NOVANEWS

NOVANEWS

The New Mediterranean Oil and Gas Bonanza

Part II: Rising energy tensions in the Aegean—Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria

By F. William Engdahl, author of A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order with permission

The discovery in late 2010 of the huge natural gas bonanza off Israel’s Mediterranean shores triggered other neighboring countries to look more closely at their own waters. The results revealed that the entire eastern Mediterranean is swimming in huge untapped oil and gas reserves. That discovery is having enormous political, geopolitical as well as economic consequences. It well may have potential military consequences too.

Preliminary exploration has confirmed similarly impressive reserves of gas and oil in the waters off Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and potentially, Syria.

Greek ‘energy Sirtaki’

Not surprisingly, amid its disastrous financial crisis the Greek government began serious exploration for oil and gas. Since then the country has been in a curious kind of a dance with the IMF and EU governments, a kind of “energy Sirtaki” over who will control and ultimately benefit from the huge resource discoveries there.

In December 2010, as it seemed the Greek crisis might still be resolved without the by-now huge bailouts or privatizations, Greece’s Energy Ministry formed a special group of experts to research the prospects for oil and gas in Greek waters. Greece’s Energean Oil & Gas began increased investment into drilling in the offshore waters after a successful smaller oil discovery in 2009. Major geological surveys were made. Preliminary estimates now are that total offshore oil in Greek waters exceeds 22 billion barrels in the Ionian Sea off western Greece and some 4 billion barrels in the northern Aegean Sea.[i]

The southern Aegean Sea and Cretan Sea are yet to be explored, so the numbers could be significantly higher. An earlier Greek National Council for Energy Policy report stated that “Greece is one of the least explored countries in Europe regarding hydrocarbon (oil and gas-w.e.) potentials.”[ii] According to one Greek analyst, Aristotle Vassilakis, “surveys already done that have measured the amount of natural gas estimate it to reach some nine trillion dollars.” [iii]

Even if only a fraction of that is available, it would transform the finances of Greece and the entire region.

Tulane University oil expert David Hynes told an audience in Athens recently that Greece could potentially solve its entire public debt crisis through development of its new-found gas and oil. He conservatively estimates that exploitation of the reserves already discovered could bring the country more than €302 billion over 25 years. The Greek government instead has just been forced to agree to huge government layoffs, wage cuts and pension cuts to get access to a second EU and IMF loan that will only drive the country deeper into an economic decline. [i]

Notably, the IMF and EU governments, among them Germany, demand instead that Greece sell off its valuable ports and public companies, among them of course, Greek state oil companies, to reduce state debt. Under the best of conditions the asset selloffs would bring the country perhaps €50 billion.[ii] Plans call for the Greek state-owned natural gas company, DEPA, to privatize 65% of its shares to reduce debt.[iii] Buyers would likely come from outside the country, as few Greek companies are in a position in the crisis to take it.

One significant problem, aside from the fact the IMF demands Greece selloff its public oil interests, is the fact that Greece has not declared a deeper exclusive economic zone like most other countries which drill for oil. There was seen little need until now. An Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) gives a state special mineral rights in its declared waters under the Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which came into force in November 1994. Under UNCLOS III, a nation can claim an EEZ of 200 nautical miles from its coastline.[iv]

Turkey has previously stated it would consider it an act of war if Greece drilled further into the Aegean. [v] Until now that did not seem to have serious economic consequences, as no oil or gas reserves were known. Now it’s an entirely different ballgame.

Evangelos Kouloumbis, former Greek Industry Minister recently stated that Greece could cover “50% its needs with the oil to be found in offshore fields in the Aegean Sea, and the only obstacle to that is the Turkish opposition for an eventual Greek exploitation.”[vi]

Hillary dances the Sirtaki too…

In July 2011 Washington joined the Greek energy Sirtaki. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to Athens with energy on her mind. That was clear by the fact she brought with her her Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, Richard Morningstar. Morningstar was husband Bill Clinton’s Special Advisor to the President on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, and one of the Washington strategic operatives in the geopolitical battles to dismember the Soviet Union and surround a chaos-ridden Russia with hostile pro-NATO former states of the USSR. Morningstar, along with his controversial aide, Matthew Bryza, have been the key Washington architects of Washington’s geopolitically-motivated oil and gas pipeline projects that would isolate Russia and its Gazprom gas resources from the EU. Bryza is an open opponent of Russian Gazprom’s South Stream gas pipeline that would transit the eastern Mediterranean states.[vii] Clearly the Obama Administration is not at all neutral about the new Greek oil and gas discoveries. Three days after Hillary left Athens the Greek government proposed creation of a new government agency to run tenders for oil and gas surveys and ultimate drilling bids.

Morningstar is the US specialist in economic warfare against Russian energy diplomacy. He was instrumental in backing the controversial B-T-C oil pipeline from Baku through Tbilisi in Georgia across to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, a costly enterprise designed solely to bypass Russian oil pipeline transit. He has openly proposed that Greece and Turkey drop all historic differences over Cyprus, over numerous other historic issues and agree to jointly pool all their oil and gas reserves in the Aegean Sea. He also has told the Greek government it should forget cooperation with Moscow on the South Stream and Bourgas-Alexandroupolis gas pipeline projects. [viii]

According to a report from Greek political analyst Aristotle Vassilakis published in July 2011, Washington’s motive for pushing Greece to join forces with Turkey on oil and gas is to force a formula to divide resulting oil and gas revenues. According to his report, Washington proposes that Greece get 20% of revenues, Turkey another 20% and the US-backed Noble Energy Company of Houston Texas, the company successfully drilling in the Israeli and Greek offshore waters, would get the lion’s share of 60%.[ix]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill, is a Washington lobbyist for Noble Energy. ^[1]

And some Cyprus complications…

As if these geopolitical complications were not enough, Noble Energy, has also discovered huge volumes of gas off the waters of the Republic of Cyprus. In December 2011 Noble announced a successful well offshore Cyprus in a field estimated to hold at least 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Noble’s CEO, Charles Davidson remarked to the press, “This latest discovery in Cyprus further highlights the quality and significance of this world-class basin.” [2]

Cyprus is a complicated piece of real estate. In the 1970’s as declassified US Government documents recently revealed, then-US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger actively encouraged and facilitated arms to the Turkish regime of Kissinger’s former Harvard student and then- Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, to stage a military invasion of Cyprus in 1974, in effect partitioning the island between an ethnically Turkish north and an ethnically Greek Republic of Cyprus in the south, a division which remains. The Kissinger strategy, backed by the British was believed intended to create a pretext for a permanent US and British military listening post in the eastern Mediterranean during the Cold War.[3]

