Absolutely right. I live in italy and went to the demo yesterday in rome, 500 mile round trip.
I couldn't be everywhere at once but i didn't hear a word about Bilderberg. The italian left are running on the peace ticket, I have lost count of how many parties make up the left these days but they are all much of a much
the greens (vermi) and about 5 others all with suitable lefty sounding names were all on parade yesterday.
They have incorporated the now famous rainbow peace flag (masonic symbol?) into their election propaganda rome is covered with massive posters theirs and those of the much lifted Berlusconi. Anyway so as not to associate with the enemy i marched with the "disobbedienti" some of whom I have known for years.
Cops maintaned a fairly low profile and the sky was a bit overcast so we remained "cool"As we approached piazza venezia the sun came out out and was shining right into our faces, wierd light, a few large size fireworks were let off and the lot of the crowd put there masks, crash hats on and linked arms
. Looked like it might get a bit funky for a while the cops and carabiniere were lined up to protect "Vittorio Emanuele" national monument and The worlds press were all assembled on the verges opposite TV camera's on top of trucks and stuff.
I had a few things to do in rome and had always intended to bail out there. So I went along the lines of the worlds press and asked them if they were all off to Bilderberg , i honestly believe that some of them really didn't know about it others said they went were they were sent and the conversation which was more of a verbal attack on my part often degenerated into well fuck you and now you no why no one believes in the corporate controlled press, with comments like "the people that are controlling you are there", "do you know if your boss is there" ?
I have been in a few "hot spots" in my time and seen the worlds media circus in action so i know how they take there action shots hours after the action actually went off and i know the stories coming out of any given war zone have very little to do with what is going down. But I also start to wonder if the journalists of the corporate press are really in touch anymore, as more and more people start getting involved with media stories it becomes evident that Bilderberg is not the only subject that they know F.A about.
The Italian main stream media has bascially ignored Bilderberg , it's possible that there might be a bit of a demo today but even IMC ITALY has neglected to up date their feature on the meeting with the List of Participants which I posted two days ago . not only that Conspiracy theorists seem to be hated more in the UK than the actual conspirators . Nuff said ..

Take a look at this from yesterday's Guardian
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/netnotes/article/0,6729,1231830,00.html

Can you imagine a cruder attempt than Mark Oliver's to ridicule utterly sane critics of what certainly appears to be the most significant gathering of warmongers and elite capitalists in the world this year. Well you got plenty of brownie points there Oliver didn't you?

And no its not a conspiracy theory its a formal and entirely secret gathering of the super-rich's most powerful cartels - only Western Europe and North America you notice - no place for untermenche here - started by an ex member of the SS - use your Guardian as bog-roll or boycott it! Flaccid Oliver (any relative of Jamie?) part of the Bilderberg lie machine.

Meanwile all the protesters are down in Rome - how handy!
Check out the latest and because the server is very heavily loaded up I've copied some of the most interesting stuff here below

Italian Coverage:
 http://italy.indymedia.org/news/2004/06/561292_comment.php#561298
 http://italy.indymedia.org/archives/display_by_id.php?feature_id=1545

Agenda and participant blurb from 2004 press release....

The 52nd Bilderberg Meeting will be held in Stresa, Italy, 3-6 June 2004. The Conference will deal mainly with European American relations and in this context US Politics, Iraq, The Middle East., European Geopolitics, NATO, China, Economoic Problems and Energy......

