Le Cercle
Le Cercle (Deep state milieu)
Average Rating: 5 from 1 reviews |
Early
Cercle members representing the Paneuropean Union, the European Coal
and Steel Community, France, Germany, Italy & the CIA.
|
Formation |
1953 |
Founder |
Jean Violet |
Type |
• secret society • international • think tank |
Leader |
{{#if: {{#pos:[[{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
|#default=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
}}|{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)�
|#default=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
}}]]|,}}|• [[{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
|#default=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
}}|{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)�
|#default=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
}}]]|[[{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
|#default=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
}}|{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)�
|#default=Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe)
}}]]}}
Incumbent: Michael Ancram Since 2008
|
Membership |
• James Alan Abrahamson • Konrad Adenauer • Jonathan Aitken • Georges Albertini • Alfredo Alcaino • Rupert Allason • Richard Allen • Julian Amery • Hooshang Amirahmadi • Michael Ancram • Bruce Anderson • Robert Anderson • Giulio Andreotti • Richard Armitage • Kaulza de Arriaga • Nadhmi Auchi • Shaukat Aziz • Franz Josef Bach • Norman Bailey • Pat Balestreri • John Barron • Margaret Beckett • Alfredo Sánchez Bella • Erik Bennett • Jeff Bergner • Wayne Lee Berman • Benazir Bhutto • John Biggs-Davison • W. Michael Blumenthal • Crispin Blunt • John Bolton • Benoît de Bonvoisin • Cornelis Bossers • Pik Botha • Colonel Botta • Raymond Bourgine • Maurice Brebart • Paul Bremer • Harold Brown • John Browne • Monsignor Brunello • Zbigniew Brzezinski • Francisco Bulnes • David Burnside • Mario Buschemi • Ian Butterfield • Peter van der Byl • Umberto Cappuzzo • John Carbaugh • Margaret Carlisle • William Casey • Anthony Cavendish • Andrew Cavendish • Paul Channon • Winston Churchill II • James W. Cicconi • Alan Clark • William P. Clark Jr. • Marcel Clement • Robert Close • William Colby • Etienne Copel • Miles Costick • Percy Cradock • James Critchfield • Brian Crozier • Alexandre Ribeiro da Cunha • Florimond Damman • Hans van Dalsen • Armand de Decker • Jean-François Deniau • Paul Dietrich • Laura Jordan Dietrich • Alan Duncan • Lee Edwards • Iain Elliott • Nicholas Elliot • Philipp Vander Elst • Audna England • Fritz Ermarth • Evo Fernandes • Edwin J. Feulner • Charles Fincham • Brand Fourie • Wyche Fowler • William François • Charles Alan 'Pop' Fraser • Louis Freeh • Charles Freeman • Yegor Gaidar • Pierre Marie Gallois • Indira Gandhi • Monique Garnier-Lancon • Jean-Claude Gaudin • Robert Gascoyne-Cecil • Rolf Gärtner • Jeffrey B. Gaynor • Reinhard Gehlen • Conrad Gerber • Frans Alphons Maria Alting von Geusau • Alberto Giovannetti • Álvaro Gomez-Hurtado • Enrique Gomez-Hurtado • Philip Goodhart • Rolf Graage • Alan Greenspan • Ronald Grierson • Aline Griffith • Eldon Griffiths • Alain Griotteray • Francois de Grossouvre • Otto von Habsburg • Chuck Hagel • William Hague • Stefan Halper • Robert J. Hanks • Stephen Hastings • Tsutomu Hata • Bruno Heck • Neil Peter Van Heerden • Basil E. Hersov • Dirk W. R. Hertzog • Franz Heubl • Alistair Horne • Alfons Horten • Samuel Hoskinson • Michael Howard • David Howell • Hans Graf Huyn • Rosemary Graf Huyn • [[{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Fred Ikl
|#default=Fred Iklé
}}|{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Fred Ikl�
|#default=Fred Iklé
