisor until September 2019 |
| Benoît de Bonvoisin | "A key Belgian figure in the Strategy of Tension", as well as the most key name in the Belgian X-Dossiers. Member of Le Cercle. His father attended the first Bilderberg. |
| Cornelis Bossers | Le Cercle. Major businessman in the Philips group. |
| Pik Botha | South African deep state operative |
| Colonel Botta | Very little known Cercle visitor. |
| Raymond Bourgine | French journalist and editor who attended Le Cercle. |
| Paul Bremer | Executive of Marsh & McLennan, a company whose offices were hit by a plane on 9/11, "Coordinator for Counterterrorism", Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq ... |
| Harold Brown | United States Secretary of Defense. |
| John Browne | Spooky UK businessman, Morgan Stanley, Le Cercle, Chatham house ... |
| Aristide Brunello | Little known Cercle visitor. Vatican prelate and spy for the BND under Reinhard Gehlen. Attended a meeting of the Le Cercle.<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a> |
| Zbigniew Brzezinski | A central US Deep politician, Cercle, Bilderberg, ... |
| Maurice Brébart | Belgian right-wing newspaper owner who attended Le Cercle in the 1970s. |
| Francisco Bulnes | Cercle member active in the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende |
| David Burnside | Northern Ireland politician |
| Ian Butterfield | Spooky MICC consultant, Le Cercle |
| Peter van der Byl | Spooky Rhodesian politician |
| Umberto Cappuzzo | Senior Italian military leader and Le Cercle attendee. |
| John Carbaugh | Cercle attendee linked to political double dealing, arms deals and Iran-Contra. |
| ... further results | |
Events Planned
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia/1975 coup d'état | 15 October 1975 | 11 November 1975 | Australia Canberra | A UK/US deep state-backed covert "constitutional coup" to remove Gough Whitlam whom they saw as a loose cannon. |
| Jerusalem Conference on International Terrorism | 2 July 1979 | 5 July 1979 | Israel Jerusalem | The birthplace of the "War on Terror" doctrine, "a major international forum for the movement against détente". |
Related Documents
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Circle of Power | article | 1999 | David Guyatt | |
| Document:The Pinay Circle | article | 1989 | David Teacher | |
| Document:The Secret Society That Rules The World | Article | 7 November 2018 | Bas Spliet | In his 1999 campaign autobiography, President George W. Bush mentioned his membership in passing: "My senior year I joined Skull and Bones, a secret society, so secret I can’t say anything more." |
| File:Rogue Agents (3rd edition, 2011, full).pdf | book | 2011 | David Teacher | A book about the activities of the covert European groupings responsible for the realisation of the European Union between the end of World War II and the mid 1990's. |
| File:Rogue Agents (4th edition, 2015, full).pdf | book | 2014 | David Teacher | A book about the activities of the covert European groupings responsible for the realisation of the European Union between the end of World War II and the mid 1990's |
| File:Rogue Agents - the Cercle and the 6I in the Private Cold War 1951 - 1991 by David Teacher (5th edn, 2017).pdf | book | 2017 | David Teacher | A book about the activities of the covert European groupings responsible for the realisation of the European Union between the end of World War II and the mid 1990's. |
Ratings
10 April 2016 Robin A good summary of a hugely under-reported deep state milieu.Le Cercle is a good deal more secretive than the Bilderberg, and is still very little known. This page showcases the excellent work of Joël van der Reijden in exposing this group.
References
- ↑ A 2003 obituary in the Observer established this equivalence
- ↑ a b Aitken dropped by the Right's secret club
- ↑ https://wikispooks.com/ISGP/organisations/Le_Cercle_membership_list.htm
- ↑ http://isgp.nl/2011_10_First_ever_documents_of_Le_Cercle
- ↑ http://isgp.nl/2010_Le_Cercle_update.php
- ↑ Teacher, David (2008-01-06). Rogue Agents: The Cercle Pinay complex 1951-1991 (PDF). p. 233.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
Main Articles
- Le Cercle and the Struggle for the European Continent. Subtitled "Private bridge between Vatican-Paneuropean and Anglo-American intelligence" - Joel Van der Reijden - Wikispooks ISGP Archive. Probably the most comprehensive study available on Le Cercle]], which fills in many of the blanks surrounding the apparent dual loyalties of the UK viz-a-viz Europe and the US and how they were - and continue to be - addressed and more-or-less successfully resolved. UK readers will find the sections on the involvement of Brian Crozier, Julian Amery, Norman Lamont and Jonathan Aitken particularly illuminating.
- Le Cercle and the Struggle for the Eurasian Continent. A June 2010 update of the above article subtitled: "New information: Notorious CIA ghost owned Atlantic Cercle, Inc. from 1994 to 2002" - Joel Van der Reijden - Wikispooks ISGP Archive