CURRENT LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
S T R I C T L Y C O N F I D E N T I A L

Honorary Chairman - Davignon, Etienne - Vice-Chairman, Suez-Tractebel

Honorary Secretary General - Taylor, Martin - International Adviser, Goldman Sachs International

Nationalities of participants followed by names and partial portfolios

N - Auser, Svein - CEO, DnB NOR ASA

D - Ackermann, Josef - Chairman, Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank AG

I - Ambrosetti, Alfredo - Chairman, Abbrosetti Group

TR - Babacan, Ali - Minister of Economic Affairs

P - Balsemao, Francisco Pinto - Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, SGPS, Former Prime Minister

ISR - Barnavie, Elie - Department of General History, Tel-Aviv University

I - Benedetti, Rodolfo De - CEO, CIR

I - Bernabe, Franco - Vice Chairman, Rothschild Europe

F - Beytout, Nicolas - Editor In Chief, Les Echos

INT - Bolkestein, Frits - Commissioner for the Internal Market, European Commission, former leader of Dutch right wing Liberal Party VVD.

USA - Boot, Max - Neoconservative, Council on foreign Relations, Features Editor, Wall Street Journal

CH - Borel, Daniel - Chairman, Logitech International S.A.

I - Bortoli, Ferrucio de - CEO, RCS Libri

S - Brock, Gunnar - CEO, Atlas Copco AB

GB - Browne, John - Group Chief Executive, BP plc

NL - Burgmans, Antony - Chairman, Unilever NV

F - Camus, Phillipe - CEO, European Aeronautic Defence and Space NV

I - Caracciolo, Lucio - Director, Limes Geopolitical Review

F - Castries, Henri de - Chairman, AXA Insurance

E - Cebrian, Juan Luis - CEO, PRISA (Spanish language media company), former Chairman, International Press Institute

TR - Cemal, Hasan - Senior Columnist, Milliyet Newspaper

GB - Clarke, Kenneth - Member of Parliament (Con.), Deputy Chairman, British American Tobacco

USA - Collins, Timothy C - MD and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings LLC, Yale School of Management, Trilateral Commission

USA - Corzine, Jon S. - Senator (D, New Jersey), Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs

CH - Couchepin, Pascal - Former Swiss President, Head of Home affairs Dept.

GR - David, George A. - Chairman, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company SA

B - Dehaene, Jean-Luc - Former Prime Minister, Mayor of Vilvoorde

TR - Dervis, Kemal - Member of Parliament, former senior World bank official

GR - Diamantopoulou, Anna - Member of Parliament, former European Commissioner for Social Affairs

USA - Donilon, Thomas L - Vice-President, Fannie Mae, Council on Foreign Relations

I - Draghi, Mario - Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Goldman Sachs

USA - Edwards, John - Senator (D. North Carolina), Democratic Presidential Candidate

DK - Eldrup, Anders - Chairman, DONG gas company (becoming privatised) A/S

DK - Federspiel, Ulrik - Ambassador to the USA

USA - Feith, Douglas J. - Undersecretary for Policy, Department of Defense

I - Galateri, Gabriele - Chairman, Mediobanca

USA - Gates, Melinda F. - Co-Founder, Gates Foundation, wife of Bill Gates

USA - Geithner, Timothy F. - President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

I - Giavazzi, Francesco - Professor of Economics, Bocconi University; adviser, world bank and European Central bank

IRL - Gleeson, Dermot - Chairman Allied Irish Bank Group (currently being investigated for personal and corporate tax evasion)

USA - Graham, Donald E. - Chairman and CEO, Washington Post Company

USA - Haas, Richard N. - President, Council on Foreign Relations, former Director of Policy and Planning staff, State Department

NL - Halberstadt, Victor - Professor of Economics, Leiden University

B - Hansen, Jean-Pierre - Chairman, Suez Tractabel SA

S - Heikensten, Lars - Governor, Swedish Central Bank

USA - Holbrooke, Richard C - Vice Chairman, Perseus, former Director, Council on Foreign Relations, former Assistant Secretary of State

USA - Hubbard, Allen B - President E&A Industries

USA - Issacson, Walter - President and CEO, Aspen Institute

USA - Janow, Merit L. - Professor, International Economic Law and International Affairs, Columbia University, member of apellate body, WTO

USA - Jordan, Vernon E. Senior Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co LLC

USA - Kagan, Robert - Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

GB - Kerr, John - Director, Shell, Rio Tinto and Scottish American Investment Trust, former secretary of European Constitution Commission

USA - Kissinger Henry A. - Chairman, Kissinger Associates Inc.