Today the ethnically Greek south, where Noble has discovered large gas deposits, is a member of the EU. Its President, Demetris Christofias, is the only national leader in the European Union who is a communist. He is also a close friend of Israel, and of Russia. In addition, he is a major critic of American foreign policy, as well as of Turkey.[4]

Now Israel is planning to build an underwater gas pipeline from the Israeli Levantine fields across Cyprus waters onto the Greek mainland where it would be sold on the EU market. The Cyprus and Israel governments have mutually agreed on delimitation of their respective economic zones, leaving Turkey in the cold. Turkey openly threatened Cyprus for signing the agreement with Noble Energy. That led to a Russian statement that it would not tolerate Turkish threats against Cyprus, further complicating Turkish-Russian relations. ^[5]

Turkish-Israeli relations, once quite friendly, have become increasingly strained in recent years under the Erdogan foreign policies. Ankara has expressed concern about Israel’s recent ties with its historic antagonists, Greece and the Greek side of Cyprus. Turkey’s ally the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, fears it could miss out on its fair share of the gas after Israel and Nicosia signed an agreement to divide the 250 kilometers of sea that separate them.[6]

It becomes evident, especially when we glance at a map of the eastern Mediterranean, that the oil and gas prospective bonanza there is a rapidly unfolding conflict zone of tectonic magnitude involving strategic US, Russian, EU, Israeli and Turkish, Syrian and Lebanese interests.

Endnotes:

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[1] Hugh Naylor, Vast gas fields found off Israel’s shores cause trouble at home and abroad, January 24, 2011, accessed in http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/vast-gas-fields-found-off-israels-shores-cause-trouble-at-home-and-abroad#full.

[2] Noble Energy Press Release, Significant Natural Gas Discovery Offshore Republic of Cyprus, December 28, 2011, accessed in http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/significant-natural-gas-discovery-offshore-republic-of-cyprus.

[3] Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane, New documents link Kissinger to two 1970s coups, June 26, 2007, accessed in http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Intelligence_officers_confirm_Kissinger_role_in_0626.html.

[4] Yilan, Cyprus conflict defies ready solution, May 30, 2011, accessed inhttp://turkeymacedonia.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/cyprus-conflict-defies-ready-solution/.

[5] Stephen Blank, Turkey and Cyprus Gas: More Troubles Ahead in 2012, Turkey Analyst, vol. 5 no. 1, 9 January 2011, accessed in http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/inside/turkey/2012/120109B.html.

[6] Hugh Naylor, op. cit.

[i] Chris Blake, Drilling for oil in the Aegean nay help ease Greece’s debt crisis, July 7, 2011, accessed inhttps://www.hellenext.org/reinventing-greece/2011/07/drilling-for-oil-in-the-aegean-may-help-ease-greeces-debt-crisis/

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] John Daly, Greece Considering Plugging Aegean Islands into Turkish Energy Grid, 22 November 2011,accessed in http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-considering-plugging-aegean-islands-into-turkish-energy-grid-2011-11.

[iv] United Nations, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982: PART VI: CONTINENTAL SHELF, Article76, Definition of the continental shelf, accessed inhttp://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part6.htm.

[v] Chris Blake, op. cit.

[vi] Ioannis Michaletos, op. cit.

[vii] Hellas Frappe, op. cit.

[viii] Ibid.

[ix] Ibid.

[i] Ioannis Michaletos, Greek Companies Step Up Offshore Oil Exploration—Large Reserves Possible, December 8, 2010, accessed in http://www.balkanalysis.com/greece/2010/12/08/greek-companies-step-up-offshore-oil-exploration-large-reserves-possible/.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Hellas Frappe, Hillary came to Greece to seal oil exploration deals!, July 21, 2011, accessed inhttp://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/07/special-report-hillary-came-to-greece.html.

NOVANEWS

by Stephen Lendman

Greece is being systematically raped, pillaged and destroyed. Bankers demand it. What they want, they get, no matter the human toll and economic ruin.

Standing armies pale by comparison. Financial oligarchs wage war by other means and take no prisoners. Greece is Exhibit A. More on it below.

Last July, Christine Lagarde became IMF managing director. She replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Spurious attempted rape allegations forced him out. In fact, he was targeted for supporting more responsible IMF policies. Bankers wanted his head and got it.

Lagarde’s mandate is making IMF policy meaner and tougher. Straightaway, she backed harsh austerity measures banks demand. They include debt peonage and forcing nations to place money master interests above sovereign ones.

Last November, Mario Draghi replaced Jean-Claude Trichet as ECB president. Like Largarde, his mandate also entails raping and pillaging nations to pay bankers.

In late February, he told Wall Street Journal interviewers that forced austerity is firm policy. Enforcing it he claims will return troubled economies to long-term prosperity. In other words, starving people fills bellies. Withholding treatment cures patients, and destroying villages save them.

Journal interviewers never asked him to explain:

• what right have bankers to prioritize their demands over sovereign state needs;

• how can ritual sacrifice increase demand; and

• how can 17 dissimilar economies coexist under straightjacket Eurozone rules.

Instead, they unquestioningly accepted his assertions about needed austerity and ending Europe’s “obsolete” social contract.

“There is no feasible trade-off” between social and labor related structural changes and fiscal belt-tightening, he claimed. Only banker demands matter. Draghi and Lagarge enforce them. Corrupt politicians go along.

In a recent talk, Michael Hudson said:

“Welcome to the post-industrial economy, financialized style. Industrial capitalism has passed (through) a series of stages of finance capitalism from the Bubble Economy to the Negative Equity stage, foreclosure time, debt deflation, austerity – and what looks like debt peonage in Europe, above all for the PIIGS: Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain.”

Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were also raped and pillaged. Debt bondage forced large numbers to leave or starve. EU nations perhaps await the same fate. Forced debt deflation, foreclosures, unemployment and poverty’s driving them all toward eventual third world status.

Perhaps mighty Germany will succumb. With fewer customers to fuel exports and weaker domestic demand, it’s economic miracle may melt and become mirage.

Look at Japan. Its post-bubble economy became rolling recessions, weak recoveries, decline, deflation, and stagnation for over two decades.

Europe’s already in recession. Austerity and rising oil prices assure greater trouble. Yet consensus thinks EU nations will muddle through. Liquidity infusions prioritize speculation and market manipulation at the expense of economic needs.

Solutions, explained Hudson, require central banks to “monetize government budget deficits so as to spend money into (economies) to promote economic growth and full employment.”

It’s not rocket science. It’s common sense and when done responsibly works as intended. Yet neoliberal policy makers and major media scoundrels suppress workable remedies to assure bankers, other corporate favorites and rich elites get paid, at the expense of the other 99%.

