THE REAL REASON WE ARE AT WAR!
TIME MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER 13, 2000 - Page 34
FOREIGN EXCHANGE SADDAM TURNS HIS BACK ON GREENBACKS
Europe's dream of promoting the euro as a competitorto the U.S. dollar may get a boost from SADDAM HUSSEIN.Iraq says that from now on, it wants payments for itsoil in euros, despite the fact that the batteredEuropean currency unit, which use to be worth quitea bit more than $1, has dropped to about 82 cents.Iraq says it will no longer accept dollars for oilbecause it does not want to deal "in currency of theenemy.
"The switch to euros would cost the U.N. a smallfortune in accounting paperwork changes. It would alsoreduce the interest earnings and reparations paymentsthat Iraq is making for damage it caused during the Gulf War,a shortfall the Iraqis would have to make up
.The move hurts Iraq, the U.N. and the countries receivingreparations. So why is Saddam doing it? Diplomaticsources say switching to the euro will favor Europeansuppliers over U.S. ones in competing for Iraqi contracts,and the p.r. boost that Baghdad would probably get inEurope would be another plus.
-By William Dowell/ New York City
====================================================================
The Euro And The War On Iraq
By Amir ButlerATrueWord.cominfo@atrueword.com http://atrueword.com/index.php/article/articleview/49/1/1/
As Mark Twain once noted, prophecy is always difficult, particularly with regards to the future.
However, it is a safe bet that as soon asSaddam is toppled one of the first tasks of the America-backed regimewill be to restore the US dollar as the nation's oil currency.
In November 2000, Iraq began selling its oil for euros, moving away fromthe post-World War II standard of the US dollar as the currency ofinternational trade. Whilst seen by many at the time as a bizarre act ofpolitical defiance, it has proved beneficial for Iraq, with the eurogaining almost 25% against the dollar during 2001. It now costs aroundUSD$1.05 to buy one Euro.
Iraq's move towards the euro is indicative of a growing trend. Iran hasalready converted the majority of its central bank reserve funds to theeuro, and has hinted at adopting the euro for all oil sales. On December7th, 2002, the third member of the axis of evil, North Korea, officiallydropped the dollar and began using euros for trade. Venezuela, not amember of the axis of evil yet, but a large oil producer nonetheless, isalso considering a switch to the euro. More importantly, at its April14th, 2002 meeting in Spain, OPEC expressed an interest in leaving thedollar in favour of the euro.
If OPEC were to switch to the euro as the standard for oil transactions,it would have serious ramifications for the US economy. Oil-consumingeconomies would have to flush the dollars out of their central bankholdings and convert them to euros. Some economists estimate that withthe market flooded, the US dollar could drop up to 40% in value. As thecurrency falls, there would be a monetary evacuation by foreigninvestors abandoning the US stock markets and dollar-denominated assets .Imported products would cost Americans a lot more, and the trade deficitwould be magnified.
It is foreign demand for the US dollar that funds the US federal budgetdeficits. Foreign investors flush with dollars typically look to UStreasury securities as a means of secure investment. With a largereduction in such investment, the country could potentially go intodefault. Things could turn very bad, very quickly.
In May 2004 an additional 10 member nations will join the EuropeanUnion. At that point, the EU will represent an oil consumer 33% largerthan the United States. In order to mitigate currency risks, theEuropeans will increasingly pressure OPEC to trade in euros, and withthe EU at that stage buying over half of OPEC oil production, such achange seems likely.
This is a scenario that America cannot afford to see eventuate. The USwill go to any length to fend off an attempt by OPEC to dump greenbacksas its reserve currency. Attacking Iraq and installing a client regimein Baghdad may have a preventative effect. It will certainly ensure thatIraq returns to using dollars and provide a violent example to any othernation in the region contemplating a migration to the euro.
An American-backed junta in Iraq would also enable the US to smashOPEC's hold over oil prices. The US or its client regime could increaseIraqi oil production to levels well beyond OPEC quotas, driving pricesdown worldwide and weakening the economies of the oil producing nations,thus lessening their likelihood of abandoning the dollar. It would havethe short term effect of reducing the profits of domestic oil companies,but the long term effect of securing America's economic hegemony.
The frequently offered canard of the Left that this war is being foughtto secure oil revenues for American oil companies may have some truth toit. However, a more plausible explanation may be that the Bushadministration is waging war to protect the dollar and smash the OPEChold over international oil prices. It's a war whose purpose is biggerthan Halliburton or Exxon: it's a war being fought to maintain America'sposition in the world
.Attending the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, George Bush Senior told theworld that, "the American way of life is not negotiable". As cruisemissiles rain on Iraq, we are learning just how 'non-negotiable' thatway of life really is.
