HOSTILE TAKEOVER

LOOMING ENERGY TSUNAMI IN EURASIA?

RECENT AEGEAN OIL AND GAS FINDINGS COULD BLOT OUT GREECE’S ENTIRE DEPT 

Since the beginning of the financial crisis in GREECE the country has faced some rather unorthodox political developments. One of them, shaking the “cradle of democracy” rather fiercely when a technocrat and footman of International Financial Institutions in particular Goldman Sachs, LUCAS PAPADEMOS seized control over the country with the pretence of new democratic election calls in 2013. Then, midst fierce financial rescue negotiations with the EU, GREECE apparently hit the “jackpot” when recent EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN oil and gas findings stretched further into the AEGEAN SEAS, revealing that the entire eastern MEDITERRANEAN is swimming in huge untapped oil and gas reserves. According to recent researches, the new-found reserves could potentially blot out GREECE’S entire debt, and possibly have even averted it.

EU’S RACE FOR NATURAL RESOURCES

The minute the potential gas and oil findings in the AEGEAN SEA were confirmed, GERMANY, EUROPE’S key player, in particular changed its political rhetoric’s towards GREECE, demanding that a EUROPEAN ‘commission of experts’ should permanently settled in ATHENS in order to overseeing GREEK finances and budgetary discipline and that the EU should be given veto power over tax and spend plans', a move that basically would undermine GREECE’S sovereignty.

In view of these facts it seems that EU’S key players are ready to push GREECE into the abbeys in exchange for total control of its natural resources. When looking at the numbers of recent oil gas findings one will understand why suddenly large “storm clouds” are looming over GREECE and the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SEA:

OIL: 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. 

GAS: Recent natural gas surveys conducted in the area will generate an estimate of some nine trillion dollars in revenues, which would transform the finances of GREECE and the entire region.

Oil traders and experts estimate that GREECE could potentially solve its entire public debt crisis through development of its new-found gas and oil. Conservative estimates indicate that exploitation of the reserves already discovered could bring the country more than €302 billion over 25 years.

THE AUSTERITY PLOT 

The GREEK government instead has just been forced to agree to huge government layoffs, wage cuts and pension cuts to get access to EU and IMF loans that will only drive the country deeper into an economic decline.

IMF AND GERMANY DEMAND SELL-OFF OF GREECE’S STATE OIL COMPANIES!!! 

The IMF and EU governments, in particularly GERMANY, demand 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. Furthermore plans call for the GREEK state-owned natural gas company, DEPA, to privatize 65% of its shares to reduce debt.  Buyers would likely come from outside the country, as few GREEK companies are in a position in the crisis to take it.

In principal this reflects common IMF strategy; used in ARGENTINA and resulted in the countries default. ARGENTINES state assets were privatized and bought by US and European corporations with close ties to the IMF.

(See Argentine Water http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_privatization_in_Argentina )

WHO WILL CONTROL AND ULTIMATELY BENEFIT FROM THE HUGE RESOURCE DISCOVERIES?

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 states 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. (See http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html EEZ http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none_14.html )

Greece’s EEZ issue thus could trigger a new conflict with TURKEY which already is at odds with almost every country bordering the MEDITERRANEAN SEA for it fears of losing the prospect of becoming a major regional energy hub which would increase its geo – political influence in the region and make it a key player in future energy deals, thus eliminating certain “dependence” on EUROPE and last but not least abolish EU membership talks and at the same time pursue its NEO –OTTOMAN EMPIRE ambitions.

(See: http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2011/06/does-turkey-really-need-eu.html )

(See http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/energy-games-in-eastern-mediterranean.html)

TURKEY reiterated that it would consider it an act of war if GREECE drilled further into the AEGEAN. Until now that did not seem to have serious economic consequences, as no oil or gas reserves were known. With these findings however the situation changed significantly. GREECE could cover “50% of its needs with the oil to be found in offshore fields in the AEGEAN SEA.

POISONOUS COCKTAIL 

To add another ingredient to the already poisoned cocktail is that the US also wants a share of the cake and thus is becoming increasingly nervous and manipulative when it comes to natural resources dealings in the region, which the USA considers its turf in the first place.

Thus it comes as no surprise that in July 2011 WASHINGTON seriously stepped in to join the GREEK energy game. 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. 

Allegedly MORNINGSTAR has 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. MORNINGSTAR and his aid are open opponents of RUSSIAN GAZPROM’S SOUTH STREAM gas pipeline that would transit the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN states. It seems that the current Administration is not at all neutral about the New Greek oil and gas discoveries, for three days after Hillary left ATHENS the GREEK government proposed the creation of a new government agency to run tenders for oil and gas surveys and ultimate drilling bids. 

US OUTWITS THE EU 

Allegedly Morningstar 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. (See http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2011/09/middle-east-energy-wars.html and http://www.naturalgaseurope.com/russia-seeks-to-play-a-leading-role-in-eastern-mediterranean-gas-development-5216 ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgas%E2%80%93Alexandroupoli_pipeline

 

Such proposal clearly shows that he lacks profound knowledge of the regional conflict between CYPRUS and TURKEY as well as GREECE’S stance on TURKEY and last but not least RUSSIA’S and CYPRUS’S relations and mentality of these cultures.

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%. Among other issues it seems obvious that the EU, with all means, wants to achieve a “hostile takeover” of GREECE in order to stop US advances in the region. Worthwhile to mention is that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill, is a Washington lobbyist for NOBLE ENERGY. Thus the circle starts to close.

CYPRUS, TURKEY, ISRAEL, LEBANON, SYRIA AND NOW ROMANIA

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. According to NOBLE ENERGY the latest discovery in CYPRUS further highlight the quality and significance of this world-class basin.