Western society schools teach junk, not responsible, economics. It prioritizes financial oligarchy demands over policies fostering sustainable economic growth. When ignored, economic decline, democratic and social erosion, unemployment, poverty, and debt peonage follow.

A Historic Analogue

Current policies assure the rich get richer. The rest suffer. In Western societies, where more deeply than Greece. It’s banker occupied. Ordinary people have no say. They’re burdened by multiple austerity rounds similar to crushing German Treaty of Versailles reparations.

Fascism under Hitler emerged. WW II followed. Versailles terms were outrageous. In May 1921, Germany got an ultimatum – accept terms in six days or face industrial Ruhr Valley military occupation. With no choice, it accepted.

Moreover, colonial possessions and raw material resources were seized. In the end, both sides lost out. Unmanageable debt overwhelmed world finance and monetary policy by 1929. Wall Street’s crash followed.

An unsustainable pyramid was built on punitive war debts. Wall Street and other major banks enforced payments. They exceeded America’s annual 1920s foreign trade. Rebuilding and modernizing war-torn Europe was sacrificed to pay bankers.

Germany got the worst of it. Its Reichsbank had to print enormous amounts of money to survive. Catastrophic hyperinflation followed. In January 1923, the mark dropped to 18,000 to the dollar. By July, it was 353,000, in August 4,620,000, and by November an astonishing 4,200,000,000,000.

It became worthless. German savings were destroyed, and calamitous events became inevitable.

Lost assets compounded economic misery. Germany’s colonies became League of Nations Mandates. Alsace-Lorraine, West Prussia, Upper Silesia and other territories were ceded to Britain, France, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.

Gone were agricultural resources, 75% of Germany’s iron ore, 68% of zinc ore, 26% of coal, as well as Alsatian textile industries and potash mines. In addition, Germany’s entire merchant fleet was taken, a portion of its transport and fishing fleet, plus locomotives, railroad cars and trucks to pay war debts.

Impossible terms demanded 132 billion gold marks at 6% annual interest. As a result, inflation soared. German industrial activity plunged. Reichsbank and other German bank assets were seized. Marks became worthless. Public anger grew. Communism and fascism vied for power.

In 1923, a so-called Dawes Plan (named for US banker Charles Dawes) was adopted. Paying bankers was prioritized. Looting was enforced. It continued until 1929 when the debt pyramid collapsed.

A banking crisis followed. So did capital flight. Germany’s economy crashed. Depression emerged. Hard times empowered radical political elements.

The rest is history. WW II left 40 million dead and Europe in ruins. In other words, when public pain exceeds thresholds of no return, all bets are off. Often the unthinkable happens.

Europe in Crisis

Today, angry millions across Europe face destitution, neoserfdom, despair, and no futures. Greece is its epicenter. Multiple bailouts enforce banker pillage. Austerity assures they’re paid at the expense of economic solvency and public need.

Even the neoliberal New York Times noted a “Greek Tragedy,” saying:

It’s “chok(ing) on Europe’s conditions. (The) approach will not work.” Greece can’t possibly repay debt. The more added, the greater the burden, the less ability to service and repay.

“By forcing all Greeks to suffer with no real prospects of relief, Europe is uniting the country, now beset by strikes, against further reforms.” Politicians face “political suicide in this spring’s elections” if, in fact, they’re held or unles populist candidates are excluded.

A Final Comment

Zombie Greece awaits burial. The latest bailout deal may be the last. Greece’s debt burden already is double the reported amount.

Eventual default is certain. So is exiting the Eurozone. Expect it perhaps later this year. Markets already discounted it. Perhaps other countries will follow.

Progressive Radio New Hour regular Bob Chapman suggested even Germany may exit, saying:

“Germans are fed up with subsidizing others and want to go ahead on their own. They never wanted” Eurozone membership in the first place. Moreover, by boycotting Iranian oil, EU nations are shooting themselves in the foot. Long-term, disruptions may follow, intensifying economic disaster and public anger.

Already it’s raging on and off in Greece, Spain, Italy, Britain, and elsewhere across Europe. Chapman thinks a military coup may follow. EU solidarity and confidence are gone. “Bureaucrats and politicians have let fraud go on far, far too long.”

What can’t go on forever, won’t. No one knows when, but it’s just a matter of time.

NOVANEWS

by Stephen Lendman

Predatory bankers make serial killers look good by comparison. Their business model creates crises to facilitate grand theft, financial terrorism, and debt entrapment.

They steal all material wealth and then some. They systematically rob investors and strip mine economies for self-enrichment.

They demand they get paid first. They hold nations hostage to assure it. They turn crises into catastrophes.

They leave mass impoverishment, high unemployment, neo-serfdom, and human wreckage in their wake.

Their Federal Reserve/ECB/IMF/World Bank/political class lackeys do their bidding.

They’re more dangerous than standing armies. They wage war by other means. They cause “demographic shrinkage, shortened life spans, emigration and capital flight,” explains Michael Hudson.

They’re a malignancy ravaging societies and humanity. Greece is the epicenter of what’s metastasizing globally. The latest bailout deal highlights out-of-control pillage.

On February 20, New York Times writer Stephen Castle headlined, “Europe Agrees on New Bailout to Help Greece Avoid Default,” saying:

On Tuesday morning, Luxembourg president/Euro Group head Jean-Claude Juncker announced:

“We have reached a far-reaching agreement on Greece’s new program and private-sector involvement. The new program provides a comprehensive blueprint for putting the public finances and the economy of Greece back on a sustainable footing.”

In fact, it assures human misery and economic destruction, not restoration. It’s a deal only bankers can love. It demands Greece reduce its debt from 160% to about 120% of GDP by 2020, but how incurring more debt achieves it wasn’t explained.

It also demands sacking 150,000 public workers by 2015, slashing private sector wages 20%, lowering monthly minimum wages from 750 to 600 euros, cutting unemployment benefits from 460 to 360 euros, and reducing pensions 15% en route to eliminating them altogether.

Media reports said bondholders agreed to a 53.5% face value haircut – the equivalent of losing 75% overall. In fact, only 30% of toxic assets are involved. Most held aren’t touched. Greece must make good on them, no matter the impossible burden.

Private lenders will swap current holdings for new lower face value/lower interest rate bonds. Representing bondholders, Institute of International Finance’s Charles Dallara and BNP Pariba’s Jean Lemierre called the deal “solid….for investors, a fair deal for all parties involved.”

In other words, raping Greece for bankers is “solid” and “fair.” Its citizens had no say. Without rights, what’s best for them wasn’t discussed.

