[E-rundbrief] Info 1011 - John Perkins: Libya: Its About Currency and Loans

Matthias Reichl info at begegnungszentrum.at
Mi Apr 27 13:04:11 CEST 2011


E-Rundbrief - Info 1011 -  John Perkins (USA): Libya: It’s Not About 
Oil, It’s About Currency and Loans.

Bad Ischl, 27.4.2011

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Many of you wonder about the current turmoil in the Middle East – 
particularly Libya during its latest phase of strife. I want to 
address that in this newsletter which will also be posted on 
CSRWire.com, OpEdnews.com and blogs in several other countries. Please 
follow me on Twitter @economic_hitman .

Libya: It’s Not About Oil, It’s About Currency and Loans

By John Perkins

(April, 26, 2011)

  WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- World Bank President Robert Zoellick 
Thursday said he hopes the institution will have a role rebuilding 
Libya as it emerges from current unrest.

Zoellick at a panel discussion noted the bank's early role in the 
reconstruction of France, Japan and other nations after World War II.

"Reconstruction now means (Ivory Coast), it means southern Sudan, it 
means Liberia, it means Sri Lanka, I hope it will mean Libya," 
Zoellick said.

On Ivory Coast, Zoellick said he hoped that within "a couple weeks" 
the bank would move forward with "some hundred millions of dollars of 
emergency support."( By Jeffrey Sparshott, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
–full article here - http://tinyurl.com/3hj8yyp .)

We listen to U.S. spokespeople try to explain why we’re suddenly now 
entangled in another Middle East war. Many of us find ourselves 
questioning the official justifications. We are aware that the true 
causes of our engagement are rarely discussed in the media or by our 
government.

While many of the rationalizations describe resources, especially oil, 
as the reasons why we should be in that country, there are also an 
increasing number of dissenting voices. For the most part, these 
revolve around Libya’s financial relationship with the World Bank, 
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bank for International 
Settlements (BIS), and multinational corporations.

According to the IMF, Libya’s Central Bank is 100% state owned. The 
IMF estimates that the bank has nearly 144 tons of gold in its vaults. 
It is significant that in the months running up to the UN resolution 
that allowed the US and its allies to send troops into Libya, Muammar 
al-Qaddafi was openly advocating the creation of a new currency that 
would rival the dollar and the euro. In fact, he called upon African 
and Muslim nations to join an alliance that would make this new 
currency, the gold dinar, their primary form of money and foreign 
exchange. They would sell oil and other resources to the US and the 
rest of the world only for gold dinars.

The US, the other G-8 countries, the World Bank, IMF, BIS, and 
multinational corporations do not look kindly on leaders who threaten 
their dominance over world currency markets or who appear to be moving 
away from the international banking system that favors the 
corporatocracy. Saddam Hussein had advocated policies similar to those 
expressed by Qaddafi shortly before the US sent troops into Iraq.

In my talks, I often find it necessary to remind audiences of a point 
that seems obvious to me but is misunderstood by so many: that the 
World Bank is not really a world bank at all; it is, rather a U. S. 
bank. Ditto, its closest sibling, the IMF. In fact, if one looks at 
the World Bank and IMF executive boards and the votes each member of 
the board has, one sees that the United States controls about 16 
percent of the votes in the World Bank -  (Compared with Japan at 
about 7%, the second largest member, China at 4.5%, Germany with 
4.00%, and the United Kingdom and France with about 3.8% each), nearly 
17% of the IMF votes (Compared with Japan and Germany at about 6% and 
UK and France at nearly 5%), and the US holds veto power over all 
major decisions. Furthermore, the United States President appoints the 
World Bank President.

So, we might ask ourselves: What happens when a “rogue” country 
threatens to bring the banking system that benefits the corporatocracy 
to its knees? What happens to an “empire” when it can no longer 
effectively be overtly imperialistic?

One definition of “Empire” (per my book The Secret History of the 
American Empire) states that an empire is a nation that dominates 
other nations by imposing its own currency on the lands under its 
control. The empire maintains a large standing military that is ready 
to protect the currency and the entire economic system that depends on 
it through extreme violence, if necessary. The ancient Romans did 
this. So did the Spanish and the British during their days of 
empire-building. Now, the US or, more to the point, the 
corporatocracy, is doing it and is determined to punish any individual 
who tries to stop them. Qaddafi is but the latest example.

Understanding the war against Quaddafi as a war in defense of empire 
is another step in the direction of helping us ask ourselves whether 
we want to continue along this path of empire-building. Or do we 
instead want to honor the democratic principles we are taught to 
believe are the foundations of our country?

History teaches that empires do not endure; they collapse or are 
overthrown. Wars ensue and another empire fills the vacuum. The past 
sends a compelling message. We must change. We cannot afford to watch 
history repeat itself.

Let us not allow this empire to collapse and be replaced by another. 
Instead, let us all vow to create a new consciousness. Let the 
grass-roots movements in the Middle East – fostered by the young who 
must live with the future and are fueled through social networks – 
inspire us to demand that our country, our financial institutions and 
the corporations that depend on us to buy their goods and services 
commit themselves to fashioning a world that is sustainable, just, 
peaceful, and prosperous for all.

We stand at the threshold. It is time for you and me to step across 
that threshold, to move out of the dark void of brutal exploitation 
and greed into the light of compassion and cooperation.

John Perkins

Twitter: @economic_hitman

NYTimes Bestselling Author
"Hoodwinked"
"Confessions of An Economic Hitman"

www.johnperkins.org


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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
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