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. (See http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html )

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. Thus CYPRUS is financially heavily supported by RUSSIA for RUSSIA holds a large amount of off shore accounts on the islands banks and provided CYPRUS a “bailout” credit to avoid default. See: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/655a3fd2-de31-11e0-9fb7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1pOl6qaog and http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2012/02/eastern-mediterranean-sea.html

 

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. 

TURKISH-ISRAELI relations, once quite friendly, have become increasingly strained in recent years under 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” (not a internationally recognized entity), 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.

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. (See TAPA pipeline http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html )

Parts of above article incorporate F. WILLIAM ENGDAHL article : Rising energy tensions in the Aegean—Greece, Turkey, Cyprus

ROMANIA, THE LATEST TO JOIN THE RECENT ENERGY HYPE   

By Dr Robert M Cutler (http://www.robertcutler.org),

With all its complexity mentioned above, ROMANIA joining the energy hype in the region and one can assume that the latest BLACK SEA offshore sector gas findings will have potential ramifications for the entire EURO-CASPIAN energy complex from CENTRAL ASIA to CENTRAL EUROPE. This find will re-jig calculations around the EUROPEAN UNION'S SOUTHERN GAS CORRIDOR while providing potential new sources of energy for EAST CENTRAL and especially SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE.

In that context, the potential for ROMANIA to become a natural gas exporter to SOUTHEASTERN and even EAST CENTRAL EUROPE comes into focus. The significance of the ROMANIAN strike concerns the eventual choice by the consortium developing AZERBAIJAN'S offshore SHAH DENIZ natural gas deposit, between the "western" (through GREECE to ITALY) route for its 10 billion cubic meters per year (bcm/y) gas and the "northern" (through BULGARIA to SOUTHEASTERN Europe) route. Interesting to note in this context is the fact that ISRAEL and AZERBAIJAN hold strong economic ties with emphasis on energy related projects as well as defense.See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan%E2%80%93Israel_relations and http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/west-asia-africa/32445-israel-inks-arms-deal-azerbejain-azerbaijan-iran-relations-detoriate.html

THE PLAYERS: US EXXON, AUSTRIA’S OMV ( PETROM), BULGARIA’S BULGARTRANSGAZ

ROMANIAN President TRAIAN BASESCU announced last week that a consortium comprising the US major EXXON MOBIL and the ROMANIAN company PETROM (a subsidiary of the AUSTRIAN OMV) has struck over 100 bcm of gas in ROMANIA'S first deep-water offshore exploration. He said this figure was subject to revision upwards, since there were five other geological formations in the area with characteristics similar to the successful find. If they all proved out the same way, the result would give ROMANIA over a half a trillion cubic meters of offshore natural gas - equivalent to 25-30 years of total ROMANIAN gas consumption at the present rate, or 75-90 years worth of its gas imports.

Separately in BULGARIA a week ago it was announced that, in conformance with a February 2011 decision by the EU's EUROPEAN COUNCIL that every EU member state should have at least two sources of natural gas and electricity, the BULGARIAN company BULGARTRANSGAZ will cooperate to build the transborder Interconnector BULGARIA-ROMANIA (IBR). BULGARIA imports most of its gas from RUSSIA, which cut off supplies for three weeks in January 2009 and is thought to be maneuvering within the BULGARIAN political environment to maintain its hegemonic position in the BULGARIAN gas market.

CHEVRON AND NOVINITE

Thus while according to the BULGARIAN press agency NOVINITE the US company CHEVRON will soon start drilling for shale gas in the northeastern ROMANIA around BARLAD, the BULGARIAN cabinet recently made it impossible for CHEVRON to develop shale gas in BULGARIA by revoking an earlier awarded permit for hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"). BULGARIAN environmental activists are now seeking legislation to make that ban permanent.

In response, an organization called Movement for Energy Independence (DEN) has formed in BULGARIA calling for the fracking moratorium to be cancelled and for the until now dilatory work on all interconnectors to be accelerated, including the ITB, the IBR, and also the INTERCONNECTOR GREECE-BULGARIA (IGB).

DEN also criticizes the current government for enforcing BULGARIA'S gas dependence upon RUSSIA by favoring the MOSCOW-based SOUTH STREAM GAS PIPELINE PROJECT (MOSCOW to BULGARIA under the BLACK SEA) and seeking to help exempt GAZPROM from oncoming EU antitrust rules by accelerating the pipeline's timetable.

The IBR, on the other hand, if constructed to be bi directionally reversible, would make it possible not only for BULGARIA to import ROMANIAN gas directly from ROMANIA, but also to transit to ROMANIA the gas that BULGARIA might receive from AZERBAIJAN'S offshore SHAH DENIZ deposit via GEORGIA, TURKEY, and the Interconnector TURKEY-BULGARIA (ITB) still under construction.

COMPLEX ENERGY PUZZLE IN AN EVEN MORE COMPLEX REGION

 

An Interconnector TURKEY-GREECE (ITG) is already operating, but the SHAH DENIZ consortium has ruled out its extension into the Interconnector TURKEY-GREECE-ITALY (ITGI) to SOUTHERN EUROPE via the Interconnector GREECE-ITALY (IGI) across GREECE and under the IONIAN SEA to ITALY'S geographical boot. (The undersea segment by itself is called the Poseidon pipeline.)