TR - Koc, Mustafa V. - Chairman, Koc Holdings AS

NL - Koenders, Bert (AG) - Member of Parliament, president, Parliamentary Network of the World Bank

USA - Kovner, Bruce - Chairman Caxton Associates LLC, Chairman, American Enterprise Institute

USA - Kravis, Henry R. - Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., acquisitions financier

USA - Kravis, Marie Josee - Senoir Fellow, Hudson Institute Inc.

FIN - Lehtomaki, Paula - Minister of Foreigh Trade and Development

FIN - Lipponen, Paavo - Speaker of Parliament

CHN - Long, Yongtu - Secretary General, Boao forum for Asia

P - Lopes, Pedro M. Santana - Mayor of Lisbon

USA - Luti, William J. - Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs

CDN - Lynch, Kevin G. - Deputy Minister, Department of Finance

USA - Mathews, Jessica T. - President, Carnegie Endowment for International War Peace

USA - McDonough, William J. - Cahirman and CEO, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, former president, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

CDN - McKenna, Frank - Counsel, McInnes Cooper, former premier of New Brunswick

I - Merlini, Cesare - Executive Vice Chairman, Council for the United States and Italy, Council on Foreign Relations, former director, Italian Institute for International Affairs

F - Montbrial, Thierry de - President, French Institute of International Relations

INT - Monti, Mario - Competition/Antitrust Commissioner, European Commission

USA - Mundie, Craig J. - Chief Technical Officer, Advanced Strategies and Policies, Microsoft Corporation

N - Myklebust, Egil - Chairman, Scandinavian Airline System (SAS)

D - Naas, Matthias - Deputy Editor, Die Zeit

NL - Netherlands, Beatrix HM Queen of The - Lady Shell, nuff said

GB - Neville-Jones, Pauline - Chairman, QuinetiQ (UK privatised military research/services company), governor of the BBC, Chairman Information Assurance Advisory Council, formar Chairman Joint Intelligence Committee, former Managing Director NatWest Markets

USA - Nooyi, Indra K. - President and CEO, PepsiCo Inc.

PL - Olechowski, Andrzej - Leader, Civic Platform

FIN - Ollila, Jorma - Chairman, Nokia Corporation

INT - Padoa-Schioppa, Tommaso - Director, European Central Bank

CY - Pantelides, Leonidas - Ambassoador to Greece

I - Passera, Corrado - CEO, Banca Intesa SpA

USA - Perle, Richard N. - Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, former Likud policy adviser, former chair Defence Policy Board, former co-chairman, Hollinger Digital

B - Phillipe, HRH Prince

USA - Reed, Ralph E. - President, Century Strategies

CDN - Reisman, Heather - President and CEO, Indigo Books and Music Inc.

I - Riotta, Gianni - Editorialist, Corriere della Serra

USA - Rockefeller, David - Member JP Morgan International Council, Chairman, Council of the Americas

E - Riodriguez Inearte, Matias - Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander

USA - Ross, Dennis B - Director, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

D - Sandschneider, Eberhard - Director, Research Institute, German Society for Foreign Policy

I - Scaroni, Paolo - CEO, Enel SpA

D - Schilly, Otto - Minister of the Interior

USA - Schnabel, Rockwell A. - Ambassador to the EU

A - Scholten, Rudolf - Director, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG

D - Schrempp, Jurgen E. - Chairman, DaimlerChrysler AG

E - Serra Rexach, Eduardo - Head, Real Institute Elcano

RUS - Shevtsova, Lilia - Senior Associate. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

