Saudi Arabia – Page 22 – Infinite Unknown

WikiCIALeaks Cables: Saudi Arabia Cannot Pump Enough Oil To Keep A Lid On Prices, Overstated Reserves By 40 Percent

February 9, 2011 by Infinite

US diplomat convinced by Saudi expert that reserves of world’s biggest oil exporter have been overstated by nearly 40%

Saudi oil refinery. WikiLeaks cables suggest the amount of oil that can be retrieved has been overestimated. Photograph: George Steinmetz/Corbis

The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom’s crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%.

The revelation comes as the oil price has soared in recent weeks to more than $100 a barrel on global demand and tensions in the Middle East. Many analysts expect that the Saudis and their Opec cartel partners would pump more oil if rising prices threatened to choke off demand.

However, Sadad al-Husseini, a geologist and former head of exploration at the Saudi oil monopoly Aramco, met the US consul general in Riyadh in November 2007 and told the US diplomat that Aramco’s 12.5m barrel-a-day capacity needed to keep a lid on prices could not be reached.

China vs. JP Morgan: The Battle Over Gold And Silver

January 26, 2011January 26, 2011 by Infinite

Gold is down 6% and silver 12% since the start of 2011. This is the sharpest decline in precious metals since June of last year and with technical support broken at the 50-day moving averages, many are concerned of a deeper correction ahead.

While there are a myriad of factors driving the prices, two of the major opposing forces are Chinese demand for physical gold on the long side and JPMorgan paper schemes on the short side. Which force prevails in the short term remains to be seen, but in the long run the paper shorts will eventually be squeezed, pushing the price for both gold and silver much higher.

Corrections are a healthy and normal part of any secular bull market, allowing the bull to rest its legs, shake out weak hands and prepare for the next phase up. Every correction in precious metals over the past decade has brought so-called “experts” out of the woodwork to proclaim an end to the gold bull market. They were wrong when gold hit $500, $800, $1,000 and will be wrong many times again before gold finally does peak somewhere above $5,000 per ounce.

But the recent slide in gold and silver prices seems like more than the usual correction and profit taking. Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act during July of 2010 and many metals analysts believed it would lead to the CFTC implementing sensible position limits. In addition, the passing of the Volker rule and closing of prop trading desks seemed to jump start precious metals into an impressive and steady advance.

Many gold bugs believed they were witnessing the end of the fraudulent gold and silver manipulation that has been occurring so blatantly over the past several years. This manipulation has been painstakingly exposed by GATA over the years, was detailed in an earlier article that I published and has led to a series of lawsuits against JPMorgan and others.

Gold and silver posted impressive gains in 2010, with gold up 30%, while silver rocketed more than 80% higher! But these advances came to an abrupt halt at the start of 2011 and the decline worsened a few weeks later when the CFTC announced the details of it proposed position limits. First off, the proposed limits were way too high to curb manipulation and more importantly, JPMorgan, HSBC and other large investment banks were granted an exemption to the new position limit rules by being “grandfathered.” The CFTC absolutely caved to the interests of JPMorgan and the price of gold and silver both proceeded to tank and drop through key levels of support.

To what degree the CFTC decision is driving the decline in precious metals is unclear. Gene Arensberg recently pointed out that the large commercial banks have actually been covering their short positions lately and that the swap dealers are the ones that have been uncharacteristically piling on the paper shorts. Regardless, big money has certainly been helping to push prices lower, even as the dollar has weakened significantly in the past few weeks.

While the paper market has been driving the spot price lower, the physical market appears to be as robust as ever. Sales of silver eagle coins for the month of January have already set a new all-time record, with ten days still left in the month. Furthermore, silver demand in China has quadrupled versus last year, as the emerging Chinese middle class looks for a hedge against inflation and the Chinese government encourages its citizens to buy gold and silver.

This is a relatively new phenomenon in Chinese culture, as ownership of precious metals was illegal just a few short years back. But this has all changed as China has become the largest producer of gold in the world and is expected to surpass India as the largest consumer of gold as well.

Demand from China is not only coming from the citizens though, as the Chinese government has been accumulating massive amounts of gold and silver for their reserves. After not reporting gold reserves for six years, the Chinese government in 2009 made a surprise announcement that they had nearly doubled their gold reserves to over 1,000 tons. They have been doing this quietly via buying up the production from Chinese mining companies, as well as making purchases in the open market via intermediaries.

China announced annual gold production of 314 tons in 2010 and this number is expected to be around 320 tons in 2011. If the suspicion that China is buying up most of the country’s gold production is true, there could well be another 600 tons or more moved into ‘unofficial’ reserves before the next announcement. Add in purchases in the international market, and it is conceivable that China’s reserves could effectively be doubled again by the end of 2011 to some 2,000 tons.