However, this does not mean that the SHAH DENIZ consortium has ruled out either the ITG or the separate Interconnector TURKEY-BULGARIA (ITB), should it choose a northern rather than a western route for its gas. Given the newly announced interconnector between BULGARIA and ROMANIA, either the ITG-IGB duo or the ITB by itself would be able to hook up into ROMANIAN national pipeline system via the IBR.
The SHAH DENIZ consortium has yet to choose between the BP-proposed South East European Pipeline (SEEP) or a reconfiguration of the NABUCCO pipeline project for the possible northern route. After choosing one of those, it will then choose between it and the designated western-route pipeline, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which is set to cross GREECE, ALBANIA, and go underneath the ADRIATIC SEA to ITALY'S boot.

Indeed, earlier this week, the BULGARIAN cabinet approved the agreement between the BULGARIAN company NABUCCO Gas Pipeline BULGARIA and the international consortium NABUCCO Gas Pipeline International, signed in June 2011. The next step is for the BULGARIAN Parliament to ratify the contract, following which the stages for implementation of the NABUCCO project in BULGARIA may be further specified.
However, none of this means that the ITGI or the IGI is dead. As a consequence of the debt crisis in GREECE, the GREEK principal in the IGI consortium, the public gas company DEPA, is a candidate for privatization; and RUSSIA'S GAZPROM has shown an interest.
The possibility of the IGI segment transiting gas later in the decade from MOSCOW'S SOUTH STREAM natural gas pipeline has been discussed in the GREEK press now for some time. Sourcing problems, however, continue to plague the SOUTH STREAM project; RUSSIA has never said where any of its gas will come from.

SYRIA

Syrian MIG 29

US INTELLIGENCE: ASSAD FIRMLY IN CHARGE IN SYRIA

One year after the unrest in SYRIA started President BASHAR ASSAD is still firmly in control of his country, US intelligence services say, despite their leaders claiming his regime is doomed.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, three US senior intelligence officials have said ASSAD holds a strong position in SYRIA and his inner circle is also very determined to back the cause and remain "steadfast," AP reports.

LACK OF UNITY AMONG OPPOSITION GROUPS VERSUS WELL EQUIPPED GOVERNMENT FORCES

Syrian Tanks in action

Intelligence officers noted that the disorganized SYRIAN opposition is providing little challenge to the regime and that the political leaders of the SYRIAN NATIONAL COUNCIL do not work as a team and often fight among themselves.

Meanwhile, government forces are very well equipped, US intelligence experts assert. They describe SYRIA as a formidable military power, with some 330,000 soldiers on active duty, surveillance drones and a dense network of air-defense installations that would make it difficult to establish a no-fly zone.

“That leadership is going to fight very hard,” said one of them.

According to the experts, ASSAD and his inner circle believe that the unrest is being driven by external forces and their army is sufficiently well equipped to withstand anything but a large-scale military intervention.

CONFLICT MAY LAST SEVERAL MORE MONTHS IF NOT LONGER

Syrian Missile Launcher

While the statement did not speak directly about the timeline of the conflict, it made an impression that the conflict may last several more months if not longer.

The assessment comes with many senior US officials predicting the end of the ASSAD regime in the very near future. US President BARACK OBAMA recently said that ASSAD’S fall is a matter of time.

US Secretary of State HILLARY CLINTON has also repeatedly stated that the regime’s days are numbered and Assad cannot hold on to power in the long term.

The US defense secretary, Leon Panetta, has claimed that sanctions and diplomatic pressure are already “having a significant impact on Assad” and are weakening his regime. ISRAEL has also predicted that the end is near for ASSAD.

GENERAL COMMENT AND BACKGROUND INFO:

It still raises the question as to why Israel suddenly supports a regime change in Syria after following a decade long safety doctrine that favored the predictable Assad regime over an unpredictable Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition fractions. Israel’s eastern frontier has been the most stable one for more than two decades despite the fact that the two countries are technically still at war. 

Worthwhile to recall is also the fact that during the 6 day war Israel’s ground forces could have advanced beyond the Golan Heights and entered Damascus, but refrained from doing so because the Geo political implications of such move would have most probably triggered a civil war and ultimately destabilized the region even further. This move, indirectly, helped Hafez al ASSAD and his clan to seize power in Syria and establish a “hate doctrine” against Israel, the paradox of which helped to create the most stable frontier between the two arch enemies. So why all of a sudden Israel is prepared to scrap this decade long success formula in exchange for a in-stable future in Syria  is beyond logic reasoning, unless Israel has been promised enormous  Geo - strategic, economic and political advantages.ould justify such move.

EU propaganda video recalled

A recalled EU propaganda video reveals more about 'the idea of Europe' than its makers intended

By  Anya Topolski 

A few days ago the EU Directorate General for Enlargement released, only to recall it three days later, this video clip, entitled Growing Together , aimed at young audiences with the intention of promoting EU policies.

Costing a whopping €127,000 ($167,000), this video did much more than that. It made transparent the all-too-often implicit xenophobia that is constitutive of ‘the idea of Europe’. The video not only taps into Europe’s foundational myth, it seems to justify the current existence of the European Union on the same grounds that once justified Europe’s imperialist adventures which led to its colonization of 85% of the globe. According to the relevant European Commission Director General, Stefano Sannino, the clip featured typical characters from the martial arts genre: kung fu, capoeira and kalaripayattu masters; it started with a demonstration of their skills and ended with all characters showing their mutual respect, concluding in a position of peace and harmony.

In this clip Europe is symbolized as a white woman walking and wading through puddles of water in a warehouse. For those that know their Greek mythology, this cannot simply be a coincidence. Europa, the virgin daughter of an Asian king, was frolicking in the ocean when whisked away by the Greek God Zeus, disguised as a white bull, who then raped and abandoned her. The night before she was assaulted, Europa dreamt of being attacked by the continents of Asia and Libya (the Greek name for what is now Africa) and finally being rescued by ‘civilization’. Just as in the myth, Europe – in the EU video – is attacked by three ‘barbaric’ men. First comes the attack from the East, an aggressive Asian looking kung-fu fighter.

