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Terrorist cell found in Hamburg. Surprise.
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
2 00:00 Old Patriot [11137]
Page 4: Opinion
6 00:00 tipper [11135]
Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran: dollar detriment to world economy, oil trade
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's Finance Minster described the dollar as a "detriment" to global economy adding that consensus is building among other nations as well that currencies other than the dollar should be used in the oil trade.

"Some of the countries right now accept this idea," Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamseddin Hosseini told reporters on Tuesday

"But this is one of the subjects that needs more discussion and (to be) agreed on by everyone," he said on the sidelines of the semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Istanbul, Turkey.

Earlier in September, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the replacement of the US dollar by the euro in the country's foreign exchange accounts.

Iran had announced earlier that the euro would replace the greenback in the country's oil transactions. The country has also called on other OPEC members to ditch the sinking dollar in favor of the more credible euro.

Meanwhile, the Persian Gulf Arab states have recently started secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France "to end dollar dealings for oil", a new report reveals.

According to the report, written by Independent's Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, the proposal was to replace US dollar for crude oil trade by a basket of different currencies over a period of nine years until 2018.

Russia and Saudi Arabia have denied the report by the independent, which caused the dollar to fall towards the year's lows against the euro and the yen.

"Generally, we believe that the dominance of the dollar in the global economy is to the detriment of everybody," Hosseini said. "We are not alone in this belief."

Iran has significantly profited from replacing the US dollar by a basket of foreign currencies, the head of Iran's Central Bank said on Tuesday.

"The basket of currencies has been adjusted by Iran's Central Bank in a way that it comprises of a set of different currencies," Mahmoud Bahmani told Mehr news Agency, adding that due to the initiative, the country would not lose on the whole after the devaluation of certain currencies.

He added that the Iranian Central Bank regularly examines all the developments in the currency market and acts appropriately.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11137 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  What other curency is stable?
Gonna use Zimbucks?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 10/07/2009 12:29 Comments || Top||

#2  He added that the Iranian Central Bank regularly examines all the developments in the currency market and acts appropriately.

I wonder how much of that "acting appropriately" is currency manipulation.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 10/07/2009 18:59 Comments || Top||


The end of the Assad regime?
You would not know it if you follow the pro-Assad blogs and the chipper news emanating from Damascus, and you certainly would not know it if you listen to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad himself or see the expediency by which his recent foreign travels have all had a secret economic component seeking foreign investments and aid. The truth is that the Syrian economy is flapping like a dying butterfly.

Between US sanctions, a severe drought in an agrarian-based economy, sustained terror that has caused the migration of over 1 million Iraqis to Syria, political risks promoting "resistance" instead of cooperation, dwindling oil revenues, an alarming increase in Syrian population and a determined new Israeli government, Assad is being squeezed like a Syrian olive for its oil.

Very few people grasp the reality Assad faces now that he has systematically destroyed whatever he inherited from his father through ill-advised policies. Some Middle East analysts are aware of the economic pressure Assad is under, but the extent of the harm his policies have caused the Syrian treasury is largely unknown.

AS IMPORTANT to the piling problems on Assad's shoulders is the latest challenge Iran was confronted with during the G-20 summit last week, regarding the discovery of its secret enrichment plant in Qom. Assad suddenly finds himself burdened by outside forces over which he has no control. Even his most potent tool of terror seems to have gone stale in the face of the overwhelming pressure Iran is facing for its actions.

If Iran catches cold, Assad will sneeze uncontrollably. No other nation provides Syria with the political clout Iran does; not even Turkey's short-lived friendliness, about to expire with the expected ruling party's defeat - an eventuality that the latest Turkish municipal elections show is not far afield.

As such, the pressure mounting on Assad via Iran is yielding far better results for Syrians and the West than the embrace of "dialogue." Assad is about to give under the pressure, and we should, as John Lennon once said, let it be.

As hard-pressed as he is, his illegitimate regime will try to extract some quick concessions in the hope that he continues to rule a country ravaged by structural fault lines Ba'athism decreed to monopolize power. Syrians must hope that the country's 45-year slumber is about to end with the demise of those who knocked the country out.

There is no such thing as a "reformed" violent man or a "reformed" oppressor. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's New York circus tent display, unraveling speeches, and deep satisfaction - quite visible on his face - with how the Lockerbie tragedy ended bear witness to this truth. He may not resort to terror himself, but Libya, through oppression and ignorance, is a breeding ground for a hopeless future generation. I can recite the names of Israeli Nobel Prize winners, but can you imagine one Nobel laureate under the rule of Gaddafi or Assad?