Chavez: Venezuela’s Oil Reserves Surpass Those of Saudi Arabia

January 17, 2011January 17, 2011 by Infinite

Hmmh.

Venezuela says its oil reserves surpass Saudi Arabia’s.

Venezuela has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world leader in oil reserves with certified deposits leaping to 297 billion barrels at the end of 2010, President Hugo Chavez’s government said Saturday.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told Reuters that the new reserves, which pushed the total 41 percent higher than the previous year, were booked in the South American OPEC member’s vast Orinoco extra heavy crude belt.

A jubilant Chavez told parliament that Venezuela’s reserves now surpassed those of Saudi Arabia.

“We have enough for 200 years,” the former soldier said in a speech in which he denied he was a dictator, complained that he was being unfairly “demonized” and offered to give up much-criticized decree powers a year ahead of schedule.

There are suggestions that countries, including Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, have exaggerated their oil reserves in the past, though the producers deny doing so.

Tunisia Gets Its Third President in One Week – Authoritarian Ex-President Ben Ali Flees To Saudi Arabia

January 15, 2011 by Infinite

President Ben Ali resigned after weeks of unrest over corruption and unemployment

– Tunisia: Ex-President Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia (BBC NEWS):

Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has fled with his family to Saudi Arabia, after being forced from office after 23 years in power.

The 74-year-old leader conceded power after protests over economic issues escalated into rallies against him.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi has taken over as interim president, and a state of emergency has been declared.

Mr Ghannouchi has said he will meet political leaders on Saturday in an attempt to form a government.

Dozens of people have died in recent weeks as unrest has swept the country and security forces have cracked down on demonstrations over unemployment, food price rises and corruption.

– Tunisia Gets Its Third President in One Week (New York Magazine):

Fouad Mebazaa was sworn in as Tunisia’s acting leader today after the country’s longtime authoritarian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and his family took refuge in Saudi Arabia, the result of angry street protests against the government. It marks the second time power in Tunisia has changed hands over the past twenty-four hours: The prime minister had announced just a day before that he was taking power from Ali, but he abruptly gave it up this morning. Complying with the rules of succession, the prime minister turned over authority to Mebazza, speaker of the Tunisian Parliament, who is expected to hold elections to form a new government within 60 days. Acting president Mebazaa said:

“Citizens, sons and daughters of our country of Tunis, in this important and urgent moment in the history of our beloved country, I appeal to all of you of various political parties, and nationalist organizations, and all civil society organizations to fight for the national interest and to respect the army’s command and the national security in security matters, and to preserve private and public property and to bring the return of peace and security in the hearts of the citizens.”

Meanwhile, gunshots are still being heard in the Tunisian capital. Nearly fifty people have been reported dead as a result of rioting at two Tunisian prisons. Soldiers, police officers and young men with guns are trying to keep the streets of downtown Tunis under lockdown. According to the Times, “Clouds of smoke from the burning and looting of a major supermarket hung over the bleached city skyline. Residents huddled in their homes for fear of the police.” The protests began following the self-immolation last month of a college-educated street vendor in the remote town of Sidi Bouzid who was frustrated by the lack of job prospects, and grew from grass roots through social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Robert Fisk: Now we know. America really doesn’t care about injustice in the Middle East

December 2, 2010December 2, 2010 by Infinite

Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat, near the Saudi holy city of Mecca

I came to the latest uproarious US diplomatic history with the deepest cynicism. And yesterday, in the dust of post-election Cairo – the Egyptian parliamentary poll was as usual a mixture of farce and fraud, which is at least better than shock and awe – I ploughed through so many thousands of American diplomatic reports with something approaching utter hopelessness. After all, they do quote President Hosni Mubarak as saying that “you can forget about democracy,” don’t they?

It’s not that US diplomats don’t understand the Middle East; it’s just that they’ve lost all sight of injustice. Vast amounts of diplomatic literature prove that the mainstay of Washington’s Middle East policy is alignment with Israel, that its principal aim is to encourage the Arabs to join the American-Israeli alliance against Iran, that the compass point of US policy over years and years is the need to tame/bully/crush/oppress/ ultimately destroy the power of Iran.

There is virtually no talk (so far, at least) of illegal Jewish colonial settlements on the West Bank, of Israeli “outposts”, of extremist Israeli “settlers” whose homes now smallpox the occupied Palestinian West Bank – of the vast illegal system of land theft which lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian war. And incredibly, all kinds of worthy US diplomats grovel and kneel before Israel’s demands – many of them apparently fervent supporters of Israel – as Mossad bosses and Israel military intelligence agents read their wish-list to their benefactors.

Obama Administration Plans Largest Arms Deal Ever, Worth $60 Billion

September 16, 2010 by Infinite

White House to Notify Congress Soon of $60 Billion Package, Largest Ever for US

Blackhawk UH-60 helicopters, such as these flown in South Korean military exercises last winter, are part of a proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

The Obama administration is set to notify Congress of plans to offer advanced aircraft to Saudi Arabia worth up to $60 billion, the largest U.S. arms deal ever, and is in talks with the kingdom about potential naval and missile-defense upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more.