Next Europe is attacked from the Orient by a sultan with a massive blade that cannot but convey images of the Crusades and the fight against the infidels. Last but not least comes that half-naked African. Enough said. Europe, reminding the world of its superiority and its ability to put violence in the past in the name of Reason simply stares condescendingly at the barbarians.  She multiplies herself – as a good woman ‘created’ to reproduce it implies ought to do – and encircles her enemies who relinquish their weapons. Each of the ‘identical’ women then becomes a star on the European flag and the three barbarians , that is the world in all its diversity, are erased – they vanish.

While one can, and should, be shocked by this, what is even more appalling is that this was not obvious to those that filmed it – those same people who are currently constructing Europe. Yet, the point I want to make is that this video does in fact symbolically depict one version of the painfully ‘true’ story of the idea of Europe.

What’s interesting for our story is that it was the threat of the infidels and the Orient that often helped to keep Christian Europe together.  First, in the period of the schisms between the Eastern and Western Churches, it was the Crusades that reminded Europe that our enemies were more important than our differences. Exemplified by the call to arms by Pope Urban II (1088-99) to join the Crusades, the most potent expression of this reality was captured in the Song of Roland ‘Pagans are wrong and Christians right’ (v.1015). In the 15th century, Europe sought to both purify itself of its unwanted siblings, both older and younger, by means of the Spanish inquisition.

Similarly, in the sixteenth century, the threat of the Orient – specifically the Ottoman Turks – ‘helped’ Europe to resolve its internal conflicts between Protestants and Catholics. This brings us to the last part of our story. The Europe of today, in the aftermath of Auschwitz and Srebrenica, seems to want to define itself by means of the history of the Enlightenment, its ability to be rational, civilized, and secular. In doing so, it not only covers over its horrendous history of violence both within and beyond its borders, it also denies that secularism is simply another imperial Christian or should I say, European, project.

While the EU certainly did not wish to tell this story, perhaps the story can be of some greater service to Europe if it only forces us to ask the question: what does ‘unity in diversity’ really mean? If it is nothing more than the cunning encircling of otherness by an abstract universal clone, then the narrative of imperialism has not changed, merely the dress. Quite literally.  It’s the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes all over again. I can only hope that this video might actually be both what the people want – transparency – and what the politicians need – a mirror. Unfortunately for those of us who are, have been, or will be Europe’s others, it is much easier to recall a video than it is to recall one’s history.

GOLDMAN SACHS

Griechenland: Geheimer Deal mit Goldman Sachs löste Euro-Krise aus 

Via Deutsche-Mittelstands-Nachrichten

Für die Investmentbanken sind die Politiker die besten Kunden: Sie brauchen immer Geld und verstehen nichts vom Geschäft. So werden am Vorabend des griechischen Schuldenschnitts neue Details bekannt, wie Goldman Sachs den Griechen half, die EU zu betrügen. Für Goldman war es ein extrem profitables Geschäft. Für die Euro-Zone war es das Initialereignis für die größte Krise ihrer Geschichte.

Im Jahr 2001 befand sich Griechenland in der misslichen Lage, ein für den Euro-Beitritt zu hohes Defizit aufzuweisen. Daher beauftragte die griechischen Regierung die Investmentbank Goldman Sachs, das Problem zu lösen. Goldman bot den Griechen eine 2,8 Milliarden Euro-Finanzierung an. Diese würde es der griechischen Regierung ermöglichen, die Maastricht-Kriterien der Europäischen Union zu erfüllen: Weil die Schulden aus dem Haushalt herausgerechnet werden konnten, würde Griechenland als hoffnungsvolles neues Euro-Mitglied begrüßt werden.

So kam es denn auch. Doch während der EU-Beitritt Griechenlands aufgrund der Verschleierungs-Aktion reibungslos verlief, geriet das griechische Defizit weiter außer Kontrolle. Dass Europa via Griechenland an den Rand des Abgrund geriet, ist im Grund auf die Kreativität der Investmentbank Goldman Sachs zurückzuführen, die in der kriminellen Energie der griechischen Regierung die Chance zu einem guten Geschäft erkannte. Goldman strukturierte den Deal mit den Griechen nämlich nicht einfach als normalen Kredit mit normalen Zinsen, sondern in Form eines komplizierten Derivate-Swaps – einem jener hochspekulativen Geschäfte, dessen Charme unter anderem die beschauliche Stadt Pforzheim unterlegen war (mehr hier).

Heute sagen die griechischen Politiker, sie hätten nicht verstanden, worum es ging.
Sie beklagen, dass Goldman auf einer Geheimhaltungsklausel bestanden habe. Daher sei es ihnen nicht möglich gewesen, sich am Markt zu erkundigen, um welche Art von Geschäft es sich gehandelt habe. Der Chef der staatlichen griechischen Schuldenagentur, Spyros Papanicolaou, sagte dem Nachrichtendienst Bloomberg, dass Goldman den Griechen gedroht hätte: „Wenn ihr irgendjemand von den Konditionen erzählt, ist der Deal abgeblasen.“

Goldman gelang es tatsächlich, mithilfe komplizierter Währungsgeschäfte die Staatsschulden Griechenlands um zwei Prozent senken: Die Banker tauschten griechische Staatsanleihen erst in Dollar, dann in Yen um. Dies geschah zu veralteten und teilweise fiktiven Wechselkursen. Es geschah außerhalb des normalen griechischen Haushalts, weshalb es keinerlei Transparenz nach Brüssel gab.