Amir Butler is executive director of the Australian Muslim PublicAffairs Committee (AMPAC), and writes for ATrueWord.com. He can becontacted at abutler@atrueword.com. ===============================================
==============================================
Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections - UN agrees to Iraq euro account
... sponsored by: UN agrees to Iraq euro account 30-10-00 A United Nations committee gave Iraq the green light to open a euro-denominated bank account to ... it the go-ahead to create a euro-based account for Iraq, the officials and diplomats
...http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntm04607.htm
UN agrees to Iraq euro account30-10-00 A United Nations committee gave Iraq the green light to open a euro-denominated bank account to handle deposits from oil sales -- a victory in Baghdad's campaign to stop using the hated American currency. The decision eased fears that Iraq would follow through on a threat to disrupt oil exports if its request to start collecting payment in the common European currency was denied.
The UN's sanctions committee on Iraq, made up of the 15 Security Council members, agreed it could not object to the request because it had no legal basis to block it. Nevertheless, the United Nations has warned that the switch could cost millions of dollars in lost interest and other revenue, diplomats and UN officials said.The committee authorized its chairman, Dutch Ambassador Peter van Walsum, to draft a letter to the UN Secretariat giving it the go-ahead to create a euro-based account for Iraq, the officials and diplomats said. An account could be created soon
.Iraq informed the committee that it was extending its Nov. 1 deadline to create the euro account until Nov. 6. The United Nations already has a dollar-based escrow account at the French bank BNP Paribas in New York to receive payment for oil exported by Iraq through the UN oil-for-food program.The program allows Iraq, under sanctions for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, to sell its oil provided the proceeds are used to buy humanitarian goods for its 22 mm people. Currently, Iraq exports about 2.3 mm bpd.Earlier this month, Iraq requested the United Nations create a euro-denominated account so it didn't have to receive payment for its oil in American dollars, which it considers the currency of an "enemy state." The UN Treasury Department said the change would be cumbersome and costly since oil is bought and sold internationally in dollars and recommended the proposal be studied further since the financial implications were so great.
The UN sanctions committee requested a report in three months on the implications of the change, including its costs and benefits. French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte complained that the Treasury report omitted any mention of potential gains of using the euro, which France and 10 other countries use. He noted that a significant portion of the humanitarian supplies Baghdad purchases through the oil-for-food program comes from countries that use the euro."Transactions in this currency would reduce costs for exporters which currently have to factor in variations in the euro-dollar exchange rate," he wrote Undersecretary General for Management Joseph Connor. Levitte also complained that the Treasury report concluded it was up to the sanctions committee, which is deeply divided over Iraq, to approve the switch to the euro account. He said there was no reference in any UN resolution that requires the committee to be involved in such dealings.
....Source: AP
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/iraq_reason.htm
TIME MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER 13, 2000 - Page 34
FOREIGN EXCHANGE SADDAM TURNS HIS BACK ON GREENBACKS
Europe's dream of promoting the euro as a competitorto the U.S. dollar may get a boost from SADDAM HUSSEIN.Iraq says that from now on, it wants payments for itsoil in euros, despite the fact that the batteredEuropean currency unit, which use to be worth quitea bit more than $1, has dropped to about 82 cents.Iraq says it will no longer accept dollars for oilbecause it does not want to deal "in currency of theenemy.
"The switch to euros would cost the U.N. a smallfortune in accounting paperwork changes. It would alsoreduce the interest earnings and reparations paymentsthat Iraq is making for damage it caused during the Gulf War,a shortfall the Iraqis would have to make up
.The move hurts Iraq, the U.N. and the countries receivingreparations. So why is Saddam doing it? Diplomaticsources say switching to the euro will favor Europeansuppliers over U.S. ones in competing for Iraqi contracts,and the p.r. boost that Baghdad would probably get inEurope would be another plus.
-By William Dowell/ New York City
====================================================================
The Euro And The War On Iraq
By Amir ButlerATrueWord.cominfo@atrueword.com http://atrueword.com/index.php/article/articleview/49/1/1/
As Mark Twain once noted, prophecy is always difficult, particularly with regards to the future.
However, it is a safe bet that as soon asSaddam is toppled one of the first tasks of the America-backed regimewill be to restore the US dollar as the nation's oil currency.
In November 2000, Iraq began selling its oil for euros, moving away fromthe post-World War II standard of the US dollar as the currency ofinternational trade. Whilst seen by many at the time as a bizarre act ofpolitical defiance, it has proved beneficial for Iraq, with the eurogaining almost 25% against the dollar during 2001. It now costs aroundUSD$1.05 to buy one Euro.
Iraq's move towards the euro is indicative of a growing trend. Iran hasalready converted the majority of its central bank reserve funds to theeuro, and has hinted at adopting the euro for all oil sales. On December7th, 2002, the third member of the axis of evil, North Korea, officiallydropped the dollar and began using euros for trade. Venezuela, not amember of the axis of evil yet, but a large oil producer nonetheless, isalso considering a switch to the euro. More importantly, at its April14th, 2002 meeting in Spain, OPEC expressed an interest in leaving thedollar in favour of the euro.