They’re left with huge wage and benefit cuts combined with mass layoffs. Greece faces less tax revenue to cover domestic priorities. In late 2011 alone, its economy shrank 7%. January revenues fell 7% year-over-year. Value-added tax receipts decreased 18.7% from last year. Death spiral financial deterioration continues monthly.

Moreover, the nation’s $650 billion debt burden is double the reported amount. The more it increases, the harder it is to service and repay, the more future aid’s needed, and deeper the country’s economic catastrophe heads for total collapse.

The deal escrows $170 billion to assure bankers get paid. Investment advisor Patrick Young got it right tellingRussia Today that dealmakers don’t trust Greece living up to terms because its track record is so bad.

“So we now have a situation,” said Young, “where Greece said we’ll do anything you want, but the problem is” too great a burden to bear. “It’s a catastrophe pushing people to the brink of starvation.”

No matter. Finance ministers will give Greece some money on dreadful terms “where like a nine year old child, every Friday it has to go to daddy, say it’s done its homework, say it’s been a good boy, can it please have next week’s pocket money to pay its civil servants. (It’s) a horrible loss of sovereignty.”

Troika power runs Greece – the IMF, ECB and EU. They’re predators saying pay up or else.

Reports say its government will change its constitution to prioritize repaying debt ahead of vital domestic obligations.

Other terms involve lenders cutting interest rates on bailout loans by 0.5% over the next five years, and 1.5% thereafter. An estimated 1.4 billion euros would be saved by 2020.

The ECB will compensate by distributing profits on its 40 billion Greek debt holdings. In addition, Eurozone countries will contribute their Greek bond income through the end of the decade.

Still to be decided is EU/IMF burden sharing. Both agreed to contribute. Not discussed or considered is leaving 11 million Greeks on their own out of luck. They have three choices – starve, leave, or rebel.

The Rot Beneath the Surface

On February 21, Financial Times contributor Peter Spiegel headlined, “Greek debt nightmare laid bare,” saying:

“A ‘strictly confidential’ report on Greece’s debt projections prepared for eurozone finance ministers reveals Athens’ rescue programme is way off track and suggests the Greek government may need another bail-out” soon after the latest one.

Even under the most optimistic scenario, imposed austerity’s punishing Greece so severely, its burden’s impossible to bear.

Agreed on terms are “self-defeating.” Forced austerity elevates debt levels, weakens the economy, and prevents Greece “from ever returning to the financial markets by scaring off future private investors.”

As a result, continued financial infusions are needed. Double or more the agreed amount’s required. Current problems increase exponentially toward total collapse, default and bankruptcy.

The report explained Greece’s impossible burden. It also “paints a troubling outlook for the debt restructuring, expected to begin this week.” Bond swapping creates “a class of privileged investors who will chase off” others when Greece tries selling fixed income securities at market. Germany, the Netherlands and Finland opposed a deal doomed to fail.

The report warned “Greek authorities may not be able to deliver structural reforms and policy adjustments at the (envisioned) pace.” Perhaps never with shrinking revenues unable to cover liabilities.

It’s “now uncertain whether market access can be restored in the immediate post-programme years.” Left unsaid was restoring it’s impossible ever. Greece faces protracted deep depression. Its life force is ebbing. Only its obituary remains to be written.

A Final Comment

Greece’s debt deal provides a model for future European sovereign restructurings. It’s one of six or more troubled countries. Portugal looks like the next domino to fall, but Spain, Italy, Ireland, and others may follow.

Moreover, implementing Greece’s deal entails problems. Reality may prevent fulfilling promises. If April elections are held, new MPs may balk. Declaring a debt moratorium, defaulting and leaving the Eurozone are options.

Moreover, private lenders may object. Legal challenges may follow. A sweetheart banker deal may unravel. Pressuring China and Japan to help isn’t working. China Investment Corporation, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, and Chinese central bankers aren’t willing to buy troubled European sovereign debt. According to one official, “(w)e aren’t stupid.”

How it all plays out isn’t known. Technocrats run Greece. They may cancel April elections and stay in power. Public sentiment remains the wild card. Impossible to bear pain may become uncontainable rage. More than buildings may burn.

If political Greece doesn’t care, people must act on their own. Revolutionary seeds are planted. They can erupt any time. Change only comes bottom up. It’s long past time to get started.

NOVANEWS 

by Stephen Lendman

On February 12, Greece’s banker controlled parliament passed sweeping austerity measures on top of multiple previous rounds.

New ones include:

• sacking 15,000 public workers in 2012 and 150,000 by 2015;

• slashing private sector wages by 20%;

• lowering monthly minimum wages from 750 to 600 euros;

• cutting fast disappearing monthly unemployment benefits from 460 to 360 euros; and

• reducing pensions many Greeks need to survive by 15%.

At issue is securing another 130 billion euro bailout. The more financial aid Greece gets, the greater its debt, the harder it is to repay, the more future aid’s needed, and deeper the country’s economic abyss heading for total collapse.

No matter. Troika power kleptocrats demanded deep cuts – the IMF, EU and European Central Bank (ECB). Money power dictates bankers get paid first. People needs are sacrificed to assure it.

Since crisis conditions began, Greece’s three major parties capitulated:

• the social democratic Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) led by banker-sacked former prime minister George Papandreou;

• the center-right New Democracy under Antonis Samaras; and

• the hard right Popular (or People’s) Orthodox Rally (LAOS) lead by Georgios Karatzaferis. Until now, it went along.

Ahead of the vote, Karatzaferis said:

“It is unacceptable that right now our politicians’ petty political and public relations maneuvering should be leading the country to bankruptcy.”

“The country is tumbling towards a cliff-edge, and a tough European establishment is putting out the view that Greece cannot be saved and lacks credible politicians. Our politicians back that view with their carryings-on.”

Most often on issues of banker capitulation, differences among the three are largely rhetorical. This time LAOS broke with coalition unity.

Nonetheless, at midnight on Sunday, after hours of perfunctory debate, MPs rubber-stamped measures (199 to 74 with 27 abstentions) party leaders agreed on earlier despite tens of thousands raging in Syntagma Square outside parliament throughout the day and night.

Clashes also occurred in Salonika, Patra, Volos, Crete and Corfu. Expect more ahead by growing numbers unwilling to accept social injustice destroying their ability to survive.

Greece’s working class faces impoverished neoserfdom. Those on pensions have less than ever to survive on, and the nation’s youths have no futures.

As a result, violent protests erupted. Police thugs clashed with people demanding justice. Dozens of buildings burned.