Wie ein griechischer Beamter Bloomberg bestätigte, waren nicht nur die Zinsen fiktiv. Goldman verwendete für diese Transaktionen die fiktive Summe von 15 Milliarden Euro – ein Vielfaches mehr, als der eigentliche Kredit ausmachte. Dadurch stiegen die Chancen, aber auch das Risiko der Transaktion. Vor allem aber stiegen die Gebühren, die Griechenland an Goldman zu zahlen hatte.

Als der Auftrag vier Jahre später umgeschuldet wurde, war der Deal vollständig aus dem Ruder gelaufen. Um die ursprünglich 2,8 Milliarden Euro zurückzahlen zu können, hatte Griechenland nämliche eine Wette abgeschlossen – und zwar auf steigende Zinsen. Doch nach den Terroranschlägen am 11.September 2001 fielen die Zinsen, und die Schulden Griechenlands stiegen mit dem Refinanzierungsmodell gewaltig an. Um das Problem in den Griff zu bekommen, folgte Griechenland dem Rat von Goldman und startete eine neue Wette: Diese war nun an die Inflation in der Eurozone gekoppelt war. Doch auch diese Lösung entwickelte sich zum Rohrkrepierer. Denn leider verliefen die wichtigsten Kennzahlen für diesen Swap genau andersrum wie von Goldman vorhergesagt. Goldman wettet selbst gerne gegen Unternehmen (mehr hier) und empfiehlt auch Wetten gegen Europa (mehr hier).

Die Folge für Griechenland: Aus einem Kredit von 2,8 Milliarden Euro war – dank der fachkundigen Beratung durch Goldman (Goldman erteilt auch Politikern gerne Ratschläge – mehr hier) – ein doppelt so hoher Schuldenberg geworden: Nun standen die Griechen durch die Derivate mit 5,1 Milliarden Euro in der Kreide. Goldman machte bei dem Deal einen Profit von 600 Millionen Euro – wobei schwer zu sagen ist, wie viel Profit die Bank wirklich erzielt hat, weil sie ja auch Kosten für den Kredite und die Transaktion verbuchen musste. 

Immerhin: Die 600 Millionen Profit stellten im Jahr 2001 etwa 12% des Umsatzes der Abteilung dar, die für Goldman das Geschäft machte. Der Chef der Abteilung: Lloyd Blankfein, heute oberster Chef von Goldman. Der Chef für europäisches Risiko-Management bei Goldman in London war zur damaligen Zeit auch einer, der später noch eine große Karriere in der europäischen Schuldenkrise machen sollte: Bis zum heutigen Tag bestreitet EZB-Chef Mario Draghi, auch nur irgendetwas von dem Griechen-Deal gewusst zu haben.

Anfangs waren die Griechen von dem Deal ganz begeistert: Sie hätten von Goldman drei Jahre Befreiung von der Schuldentilgung bekommen. Der gesamte Kredit wäre in den folgenden 15 Jahren abzubezahlen gewesen. Das schien ihnen, wie allen Schuldnern, eine attraktive Lösung – weil Schulden immer auf Zeitgewinn setzen, auch wenn es keinen rationalen Grund dafür gibt, dass es einmal besser werden würde.

Auch Goldman wurde die Sache am Ende zu hieß. So reiste die zuständige Mitarbeiterin, Addy Loudiadis, im August 2005 nach Athen und sorgte dafür, dass der gesamte Kredit an die griechische Notenbank abgewälzt wurde. Damit hatte Goldman ein gutes Geschäft gemacht – und der Schuldenberg war dezent in die öffentliche Hand transferiert.

Dasselbe geschieht im Übrigen beim aktuellen Schuldenschnitt: Das gesamte Risiko übernehmen die Steuerzahler Europas, weil die EZB, der IWF und die nationalen Notenbanken an die Stelle der privaten Gläubiger treten. So schließt sich ein Kreis: Das Bestreben der kriminellen griechischen Politik, die Zahlen zu fälschen, traf auf die skrupellose Geschäftstüchtigkeit von Goldman und wurde, weil das Geschehen in der Folge völlig außer Kontrolle geriet, zum Initialereignis der Eskalation der europäischen Schuldenkrise. Die Investmentbanken verdienen bei den Maßnahmen gegen die Krise wieder mit (mehr heir).

Der italienische Ökonomie-Professor und Autor des Standardwerks „Derivate und öffentliches Schulden-Management“, Gustavo Piga, sagte in einem Interview dieser Tage: „Bei Deals mit Geheimhaltung haben die Makler immer die Oberhand und verwenden sie, um die Steuerzahler auszuquetschen. Die Verhandlungsmacht liegt vollständig in den Händen der Investment-Banken.“

Inzwischen sind ehemalige hohe Mitarbeiter der Investmentbank auch an politischen Schlüsselstellen in Europa untergekommen. Der Chef der Europäischen Zentralbank, Mario Draghi, kommt aus der Chefetage von Goldman Sachs (mehr hier). Und auch der italienische Premierminister Mario Monti hat berufliche Verbindungen zu Goldman (mehr hier).

 http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2011/10/deutsche-bank-vegas-exposure-equals.html

 http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2011/11/goldman-sachs-and-europes-inside-job.html

Below article was posted on this blog October 2011! Dateline Greece: Goldman, Just Pay Up
By SREERAM CHAULIA

 http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2011/10/banking-institutions-are-more-dangerous.html

As Greece teeters on the edge of sovereign default of around $300 billion and sends shudders of premonition throughout the global economy, the fingerprints of Goldman Sachs are once again to be found, as in so many crises beforehand. Sreeram Chaulia argues that Goldman should accept moral responsibility and contribute funds to bailing out Greece.

