Why does US ignore human rights violations in Saudi Arabia
Posted on March 5th, 2011
Shenali Waduge
We all welcome international calls for equality, for freedom of speech, for good governance minus corruption. We all abhor arbitrary arrests, extra judicial killings, incommunicado detentions, restrictions on religious freedom, covert & overt operations out to destabilize nation but it is when the very countries that have been adapting even creating these trends point fingers at selected nations ignoring their allies who commit these atrocities as customary practice, that we need to remind these powerful nations that we aware of their hypocrisy and these biases end up foretelling results of international bodies that are supposed to be unbiased.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Why is the US & West silent over human rights being denied to the people of Saudi Arabia is a key question on all of our minds. In a world where gender equality is spoken strongly across the West & by the UN, Saudi women especially have limited access to education, where women lack autonomy, freedom of movement & economic independence where women can be discriminated against by law and where by law women have no right to escape these abusive environments?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a monarchy with a population of 28.5m including 5.8m foreigners is ruled by the Al Saud family under ShariƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢a (Islamic law) & the 1992 Basic Law (a system of governance, rights of citizens & powers & duties of the government). The countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s constitution is the Koran & the traditions of Prophet Muhammad. The Basic Law establishes monarchy as the political system. The King serves as prime minister & his crown prince serves as deputy prime minister. The King appoints all other ministers who appoint subordinate officials with cabinet concurrence. The Consultative Council, a royally appointed 150 member body advises the king. The vast majority of the people of Saudi Arabia are Sunni Muslims
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Why is the US & West silent over atrocities that prevail in Saudi Arabia ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Saudi Arabia is one of 30 countries in the world with judicial corporal punishment. The Saudi Government has executed 153 persons in 2007 & 102 persons in 2008 in closed court proceedings. The Government is also reported to be holding 3100 persons in ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-virtual secrecyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ for being supporters of extremist Islamist groups or for criticizing the policies of the Government.
Why is the West silent when men are sentenced to prison terms & lashes (1200 lashes) for alcohol distribution, when a person is amputated for theft. Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in the world which uses beheading with a sword as an official method of execution. Other offenses are punished with whipping, amputation of limbs without anesthetics. There are also stonings & crucifixtions. All executions are carried out in public (Deera Square) Theft accounts for 47% of total crime in Saudi. In 2002, a total of 84,599 crimes were reported in Saudi Arabia which was 387 crimes for every 100,000 people.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Saudi prisons & detention centers do not meet international standards & non-Saudi organizations or human rights observers are rarely permitted to visit prisons or detention centers. The UN 2007/2008 Human Development Report gives 28,612 detainees including juveniles & women prisoners. There are no established procedures providing the right for detainees to contact family members following arrest & by law a person can be detained for 72 hours without charges being filed. Besides ShariƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢a law can have divergent rulings & judges are free to base their decisions on any of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence. Judges can even discount the testimony of non-practicing Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims or persons of other religions & female parties in court proceedings such as divorce & family law cases. Shia citizens use their own Jaafari legal tradition to adjudicate cases involving domestic problems, inheritance and Islamic endowments. Under the 2007 law, jurisdiction of all courts extends to non Muslims for crimes committed in the country.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ One area the West enjoys accusing the rest of the world especially developing nations is the media freedom and one can but ask how aware the US & the West are about freedom of media in Saudi Arabia where media outlets can legally be banned or publication temporarily halted if the Government assesses that they promote ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-mischief and discord, compromise the security of the state and its public imageƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ or ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-offend a manