December 7, 1977

When Is A Cabal Not A Cabal?

When is a cabal not a cabal?

The ancient system of a few designated persons uniting secretly in a close design is alive and well in Washington D. C. operating as the Trilateral Commission.

The most influential member of this secret society sits in the Oval Office of the White House, for he is President Jimmy Carter!

He has surrounded himself with at least other "trilateralists" who dominate the foreign policy of the United States.  How many trilateralists hold down lesser key positions is unknown, for members do not openly boast of their inter-related associations.

Together, the trilateralists wield enormous power in the government.  Whether this is good or bad is yet to be determined.

The Trilateral Commission was formed in 1973 by David Rockefeller, then chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank.  Remember this, for it may have special significance farther into this article.

Helping was Zbigniew Brzezinski, a Columbia University specialist on international relations.

Some 200 top leaders from politics, business, universities, and the press are invited to meet on call at some posh hideaway to discuss world affairs and reach a consensus of action.

When Rockefeller's role in founding this cabal became known he stated he had become greatly concerned over deterioration in the so-called Western' Alliance.  He said he and his collaborators felt that Henry Kissinger, then Secretary of State, was pursuing a dangerous policy by stressing accommodation with our principal adversaries - Russia and China - and neglecting our allies in Europe and Japan.

The name Trilateral derives from the three-cornered dependence of U.S., Europe, and Japan.

Essential to the prosperity of these three economic entities is industrial growth, and cooperation with the developing "third world" which should become a vast new market.

This conception seems logical and should not - in itself - unduly worry either the liberals or conservatives who are left out of the prestigious annual seminars.

Yet, there are some niggling doubts about the true objectives of powerful men who meet secretly, make decisions intimately affecting our daily lives, and implement those decisions without public input.

Jimmy Carter, then governor of Georgia, was invited to join the Trilateral Commission to provide a liberal Southern view point.  It was the philosophical support of such media members as the publisher of Time Magazine, and financial support of such bankers as Rockefeller, that induced Carter to make the run for the presidency.

Indeed, the influence of his fellow trilateralists may have had more to do with Carter's success than the much touted grass roots response of "the people."

In return, Carter has placed trilateralists at the apex of U.S. foreign policy:

• Vice-president Walter Mondale.  
• Zbigniew Brzezinski, foreign policy advisor.
• Secretary of State Cyrus Vance.
• Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher.  
• Secretary of Defense Harold Brown.  
• Secretary of Treasury W. Michael Blumenthal.
• Andrew Young, ambassador to the United Nations.
• Richard Cooper, under secretary of state for Economic Affairs.
• Lucy Wilson Benson, under secretary for Security Affairs.
• Paul Warnke, director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
• Richard Holbrooke, assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
• Elliot Richardson U.S. representative to Law of Sea Conference.
• Richard Gardner, ambassador to Italy.  
• Sol Linowitz, co-negotiator for Panama Canal treaty.

When these persons - with an avowed partiality to the third world nations - act in favor of, say, Peru or Panama can we be sure they do so objectively?

Peru, typical of the many developing nations to which the large world banks have made huge private loans, is near bankruptcy.  Interest alone on its debts takes 44 percent of its total gross national product!

Among the banks that stand to lose heavily - if not collapse - should Peru default is Bank of America, Citibank, Morgan Guaranty and Chase Manhattan.  The International Monetary Fund just last month auctioned $65 million worth of gold assigned to it by member nations - principally U.S., Japan, and Germany - so the proceeds could be re-loaned to third world countries unable to meet interest payments to Chase Manhattan et al.

Linowitz, a trilateralist and Canal negotiator who has been a registered foreign agent for Chile and Colombia, also is a director of the Marine Midland bank which has several major loans outstanding against Panama.

It appears that the $60 million a year we are to pay Panama for the privilege of giving them the Canal is earmarked for loan payments to U.S. and world banks.

If these allocations of national income are to create further prosperity, then the trilateralists are an enlightened association of statesmen.

If, however, the chief aim of the Trilateral Commission is to bail out the big banks of the world, then we have an old fashion cabal on our hands.

The situation bears careful scrutiny.

Author: Lindsey Williams