As more skeletons fall out of the closet, it is coming to light that Greece's profligacy was abetted and managed for several years by the top Wall Street financial firms via complex instruments.

Economies of developing countries have endured decades of bitter experiences of falling into debt traps that sap productive resources.

In 2001, before spendthrift Greece could enter the eurozone by satisfying the deficit limit rules of the currency union, Goldman Sachs entered the picture with a tricky currency trade deal that would hide billions of dollars of additional public borrowing and not make it look like debt. For this piece of consultancy, which helped Greece join the euro by hook or by crook, Goldman received fees of $300 million.

In 2005, Goldman sold to the National Bank of Greece an “interest rate swap,” one of the notorious derivatives that have come under scrutiny since the Wall Street implosion of 2008. Greek critics of such dubious debt-hiding transactions had warned their government of the mounting long-term liabilities to the likes of Goldman, but to no avail.

According to news reports, Greece mortgaged revenue-generating assets like the national lottery, airports and highways as part of the agreements with Goldman in what amounted to "a garage sale on a national scale."

Goldman Sachs is reported to have attempted a redux of 2001 when its president, Gary Cohn, landed in Athens in November 2009 with a similar debt deferral proposal that would continue to fool investors and the EU. This time around, Greece did not oblige.

But the damage had already been done over a decade of spiraling foreign debt that was repackaged and postponed with Wall Street's wizardry. We now know that similar borrowing binges were occurring in the rest of the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) economies courtesy of the financial dodging expertise of Goldman, JPMorgan and the entire cadre of hedge funds.

It may not be unfair if the EU demands that Goldman accept moral responsibility and contribute to bailing out Greece.

Economies of developing countries, especially in Africa and Latin America, have endured decades of bitter experiences of falling into debt traps that sap productive resources, benefit speculative financiers and weaken state capacities to govern.

In their cases, the Bretton Woods institutions acted as economic restructuring consultants and funding taps that only opened if the recipients met crushing conditionalities.

John Perkins's book, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," reveals how highly paid professionals with knowledge of macroeconomics and world affairs were deployed to convince political and financial leaders of poor countries to accept massive "development loans" from the World Bank and USAID. Once ensnared, the supplicants would be subjected to pressure on different issues from Washington.

In the PIGS economies, it was not so much strategically motivated hit men working for the U.S. government but rather some freewheeling U.S. financial corporations that could make a killing out of clients who were addicted to reckless state spending.

In late February 2010, as the EU began investigating the Wall Street shenanigans in Athens, Goldman defended its Greek misadventures by arguing, predictably enough, that they were legal actions consistent with the regulations of their time.

Of course, much of the fault lay with the Greek politicians who were seduced by the Wall Street financial advisers who, for their part, were simply pursuing the bread-and-butter business of circulating wealth for profit.

Of course, much of the fault lay with the Greek politicians who were seduced by Wall Street financial advisers.

Had Athens been more disciplined in organizing its finances, there would not have been a window of opportunity for Goldman and company to exploit its vulnerability.

But southern Europe's debt-proneness has systemic consequences from which Wall Street cannot easily extricate itself. While there is no evidence to suggest that U.S. investment banks deliberately dug the graves of PIGS to weaken the euro, the disastrous social costs of their financial chicanery call for reparations.

It may not be unfair if the EU demands that Goldman, which now leads the earnings chart on Wall Street, accept moral responsibility and contribute to bailing out Greece.

Who knows — now that even the U.S. Federal Reserve is making noises about investigating Goldman’s practices, the firm may be in a hurry to pay up. 

Editor's Note: This feature is adapted from a longer version published in The Financial Express on February 25, 2010

AUSTRIAN AIRLINES KRISE

BÖSE PILOTEN GUTER VORSTAND? DAS SIND DIE FACTS

Worum es im Streit AUA-Piloten und Vorstand geht – LH-Piloten bereits auf der Hut

Via Tourismuswirtschaft Austria International 

Die Öffentlichkeitsarbeit des Bord-Betriebsrats von Austrian Airlines ist miserabel. So ist es kein Wunder, dass in der Öffentlichkeit keinerlei Verständnis für die Haltung der Piloten rund um den Kollektivvertrags-Konflikt der AUA besteht. Die seit mehr als einer Woche laufenden zähen Verhandlungen zwischen Management und Belegschaftsvertretern wurden in der Nacht von Dienstag auf Mittwoch abgebrochen.
Bekanntlich hatte zuvor das AUA-Management die Kollektivverträge für das fliegende Personal aufgekündigt und droht mit einem Zwangsumstieg auf den bis zu 25 Prozent billigeren Tyrolean-KV. Gewerkschafter und Pilot Wolfgang Hable ließ die Kollegen in einem Rundschreiben wissen: „Geht in der momentanen Situation nicht davon aus, dass euch der Vorstand oder sein Management nur annähernd die Wahrheit sagen“, er verfolge ausschließlich eine „hidden agenda” (versteckte Absicht). Seit Abbruch der Gespräche Dienstag-Nacht drohen die Piloten mit Streik und haben für heute Freitag eine Betriebsversammlung angesetzt. 

Doch worum geht es den Cockpit-Crews überhaupt? T.A.I. hat sich diesbezüglich schlau gemacht. Zunächst einmal ist festzuhalten, dass bei der AUA nicht Pilot mit Pilot verglichen werden kann. Rund 450 sind bei der Tochter Tyrolean Airways angestellt. Für sie gilt ein eigener KV, der auf die Anforderungen des Regionalverkehrs Rücksicht nimmt. Er ist zwar auf den ersten Blick hin aus Sicht der Piloten ungünstiger gestaltet, als der bei der AUA aufgekündigte, doch gibt es auch diverse Goodies. So wird man bei Tyrolean schneller vom Co- zum Piloten, klettert also gehaltsmäßig schneller nach oben. Stellt man die Lebensverdienstsummen gegenüber, gibt es nur noch geringe Unterschiede.

