What is the Council on Foreign Relations?

A powerful lobbying force? Evil, secret organization? Or just a scary-sounding acronym?

I posted about a month ago here and asked what my blog readers opinions were on the CFR. Not suprisingly, there weren't many opinions. Most people haven't heard about it (or at least, don't remember hearing about it.) I know I'd heard the name before, but hadn't heard anything about what they stood for before about six months ago. I sort of dismissed it as a Conspiracy when I first started listening.

I now believe strongly that the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an organization absolutely bent on destroying the United States' sovereignty. Please allow me to tell you why, because only you and I can stop this.

What is the CFR's plan for the United States?

I was browsing Gayle's blog the other day, and curiousity about what some of my old blogging buddies have said about Ron Paul led me to come across this post by her (excellent post Gayle, btw... wish I hadn't disappeared from blogging for so long). In it, she discussed the proposed North American Union, as reported by Newsmax and other sources. As expected, she and most of her commenters were absolutely 100% against these plans. Anyone here actually want to merge the U.S. with Mexico and Canada?

What I also noticed was the absence of the mention of the CFR in this post, or comments. I was surprised, because the CFR is so connected to these plans. But first, what is the CFR, officially?

Here's a brief idea of what the CFR is (from their website):

"Thinking about and discussing pressing foreign-policy issues is a long-established tradition at the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan and independent membership organization. As you can learn by reading our mission statement, the Council has promoted understanding of foreign policy and America’s role in the world since its founding in 1921. It does this in a variety of ways: by convening meetings at which government officials, global leaders, and Council members debate major foreign-policy issues; by operating a think tank that is home to the world’s most prominent scholars of international affairs; by sponsoring Task Forces and commissioning books and reports; and by publishing Foreign Affairs, the leading journal of global politics."

Now, the CFR is much more than the "debate group" its website suggests. They are an extremely powerful lobbying force which holds a lot of power in Washington. More importantly, since its founding, the leaders of it have been pushing for a union of North America. They've also been integral in passing precursers to it, like NAFTA.

But you really don't have to take my word for it. Read this article from the CFR's official website. In it, President of the CFR Richard Haas talks about Globalism and Sovereignty.

"...states must be prepared to cede some sovereignty to world bodies if the iternational system is to function...Some governments are prepared to give up elements of sovereignty to address the threat of global climate change ... sovereignty must be redefined if states are to cope with globalisation."

Another publication (this is one of many) from the CFR's site talks about "The Future of North American Integration."

A 2005 Report by the CFR on Globalization and the NAU is also quite disturbing.

Even more frightening, the "North American Union" has made its way into official foreign policy of the U.S. The official website, which isn't connected in name to the CFR is SPP.gov. (I highlighed ".gov", because that indicates that this is a Government website.)

And in case you missed this news report:

Now, I don't strive to be like those annoying bloggers who say "I'll tell you what I believe! Read/watch this!" But I really can't link or list all the reputable sources about the CFR's plans to integrate North America, if any of you doubt what I've already talked about; please, please ask me for more information!

But you're probably wondering now, Does this organization actually hold the power to pass laws? And how can it push for things like the NAU so blatantly?

Well let's look at some past and present members. All of these politicians are reportedly members, but I'll cover in a minute why it's hard to find news sources listing membership...

There are literally thousands of videos online from various news sources, showing these politicians and others speaking about their CFR membership/involvement, or addressing the CFR, so if you doubt this list, ask me and I'll find the videos.

Notable current members(not a full list):

-Michael Bloomberg
-Jimmy Carter
-Dick Cheney
-Bill Clinton
-Christopher Dodd
-Newt Gingrich
-Robert Gates
-Colin Powell
-Walter Mondale
-John McCain
-Lewis Libby
-Joseph Lieberman
-Teresa Heinz
-Jesse Jackson
-Fred Thompson
-George Soros
-Rick Warren
-Paul Wolfowitz
-Condoleezza Rice

Any names sounding familiar to you?

A few notable past members:

-George H.W. Bush
-Thomas Dewey
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
-Michael Dukakis
-Geraldine Ferraro
-Gerald Ford
-Herbert Hoover
-Hubert Humphrey
-Robert F. Kennedy
-Ann Richards

Any of these sounding familiar? Additionally, the CFR's official website again has a report on American Presidents and links to the CFR.

So why is the media turning a blind eye?

The John Birch Society (of which I'm a member) reports on some other CFR members (again, this isn't a complete list, but the most prominent people from each organization):

AOL Time Warner
-Chief Executive Officer/COO Richard D. Parsons

Time, Inc.
-Editor-in-Chief Norman Pearlstine

CNN News Group
-CEO & Chairman of the Board Walter Isaacson
-CNN Anchor Paula Zahn

Associated Press
-Vice President/Director of World Services Claude E. Erbsen

Disney/ABC
-Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner
-Anchor Diane Sawyer
-Anchor Barbara Walters

PBS NewsHour
-Executive Editor & Anchor James C. Lehrer

Atlanta Journal-Constitution
-Editorial Page Editor Cynthia A. Tucker

NBC Nightly News
-Anchor/Managing Editor Tom Brokaw

20th Century Fox Corporation
-CEO Rupert Murdoch

U.S. News & World Report
-Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Mortimer Zuckerman
-Editor-at-Large David Gergen

Newsweek
-Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria
-Chairman/Editor-in-Chief Richard M. Smith
-Editor Mark Whitaker

Syndicated Columnists
-William F. Buckley Jr.
-Charles Krauthammer
-Dan Rather
-Tony Snow
-George Will

In addition to the press and the media, the CFR also has links to Corporate business.

Now, this post is very long already, but I do honestly have more links and stories I could give you. If you doubt what I say, again, please ask me for more information. I don't blame any of you who are sitting there thinking Conspiracy, because like I said - that was my thinking at first. All I ask is that you do your own research, find out for yourself.

And what can we do about it anyway? The first thing is obvious - don't vote for politicians who are members! Of course, with the presence of McCain on the list, a lot of you will disagree with me. If you choose to vote for such a politician anyway, at least be informed about the CFR and its plans! A major tool they use is the fact that most people only rely on Mainstream news. So talk about them! If people honestly knew what it was about, I doubt they could support it.

It's time to stand up for our sovereignty!

Additional reading:

The John Birch Society's site about the NAU.

JBS' Youtube channel.

Dick Cheney speaking to the CFR.

Mike Huckabee and the CFR.