PL - Sikora, Slawomir - President and CEO, Citibank Handlowy

I - Siniscalo, Domenico - Director General Ministry of the Economy

P - Socrates, Jose - Member of Parliament

USA - Strmecki, Marin J. - Smith Richardson Foundation

B - Struye de Swielande, Dominique - Permanant repressentative of Belguim, NATO

IRL - Sutherland, Peter D. - Chairman, Goldman Sachs International, Chairman, BP plc

USA - Thornton, John L. - Chairman, Brookings Institution, Professor, Tsinghua University

I - Tremonti, Giulio - Minister of Economy and Finance

INT - Trichet, Jean-Claude - President, European Central Bank

I - Tronchetti Provera, Marco - Chairman and CEO, Pirelli SpA

N - Underdal, Arild - Rector, University of Oslo

CH - Vasella, Daniel L. - Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG

NL - Veer, Jeroen van der - Chairman, Committee of Managing Directors, Royal Dutch/Shell

GB - Verwaayen, Ben J. M. - CEO, British Telecom; former director, Lucent Technologies

I - Visco, Ignazio - Foriegn Affairs Manager, Banca D'Italia

INT - Vitorino, Antonio M. - Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, European Union

INT - Vries, Gijs M. de - EU Counter Terrorism Co-ordinator

S - Wallenberg, Jacob - Chairman, SEB investments (including biotech); Chairman, W Capital Management AB

D - Weber, Jurgen - Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutche Lufthansa AG

GB/USA - Weinberg, Peter - CEO, Goldman Sachs International

NL - Wijers, Hans - Chairman, AkzoNobel NV

D - Wissmann, Matthias - Member of Parliament

GB - Wolf, Martin H. - Associate Editor/Economic Commentator, The Financial Times

INT/USA - Wolfenson, James D. - President, The World Bank

RUS - Yavlinsky, Grigory A. - Member of Parliament

USA - Yergin, Daniel - Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates

D - Zumwinkel, Klaus - Chairman, Deutche Post Worldnet AG; Chairman, Deutche Telekom


Rapporteurs

GB - Rachman, Gideon - Brussels Correspondent, The Economist

GB - Wooldridge, Adrian D. - Foreign Correspondant, The Economist


Summary by nation
Austria 1
Belgium 4
Canada 3
Switzerland 3
China 1
Cyprus 1
Germany 8
Denmark 2
Spain 3
France 4
Finland 3
Great Britain 9
Greece 2
Italy 16
International 7
Ireland 2
Israel 1
Norway 3
Netherlands 6
Portugal 3
Poland 2
Russia 2
Sweden 3
Turkey 4
USA 33
Total 126

Chalabi, Feith and Company: A War-Broker's Tale
Douglas Feith is at this year's Bilderberg meeting - but what is he doing there? James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, throws some uncomfortable light on a shadowy man's presence at a shadowy conference - and hints at why the conference might be so secret.

2004-06-04 - by Dr. James J. Zogby

 http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=1718&blz=1

There's a story behind the story. And it is a messy tale of deceit, cronyism and corruption.

Ahmad Chalabi's apparent falling out with the U.S., and some recent reports indicating that U.S. Undersecretary of Defense, Douglas Feith may be losing influence in the Administration, represent only the latest chapter in their sordid histories and relationship.

Back in 2001, when Feith's name was first mentioned for the number three position in the Pentagon, I wrote two lengthy articles on his business dealings and his ideology. Part of the Reagan-era Defense Department neo-conservative group, Feith left government service and trading off of his political contacts, he became a lobbyist and foreign agent, representing Turkey and some Israeli interests as well. In 1996, Feith, a supporter of the Likud in Israel, co-authored a paper for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advising him to end the Oslo peace process. When Netanyahu signed the Wye Agreement, Feith broke with him, accusing the Israeli leader of compromising away his values.

Chalabi has a long and well-known history of shady business dealings. His active courting of pro-Israel and neo-conservative groups leading to the passage by Congress of the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (ILA), is also quite well-known.

So much for their separate histories.

Their relationship blossomed after Feith was confirmed by the Senate and assumed his post at the Pentagon. Early on, he began, in earnest, to lay out the justification for a war with Iraq. The funds that Congress mandated in the ILA, had been frozen during the Clinton years. Early in the Bush term, they were freed up to help finance Chalabi's activities. For his part, the Iraqi and his group began to supply Feith's newly reorganized Defense Department with "intelligence" on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction progress, and later on, with "information" linking the Baghdad regime to al-Qaeda.

Both men were willing and eager accomplices of each other's missions. Both wanted a U.S. war to topple the hated dictator and would, apparently, go to any length to make that happen.

It was Chalabi, among others, who also sold Feith both on the ease with which the regime could be removed and the uprising of support for the U.S. that would immediately follow. It was assessments such as these that provided Feith's planning office with logic that justified their fatally flawed post-war calculations.

But Chalabi's fabrications didn't stop there. Even during the 1990s, it is now known, he was promising the war's supporters that his post-Saddam Iraq would establish diplomatic and trade relations with Israel and the U.S. He and his supporters were, at one point, quoted in the U.S., to the effect that after Saddam, the Russians and French would be out, replaced by U.S. companies who would be contracted to exploit Iraq's bountiful oil resources. More quietly, Chalabi was even promising both Israelis and their U.S. supporters that not only would the new Iraq trade with Israel, but it would resurrect the Iraq-Israel pipeline for oil export. This, of course, was music to their ears.

Shortly after the war began, Chalabi, despite strenuous objection from the State Department and the CIA, was airlifted with his supporters into Iraq. He immediately began plans to establish a power base in his newly liberated country.

Appointed by the U.S. to a position on the Iraqi Governing Council, Chalabi assumed the role of director of its economics and finance committee. He was able to place his close relatives and other allies in key ministries and directorships of institutions dealing with Iraq's banking, finance and oil resources.

The spoils of war were now within his reach.

One of his nephews, Salem Chalabi, chose not to hold a government position. Instead, he established the Iraq International Law Group (IILG), which describes itself as "your professional gateway to the new Iraq." Assisting Salem in setting up the IILG was a partner Marc Zell (the IILG's website has been registered in Zell's name). Zell is an Israeli settler of the Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) stripe. Here the plot thickens.

Zell had for many years been Feith's partner in their Washington-Tel Aviv law firm, Feith and Zell (FANDZ). FANDZ had been set up when Feith left government to pursue the work of a "foreign agent" representing Turkey and some Israeli interests.

Following the Baghdad opening of the IILG, Zell soon opened, in the U.S., an office for Zell, Goldberg & Co., which promises to assist "American companies in their relations with the U.S. government in connection with Iraq's reconstruction projects." It is interesting to note that Zell, Goldberg still uses the website FANDZ, the site of the old Feith and Zell firm. So when Zell boasts his connections to government, businesses know exactly what is meant.

In the relatively short period of time since the fall of the Ba`ath Party regime, IILG and Zell, Goldberg have facilitated contracts in the tens, possibly hundreds of millions of dollars.

Salem Chalabi incidentally has also been appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority to head the Iraqi tribunal that will investigate and prosecute the crimes Saddam and his cohorts committed against the Iraqi people. His uncle is meanwhile railing against the former regime's corruption and demanding the right to investigate profiteering and kick-backs he alleges occurred in the UN's food for oil program.

Surely Saddam should be tried for his crimes and the people of Iraq have a right to have lost revenues restored. But for this effort to have credibility, surely the Iraqi people deserve to be represented by judges and investigators who themselves are credible.

In any case, for reasons unrelated to this sordid web of corruption and cronyism, it appears that Feith and his friend and co-conspirator Ahmad Chalabi have fallen on hard times.