}}]] • Ion Iliescu • Manuel Fraga-Iribarne • Henry Jackson • Donald Jameson • Lisa Jameson • Tedo Japaridze • Philipp Jenninger • Pierre Joannon • Jacques Jonet • Peter Jungen • Alain Juppe • Alexander Karageorgevitch • Crosby Kelly • Nicholas de Kerchove • John Killick • Lane Kirkland • Guillermo Kirkpatrick • Jeane Kirkpatrick • Henry Kissinger • Václav Klaus • Robert H. Knight • Friedrich König • Sven Kraemer • Victor Kuvaldin • Francis Lacoste • Norman Lamont • Stephen Lander • Timothy Landon • John Leahy • Ronald Lehman • Edward Leigh • Julian Lewis • “John Lichowski” • David Lidington • Gerhard Löwenthal • Fred Luchsinger • James Lucier • Philippe Malaud • Nikolai Malomuzh • Alexandre de Marenches • Werner Marx • Daniel Mazuera • Richard McCormack • Robert McKinney • Neil McLean • George Meany • Pierre Méhaignerie • Constantin Menges • Dan Meridor • Alois Mertes • Herbert Meyer • George Mitchell • Jean Monnet • George Montgomery • Thomas E. Moorer • Robert Moss • [[{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Federico Silva Muñoz
|#default=Federico Silva Muñoz
}}|{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Federico Silva Muñoz�
|#default=Federico Silva Muñoz
}}]] • Chester A. Nagle • Karl-Heinz Narjes • John Negroponte • Richard Nixon • François d'Orcival • Frans Otten • Urmas Paet • Filippo Maria Pandolfi • Charles Pasqua • Richard Perle • Carlo Pesenti • Peter Petersen • Robert Pfaltzgraff • Jost Pfeiffer • Antoine Pinay • Jaime Nogueira Pinto • Carlos Robles Piquer • Giulia du Plooy • Robert du Plooy • Alain Poher • Günter Poser • Charles Powell • Jean-François Probst • Jues Pujo • Sultan Qaboos • Walter Raymond Jr • Walter Raymond Sr • Gavin W. H. Relly • Henri Renard • David Rockefeller • Nelson Rockefeller • William V. Roth • Anton Rupert • Luc Beyer de Rycke • Hans Rühle • Donald Rumsfeld • Jan Sabbe • Captain Santino • Turki bin Faisal al-Saud • Antonin Scalia • Dieter A. Schmidt • Adolf W. Schmidt • 'Schmidthuber' • William Schneider • Joseph Schuchert • Gerd Schulte-Hillen • Franz-Josef Schulze • Robert Schuman • Christian Schwarz-Schilling • Norman Schwarzkopf • Ted Shackley • Natan Sharansky • Arkady Shevchenko • Marshall Shulman • Arnold M. Silver • Ron Silver • Manmohan Singh • Thomas Roy Spencer • Tim Spicer • Antonio de Spinola • Christian Freiherr von Stauffenberg • Frank Steele • Richard Stilwell • Franz Josef Strauss • Steven Symms • Frances Stockdale Symms • Hussein bin Talal • Geoffrey Tantum • Peter Tennant • Margaret Thatcher • Hugh Thomas • [[{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Eymen Topba
|#default=Eymen Topbaş
}}|{{#switch: �
|=
|?
|.
|;=Eymen Topba�
|#default=Eymen Topbaş
}}]] • Thomas A. Twetten • Jean-Francois Vallet • Giancarlo Elia Valori • Paul Vankerkhoven • Jean Violet • Paul Violet • Paul Volcker • Jürgen Warnke • Philippe de Weck • Paul M. Weyrich • John Wilkinson • William Wilson • John Wodehouse • Paul Wolfowitz • Bernhard Worms • Ardeshir Zahedi • Robert Zoelly |
Interests |
“War on Terror”, “Terrorism”, “National Security”, Strategy of Tension, Deep politics |
Interest of |
Johannes Großmann, Adrian Hänni, Joël van der Reijden, David Teacher |
Subpage |
•Le Cercle/1973 (Washington) •Le Cercle/1977 (Washington) •Le Cercle/1979 (Washington) •Le Cercle/1979 (Wildbad Kreuth) •Le Cercle/1980 (Zurich) •Le Cercle/1982 (Washington) •Le Cercle/1982 (Wildbad Kreuth) •Le Cercle/1983 (Bonn) •Le Cercle/1984 (Bonn) •Le Cercle/1984 (Capetown) •Le Cercle/1985 (Washington) •Le Cercle/1986 (Nice) •Le Cercle/1990 (Oman) •Le Cercle/1996 (Amman) •Le Cercle/1997 (Berlin) •Le Cercle/1998 (Istanbul) •Le Cercle/1999 (London) •Le Cercle/1999 (Washington) •Le Cercle/2000 (Lisbon) •Le Cercle/2000 (Washington) •Le Cercle/2001 (Washington) •Le Cercle/2002 (Morocco) •Le Cercle/2002 (Washington) •Le Cercle/2003 (Salzburg) •Le Cercle/2004 (Belgrade) •Le Cercle/2004 (Washington) •Le Cercle/2005 (Paris) •Le Cercle/2006 (Delhi) •Le Cercle/2007 (Madrid) •Le Cercle/2007 (Washington) •Le Cercle/2008 (Washington) •Le Cercle/2009 (Washington) •Le Cercle/2012 (Morocco) •Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe) •Le Cercle/Chairman (USA) •Le Cercle/Meetings |