WERE THE international community to alleviate the pressure on Assad today, all we would be doing is resetting the clock for the bomb to explode at a later time. No matter the political arguments made in favor of a Middle East dictatorship, or "stability" as some have the audacity to call it, our moral compass as humans is to help Syrians deliver their country to their people, to introduce governance, accountability and coexistence.

Hate-spewing stability is not the answer to a region already flooded with exclusionary ideologies - which is what the West will be reinforcing if it embraces Assad when history is presenting us with a gift for a permanent and positive change.

Just imagine a Lebanon where Hizbullah's power base could no longer rely on Iran and Syria to provide the incendiary Nasrallah with muscle-flexing, gun-toting missions. Imagine Hamas, looking for Assad in Damascus, finding instead accountable politicians and being forced to become the new PLO's bride or be chastized as a Muslim divorcee. Imagine Israel, for the first time, helping the Syrian and Iraqi democracies without the specter of terror shadowing its successes.

As Orly Halpern wrote in the Jewish Daily Forward, "normalized relations between the countries [Israel and Iraq] are being discussed unofficially." So will relations between Syria and Israel once we establish our own peaceful democracy aided by a willing West.

Will all this come at a price? Certainly. Are we willing to burden ourselves today for a better future for our children? We Syrians are. Our hope is that the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government are, as well.

The writer comes from a prominent Syrian family who emigrated to Lebanon after it clashed with the Ba'ath party. Ghadry, along with other in-country activists, started the Reform Party of Syria (RPS) whose goals are to rebuild the country on the principles of economic and political reforms that will usher in democracy. In 2007, Ghadry, by invitation, addressed the Knesset in support of the vision of RPS.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred || 10/07/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11135 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  not even Turkey's short-lived friendliness, about to expire with the expected ruling party's defeat - an eventuality that the latest Turkish municipal elections show is not far afield.

Good news, if true. Anybody know anything about this prediction?
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/07/2009 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  As such, the pressure mounting on Assad via Iran is yielding far better results for Syrians and the West than the embrace of "dialogue."

Pressure hurting Assad? Obama will certainly put a stop to that!!!! "Dialogue" is his mantra, especially with tin-pot dictators.
Posted by: AlanC || 10/07/2009 8:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Assad's (Dad and Baby) fall has been predicted for many years. I'll believe it when I see it.
Posted by: Spot || 10/07/2009 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Assad is bad but the alternatives are worse. Has something changed to make this accepted wisdom invalid?
Posted by: gromky || 10/07/2009 11:04 Comments || Top||

#5  The pencil-necked puppet's strings are frayed.
Posted by: mojo || 10/07/2009 11:17 Comments || Top||

#6  Meanwhile in related news:
Saudi King to Pressure Syria Over Iran Alliance
Posted by: tipper || 10/07/2009 12:33 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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2Taliban
2Palestinian Authority
1Govt of Syria
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1Govt of Iran
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1al-Qaeda in North Africa

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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2009-10-07
  Terrorist cell found in Hamburg. Surprise.
Tue 2009-10-06
  Zazi had senior al-Qaida contact
Mon 2009-10-05
  Bomb Hits UN Office in Pakistan Capital; 4 Killed
Sun 2009-10-04
  Tensions in Jerusalem after new Al-Aqsa clashes
Sat 2009-10-03
  Tahir Yuldashev confirmed titzup
Fri 2009-10-02
  20 Palestinian prisoners freed after Shalit video released
Thu 2009-10-01
  Third drone strike in past 24 hours
Wed 2009-09-30
  Al Shabaab rebels declare war on rivals
Tue 2009-09-29
  US missile strikes kill eight
Mon 2009-09-28
  Ismail Khan Survives Suicide Boomer
Sun 2009-09-27
  Twin suicide kabooms kill 23 in Peshawar, Bannu
Sat 2009-09-26
  Iraqi forces catch five Qaeda jailbreakers
Fri 2009-09-25
  US drone attack kills 10 in Pakistan
Thu 2009-09-24
  Qaida-linked inmates break out of Iraq prison
Wed 2009-09-23
  Ahmadinejad to present UN with 'solution' to world crises


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