Banker appointed prime minister Lucas Padademos, a former ECB vice president, lied saying “living standards of Greeks would collapse and the country would be dragged into a spiral of recession, instability, unemployment and misery” unless predatory cuts are made.

He lied again claiming pernicious austerity measures will “restore the fiscal stability and global competitiveness of the economy, which will return to growth, probably in the second half of 2013.”

In fact, under crisis conditions, Greece’s economy is dying. In December, manufacturing plunged 15.5% year-over-year. Industrial output sank 11.3%. Unemployment topped 20%. Youth joblessness approaches 50%, and suicides doubled since economic decline began.

As a result, capital flight’s increasing. People are voting with their feet and leaving. Those remaining face hospitals short of medicines, unprecedented homelessness and hunger, schools without basic supplies, and imagine what’s coming when new cuts are implemented.

Moreover, bankers demand more. So far, mandated wealth confiscation alone is their only excluded diktat, but it’s happening incrementally. Under systematic sacking, Greece’s life force is dying in meltdown.

It desperately needs Argentina’s solution. Nothing else offers hope. In December 2001, facing economic collapse, Buenos Aires halted all debt payments to domestic and foreign creditors.

Months earlier, IMF loans deepened the country’s burden. Finally, $100 billion in debt was restructured. In 2005, it was completed on a take it or leave it basis.

Stiff haircuts were imposed on creditors of around 65%. Most decided something was better than nothing. In 2010, holdouts finally capitulated on similar terms.

Sustained economic growth followed from 2003 through 2007. Vital debt restructuring and a devalued currency assured it.

Greece and other troubled Eurozone countries can relieve their burdens the same way. At issue is reclaiming sovereign rights by reinstating their pre-euro currencies. They never should have sacrificed them in the first place.

A Final Comment

Trapped under euro straightjacket rules, Greece surrendered control over its ability to monetize debt freely, devalue its currency to make exports more competitive, and enact stimulative fiscal policies.

Instead, it’s entrapped by foreign bankers demanding tribute at the expense of mercilessly exploiting the nation’s working class, youths, and retirees.

Financial oligarchs dominate ruthlessly. They make the rules, set terms, issue diktats, control parliaments, and pressure, bribe or otherwise force capitulation on terms no loan shark would demand.

They include mass layoffs, deep wage and benefit cuts, higher taxes, selling off the nation’s crown jewels, and more to assure bankers get paid first. No wonder economist Michael Hudson calls predatory finance “a form warfare.”

It operates like pillaging armies, seizing land, infrastructure, other tangible assets, and all material wealth. In the process, countries and ordinary people are devastated.

Greece is effectively bankrupt. Only its obituary remains to be written. Its people have a simple choice – leave or rebel.

Street protests and strikes produce nothing. Banker controlled parliamentarians don’t care.

By whatever means necessary, replacing them is crucial. Nothing else can work, and delay only exacerbates intolerable conditions.

NOVANEWS 

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill on Monday to secure a second bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, as buildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country.

Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central Athens and black-masked protesters fought riot police outside parliament before lawmakers voted on the package that demands deep pay, pension and job cuts – the price of a 130 billion euro bailout needed to keep the country afloat.

State television reported the violence spread to the tourist islands of Corfu and Crete, the northern city of Thessaloniki and towns in central Greece. Police said 150 shops were looted in the capital and 34 buildings set ablaze.

Altogether 199 of the 300 lawmakers backed the bill, but 43 deputies from the two parties in the government of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, the socialists and conservatives, rebelled by voting against. They were immediately expelled by their parties.

The rebellion and street violence foreshadowed the problems the government faces in implementing the cuts, which include a 22 percent reduction in the minimum wage – a package critics say condemns the Greek economy to an ever-deeper downward spiral.

Papademos, a technocrat brought into get a grip on his country’s crisis, denounced the worst breakdown of order since 2008 when violence gripped Greece for weeks after police shot a 15-year-old schoolboy.

“Vandalism, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won’t be tolerated,” he told parliament as it prepared to vote on the new 130 billion euro bailout to save Greece from a chaotic bankruptcy.

“SHORT-TERM SACRIFICES”

But he admitted that imposing the austerity on a nation that has already endured several years of cuts would be tough.

“Ahead of us, we have a complete and credible economic programme to exit the fiscal and economic crisis. It is a programme which safeguards, more than anything else, the country’s place in the euro,” he said.

“The full, timely and effective implementation of the programme won’t be easy. We are fully aware that the economic programme means short term sacrifices for the Greek people.”

Greece needs the international funds before March 20 to meet debt repayments of 14.5 billion euros, or suffer a chaotic default which could shake the entire euro zone.

Outside parliament Veteranstoday Reporter photographer saw buildings in Athens engulfed in flames and huge plumes of smoke rose in the night sky.

“We are facing destruction. Our country, our home, has become ripe for burning, the centre of Athens is in flames. We cannot allow populism to burn our country down,” conservative lawmaker Costis Hatzidakis told parliament.

The air in Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs.

Terrified Greeks and tourists fled the rock-strewn streets and the clouds of stinging gas, cramming into hotel lobbies for shelter as lines of riot police struggled to contain the mayhem.

State NET television reported that trouble had also broken out in Heraklion, capital of Crete, as well as the towns of Volos and Agrinio in central Greece.

On the streets of Athens many businesses were ablaze, including the neo-classical home to the Attikon cinema dating from 1870 and a building housing the Asty, an underground cinema used by the Gestapo during World War Two as a torture chamber.

As fighting raged for hours, protesters threw bombs made from gas canisters as riot police advanced across the square on the crowds, firing tear gas and stun grenades. Loud booms from the protests could be heard inside parliament.

NOVANEWS

NOVANEWS

by Stephen Lendman

Economist Michael Hudson calls it “Replacing Economic Democracy with Financial Oligarchy” in a June 5 article by that title, saying:

After being debt entrapped, or perhaps acquiescing to entrapment, the Papandreou government needs bailout help to pay bankers that entrapped them. Doing so, however, requires “initiat(ing) a class war by raising its taxes (harming working households most), lowering its standard of living – and even private-sector pensions – and sell off public land, tourist sites, islands, ports, water and sewer facilities” – in fact, all the country’s crown jewels, lock, stock and barrel, strip-mining it of everything of worth at fire sale prices.

Why? Because the US-dominated IMF, EU and European Central Bank (ECB), the so-called “Troika,” demand it as the price for bailout help that wouldn’t be needed if Greece wasn’t trapped in the euro straightjacket. Membership means foregoing the right to devalue its currency to make exports more competitive, maintain sovereignty over its money to monetize its debt freely, and be able to legislate fiscal policies to stimulate growth.