Le Cercle is a deep state milieu which was set up around the same time as the Bilderberg, but is smaller and more secretive. It is attended especially by idealogues including spooks, deep politicians and editors. Members promote their hawkish agenda by otherwise subverting the democratic process, possibly going as far as brokering weapons deals and setting up false flag attacks. Their warmaking is also ideological - distributing propaganda to stoke fear of communism, promoting the "war on terror" etc. |
Le Cercle (formerly
Pinay Circle or the
Cercle Pinay)
[1] is a
deep state milieu of similar vintage to the
Bilderberg, but which is smaller, more frequent and more secretive. Members come from around 25 countries and meet yearly in both
Washington DC and Europe. Leaked documents suggest that the group's
activities include political subversion - especially using
Gladio-style "
terrorism" and
assassination - and the clandestine arrangement of business transactions, especially
arms deals and
fraud.
Official narrative
In 2000, a single official webpage at
www.atlanticcircle.com described Le Cercle as "
an informal group of European and American professionals - politicians, retired Ambassadors, former Generals, lawyers
and active participants in banking, oil, shipping, publishing and
trading companies - who are interested in preserving a positive Atlantic
dialogue."
[2] To the UK
House of Lords, this group has been described as an "
informal group meeting to discuss world affairs."
[3] William Hague described it as "
a political group which organises conferences." In 2007 the
Washington Post termed it a "
foreign policy think tank established during the Cold War that reportedly included senior politicians, diplomats and intelligence agents worldwide."
[4] Inviting the banker
Jean-Maxime Leveque in 1983,
Monique Garnier-Lançon wrote that at The Cercle "
The
leaders of the free world can now examine the very grave problems which
we face in order to determine together possible solutions and then to
try to implement them, each in their respective sphere."
[5]
David Teacher,
by contrast, writes that "the Cercle complex can be seen to be an
international coalition of right-wing intelligence veterans, working
internationally to promote top conservative politicians who would shape
the world in the
1970s and
1980s."
Origins
Although named after a
French prime minister from 1952, the real organizer of this group is believed to have been
Jean Violet, a close associate of Pinay's since 1951. The group arose from a Franco-German alliance an originally its anti-communism had a
catholic Christian flavour. In the
1970s, it assumed a transatlantic secular flavour,
[6] especially with the involvement of
Ted Shackley, under whose influence meetings were held on alternate sides of the Atlantic, with Shackley chairing the US meetings.
Leadership
-
- Full articles: Le Cercle/Chairman (Europe), Le Cercle/Chairman (USA)
The group has separate US and European chairs
[7]
- one for the Autumn meeting in the USA, one for the Spring meeting in
Europe. The identity of the American chairman is unknown. The US
chairman is less publicised, so unqualified references to "The Chairman"
will very probably be references to the
European chairman. European chairs include
Brian Crozier (1980-1985),
Julian Amery (1985 - early 1990s)
[8],
Christian Schwarz-Schilling (1 year),
Jonathan Aitken (1993-1996),
Norman Lamont (over 10 years) and most recently,
Michael Ancram. Only two US chairmen are known:
Ted Shackley and his successor,
Richard T. McCormack.
[7]
Geoffrey Tantum was named by
The Telegraph as the Cercle's UK secretary.
[9]
Meetings
-
- Full article: Le Cercle/Meetings
The group meets biannually. Every fall it meets in
Washington DC and earlier in the year it meets in an "overseas" venue, usually in
Europe. Meetings last (3-)4 days and there are "about 70"
[10] guests.