Feith, for example, has been implicated in the Abu Ghraib debacle. It was his office that had general oversight over post-war planning (and pre-war propaganda). And it was apparently his office that dismissed the applicability of the Geneva Conventions to the detained of Iraqi prisoners. Growing displeasure with his work in this regard (Gen. Tommy Franks has been quoted as calling Feith "the. . .stupidest guy on the face of the earth.") has caused him to be sidelined. There are also hints he may soon step down from his post.

For his part, Chalabi recently caused some irritation by proudly boasting that it didn't matter that the intelligence he provided the Pentagon was faulty, because it got the job done. He has also angered his neo-con and pro-Israeli supporters by apparently turning his back on commitments he made to them. He is also now in trouble, having been accused of providing important secrets to Iranian intelligence. His home was recently raided by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

What is intriguing is that in all the recent U.S. media coverage of the changing fortunes of both Feith and Chalabi, there is very little mention made of the questionable business dealings by those closely connected to them. Only a handful of reporters have actually dug deeply into this story.

Both Feith and Chalabi may be facing some difficulties, but don't count them out quite yet. Feith may leave government, but the last time he left the Pentagon, he turned his departure into business connections and a handsome profit. And Chalabi, the wily manipulator, also has a record of rebounding from set-backs that have marked his past.

With Zell and Salem in business, both Feith and Ahmad have a place to go. The final chapter in this sordid tale has yet to be written.

 http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=1718&blz=1
Dr. James J. Zogby - President - Arab American Institute -  http://www.aaiusa.org
For comments or information, please contact:  jzogby@aaiusa.org

Tectonic plate movements in occupied Palestine - being discussed at Bilderberg

Marc Delcour - 31May04

Roughly translated from Metula News Agency article in French

The Middle East is soon to be moving under the impulse of a huge behind-the-scenes agreement between governments of the USA, Israël, and certain components of the Palestinian Authority as well as Egypt and Jordan. And for the first time these last two countries have accepted to play an active role on the side of Israel, coordinated by the Sharon government.

As this agreement is rolled out of the shadows into the public domain it is becoming clear that the new plan doesn't insist on an end to the Israel-Palestinian conflict but that the partners have a fixed goal now to realize the conditions of the 'road map'.

In other words, it is about the neutralization of armed resistance to Israeli occupation, cessation of violence and an in-depth reform of the Palestinian Authority.

On Israeli Side, Ariel Sharon has accepted to evacuate the Gaza Strip and to dismantle all Jewish settlements if the agreement is signed.

The most spectacular aspect of this agreement is the neutralization of Chairman of the PA.. who will obtain the honorary title of President. The Chief of Palestinian government will become his prime minister, who shall hold all the powers.

The decisive move in the application of this new agreement was, without doubt, the visit of the Egyptian intelligence chief général Omar Suleiman, last Monday (31st May) in Ramallah and Jerusalem.

On this occasion, the Egyptian général explained to Arafat the overall lines of the agreement and let him know he has to name Mohamed Dahlan as prime minister soon and to give him all power.

Arafat asked Suleiman "And if I refuse?" Mubarak's general answered him "These changes will take place with you or without you", adding "If you go against this, things will go badly for you, how can the new Palestinian state be born when we don't have the correct leader?"

The meeting was tough but to the point. At the end Arafat asked to receive the promise of Sharon, that if he accepts the terms of the diktat, he can travel where he wants and will no more be confined in the Moukata.

Arafat waited to receive a direct answer from prime minister Sharon and guaranties from President Mubarak about the implementation of the agreement.

After a discrete second conversation with Sharon and a rather long phone call between the President of the Israeli Council and the President of Egypt, Ariel Sharon sent out a communiqué : Israël guarantees Yasser Arafat full liberty of movement on the condition that the Palestinian forces are brought together under one centralised command and that violence against the Israelis stops.

Over and above the official publication of this agreement, two extra conditions have been communicated to Arafat :

1) He must keep out of the political direction and military direction of the Palestinian Authority

2) He must not contradict the action of the new prime minister and his successors from Palestine.

Metula News Agency article