The administration plans to tout the $60 billion package as a major job creator—supporting at least 75,000 jobs, according to company estimates—and sees the sale of advanced fighter jets and military helicopters to key Middle Eastern ally Riyadh as part of a broader policy aimed at shoring up Arab allies against Iran.

The talks between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been widely known for months, but many new details are only now coming into focus. These include the number and type of aircraft involved, how much the Saudis intend to spend in an initial installment, and the ongoing negotiations to also upgrade the kingdom’s navy and missile defenses.

The $60 billion in fighter jets and helicopters is the top-line amount requested by the Saudis, even though the kingdom is likely to commit initially to buying only about half that amount.

In a notification to Congress, expected to be submitted this week or next, the administration will authorize the Saudis to buy as many as 84 new F-15 fighters, upgrade 70 more, and purchase three types of helicopters—70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks and 36 Little Birds, officials said.

Al Qaeda Doesn’t Exist or How The US Created Al Qaeda (Documentary)

November 3, 2010August 27, 2010 by Infinite

The truth is:

“The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaeda. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the ‘devil’ only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US.”
– Robin Cook, Former British Foreign Secretary

Skip the introduction.

Introduction:

1 of 2:

2 of 2:

Judge Napolitano on Freedom Watch With Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell, Justin Raimondo And Gerald Celente

August 12, 2010 by Infinite

Listen to Gerald Celente America!
Rome is burning:

– John Williams: ‘Times That Try Our Souls’ (U.S. Bankruptcy – Hyperinflation – Great Depression), Preparedness Can Save Your Life

So what have the elitists planned for the US? Total collapse and/or WW III?

– Former CIA And Military Officials To Obama: Israel Prepares To Attack Iran This Month

Part 1 of 3:

Added: 11. August 2010

Part 2 of 3:

Added: 11. August 2010

Part 3 of 3:

Added: 11. August 2010

Preparing for World War III, Targeting Iran (Part I: Global Warfare)

June 21, 2017August 2, 2010 by Infinite

Humanity is at a dangerous crossroads. War preparations to attack Iran are in “an advanced state of readiness”. Hi tech weapons systems including nuclear warheads are fully deployed.

This military adventure has been on the Pentagon’s drawing board since the mid-1990s. First Iraq, then Iran according to a declassified 1995 US Central Command document.

Escalation is part of the military agenda. While Iran, is the next target together with Syria and Lebanon, this strategic military deployment also threatens North Korea, China and Russia.

Since 2005, the US and its allies, including America’s NATO partners and Israel, have been involved in the extensive deployment and stockpiling of advanced weapons systems. The air defense systems of the US, NATO member countries and Israel are fully integrated.

This is a coordinated endeavor of the Pentagon, NATO, Israel’s Defense Force (IDF), with the active military involvement of several non-NATO partner countries including the frontline Arab states (members of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative), Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, among others. (NATO consists of 28 NATO member states Another 21 countries are members of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), The Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative include ten Arab countries plus Israel.)

The roles of Egypt, the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia (within the extended military alliance) is of particular relevance. Egypt controls the transit of war ships and oil tankers through the Suez Canal. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States occupy the South Western coastlines of the Persian Gulf, the Straits of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. In early June, “Egypt reportedly allowed one Israeli and eleven U.S. ships to pass through the Suez Canal in ….an apparent signal to Iran. … On June 12, regional press outlets reported that the Saudis had granted Israel the right to fly over its airspace…” (Muriel Mirak Weissbach, Israel’s Insane War on Iran Must Be Prevented., Global Research, July 31, 2010)

Iranian Nuclear Scientist: ‘US And Saudi Agents Abducted Me’

August 17, 2010July 16, 2010 by Infinite

Shorter version of the video with simultaneous translation:

– Iranian nuclear scientist: ‘US and Saudi agents abducted me’ (Guardian)

Shahram Amiri returns to Tehran from the US where he claims he was interrogated by CIA agents after being kidnapped in Saudi Arabia

Added: 15. Juli 2010

Saudi Arabia: Gold Reserves Over Twice Previous Estimate

June 21, 2010 by Infinite

Surprise!

AP Business Writer= CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s central bank holds more than twice the amount of gold previously estimated, a shift that analysts said reflected more of an accounting adjustment than an indication the oil rich nation was veering away from its conservative reserve policy.

A June report by the World Gold Council, an industry group that tracks gold bullion holdings by nations the world over, showed the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency’s gold reserve figure climbed to 322.9 tons compared to 143 tons reported in March.

The council said its gold data was “modified from the first quarter 2008 as a result of the adjustment of the SAMA’s gold accounts.”

