Middle East

Jim Rickards: Decline of the Petrodollar System is Good for Gold

"The petrodollar system is collapsing for two reasons. The US has abused its privileged reserve currency position by printing trillions of dollars in an effort to create inflation. More recently, President Obama has taken steps to anoint Iran as the regional hegemon of the Middle East, and to ease the way, in stages, toward Iran's possession of nuclear weapons capability. This is viewed as a stab-in-the-back by the Saudis and the Israelis and will lead quickly to Saudi Arabia obtaining nuclear weapons from Pakistan. There is also a newly emerging alliance among Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, and Russia. The new alignment will have no particular use for US dollars and no reason to support them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Rickards: Decline of the Petrodollar System is Good for Gold

Cameron Announces U.K. Plans for Debut Issue of Islamic Gilts

"Prime Minister David Cameron said the U.K. plans to become the first country outside the Muslim world to sell a Shariah-compliant bond as soon as next year. Cameron laid out his government’s intentions in a speech to the World Islamic Economic Forum in London. The Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, would be valued at about 200 million pounds ($320 million). Cameron also said London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSE) is creating an Islamic market index. Islamic bonds are typically backed by assets or cash flow because of the religion’s ban on interest. About 60 percent of the world’s sukuk is issued from Malaysia, according to Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCameron Announces U.K. Plans for Debut Issue of Islamic Gilts

Lebanese banks tightening regulations in line with U.S. laws

"Lebanese banks Thursday assured the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon David Hale they were strengthening measures to combat all forms of money laundering, terrorist funding and tax evasion. 'We are preparing, in collaboration with our international audit firm, a manual on AML and FATCA policies and procedures,' Association of Banks in Lebanon President Francois Bassil told the ambassador. 'It will be available very soon to all operating banks in Lebanon,' he said, adding that this would allow for 'a standardized and harmonized implementation of the new U.S. regulations.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLebanese banks tightening regulations in line with U.S. laws

Bombshell: Iran Contra Whistleblower Blows The Lid off Benghazi

"Money makes the world go round. Nowhere is this motto more relevant than in the shadowy world of smuggling weaponry and drugs, not to mention legal arms sales which all too often lead to modern weaponry falling into the hands of America's worst enemies. This all becomes evident when dissecting recent events such as the 2011 ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the death of US Border Agent Brian Terry with weapons obtained through the government's 'Fast and Furious' program, the 2012 murder of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi, and the arming of Syrian rebels attacking the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBombshell: Iran Contra Whistleblower Blows The Lid off Benghazi

Sophisticated U.S. Arms Flowing to Jihadists

"Fox News is reporting a stunning theft of U.S. arms by jihadist salafists in Libya. This news item will be made much of by critics of Obama on the right. However, military and government blunders, cost overruns, unneeded weapons systems, and general mis-management are par for the course. Of more relevance is the light this sheds on the U.S. arms being shipped into Syria. There are no significant controls that prevent these arms from reaching the most terror-prone and jihadist elements among the Syrian rebels, whose numbers are large in proportion to all the rebels. This decision to ship arms was foolhardy from the get-go, and now it looks even more ill-conceived." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSophisticated U.S. Arms Flowing to Jihadists

Sophisticated U.S. Arms Flowing to Jihadists

"Fox News is reporting a stunning theft of U.S. arms by jihadist salafists in Libya. This news item will be made much of by critics of Obama on the right. However, military and government blunders, cost overruns, unneeded weapons systems, and general mis-management are par for the course. Of more relevance is the light this sheds on the U.S. arms being shipped into Syria. There are no significant controls that prevent these arms from reaching the most terror-prone and jihadist elements among the Syrian rebels, whose numbers are large in proportion to all the rebels. This decision to ship arms was foolhardy from the get-go, and now it looks even more ill-conceived." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSophisticated U.S. Arms Flowing to Jihadists

McCain’s Moderates Join Al-Qaeda

"Now this week the final strategic pillar of McCain and the neocons has come crashing to the ground. Critical elements of the ever-shrinking 'moderate' Free Syrian Army have this week pledged their loyalty to the local al-Qaeda franchise in Syria, which happens to be on the US terror list. How can President Obama, McCain, Lindsay Graham, Samantha Power, John Kerry, and the rest of the neoconservatives and humanitarian interventionists continue to justify sending weapons of war to such people? How is it possible that a 'global war on terror' has morphed into a 'global effort to arm terrorists'? Does it not seem rather insane?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMcCain’s Moderates Join Al-Qaeda

Saudi Arabian women call new day of defiance against driving ban

"'I will drive on October 26,' activist Nasima al-Sada told AFP on Sunday, saying that some 20 women are going to take part in the campaign in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. 'Many women are enthusiastic about learning to drive, or to teach other' women how to drive, she said, as many Saudi women have obtained abroad the driving licences they are denied in their homeland. 'There is not a single text in the Sharia Islamic law that prevents us (from driving). Any pretexts used to do that are based on inherited customs,' said the online petition. The last day of of defiance against the ban was on June 17, 2011." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSaudi Arabian women call new day of defiance against driving ban

Investigation to record victims of US drone attacks in Pakistan

"The objective, said TBIJ deputy editor Rachel Oldroyd, is to take these deaths out of obscurity and make it easier to test statements about the nature and use of drones. US authorities have been reluctant to acknowledge any civilian deaths caused by the drone operations, which have been going on since 2006. The CIA has claimed a high rate of killings of militants, saying that strikes since May 2010 have killed more than 600 militants but no civilians. This claim is contested by experts, journalists and researchers on the ground." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInvestigation to record victims of US drone attacks in Pakistan

Egyptian farmer arrested for naming donkey after top general

"An Egyptian farmer has been arrested for putting the name of the country’s military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and an army cap on his donkey, state media said Saturday. Omar Abu al-Magd Ali al-Saghir, 31, was arrested late on Friday in the central province of Qena for allegedly insulting the general, state news agency MENA reported. The farmer was arrested after he rode the donkey through his home village in an act deemed 'directly insulting' to the army, MENA said. Sisi, who ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on July 3, is vice prime minister and defence minister as well as army chief." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgyptian farmer arrested for naming donkey after top general