Instead they’re entrapped by foreign banker diktats demanding tribute. They call it a “rescue.” In May 2010, the Papandreou government agreed to earlier austerity in return for loans. Now they’re at it again, demanding more or they’ll collapse the entire economy, or so they say. And the same scheme is replicated in Ireland and Portugal. Moreover, it’s heading for Spain, and potentially most of Europe and America as representative governments head closer to “financial oligarchy.”

In other words, it amounts to financial coup d’etat authority over sovereign governments unless popular anger prevents it, involving more than street protests or short-term strikes accomplishing nothing.

Former Wall Street broker, financial analyst, radio/TV host, and consummate critic Max Keiser calls it “banker occupation” for good reason. They:

• – make the rules;

• – set the terms;

• – issue diktats;

• – pressure, bribe or otherwise cajole or force governments to acquiesce; and

• – burden working households with higher unemployment, wage and benefit cuts, higher taxes, and other austerity measures to assure financial predators profit – always at their expense, forcing once prosperous nations to surrender sovereignty to financial oligarchs, ruling world economies like fiefdoms.

Hudson said European central planning concentrated financial power in “non-democratic hands” from inception under European Central Bank (ECB) dominance. Operating like a financial czar over its 17 Eurozone members, it:

• – “has no elected government (to) levy taxes;

• – (t)he EU constitution prevents (it) from bailing out governments,” unlike the Fed able to monetize US debt in limitless amounts; and

• – “the IMF Articles of Agreement also block it from giving domestic fiscal support for budget deficits,” saying:

“A member state may obtain IMF credits only on the condition that it has ‘a need to make the purchase because of its balance of payments or its reserve position or developments in its reserves.’ ”

However, despite ample foreign exchange reserves, IMF loans are offered “because of budgetary problems,” precisely what it’s not allowed to do. As a result, “when it comes to bailing out bankers,” said Hudson, “rules are ignored” to save them and their counterparties from incurring losses. And it works the same way in America under the Fed, dispensing open-checkbook amounts to Wall Street on demand.

No wonder Hudson calls finance “a form of warfare,” operating like pillaging armies, taking over land, infrastructure, other tangible assets, and all material wealth, devastating nations in the process, causing unemployment, poverty, neoserfdom, “demographic shrinkage, shortened life spans, emigration and capital flight.”

Greece’s business-friendly fiscal legacy, in fact, caused today’s crisis, squeezing public spending in favor of the rich the rich, especially with sweetheart tax policies letting much of their income go undeclared.

Financial deception followed. On February 8, 2010, Der Spiegel writer Beat Balzli headlined, “How Goldman Sachs Helped Greece to Mask its True Debt,” saying:

In 2002, Goldman helped them borrow billions by circumventing Eurozone rules in return for mortgaging assets. Using creative accounting, debt was then hidden through off-balance sheet shenanigans, employing derivatives called “cross-currency swaps in which government debt issued in dollars and yen was swapped for euro debt for a certain period – to be exchanged back into the original currencies at a later date.”

Debt entrapment followed, nations like Greece held hostage to repay it, the usual price being structural adjustment harshness, making a bad situation worse. In 2010, in return for a $150 billion loan, Papandreou imposed:

• – large public worker layoffs (around 10% overall);

• – public sector 10% wage cuts, including a 30% reduction in salary entitlements;

• – cutting civil service bonuses 20%;

• – freezing pensions;

• – raising the average retirement age two years; and

• – higher fuel, alcohol, tobacco, and luxury goods taxes, knowing much more lay ahead given Greece’s worsening debt problem.

More bailout help is now needed in return for greater austerity, as well as selling off Greece’s crown jewels as explained above. On June 24, New York Times writer Stephen Castle headlined, “Europeans Agree to a New Bailout for Greece with Conditions,” saying:

The deal “came a day after Greece agreed with international creditors to more austerity measures (requiring parliamentary approval) as part of revised plans for 2011-15 aimed at” assuring bankers are first in line to get paid, popular and national interests be damned.

An agreement in principle expects half the funds offered to come from new loans, a fourth from state asset sales, and the remainder from private sector contributions.

An unspecified larger amount (of around 110 billion euros in total) will follow an initial 12 billion euro emergency loan with strings. They include:

• – laying off another 20% of public workers;

• – privatizing public enterprises and assets on the cheap;

• – a one-time personal income levy from 1 – 5%, depending on income;

• – lowering the tax-free income threshold to 8,000 euros annually from 12,000;

• – setting the lowest tax rate at 10%, with exemptions for people up to age 30, over-65 pensioners, and disabled people; and

• – annually taxing the self-employed an additional 300 euros.

Up to $120 billion in cuts are expected though final figures haven’t been announced, depending on amounts raised from asset sales and private contributions.

In response, public anger is visceral through daily protests. The ruling PASOK party’s approval rating is 27%. Over 90% of the public are dissatisfied with Greece’s governance. Another 90% say the country is “on the wrong path.” About 80% are unhappy with their lives, and 70% are concerned that conditions will keep deteriorating.

Nonetheless, on June 22, Papandreou won a parliamentary vote of confidence ahead of two more steps the IMF and Eurozone leaders require before releasing more funds – agreeing on their demanded austerity plan and enacting measures to implement it.

In fact, acting IMF managing director John Lipsky (a former JP Morgan Investment Bank vice chairman) said no opposition will be tolerated. In other words, Eurozone nations have no option but to obey IMF diktats, Lipsky acting more like a commissar than banker.

At the same time, austerity, privatizations, and greater debt amounts are self-defeating. Workers, of course, are hardest hit unless mobilized mass action stops it. Ideally they can do it by general strike, shutting down the country, setting non-negotiable demands, staying out until predatory banker diktats are rejected, and prevailing by letting nations regain their sovereignty and people their rights.

That’s how labor battles are won. It works the same everywhere when rank and file determination stays the course to victory.

NOVANEWS

by Mike Stathis

In the very first issue of the Intelligent Investor (June 2009), I discussed problems in Europe that became a reality several months later.

“It is likely that America will end up on the hook for the majority of the bailout funds needed for Eastern Europe via the IMF…In the end, I feel the long-term fate of the European Union (EU) will be threatened; not so much for economic reasons as for the continued destruction of each nation’s sovereignty.

Already, common laws of the union are causing social disruptions based upon cultural differences within each member nation. It is perhaps for this reason that the union has aggressively opened its doors to nations outside of the union as a way to dilute the cultural and racial identities of each nation. But we have already seen a glimpse of what this offers—mass riots, arson and destruction. No doubt, the tensions will worsen due to the severity of the global meltdown.