Analysts said the change either signaled an accounting revision or that the kingdom, which sits atop the world’s largest proven reserves of conventional crude oil, had stepped up buying gold in 2008 as the metal’s value took a frequent beating during the global economic meltdown.

The same financial downturn also pummeled the price of oil, Saudi Arabia’s chief export.

Gold prices have gained steadily this year, settling Friday at a record $1,258.30 an ounce.

At that level, SAMA’s total official holdings of the precious metal are worth about $14.33 billion, or roughly 3.5 percent of the country’s total $413 billion in foreign assets.

“The only reason (for the change) beside the accounting of a larger portion of gold as SAMA assets, was they could have bought more gold in 2008,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Riyadh-based Banque Saudi Fransi-Credit Agricole Group.

“I think it was purely a buying opportunity in 2008,” he said. “There isn’t a shift away from their conservative approach of managing their foreign assets — being liquid, low risk and very long-term based.”

But those increases, recorded in SAMA’s April Monthly Statistical Bulletin, fail to even remotely explain the more than doubling of its gold reserves, as reported by the World Gold Council.

Saudi figures show that gold holdings by the country climbed by 867 million riyals ($231.2 million) in 2008 from the previous year.

Saudi Arabia: We will not give Israel air corridor for Iran strike

June 13, 2010June 13, 2010 by Infinite

Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.

Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf refutes Times of London report saying Saudi Arabia practiced standing down its anti-aircraft systems to allow an Israeli bomb run.

Satellite image of the Iranian nuclear reactor at Bushehr, January 3, 2002

Saudi Arabia would not allow Israeli bombers to pass through its airspace en route to a possible strike of Iran’s nuclear facilities, a member of the Saudi royal family said Saturday, denying an earlier Times of London report.

Earlier Saturday, the Times reported that Saudi Arabia has practiced standing down its anti-aircraft systems to allow Israeli warplanes passage on their way to attack Iran’s nuclear installations, adding that the Saudis have allocated a narrow corridor of airspace in the north of the country.

Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, the Saudi envoy to the U.K. speaking to the London-based Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, denied that report, saying such a move “would be against the policy adopted and followed by the Kingdom.”

According to Asharq al-Awsat report, bin Nawaf reiterated the Saudi Arabia’s rejection of any violation of its territories or airspace, adding that it would be “illogical to allow the Israeli occupying force, with whom Saudi Arabia has no relations whatsoever, to use its land and airspace.”

Earlier, the Times quoted an unnamed U.S. defense source as saying that “the Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way.

“They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [U.S.] State Department.”

Once the Israelis had passed, the kingdom’s air defenses would return to full alert, the Times said.

Despite tensions between them, Israel and Saudi Arabia share a mutual hostility to Iran.

“We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing,” the Times quoted a Saudi government source as saying.

The 21st-century African land grab by rich countries facing global food and water shortages

March 7, 2010 by Infinite

Highly recommended article.

An Observer investigation reveals how rich countries faced by a global food shortage now farm an area double the size of the UK to guarantee supplies for their citizens

A woman tends vegetables at a giant Saudi-financed farm in Ethiopia.

We turned off the main road to Awassa, talked our way past security guards and drove a mile across empty land before we found what will soon be Ethiopia’s largest greenhouse. Nestling below an escarpment of the Rift Valley, the development is far from finished, but the plastic and steel structure already stretches over 20 hectares – the size of 20 football pitches.

The farm manager shows us millions of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables being grown in 500m rows in computer controlled conditions. Spanish engineers are building the steel structure, Dutch technology minimises water use from two bore-holes and 1,000 women pick and pack 50 tonnes of food a day. Within 24 hours, it has been driven 200 miles to Addis Ababa and flown 1,000 miles to the shops and restaurants of Dubai, Jeddah and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with more than 13 million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least 3m hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world’s most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations.

The 1,000 hectares of land which contain the Awassa greenhouses are leased for 99 years to a Saudi billionaire businessman, Ethiopian-born Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi, one of the 50 richest men in the world. His Saudi Star company plans to spend up to $2bn acquiring and developing 500,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia in the next few years. So far, it has bought four farms and is already growing wheat, rice, vegetables and flowers for the Saudi market. It expects eventually to employ more than 10,000 people.

But Ethiopia is only one of 20 or more African countries where land is being bought or leased for intensive agriculture on an immense scale in what may be the greatest change of ownership since the colonial era.

An Observer investigation estimates that up to 50m hectares of land – an area more than double the size of the UK – has been acquired in the last few years or is in the process of being negotiated by governments and wealthy investors working with state subsidies. The data used was collected by Grain, the International Institute for Environment and Development, the International Land Coalition, ActionAid and other non-governmental groups.

