Today’s date is the five-year anniversary of the London bomb attacks, which left 52 people dead and over 700 injured. There are organisations that have been set up all around the world with some pretty evil agendas. The main reasons behind their purposes is more often than not polictically or religiously motivated. Through acts of extreme violence, terrorism and murder they show very little disregard for the safety of the innocent people. But then again the innocent people, in their eyes, are most often the targets. Here is a list of ten of some of the world’s most sinister organisations who will stop at nothing to reach their life’s objectives.
1. Al Qaeda
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Led by Osama bin Laden Al Qaeda came to the world’s attention after the tragedies of September 11′s extreme terrorism attack on the Twin Towers in New York 2001. Al Qaeda are basically a militant Islamist group that were founded in the late 80s. Their jihad against the Western world has led to attacks in the UK, Spain, Turkey and others, usually via suicide bombings. It was bin Laden who declared a fatwa against the USA and all its allies, and after the 2001 attacks on America the then U.S. president George W. Bush issued the “War on Terrorism”.
2. Aum Shinrikyo
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This mysterious Japanese religious cult was founded in the 80s and was a bizarre mix of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, science-fiction and the prophecies of Nostradamus! The group was founded by Shoko Ashara and after a series of terrorist attacks with the use of chemical weapons the group came to prominence in 1995 when they killed 12 commuters in the Tokyo subway and injured thousands of others. They were eventually tracked down to a remote part of Australia where they had been experimenting various chemical gases on sheep. They have been linked with kidnappings, extortion and have even reportedly had links with Russia where they planned to obtain the materials needed to create an atomic bomb.
3. Bilderberg Group
Image source - Wikipedia
Every year around 130 people of influence from around the world meet in secrecy to discuss…well, no one knows because it is invitation only and they reveal nothing to the public. The people who attend these annual meetings are important figures from the fields of politics, banking, business, the military and media (including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, pictured). Everything that goes on stays between the group, which has led to conspiracy theorists claiming that they are determining the fate of the world. This may seem a little far fetched perhaps but with high levels of armed security, and in some cases with the local police and even the military guarding them, it begs the question: just what are these guys desperately trying to hide?
4. Christians United for Israel (CUFI)
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Founded by John C Hagee, Christians United for Israel offeres its support for the country. No harm there you think. Well there is when Hagee’s sermons include beliefs that a nuclear war between Israel, the US and Iran has been foretold in the Bible and that the group desire this to happen. Why? Because the true believers will ascend to heaven of course while the rest of us will perish in a nuclear hell. Hagee doesn’t stop there though because he’s rather opinionated on some other subjects like homosexuality, Catholics and Nazism. For example in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Hagee said it was God’s doing because the area had planned a Gay Pride march there! Most worrying of all though is that the man’s sermons are broadcast to 160 TV stations, 50 radio stations and 8 networks across the world, reaching a potential audience of 99 million homes per week.
5. Church of Scientology
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Regarded as the fastest growing religion in the world with 15 million members and counting, Scientology has attracted a lot of controversy over whether it really can be declared a religion or a money-making scheme. New members are required to pay “donation” fees in order to undergo tests, seminars and initiations. Should members wish to progress further up the echelons of the religion then they can expect to pay thousands of dollars. Founded on the basis of science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard’s bizarre musings the religion has attracted the attention of celebrity status with the likes of Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirsty Alley becoming members. It is thought this was done on purpose though to attract publicity and gain credibility. The church was embroiled in huge controversy in 1979 when it was discovered that operatives of the religion had been involved in events they called Operation Snow White. Infiltrating the U.S. government the church operatives were involved in spying and theft of government documentation on L. Ron Hubbard. The operation was considered to be the single largest infiltration of the US government undertaken in history.
6. Federal Security Service (FSB)
Image source - Wikipedia
The FSB of the Russian Federation displaced the KGB after the break up of the Soviet Union. The group have been linked with numerous controversial incidents over the years such as coercion of the media, propagation of false information, silencing of dissident voices and even murder – notoriously that of former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko. He was poisoned and killed in his London home in 2006 after publishing books which criticised Putin and the FSB, even criticising the group of staging a series of apartment bombings which were designed to ease Putin’s ascent to power. No link was ever proven of the Litvinenko murder but it is widely suspected that the FSB are behind the incident.
7. Hezbollah
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What initially started out as a Shi’a resistance movement against Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Hezbollah has now grown so large they have their own political branch, a paramilitary organisation, seats in the Lebanese government, a radio station, a satellite TV station and the implementation of various programs of social reform. The group have strong ties with Syria and Iran, and apparently receive funding from the two. They’ve been suspected of a series of bombings, kidnappings and plots against Israel since the 80s. In 2006 though they became involved in full-scale war against Israel, which although ended in a UN ceasefire was deemed largely as a victory for the organisation. This boosted their level of support (87% of the Lebanese population now support them) and has seen a major increase in their power and influence.
8. Mossad
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Initially set up to help establish a Jewish population in Palestine in 1948, today Mossad are equivalent to the CIA in the USA or MI6 in the UK. They’ve been heavily linked to counter intelligence, espionage, and covert action. They are most notorious for their involvement in the “Kidon branch”, which were responsible for assasinations of Islamic militants after the Munich massacre in 1972 (as depicted in Steven Spielberg’s film “Munich”). Other reported missions include the targeted assassination and kidnapping of ex-Nazi party members, hiding out around the world, especially in South America. Often rebelling against foreign reltions they were also responsible for the hijacking of a German freighter and the theft of its cargo – 200 tons of uranium oxide. The material was regarded to be indispensable for the development of Israel’s nuclear weapons. Such actions leave the organisation totally unpredictable.
9. State Security Department of North Korea
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In one of the world’s most mysterious countries the State Security Department of North Korea are the nation’s secret police who report directly to the leader Kim Jong Il. Their duties are to identify possible sources of dissidence and then to eliminate them. They manage North Korea’s concentration camp (Camp 22), which is reportedly the size of Washington, and holds around 50,000 prisoners. Although much information is hard to obtain from the secretive nation it is reported that acts of chemical experimentation have been carried out on the inmates. It is largely suspected the North Korea have an active nuclear weapons programme, leaving the USA in a state of complete paranoia that the North Koreans could infiltrate their country.
10. Xe Services LLC (Blackwater Worldwide)
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A private military contractors group, founded in the 90s, that have become the favoured mercenaries for hire in the U.S. The group was set up by Erik Prince, although little is known about him or the organisation itself because they like to remain out of the limelight. With a reported 40,000 members, made up of ex-policemen and servicemen, they’ve been heavily involved with the USA in the war in Iraq. They have courted controversy though. In 2007 Blackwater personnel opened fire on a crowd of Iraqi civilians, killing 17 people. FBI investigations claim that the killings were justifiable although many still hold their suspicions.