If OPEC were to switch to the euro as the standard for oil transactions,it would have serious ramifications for the US economy. Oil-consumingeconomies would have to flush the dollars out of their central bankholdings and convert them to euros. Some economists estimate that withthe market flooded, the US dollar could drop up to 40% in value. As thecurrency falls, there would be a monetary evacuation by foreigninvestors abandoning the US stock markets and dollar-denominated assets .Imported products would cost Americans a lot more, and the trade deficitwould be magnified.
It is foreign demand for the US dollar that funds the US federal budgetdeficits. Foreign investors flush with dollars typically look to UStreasury securities as a means of secure investment. With a largereduction in such investment, the country could potentially go intodefault. Things could turn very bad, very quickly.
In May 2004 an additional 10 member nations will join the EuropeanUnion. At that point, the EU will represent an oil consumer 33% largerthan the United States. In order to mitigate currency risks, theEuropeans will increasingly pressure OPEC to trade in euros, and withthe EU at that stage buying over half of OPEC oil production, such achange seems likely.
This is a scenario that America cannot afford to see eventuate. The USwill go to any length to fend off an attempt by OPEC to dump greenbacksas its reserve currency. Attacking Iraq and installing a client regimein Baghdad may have a preventative effect. It will certainly ensure thatIraq returns to using dollars and provide a violent example to any othernation in the region contemplating a migration to the euro.
An American-backed junta in Iraq would also enable the US to smashOPEC's hold over oil prices. The US or its client regime could increaseIraqi oil production to levels well beyond OPEC quotas, driving pricesdown worldwide and weakening the economies of the oil producing nations,thus lessening their likelihood of abandoning the dollar. It would havethe short term effect of reducing the profits of domestic oil companies,but the long term effect of securing America's economic hegemony.
The frequently offered canard of the Left that this war is being foughtto secure oil revenues for American oil companies may have some truth toit. However, a more plausible explanation may be that the Bushadministration is waging war to protect the dollar and smash the OPEChold over international oil prices. It's a war whose purpose is biggerthan Halliburton or Exxon: it's a war being fought to maintain America'sposition in the world
.Attending the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, George Bush Senior told theworld that, "the American way of life is not negotiable". As cruisemissiles rain on Iraq, we are learning just how 'non-negotiable' thatway of life really is.
Amir Butler is executive director of the Australian Muslim PublicAffairs Committee (AMPAC), and writes for ATrueWord.com. He can becontacted at abutler@atrueword.com. ===============================================
==============================================
Alexander's Gas & Oil Connections - UN agrees to Iraq euro account
... sponsored by: UN agrees to Iraq euro account 30-10-00 A United Nations committee gave Iraq the green light to open a euro-denominated bank account to ... it the go-ahead to create a euro-based account for Iraq, the officials and diplomats
...http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntm04607.htm
UN agrees to Iraq euro account30-10-00 A United Nations committee gave Iraq the green light to open a euro-denominated bank account to handle deposits from oil sales -- a victory in Baghdad's campaign to stop using the hated American currency. The decision eased fears that Iraq would follow through on a threat to disrupt oil exports if its request to start collecting payment in the common European currency was denied.
The UN's sanctions committee on Iraq, made up of the 15 Security Council members, agreed it could not object to the request because it had no legal basis to block it. Nevertheless, the United Nations has warned that the switch could cost millions of dollars in lost interest and other revenue, diplomats and UN officials said.The committee authorized its chairman, Dutch Ambassador Peter van Walsum, to draft a letter to the UN Secretariat giving it the go-ahead to create a euro-based account for Iraq, the officials and diplomats said. An account could be created soon
.Iraq informed the committee that it was extending its Nov. 1 deadline to create the euro account until Nov. 6. The United Nations already has a dollar-based escrow account at the French bank BNP Paribas in New York to receive payment for oil exported by Iraq through the UN oil-for-food program.The program allows Iraq, under sanctions for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, to sell its oil provided the proceeds are used to buy humanitarian goods for its 22 mm people. Currently, Iraq exports about 2.3 mm bpd.Earlier this month, Iraq requested the United Nations create a euro-denominated account so it didn't have to receive payment for its oil in American dollars, which it considers the currency of an "enemy state." The UN Treasury Department said the change would be cumbersome and costly since oil is bought and sold internationally in dollars and recommended the proposal be studied further since the financial implications were so great.
The UN sanctions committee requested a report in three months on the implications of the change, including its costs and benefits. French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte complained that the Treasury report omitted any mention of potential gains of using the euro, which France and 10 other countries use. He noted that a significant portion of the humanitarian supplies Baghdad purchases through the oil-for-food program comes from countries that use the euro."Transactions in this currency would reduce costs for exporters which currently have to factor in variations in the euro-dollar exchange rate," he wrote Undersecretary General for Management Joseph Connor. Levitte also complained that the Treasury report concluded it was up to the sanctions committee, which is deeply divided over Iraq, to approve the switch to the euro account. He said there was no reference in any UN resolution that requires the committee to be involved in such dealings.
....Source: AP
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/iraq_reason.htm
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