The land rush, which is still accelerating, has been triggered by the worldwide food shortages which followed the sharp oil price rises in 2008, growing water shortages and the European Union’s insistence that 10% of all transport fuel must come from plant-based biofuels by 2015.

Arab states agree on single currency modelled on the euro in latest threat to dollar hegemony

December 16, 2009 by Infinite

The Arab states of the Gulf region have agreed to launch a single currency modelled on the euro, hoping to blaze a trail towards a pan-Arab monetary union swelling to the ancient borders of the Ummayad Caliphate.

Traders at the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange

“The Gulf monetary union pact has come into effect,” said Kuwait’s finance minister, Mustafa al-Shamali, speaking at a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit in Kuwait.

The move will give the hyper-rich club of oil exporters a petro-currency of their own, greatly increasing their influence in the global exchange and capital markets and potentially displacing the US dollar as the pricing currency for oil contracts. Between them they amount to regional superpower with a GDP of $1.2 trillion (£739bn), some 40pc of the world’s proven oil reserves, and financial clout equal to that of China.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are to launch the first phase next year, creating a Gulf Monetary Council that will evolve quickly into a full-fledged central bank.

The Emirates are staying out for now – irked that the bank will be located in Riyadh at the insistence of Saudi King Abdullah rather than in Abu Dhabi. They are expected join later, along with Oman.

The Gulf states remain divided over the wisdom of anchoring their economies to the US dollar. The Gulf currency – dubbed “Gulfo” – is likely to track a global exchange basket and may ultimately float as a regional reserve currency in its own right. “The US dollar has failed. We need to delink,” said Nahed Taher, chief executive of Bahrain’s Gulf One Investment Bank.

The project is inspired by Europe’s monetary union, seen as a huge success in the Arab world. But there are concerns that the region is trying to run before it can walk.

Trade minister flies to Saudi Arabia to persuade defaulters to treat foreign creditors equally

December 7, 2009 by Infinite

Lord Davies of Abersoch, the Trade Minister, flew to Saudi Arabia last night to try to defuse a growing dispute that bankers say could do as much damage to the Gulf’s bruised financial reputation as the Dubai shock of ten days ago.

Bankers are furious that two defaulting Saudi conglomerates that owe $20 billion (£12.2 billion) appear to be favouring local banks over foreign creditors. State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Standard Chartered are all understood to have exposure to Saad Group and Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Bros (Ahab). Dozens of other Western banks are also owed money, including Citigroup and BHP Paribas.

Bankers suspect that the two family-owned businesses, which defaulted over the summer, have privately reached agreement with local Saudi banks over restructuring their loans while leaving foreign banks in the cold. One senior banker told The Times yesterday: “Local banks appear to have been given preference.”

The dispute, unless resolved soon, is certain to trigger fresh concern about doing business in the Gulf in the wake of the Dubai calamity. Dubai World, a Government-owned conglomerate, stunned global financial markets last month by announcing a standstill on paying interest, sending bond markets into a tailspin.

Lord Davies is embarking on a trade mission with 40 senior British business figures, visiting Jedda and Riyadh. The trip was planned months ago, but the Saad row adds urgency.

Saudi Arabia drops WTI oil contract as a blow to NYMEX

October 29, 2009 by Infinite

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday decided to drop the widely used West Texas Intermediate oil contract as the benchmark for pricing its oil, dealing a serious blow to the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The decision by the world’s biggest oil exporter could encourage other producers to abandon the benchmark and threatens the dominance of the world’s most heavily traded oil futures contract. It is the main contract traded on Nymex.

The move reveals the growing discontent of Riyadh and its US refinery customers with WTI after the price of the price of the benchmark became separated from the global oil market this year.

The demise of the US dollar

October 22, 2009October 6, 2009 by Infinite

From the article:
“These plans will change the face of international financial transactions,” one Chinese banker said. “America and Britain must be very worried. You will know how worried by the thunder of denials this news will generate.”

Robert Fisk’s report is accurate and the following denial is just disinformation:

– Oil states say no talks on replacing dollar (Reuters):
ISTANBUL/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Big oil producing nations denied a British newspaper report on Tuesday that Gulf Arab states were in secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies in trading oil.

The dollar eased in response to the report, which was written by The Independent’s Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk and cited unidentified sources in Gulf Arab states and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong.

The plan is to bring down the US. The US constitution is still a major threat to the ‘New World Order’ and the elite.

US citizens need to be disarmed, their freedoms and the dollar need to be destroyed, so that the new global currency and the ‘New World Order’ can be established.

The elite wants to turn the US into a Third World country.

Prepare yourself for the greatest collapse in history.

Got gold (silver, food, water, guns and ammunition)?

– Gold Jumps to Record High as Inflation Outlook Fuels Investor Demand

In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading

Iran announced late last month that its foreign currency reserves would henceforth be held in euros rather than dollars.

