Puppet Masters Pulling Strings

Online, September 3, 2011 (Newswire.com) - A recently published thriller novel, The Ninth Orphan, by James and Lance Morcan, shines a light on the little known Bilderberg Group and portrays it as being America's, and the world's, shadow government. The authors claim their book, which merges fact with fiction, exposes a secret elite pulling the strings of various administrations.

Is there any truth behind this supposed political conspiracy? Well, that depends on who you ask.

Conspiracy theorists have long said the Bilderberg Group undermines democracy and influences everything from nations' political leaders to the venue for the next war; the politicians and industrialists who attend say it's nothing more than a think-tank, conducted without media coverage so the world's most powerful can speak freely.

Certainly, it's easy to see why conspiracy theories plague the group.

Bilderberg takes its name from a hotel of the same name in the Netherlands where the first meeting took place in 1954. Ever since, every Bilderberg conference has received almost complete media blackouts despite being held at prominent five-star resorts.

Conspiracy theorists point out this dearth of media coverage is highly unusual given the veritable who's who of world leaders and movers-and-shakers in attendance each year.

Other notable US political figures to have officially attended Bilderberg meetings include current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig and Colin Powell, former President Gerald Ford as well as Texas Governor and 2012 Presidential hopeful Rick Perry.

Some say these and all other US attendees have been in direct violation of the Logan Act, a Federal law which prevents US citizens and representatives from making policy decisions in secret with foreign government officials. However, no Bilderberger has ever acknowledged engaging in policy-making during the meetings and there is no clear proof that any of them do.

On the international roster, Bilderbergers have included leaders of almost every Western nation, Swiss bankers, EU Commissioners and Royalty. Among past and present attendees are current Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Margaret Thatcher, the King of Spain Juan Carlos I and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip.

Beyond these confirmed Bilderbergers, there's also a raft of other high profile figures suspected to have participated in conferences - according to the conspiracy theorists at least. For example, shortly before becoming the US President, Barack Obama was rumored to have met with key Bilderberg members at or near their conference venue in Chantilly, Virginia, in 2008.

Veteran Bilderberg observer, Jim Tucker, phoned Obama's office during the campaign to confirm whether he had attended the conference. A campaign spokeswoman refused to discuss the matter, but would not deny that Obama had attended.

Other rumored attendees include Rupert Murdoch, George Bush, Sr. and George W. Bush. Hillary Clinton also denies having attended any Bilderberg meetings despite reported sightings of her at the locations of the 2006 (Toronto) and 2008 (Virginia) conferences.

Bill Clinton, however, was an official attendee of the 1991 Bilderberg conference in Germany while still a little known Governor of Arkansas; the following year he won the US Presidential Election.

So what does all this mean exactly? Is it just a pile of the usual circumstantial evidence that seems to conveniently support most conspiracy theories?

According to Belgian magnate and Bilderberg chairman Étienne Davignon, that is exactly the case. Davignon says an attraction of Bilderberg Group meetings is they provide an opportunity for participants to speak candidly and to find out what major figures really think without the risk of off-the-cuff comments becoming fodder for media controversy. However, partly because of its working methods to ensure strict privacy, the Bilderberg Group is often accused of conspiracies.

Then again, it is hard to believe the only decisions the world's elite make at these exclusive resorts each year is what to order for dinner or what time to play golf.

The Ninth Orphan was recently published by Sterling Gate Books and is the first in a planned trilogy of novels by New Zealand father-and-son writing team Lance and James Morcan. A feature film adaptation of the book is also in development.