One thing is for certain. In order for the union to succeed, all nations must be provided with a somewhat equivalent infrastructural base. Otherwise, the disparities in commerce will present problems.

Let me give you a simple example of this. Arguably, Germany has the most modernized road system in Europe. This enables an efficient means of transportation for a vibrant consumer and business activity.

In contrast, Greece’s transportation infrastructure is horrendous. As a result, the cost structure for goods and many services is higher by necessity.  This disparity leads to a relative difference in the strength of the Euro depending on which nation you are in. But there are other economic uncertainties, such as who will bail out troubled nations.

Given the economic, social and sovereignty issues, it is possible that by 2020, Germany will pull out of the union, most likely for economic reasons alone. If that happens, you can bet France will soon follow.

If both nations exit, the Euro will be pretty much finished. To be clear, I am not predicting the fall of the Euro, but rather raising this very real possibility. It is only by a full consideration of all scenarios that we can construct a comprehensive risk management strategy.”

A few months later weeks before problems in Greece emerged, in October 2010 German Chancellor Angela Merkel shocked EU officials and other globalists by proclaiming that multiculturalism in Germany has been a complete failure.

Those who understand the mechanisms by which Zionists have imposed multiculturalism throughout the western world (all while working towards a homogenous population in Israel) are not likely to be surprised by Merkel’s conclusions. What was surprising was that she openly admitted it.

Even if the EU governing body were to commit towards equalizing the infrastructural base of member nations, it should be clear that this is no longer economically feasible. It should also be apparent that the EU ruling class would never place this as a goal because it would diminish the economic advantages obtained by advanced EU member nations, from less developed nations.  Finally, the multicultural “time bomb” would remain unless EU leaders unanimously decided to cast away this policy which clearly creates societal dysfunction and diminished solidarity.

Resolving infrastructural disparities from within the EU would be analogous to Washington raising the minimum wage to its appropriate inflation-adjusted level of around $11 per hour. Washington would never permit this because it would diminish the economic benefit of allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter the U.S. This is something I pointed out in the 2006 version of America’s Financial Apocalypse.

Several years before the sovereign debt crisis escalated in Greece, and even before the global financial crisis had commenced, I had concluded that the European Monetary Union (EMU) would be much different by say 2022 due to both economic and societal tensions.

Although the IMF continues to push for bailouts for emerging nations from within the European Union, the IMF has publicly admitted (in a 2010

publication) perhaps by accident, that the demise of these now vulnerable nations has been primarily due to their membership within the EU.

According to official data from a variety of sources, the current accounts in seven nations within Southern Europe (i.e. Southern Euro Area, SEA) have imploded since the mid-1990s. For instance, in 1994, these nations maintained an overall average current account balance (which can be likened to an annual trade surplus) to an average deficit of 10% in 2008. [1]

When the current accounts of Northern Europe (the Northern Euro Area, NEA) are examined, eight nations have accumulated current account surpluses over the same period. [2]

How SEA Economies Collapsed

Numerous sources including the IMF and other economic organizations linked within the network of global powerbrokers have acknowledged that the decline in the current accounts of SEA countries coincided with their entry into the European Monetary Union (EMU). This trend continued after their subsequent adoption of the euro.

For instance, according to economic data, during the period spanning 1994–2008, the deterioration in current accounts coincided with a large decrease in

private saving rates and, to a lesser extent, with a rise in investment rates, while public saving actually improved.

Although the EU has been in existence for decades, the formation of the EMU (linking most of the members of the EU into a unified currency) has been a more recent development.

According to the IMF, it was the creation of the EMU and, especially the introduction of the euro that drove the declines in current accounts by allowing member nations to maintain their investment levels above what could be financed from lower domestic saving.

According to the IMF…

“…economic integration improved access to the international pool of saving, but it did not necessarily make it optimal or sustainable. Even in countries in which an increase in investment played a more important role in the current account deterioration (Spain and Slovenia), most of the increase took place in less productive nontradables sectors, such as construction.

Although the current global financial crisis has forced some reduction in current account deficits, they are expected to remain high in the medium run as a result of the countries’ low productivity and weak competitiveness.”

Thus, the unionization of Europe has largely been responsible for the current economic problems seen in Greece, Italy, Spain, and other nations. They were doomed from the beginning.

What Was the Impetus for the EMU?

Similar to U.S. trade policy over the past twenty years, which has gravitated towards the use of cheap labor from abroad by unconditional acceptance of globalization theory, the EU (and later the EMU) was engineered to exploit the cheap labor of southern Europe for the benefit of the more advanced northern European nations. However, these globalists failed to account for contingent liabilities associated with the unification of very different economies and societies, each with a unique and rich history. The U.S. is facing a somewhat similar predicament, as millions of illegal aliens have flooded into the various social support services, making these vital resources less available for U.S. citizens.   Moreover, the various societal problems have become widespread.

Although the IMF acknowledges that the fiscal troubles seen in southern Europe have been primarily due to the numerous economic imbalances that developed upon their entry into the EU, the IMF’s official policy remains dedicated to providing financial assistance in order to keep these nations as members within the EU and the EMU. That should give you an idea exactly what is going on behind the scenes.

As you can imagine, Germany’s decision to help Greece has been a complete disaster for both Germany and Greece. Although Germany’s economy has rebounded well since the global recession, it has been dragged down by the weight of the financial woes of emerging Europe, while Greece is now locked into a global chess match.

Accordingly, the only way Greece will permanantly emerge from its mess is to dump the European Union. Conditional financial assistance from the IMF will only delay the fundamental problems, at best. At worst (and most likely), mandatory austerity measures layered upon numerous policy changes and other actions will lead to a less desired fate for Greece over the longer-term period.  Certainly, Greece faced many problems prior to entering the EMU. Specifically, the nation’s public pension system had been in deficit for years. However, these deficits accelerated after entering into the EMU.

Short-term fixes in the form of bailouts and other types of financial assistance from the IMF, Germany and other nations will not lead to a permanent fix for Greece or other nations in southern Europe. On the contrary, the economic landscape of Greece, like other nations under the grip of the IMF, will be reengineered at the expense of Greek citizens for the benefit of advanced nations within the EU.

How the IMF Exerts its Power

In the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, the World Bank and IMF were created. The World Bank is typically led by Americans while the IMF is led by Europeans. However, the common link of leadership often places Jewish bankers and politicians at the helm. The emphasis on “Jewish” bankers and politicians is a very important distinction, as you can imagine.

The World Bank is an international bank whose stated purpose is to assist developing nations in need of humanitarian relief, with the stated purpose of reducing poverty.

This stated goal serves as a front for the bank’s power-grab.