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place – although they have not discovered the details – are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China’s former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. “Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable,” he told the Asia and Africa Review. “We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security.”

This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil – yet again turning the region’s conflicts into a battle for great power supremacy. China uses more oil incrementally than the US because its growth is less energy efficient. The transitional currency in the move away from dollars, according to Chinese banking sources, may well be gold. An indication of the huge amounts involved can be gained from the wealth of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar who together hold an estimated $2.1 trillion in dollar reserves.

Global military spending sets new record

June 20, 2009June 8, 2009 by Infinite

The value of military hardware manufacturers has soared.

Global military spending rose 4% in 2008 to a record $1,464bn (£914bn) – up 45% since 1999, according to the Stockholm-based peace institute Sipri.

In contrast with civilian aerospace and airlines, the defence industry remains healthy.

“The global financial crisis has yet to have an impact on major arms companies’ revenues, profits and order backlogs,” Sipri said.

Peace-keeping operations – which also benefit defence firms – rose 11%.

Missions were launched in trouble spots such as Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Another record was set, with the total of international peace operation personnel reaching 187,586,” said Sipri, or Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Growth industry

As the world’s aerospace and defence industry prepares for next week’s Paris air show centenary, it seems much of the focus is set to shift away from troubled civilian aircraft makers, which are struggling with reduced orders from recession-hit airlines, towards the companies that make fighter jets and other military hardware.

The top 10 global arms producers fighter-jet

– Boeing $30.5bn
– BAE Systems $29.9bn
– Lockheed Martin $29.4bn
– Northrop Grumman$24.6bn
– General Dynamics $21.5bn
– Raytheon $19.5bn
– EADS (West Europe) $13.1bn
– L-3 Communications $11.2bn
– Finmeccanica $9.9bn
– Thales $9.4bn
Source: Sipri All figures from 2007.

In total, the 100 leading defence manufacturers sold arms worth $347bn during 2007, the most recent year for which reliable data are available.

Almost all the companies were American or European. Some 61% of the total was accounted for by 44 US companies, with 32 West European companies accounting for a further 31%. Other companies were Russian, Japanese, Israeli and Indian.

“Since 2002, the value of the top 100 arms sales has increased by 37% in real terms,” Sipri said. “The US presidency of George W Bush… was a period of continuity in the arms industry. This followed a period of consolidation in the 1990s and early 2000s.”

The US aerospace and defence giant Boeing remains the world’s largest, with arms sales of $30.5bn during 2007. The UK’s BAE Systems ranked a close second, with arms sales of $29.9bn, while Lockheed Martin was third with $29.4bn in sales.

Big spender

The US remains the biggest spender, accounting for 58% of the total global spending increase during the decade, though China and Russia have reduced the gap.

The top 10 military spenders george-bush

-USA $607bn
-China $84.9bn
– France $65.74bn
– UK $65.35bn
– Russia $58.6bn
– Germany $46.87bn
– Japan $46.38bn
– Italy $40.69bn
– Saudi Arabia $38.2bn
– India $30.0bn
Source: Sipri. All figures from 2008.

Both tripled military spending over the decade, and Russia “is maintaining plans for further increases despite severe economic problems”.

Military spending in the Middle East fell slightly during 2008, but Sipri saw this as a temporary drop. “Many countries in the region [are] planning major arms purchases,” Sipri said.

One exception was Iraq, whose military budget rose 133% during 2008 when compared with 2007. “Iraq remains highly dependent on the US for ams supplies, with numerous orders planned,” Sipri says.

US military spending accounted for 58% of the total global spending increase during the decade, with extra funds set aside to fight the “war on terror”.

In addition, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost the US $903bn.

“The idea of the ‘war on terror’ has encouraged many countries to see their problems through a highly militarised lens, using this to justify high military spending,” said Sam Perlo-Freeman, head of the military expenditure project at Sipri, or Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

United Arab Emirates exit leaves Gulf currency plan on brink of failure

May 22, 2009 by Infinite

saudi-arabia
Saudi Arabia dwarfs other states in the region and analysts say there is concern that a common currency would serve to concentrate power in Riyadh

A project to establish a common currency for the Gulf has been dealt a near-fatal blow with the decision by the United Arab Emirates to abandon monetary union after disagreement with Saudi Arabia over the location of a future central bank.

The loss of the Emirates to the currency project could accelerate decisions within some Gulf states to diverge from Saudi Arabia’s desire to maintain a currency peg with the dollar. This could lead eventually to the UAE, the Gulf’s most sophisticated economy, floating its dirham, analysts in the region said.

The UAE attributed its decision to quit the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) project to the choice of Saudi Arabia as host of the key monetary institution.

Evidence of mounting rivalry and distrust between the Gulf’s two biggest economies emerged two weeks ago, when a meeting of the GCC voted to locate the central bank in Riyadh. UAE officials expressed reservations about the decision. The choice of Riyadh would enhance the physical presence of Saudi Arabia within the GCC, as the organisation’s secretariat is already headquartered in the Saudi capital.