[7]
Guests are almost all male, and sometimes bring their wives, though it
is unknown to what extent (if any) they are involved in the meetings.
[11]
Ideology
Cercle attendees have a clear hawkish orientation, which could be summarised as 'extreme right wing' and
anti-communist. Many have been closely involved in establishing a range of nominally independent institutions to research first "
anti-communism" and later "
terrorism". These have been used to promote
cold war paranoia and lay the ideological groundwork for a "
global war on terror".
[12]
Attendance
The identity of attendees was largely a matter of conjecture until 2011 when
ISGP researcher,
Joël van der Reijden obtained and published 5 guest lists for Le Cercle meetings, gleaned from the private papers of French Cercle visitor
Monique Garnier-Lançon at
Stanford University,
[13] which led him to create a list which inspired the list on the right.
[14]
These lists detail
deep politicians - 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 come almost exclusively 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.
Secrecy
Le Cercle has had only a few mentions in the
commercially-controlled media, of which the earliest was possibly
Time Out magazine's 1975 leak of documents from the
Institute for the Study of Conflict which referenced the "Pinay Committee". No American
commercially-controlled media sources are known to have mentioned the group.
[15] Le Cercle was mentioned in the early
1980s by the German magazine
Der Spiegel (which also published the first article on the
Bilderberg group) as a result of the controversy surrounding
Franz Josef Strauss, a regular attendant. In the late 1990s, Le Cercle received some more attention after a scandal broke out involving
Jonathan Aitken, who was then European chairman
[10].
Members who were contacted by newspapers refused to answer any
questions about the group. It has only been briefly mentioned in the
commercially-controlled media since then -
internet researchers have worked hard to raise the group's profile. The most comprehensive study so far has been done by
ISGP researcher,
Joël van der Reijden[15], whose work prompted
David Teacher to pursue his study of the group and republish an updated edition of his work on the group
Rogue Agents. A couple of researchers
have published Ph.D. theses on the group which deserve wider publication. As of June 2017, neither
Spartacus nor
History Commons had a page on this group. A research proposal by
Adrian Hänni
noted that "the Cercle is virtually nonexistent in academic research to
this day... There are, as of yet, very few studies of the Cercle that
are based on primary sources and meet basic academic standards."
[6]
Activities
The 1982
Langemann Papers
were the first significant leak to expose the activities of Le Cercle,
confirming that the group was actively involved in influencing Western
European elections. Evidence of their involvement in other matters such
weapons dealing and covert military action remains circumstantial.
Support for Conservative Politicians
David Teacher reports that "throughout the
1970s the Cercle Pinay complex was active [influencing elections in the
UK,]
France,
Germany,
Spain,
Portugal,
Italy and
Belgium."
He writes that "the Cercle complex can be seen to be an international
coalition of right-wing intelligence veterans, working internationally
to promote top conservative politicians who would shape the world in the
1970s and 1980s."
The
Langemann Papers (November 1979) quote a planning paper by
Brian Crozier about a Cercle complex operation "to affect a change of government in the United Kingdom (accomplished)".
[16] This may be a reference to the success of the "
Shield" group which Crozier set up in 1976, probably with the express purpose of getting
Margaret Thatcher elected, a year after she was invited to the
Bilderberg meeting by
Labour's
Dennis Healey.
Disruption of Left Wing Governments
Le Cercle has also been accused of actively destabilizing governments which opposed a conservative economic agenda, such as
Gough Whitlam's
Australian government.
[17][18] Cercle member
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil chaired the conservative
Monday Club which prepared a
coup against
Labour government of
Harold Wilson.
[19]
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,
suggest an agenda of creating a new "Holy Roman Empire" with borders
from the Atlantic to the Black Sea and from the Baltic Sea to North
Africa.
[citation needed] Interestingly, the latest generation of British Cercle members, whose predecessors were keen on joining the
European Union,
now seem to want to keep Britain out of the emerging European
superstate, perhaps 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.
"War on Terror"
-
- Full article: “War on Terror”
The group's interest in "
terrorism" and
arms dealing
lends support to the suggestion that it may have been important in
devising the "War on Terror". It seems unlikely to be a coincidence that
at least three members of this group (
Brian Crozier,
Robert Moss,
Gerhard Lowenthal) gave presentations at the 1979
Jerusalem Conference on International Terrorism, the seminal event in the development of the
establishment's "
War on Terror"
narrative. Many of the other speakers are closely connected to known
members and may well have attended Le Cercle meetings, perhaps
regularly. Many members set up "terrorism research" organisations, which
sheds new light on the "anti-communist" think tanks they also set up,
such as
Interdoc.
