[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
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