The UAE is the second state in the six-member GCC to pull out of the common currency, which was due to be launched next year. Oman had said already that it would not take part, but the loss of the Emirates, which has the greatest international trading links, makes it unlikely that the project will get off the ground.

Economic Meltdown: The “Dollar Glut” is What Finances America’s Global Military Build-up

March 29, 2009 by Infinite

by Prof. Michael Hudson

I am traveling in Europe for three weeks to discuss the global financial crisis with government officials, politicians and labor leaders. What is most remarkable is how differently the financial problem is perceived over here. It’s like being in another economic universe, not just another continent.

The U.S. media are silent about the most important topic policy makers are discussing here (and I suspect in Asia too): how to protect their countries from three inter-related dynamics: (1) the surplus dollars pouring into the rest of the world for yet further financial speculation and corporate takeovers; (2) the fact that central banks are obliged to recycle these dollar inflows to buy U.S. Treasury bonds to finance the federal U.S. budget deficit; and most important (but most suppressed in the U.S. media, (3) the military character of the U.S. payments deficit and the domestic federal budget deficit.

Strange as it may seem and irrational as it would be in a more logical system of world diplomacy the “dollar glut” is what finances America’s global military build-up. It forces foreign central banks to bear the costs of America’s expanding military empire effective “taxation without representation.” Keeping international reserves in “dollars” means recycling their dollar inflows to buy U.S. Treasury bills U.S. government debt issued largely to finance the military.

Peter Schiff tells the Saudis how to rule the financial world

February 25, 2009February 16, 2009 by Infinite

I have not published this to criticize Peter Schiff. He just tells it like it is. This is not unpatriotic. This is the truth. The truth ranges far above patriotism.

(I could get carried away here by saying that: “Truth is the basis of love, without truth love cannot grow.”)

And NO, I am not a follower of Peter Schiff either. I disagree with him in several points:

1. I know that there is an elite out there, that manipulates the economy into the Greatest Depression ever. He believes that the government and the Fed are only ignorant and incompetent.

2. I am pretty sure that the price of oil will not go up for a while.

3. I told everybody to get out of the stock markets in Oct./Nov./Dec. 2007 and move into gold and invest into self-sufficiency. (Peter Schiff also advised to buy gold and thinks that gold will rise above $ 2000 an ounce in the very near future and then higher and I totally agree on that.)

With everything else that comes to my mind right now, Peter Schiff is in my opinion spot on and will be proven right again in the future.

I am grateful that there are at least some great minds left that speak their truth, no matter what mediocrity thinks about them. If you want to learn something about economics, then listen to Ron Paul and Peter Schiff.

14. Februar 2009
Source: YouTube

First major Saudi Government borrowing in 25 years

February 13, 2009 by Infinite

Saudi Arabia Bond Offering

Saudi Arabia has begun its third bond offering in a month in money markets unsettled by rising dollar interest rates and uncertain oil prices.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, in a telex Saturday, offered banks 1.5 billion riyals, or $400 million, worth of Government development bonds in one-to-five-year maturities.

Related articles:
– Saudi minister calls low oil prices unsustainable (Houston Chronicle)
(Saudi Arabia needs oil prices to be above $ 70/barrel to survive.)
– Saudi Arabian banks may cut their foreign assets (Emirates Business):
(Saudi Arabia is going down, that is why the banks cut their foreign assets. Soon Saudi Arabia will have to sell U.S. Treasuries and that is when all hell will break loose.)

The offering came amid strong speculation among bankers that the Government, squeezed by falling oil revenues and a dollar firming on international exchanges, would soon devalue the riyal.

Lindsey Williams: America will see a financial collapse (1-22-09)

January 24, 2009January 24, 2009 by Infinite

Don’t miss:
– Lindsey Williams: The Dollar And The US Will Collapse; Saudi Arabia And Dubai Will Fall; US Will Be Third World Country; The Greatest Depression Is Coming
– Ron Paul on Glenn Beck: Destruction of the dollar
– Jim Rogers: I Would Sell All Government Bonds
– Jim Rogers: US creditor nations to shun Treasuries
– Time to Sell Treasuries, Biggest Korean Fund Says
– U.S. Treasuries bubble about to blow: Societe Generale
– The Bond Bubble – Marc Faber, Peter Schiff, Max Keiser
– Peter Schiff: We are the United States of Madoff
– Peter Schiff: The World Won’t Buy Unlimited U.S. Debt
– China’s US bond appetite to slow: economists
– Willem Buiter warns of massive dollar collapse

1 of 4:

Source: YouTube

Global Economic Crisis Accelerating

January 22, 2009January 22, 2009 by Infinite

– Obama administration considers launch of ‘bad bank’ (Telegraph)