Joël van 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
Bonvoisin, besides a key Belgian figure in the Strategy of Tension, is
the most key name in the
Belgian X-Dossiers."
Covert Military Intervention
Following a
Nasserite coup in
Yemen in September 1962,
Julian Amery (later Cercle
chairman) met with
King Hussein of
Jordan and agreed to send Cercle attendee
Neil McLean to report on the situation
[20] after which Amery met with McLean,
David Stirling, Col
Brian Franks and
UK Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home to organise an unofficial mercenary operation.
[21]
Weapons dealing
-
- Full articles: “Iran-Contra”, Arms-to-Iraq, Al-Yamamah arms deal
Cercle visitor
John Carbaugh worked for
GeoMiliTech Consultants Corporation, an arms dealing group directly involved in
Iran-Contra.
[22] Others such as
Margaret Carlisle were aides to Iran-Contra insiders. Cercle members
Paul Channon and
Alan Clark are connected through their involvement in the
Arms-to-Iraq affair, also to the later chairman
Jonathan Aitken, who himself was involved in the
Al-Yamamah arms deal as well, as was another later chairman,
Norman Lamont.
[23] Nadhmi Auchi is widely reported as having made a lot of money from
arms deals to
Saddam Hussein, amongst others.
[24][25]
Other activities
Lacking documents or testimony from Cercle members, inferences about Cercle activities remain unconfirmed.
Ted Shackley was involved in oil deals after he left the CIA in 1979, facilitated by his close friend and fellow Cercle member,
Conrad Gerber and oil smuggler
John Deuss.
Joël van der Reijden has suggested that Le Cercle was important in the organization of the
9/11 attacks.
[26]
Funding
Funding for the group has changed over the years. The group states
that it is "privately funded". Multinational companies including
Philips and
Standard Elektrik Lorenz have given the group money.
[6] In 1971,
Shell contributed a lump sum of £30,000.
The Ford Foundation also donated £20,000 over three years
[When?].
[27] Robin Ramsay, editor of
Lobster Magazine believes the
CIA funds the group, a claim that
Alan Clark also makes in his diaries. In the
1980s, the South African government was a major source of funds.
[6]
An event carried out
Use the Up/Dn symbols to sort
Related Documents
== Rating ==
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
http://web.archive.org/web/20001017205434/http://atlanticcircle.com/
http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-interests/register-of-lords-interests/register-of-interests-of-lords-members-staff/?letter=L
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091002436.html
Adrian Hänni's Ph.D.
Document:Transnational History of the Cercle Pinay - Research Plan
http://www.adst.org/OH%20TOCs/McCORMACK,%20Richard%20T.toc.pdf p.112
https://isgp-studies.com/2010_Le_Cercle_update
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/aitken-dropped-by-the-rights-secret-club-1258522.html
Aitken dropped by the Right's secret club
https://isgp-studies.com/Le_Cercle_membership_list
Note, for example the connections to the 1979 JCIT; at least 3 Cercle members gave presentations and many started groups focusing on "terrorism research".
https://isgp-studies.com/2011-10-26-first-ever-documents-on-le-cercle-pinay
https://isgp-studies.com/Le_Cercle_membership_list
https://isgp-studies.com/le-cercle-pinay
http://www.cryptome.org/2012/01/cercle-pinay-6i.pdf
Document:The Pinay Circle
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_lecercle04.htm
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/edward-wilson/from-reactionary-revolution-to-consolidation-11-february-1975-to-7-may-2015
Stephen Dorril, MI6, Touchstone 2002, p.679.
Stephen Dorril, MI6, Touchstone 2002, p.684.
http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=geomilitech_consultants_corporation
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/06/uk.iraq
https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Nadhmi_Auchi
April 6, 2003, The Observer, 'So, Norman, any regrets this time?';
https://isgp-studies.com/911-supranational-suspects
- Teacher, David (2008-01-06). Rogue Agents: The Cercle Pinay complex 1951-1991. p. 233.
No comments:
Post a Comment