------ Forwarded Message > From: "dasg...@aol.com" <dasg...@aol.com> > Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2009 03:33:55 EDT > To: Robert Millegan <ramille...@aol.com> > Cc: <ema...@aol.com>, <j...@aol.com>, <jim6...@cwnet.com>, > <christian.r...@gmail.com> > Subject: Whole World Declares War on US & Britain over Oil; US Dollar Dumped > Globally >
> The demise of the dollar > In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched > secret moves with China, Russia[, Japan,] and France to stop using the US > currency for oil trading > > By Robert Fisk > > The Independent (UK), 6 October 2009 > > http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/the-demise-of-the-dollar-17981 > 75.html > > <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/the-demise-of-the-dollar-1798 > 175.html#font-xlarge> > > > <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/the-demise-of-the-dollar-1798 > 175.html?action=Popup> > > 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. >> >> >> Related articles >> >> * Sean O'Grady: China will overtake America, the only question is when >> <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/sean-ogrady-china-will-ov >> ertake-america-the-only-question-is-when-1798176.html> >> * Leading article: The end of the dollar spells the rise of a new order >> <http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-the-en >> d-of-the-dollar-spells-the-rise-of-a-new-order-1798200.html> > 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. > > The decline of American economic power linked to the current global recession > was implicitly acknowledged by the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. "One > of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power > relations," he said in Istanbul ahead of meetings this week of the IMF and > World Bank. But it is China's extraordinary new financial power along with > past anger among oil-producing and oil-consuming nations at America's power to > interfere in the international financial system which has prompted the > latest discussions involving the Gulf states. > > Brazil has shown interest in collaborating in non-dollar oil payments, along > with India. Indeed, China appears to be the most enthusiastic of all the > financial powers involved, not least because of its enormous trade with the > Middle East. > > China imports 60 per cent of its oil, much of it from the Middle East and > Russia. The Chinese have oil production concessions in Iraq blocked by the > US until this year and since 2008 have held an $8bn agreement with Iran to > develop refining capacity and gas resources. China has oil deals in Sudan > (where it has substituted for US interests) and has been negotiating for oil > concessions with Libya, where all such contracts are joint ventures. > > Furthermore, Chinese exports to the region now account for no fewer than 10 > per cent of the imports of every country in the Middle East, including a huge > range of products from cars to weapon systems, food, clothes, even dolls. In a > clear sign of China's growing financial muscle, the president of the European > Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, yesterday pleaded with Beijing to let the > yuan appreciate against a sliding dollar and, by extension, loosen China's > reliance on US monetary policy, to help rebalance the world economy and ease > upward pressure on the euro. > > Ever since the Bretton Woods agreements the accords after the Second World > War which bequeathed the architecture for the modern international financial > system America's trading partners have been left to cope with the impact of > Washington's control and, in more recent years, the hegemony of the dollar as > the dominant global reserve currency. > > The Chinese believe, for example, that the Americans persuaded Britain to stay > out of the euro in order to prevent an earlier move away from the dollar. But > Chinese banking sources say their discussions have gone too far to be blocked > now. "The Russians will eventually bring in the rouble to the basket of > currencies," a prominent Hong Kong broker told The Independent. "The Brits are > stuck in the middle and will come into the euro. They have no choice because > they won't be able to use the US dollar." > > Chinese financial sources believe President Barack Obama is too busy fixing > the US economy to concentrate on the extraordinary implications of the > transition from the dollar in nine years' time. The current deadline for the > currency transition is 2018. > > The US discussed the trend briefly at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh; the > Chinese Central Bank governor and other officials have been worrying aloud > about the dollar for years. Their problem is that much of their national > wealth is tied up in dollar assets. > > "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." > > Iran announced late last month that its foreign currency reserves would > henceforth be held in euros rather than dollars. Bankers remember, of course, > what happened to the last Middle East oil producer to sell its oil in euros > rather than dollars. A few months after Saddam Hussein trumpeted his > decision, the Americans and British invaded Iraq. > ------ End of Forwarded Message