Bei der Muttergesellschaft AUA fliegen knapp 300 Piloten nach dem „alten“ Kollektivvertrag. Dort gibt es u.a. noch die bekannten, bis zu 39 Monatsgehälter hohen Abfertigungen. Diese hatten ihren guten Grund: sie sollten jene Zeit überbrücken helfen, die zwischen dem gesetzlichen Pensionsantrittsalter von 65 Jahren und dem Ende des Piloten-Daseins bei der AUA (früher um die 58 Jahre) liegt. Die kleinste Piloten-Gruppe im Konzern bilden die AUA-Piloten, die dem seit 2004 geltenden KV „neu“ unterstellt waren (der ebenfalls aufgekündigt wurde). Sie haben geringere Abfertigungen. Doch die sind nur ein Knackpunkt von vielen, bei denen es sich spießt.

Ein weiterer sind die Zusatzpensionen. Diese wurden vor rund zwölf Jahren Boden- und Bordmitarbeitern gegen einen Gehaltsverzicht von rund 15 Prozent (Piloten) gewährt. Der Haken liegt in der Garantieverzinsung. Diese sorgte aufgrund der Entwicklungen der Börsen in den zurückliegenden Jahren bei der AUA für hohe Nachzahlungen, im Vorjahr etwa im Ausmaß von mehr als 50 Mio. Euro.

Von derartigen Nachzahlungsverpflichtungen will sich nun der Vorstand aus verständlichen Gründen befreien. Das künftige Modell sieht vor, dass 3,5 Prozent vom Gehalt in eine Pensionsversicherung gezahlt werden soll, wobei der bisher nach dem alten KV angesammelte Betrag natürlich bestehen bleibt. Die Piloten könnten sich eine Zustimmung zur neuen Regelung durch eine Abschlagszahlung vorstellen.

Die Abfertigungen will das AUA-Management künftig auf das gesetzliche Maß zurückschrauben. Das aktuelle Modell (sowohl KV alt als auch neu) erfordert hohe Rückstellungen, welche die Bilanz belasten. Wie die Jahre zwischen tatsächlichem Pensions-Antritt und gesetzlichem Pensionsalter überbrückt werden können, darüber schweigt sich das Management aus.

Dasselbe betrifft die bestehende Ausfallsversicherung. Diese kommt zum Tragen, wenn ein Pilot seine Lizenz aus gesundheitlichen Gründen verliert. Derzeit erhält er je nach Dauer der Firmenzugehörigkeit bis zu 39 Gehälter. Der Vorstand will diese Angelegenheit an eine Versicherung auslagern.

Ein heikler Punkt betrifft die Mehrleistungsgrenze. Diese kommt derzeit ab 70 Flugstunden pro Monat zum Tragen, ab der es Zuschläge beim Gehalt gibt. Der Sinn dieser Regelung aus Sicht der Piloten: Die Dienste sollen möglichst gleichmäßig auf das Personal aufgeteilt werden. Der Vorstand will diese Regelung streichen. Wobei ein Pilot eine erheblich höhere monatliche Arbeitszeit hat, als diese bis zu 70 Flugstunden: Im Bereich Mittelstrecke summiert sich die Arbeitszeit von Check-In bis Check-Out inkl. Simulatorstunden auf 160 bis 170 Stunden im Monat, und zwar nicht „nine to five“, sondern zu jeder Tages- und Nachtzeit sowie auch an Sonn- und Feiertagen (wofür es in anderen Branchen bekanntlich saftige Zuschläge gibt, nicht aber beim fliegenden Personal).

Gänzlich rot sehen die „Fliegenden“ bei der AUA bezüglich der geplanten Dienstplanregelung im neuen KV: derzeit muss der Monats-Dienstplan ab dem 20. des Vormonats fest stehen. Künftig soll er für maximal 10 Tage fixiert werden. Private Freizeitplanung sei dadurch nicht mehr möglich, so die Piloten, die als Grund dieser Maßnahme den Mitarbeitermangel (Aufnahmestopp, natürlicher Abgang) und zu knappe Planungen bezüglich Ruhenszeiten sehen, wodurch im aktuellen Betrieb der AUA derzeit laufend Löcher aufgerissen werden.

Ebenfalls gestrichen werden sollen – das ist hinlänglich bekannt – die jährlichen bzw. biennalen Gehalts-Vorrückungen und der Index-Ausgleich. Nicht diese, so argumentieren die Piloten, sondern die schlechte Personalplanung hätte im Vorjahr aufgrund der dann notwendig gewordenen Überstunden die Gehaltskosten so stark steigen lassen.

Auch die in der Öffentlichkeit kolportierten übermäßigen Urlaubstage der Piloten treffen so nicht zu: Üblicher Weise wird eine Woche in den KVs mit 5 Urlaubstagen gerechnet. Da für Piloten auch Samstag und Sonntag normale Arbeitstage sind, wird eine Woche mit 7 Urlaubstagen gleichgestellt. Bei fünf Wochen Urlaub stehen somit beim „Normal-Angestellten“ 25 Urlaubstage, bei den Piloten 35, auch wenn sie um keinen Tag länger frei haben.