– US Initial Jobless Claims Match Highest Since ’82 (Bloomberg)

– Barack Obama inauguration: this Emperor has no clothes, it will all end in tears (Telegraph)

– Despite billions, banks still teeter on the brink (MSNBC)

– Microsoft to shed 5,000 jobs (Financial Times)

– Intel to Cut at Least 5000 Jobs (New York Times)

– GM Gets $5.4 Billion Loan Installment From Federal Government (CNNMoney)

– US jobless claims surge, housing start tumble (Forbes)

– Housing Starts, Permits in US Slump to Record Low (Bloomberg)

– Banks Foreclose on Builders With Perfect Records (New York Times)

– Jim Rogers: Now it’s time to emigrate, says investment guru (Independent)

– Saudi prince’s firm loses $8.3B in 4Q (AP)

– Investors flee after brutal losses at global markets (Emirates Business)

– Indians Flee Dubai as Dreams Crash – Fall out of Economic Crisis (Daijiworld):
It’s the great escape by Indians who’ve hit the dead-end in Dubai.

– China growth slows, Bank of Japan sees deflation (Forbes):
(Reuters) – China’s economy slowed sharply in the fourth quarter and Japan’s central bank on Thursday predicted two years of deflation as Asia’s largest economies buckle under the strain of the financial crisis.

– Roubini Sees China Recession Despite ‘Massaged’ GDP (Bloomberg)

– Asian economic woe grows as China slows and Japanese exports plunge (Telegraph):
China’s economy may have ground to a halt entirely between the third and fourth quarters of last year and Japanese exports plunged 35pc in December, underlining the scale of the slowdown in Asia.

– ZIMBABWE: Inflation at 6.5 quindecillion novemdecillion percent (IRIN)

– Sony forecasts $2.9bn operating loss (Financial Times)

– Hedge funds’ $400bn withdrawals hit (Financial Times)

– Google income drops 68% on one-time charges (IHT)

– Is Britain facing bankruptcy? (Guardian)

– Manufacturing outlook plummets (Financial Times)

– Car production plummets as pressure for industry bail-out grows (Telegraph)

– London’s Evening Standard sold to ex-KGB agent (Reuters)

– AIG starts $20bn auction of Asian unit (Financial Times):
AIG, the stricken insurance giant, on Wednesday kicked off the sale of its Asian life assurance unit – one of its most prized assets – in the hope of raising up to $20bn to help repay the $60bn US government loan that is keeping the group alive.

– UBS to Cut Securities Jobs, Close More Debt Units (Bloomberg)

– Japanese Housewives Desperate After Currency Scheme Collapses (Bloomberg)

– New age of rebellion and riot stalks Europe (Times Online)

– Increase in burglaries shows effect of recession (Guardian)

– Chinese media issues stinging attack on Barack Obama and George W Bush (Telegraph)

– Barclays may lose control to Gulf investors (Telegraph)

– Cars to be crushed in insurance crackdown (Scotsman)

– Investors say jailed pilot swiped money for years (Washington Post)

– Capital One Reports $1.42 Billion Loss on Charges (Bloomberg)

– Nokia reports sharp fall in profits (Financial Times)

Abu Dhabi Wealth Fund Loss May Be $125 Billion, Saudi Overtakes, Says CFR

January 15, 2009 by Infinite

Journalist Joseph Kraft, a former member of both the CFR and the Trilateral Commission, said the Council “comes close to being an organ of what C. Wright Mills has called the Power Elite – a group of men, similar in interest and outlook, shaping events from invulnerable positions behind the scenes.” Source: Wikipedia

What Lindsey Williams said is coming to pass. The elite is bankrupting the Arabs and driving them back into the desert by keeping the price of oil below $50/barrel:
Lindsey Williams: The Dollar And The US Will Collapse; Saudi Arabia And Dubai Will Fall; US Will Be Third World Country; The Greatest Depression Is Coming

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) — Abu Dhabi Investment Authority may have lost $125 billion last year, pushing the sovereign wealth fund to second place behind Saudi Arabia, as the global credit crisis eroded the value of its assets, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said.

Abu Dhabi’s fund was “hard hit by the recent fall in global equities,” economists Brad Setser and Rachel Ziemba wrote in a report released on the New York-based organization’s Web site (PDF) “A high allocation to equities, emerging market, and private equity,” contributed to the drop.

The emirate’s fund was managing $328 billion at the end of 2008 compared with $453 billion a year earlier, according to the report, which examined the Gulf region’s four largest sovereign funds. “The size of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has been overstated, sometimes by as much as 100 percent.”

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency had $501 billion under management at the end of last year, up from $385 billion in 2007, the report said. The Kuwait Investment Authority and the Qatar Investment Authority at the end of last year managed $228 billion and $58 billion, respectively.