The current World Bank president is Robert B. Zoellick, a Jew and former Goldman Sachs managing director, PNAC and CFR member, former Deputy Secretary of State and US Trade Representative.

Former World Bank Presidents

Paul Wolfowitz 2005–2007 (JEWISH; former Deputy Secretary of Defense, spearheaded Iraq War with PNAC)

James Wolfensohn 1995–2005 (JEWISH; former Solomon Brothers executive, founder of Wolfensohn & Co)

Lewis T. Preston 1991–1995 (JEWISH; former president and CEO of JP Morgan)

Barber Conable 1986–1991 (JEWISH; former congressman and US senator)

Alden W. Clausen 1981–1986 (JEWISH; former president, chairman and CEO of Bank of America)

Robert McNamara 1968–1981 (not Jewish)

George Woods 1963–1968 (JEWISH; former First Boston Bank Chairman)

Eugene R. Black, Sr. 1949–1963 (JEWISH; former Chairman of the Federal Reserve)

John J. McCloy 1947–1949 (not Jewish, but was very close to Paul Warburg and other Wall Street Jews)

Eugene Meyer 1946–1946 (JEWISH former owner of the Washington Post and Chairman of the Federal Reserve)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) receives funding from nearly 200 member nations. In reality, the IMF is another international Jewish-run bank connected to the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. The official goals of the IMF are to facilitate global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty.

However, the stated goals of the IMF serve merely as a front in order to seize control over nations for the benefit of the U.S.  Once the IMF becomes involved with a nation, it takes over the political power and societal norms of nations in financial distress. Although it claims to be an international fund, it is really an extension of Washington DC.

Currently, John Lipsky (Jewish) serves as the interim head of the IMF.

Former IMF Presidents

Dominique Strauss-Kahn 2007-2011 (JEWISH)

Rodrigo Rato 2004–2007

Horst Köhler 2000–2004

Michel Camdessus 1987–2000 (?)

Jacques de Larosière 1978–1987 (?)

Johannes Witteveen 1973–1978 (JEWISH)

Pierre-Paul Schweitzer 1963–1973 (JEWISH)

Per Jacobsson 1956–1963 (JEWISH)

Ivar Rooth 1951–1956 (JEWISH)

Camille Gutt 1946–1951 (JEWISH)

Similar the World Bank, the IMF is headquartered in Washington DC. There is a very good reason for this. Each of these organizations has been disguised as a financial

United Nations of sorts. Similar to the World Bank, the IMF is under the control of the same crime syndicate that runs the Federal Reserve, Wall Street, corporate America, and Washington.

Once a nation accepts financing from the IMF, it loses a good part of its sovereignty. Both foreign and domestic policy are altered in a manner that satisfy the goals of the U.S. and the UK. Moreover, once under the grasp of the IMF, nations often become economically worse off than prior to the IMF’s involvement.

Yet, the western media always positions the IMF as some savior that seeks to restore economic conditions of distressed nations, much in the same manner that it uses the threat or terrorism, the spread or defense of democracy to justify wars by the U.S.

The IMF gains control over developing nations and nations under temporary financial distress by camouflaging its power grab with financial assistance. Once the bait has been accepted, IMF and other officials from the crime syndicate attempt to alter the entire economic and social landscape of its subject nations. Rather than real assistance, the IMF ratchets down on indebted nations, altering their economic and societal policies in a manner that only benefits the underlying powers of the IMF, the U.S.

Although the IMF is a constituent of this crime syndicate, it acts as a very minor player. The primary arm of the syndicate works to defraud the people of more advanced nations using less conspicuous means which are always promoted as policies which are “for the good of the people,” such as globalization, global warming, and a surrender of their economic and financial system to corporate America and the Federal Reserve.

Finally, another major arm of the crime syndicate – Wall Street – steals more than $200 billion each year (based on my estimates) from investors through countless acts of securities fraud.

Brazil Might Rescue Portugal from the IMF

Brazil remembers its own struggles in the 1990s that led to financial assistance from the IMF. The nation paid off its IMF debt in advance because it did not want to remain in the grasp of the IMF.  Thereafter, Brazil mounted a period of spectacular economic growth that continues today. Much of the credit for its rapid and impressive turn around has gone to Brazil’s former President Lula da Silva.

Brazil also remembers its former colonial relationship with Portugal. Although Brazil is a multicultural nation, its ties with Portugal have persisted in many ways. Portuguese culture can be seen in Brazil everywhere you turn, from the food to the native language.

As Portugal faces the threat of an IMF-EU bailout, Brazil wants no part of this fate for its mother nation. In response, former Brazilian President Lula da Silva has warned Portugal to resist such a bailout. Da Silva recalls the adverse consequences of IMF assistance when his own nation faced economic problems a decade ago.

“The IMF will not solve Portugal’s problems, like it did not solve Brazil’s problems and like it did not solve other problems. Every time the IMF tried to help reduce debts, it created more problems for countries than solutions.”

Thus, it should be clear that the best economic solution for Greece is to exit from the EMU followed by the EU. I would also recommend this action for the remainder of

southern Europe. Not only would this clear the path for improved economic conditions, it would also help maintain the sovereignty each nation has cherished for centuries.

In the end, the people of each nation will have the opportunity to determine the fate of their nation, not by voting, but through revolt. Thus far, it appears that the Greeks want no part of the EMU or the EU, much like in the past.

I don’t know about you, but I’m rooting for the Greeks.

What’s truly encouraging is the fact that Europeans are fighting back. They refuse to go down without a fight; a real fight, not some token rallies with rock bands and Hollywood productions organized by puppets of controlled opposition like Glenn Beck and the tea party organizers from corporate America like FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity.

The U.S. media is not showing much footage of the riots in Greece, Spain and elsewhere because they fear it will give Americans ideas of their own riots. But there really isn’t much need for the oligarchs to worry, as Americans remain under the control of the media.

Apparently, Americans feel better after their organized chants of “End the Fed” and so forth. But this in no way alters the fact that their future is being stripped away each day.

There is much to be learned from our European friends. I hope you are watching closely.

Spend some time on YouTube if you want a better depiction of the riots in Europe.

YouTube – Veterans Today -

[1] The SEA consists of Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain. SEA-4 denotes the four largest SEA countries: Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain; the latter three joined the EMU in 1994 and the euro area in 1999, and Greece joined the euro area in 2001. The remaining SEA countries, SEA-3 (Cyprus, Malta, and Slovenia) joined the EMU in 2004 and the euro area in 2007–08. Not included in this analysis is Slovakia, which joined the EMU in 2009.

[2] The NEA comprises Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.