Alles in allem ist die Situation derzeit verfahren. Sollte der Aufsichtsrat den Weg wählen, mit einer Gewaltaktion den Übergang zum Tyrolean-KV für alle AUA-Piloten herbeizuführen, wird es Warnstreiks geben. Im Hintergrund beobachtet die Deutsche Pilotenvereinigung Cockpit die Vorgänge mit Argusaugen: Sollte die Lufthansa-Tochter AUA diesen Schritt setzen, überlegt sie Solidarmaßnahmen. Denn bei Lufthansa selbst könnte es dann zu einer ähnlichen Vorgehensweise kommen, mit Überfuhr des KVs zur Lufthansa Cityline. Damit könnte es zu einem Konzern-Streik kommen. Den will wohl keiner, sicher auch nicht LH-CEO Christoph Franz.

GIVEN FACT: SYRIA DOES POSSESS CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL MISSILE HEADS

THIS TIME AROUND THE CLAIM THAT SYRIA POSSESSES  CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL MISSILES IS A FACT, UNLIKE THE US HOAX, CLAIMING IRAQ OF BEING IN POSSESSION OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

During the recent meeting between the USA and ISRAEL the discussions not only revolved around their dispute over an attack on IRAN, but also about the SYRIAN crisis and the fact that SYRIA possesses hundreds of surface-to-surface missiles armed with chemical and biological warheads. The peril of the ASSAD regime launching them is AMERICA’S current top concern, especially since a launch would most probably have ISRAEL and TURKEY as the prime target. 

In view of such threats the USA urged ISRAEL to patch up relations with TURKEY, for it would take a combined US- TURKISH- ISRAELI military effort to ward off an attack by SYRIA’S poisoned missiles. Indeed, if the SYRIAN conflict is not solved, AMERICA might be forced to turn its missile shield against BASHAR ASSAD’S missiles before they are needed against an IRANIAN attack.

According to insider sources the hazard could be accelerated by three elements:

1. ASSAD might decide to respond with extreme violence to foreign military intervention in SYRIA, even an operation confined only to drawing the civilian population into security zones safe from the attacks of his security services. TURKEY reiterated its call for security zones and at the same time ISRAEL offered humanitarian aid to SYRIA’S beleaguered civilian population. Both such actions might well be taken by ASSAD as provocations deserving of reprisal by missiles – first those carrying chemical warheads, then biological ones.

2. ASSAD might respond to an IRANIAN request to take part in a preemptive strike launched by TEHRAN or IRANIAN retaliation for attacks on its nuclear facilities by the US or ISRAEL.  

3. ASSAD might transfer the unconventional missions to IRAN’S LEBANESE surrogate, the HIZBALLAH - in which case, the US, TURKEY and ISRAEL would have no option but to attack them.
US military sources say that although ISRAEL possesses a strong air force and special forces able to sabotage ASSAD’S chemical and biological missiles, the UNITED STATES and TURKEY would have to pitch in with military resources to destroy them completely.

Allegedly that arsenal is being closely watched by SURVEILLANCE DRONES after the lessons from the Libyan war when at least 5,000 advanced anti-aircraft missiles were spirited out of Qaddafi’s weapons stores, some of them smuggled into GAZA for HAMAS and other PALESTINIAN terrorist organizations.

Apparently the ASSAD regime has an approximately five times more sophisticated air defenses than LIBYA did, covering one-fifth of the terrain and about ten times more than Serbia had. 

Article adopted in part from DEBKAfile.

  CONTRARY TO US “WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION” HOAX JUSTIFYING THE INVASION IN IRAQ, SYRIA REALLY POSSESSES A LETHAL ARSENAL OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARHEADS.

Contrary to the weapons of mass destruction hoax fabricated by the USA in order to justify the IRAQ invasion, Syria really posses such lethal arsenal and probably will most probably not hesitate to use them when pushed into a corner. Interesting though is that only now this long known fact starts to reach mainstream media. Though DEBKAfile is pro Israel, the fact that Syria possesses Chemical and Biological missile heads cannot be denied. 

Balkan and the IMF

WIKILEAKS: THE IMF’S FAULT FOR BALKAN WARS


The International Monetary Fund is partly to blame for wars in former YUGOSLAVIA, according to STRATFOR document published by WIKILEAKS.


WIKILEAKS made public the internal guidelines that the global intelligence company STRATFOR issues to its analysts in the field.
In the document from 2009, titled Europe Analytical Guidance, STRATFOR alerts its analysts to watch out for any possible riots occurring due to economic crises, since the current situation in BALKANS is complex and multifaceted.
“Do not forget, the IMF austerity measures imposed on YUGOSLAVIA were in part to blame for the start of the war there. We need to be aware of any economically motivated social discontent,” document states.
Analysts should pay attention to any possible protest and union activity since, according to STRATFOR, the protests by ALBANIAN unions inflamed further conflicts.

“Remember, it was the strikes by the ALBANIAN miners in KOSOVO back in the 1980s that in a way moved the region towards conflagration,” states the document.
When it comes to possible conflicts and security issues, the report finds BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA most critical. “Any split developing in the CROATIAN-MUSLIM federation is key,” it states.


According to the e-mails from STRATFOR revealed by WIKILEAKS, several journalists from the BALKAN media have been working for this intelligence agency, including VERAN MATIC, head of the BELGRADE based media B92, and BOSKO JAKSIC of POLITIKA newspaper.


STRATFOR’S computers were apparently invaded last year by the hacker group Anonymous, which revealed personal information of STRATFOR’S customers.
It seems likely that the files and e-mails released by WIKILEAKS came from that intrusion, though WIKILEAKS is not disclosing its sources.

 Chronicle of a debt foretold: IMF & Argentina

 

Comment:

Every single country that fell pray to the IMF has either defaulted or ended in utter chaos. 

See:

http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2011/08/imf-on-trial.html

http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2011/07/imf-advice-to-europe.html

http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.com/2011/07/global-financial-monopoly-game-part-2.html