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| Africa North | |
| Humpty Obumpty and the Arab Spring | |
| 2011-06-01 | |
I've been warning for months that Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and other Arab oil-importing countries face a total economic meltdown (see Food and failed Arab states, Feb 2, and The hunger to come in Egypt, May 10). Now the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed my warnings. The leaders of the industrial nations waited until last weekend's Group of Eight (G-8) summit to respond, and at the initiative of United States President Barack Obama proposed what sounds like a massive aid program but probably consists mainly of refurbishing old programs. The egg has splattered, and all of Obumpty's horses and men can't mend it. Even the G-8's announcement was fumbled; Canada's Prime Minister John Harper refused to commit new money, a dissonant note that routine diplomatic preparation would have pre-empted. The numbers thrown out by the IMF are stupefying. "In the current baseline scenario," wrote the IMF on May 27, "the external financing needs of the region's oil importers is projected to exceed $160 billion during 2011-13." That's almost three years' worth of Egypt's total annual imports as of 2010. As of 2010, the combined current account deficit (that is, external financing needs) of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Morocco and Tunisia was about $15 billion a year. ...And the IMF's $160 billion number is only "external financing"; that is, maintaining imports into a busted economy. It doesn't do a thing to repair busted economies that import half their caloric intake, as do the oil-poor Arab nations. ...Whatever the Group of Eight actually had in mind, the proposed aid package for the misnomered Arab Spring has already become a punching bag for opposition budget-cutters. "Should we be borrowing money from China to turn around and give it to the Muslim Brotherhood?" Sarah Palin asked on May 27. "Now, given that Egypt has a history of corruption when it comes to utilizing American aid, it is doubtful that the money will really help needy Egyptian people. Couple that with the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is organized to have a real shot at taking control of Egypt's government, and one has to ask why we would send money (that we don't have) into unknown Egyptian hands," the former Republican vice-presidential candidate added. Common sense is never common. ...The borders of the affected nations have begun to dissolve along with their economies. It will get worse fast. Contrary to what is, fervently, believed among the Western elites, Israel is the only real country in ME. Whereas the Arab states are the totally artificial constructs that wouldn't have got so far without decades of massive covert aid from the West---all the while bemoaning the huge drain imposed on USA economy by Israel | |
| Posted by:gr(o)mgoru |
| #4 (fade in on kuffeya wrap man, bandoliered, black flag in background) After a week of rage I must clean, and because I am not allowed to talk to the women, my scent is all I have. And sometimes, when I am upwind, I do not want to smell like a human. That is why I demand..Arab Spring. (catchy jingo music) Hama, fatah, iman, baa baa, islam, el el el allah... lululululululu! (scrambled voiceover) Now available in the new scents eau de prophet and caliphate reign. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-06-01 22:27 |
| #3 The Canadian Prime Minister's name is Steven Harper, not "John Harper" as the writer of this article seems to think. Ignorance, however, is forgivable. It's stupidity that's forever. |
| Posted by: Canuckistan sniper 2011-06-01 14:12 |
| #2 Where are the oil-exporting Arab countries in this discussion? They should deal with it. |
| Posted by: Spot 2011-06-01 14:12 |
| #1 Don't GIVE them a damn dime, make them WORK for it. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2011-06-01 12:54 |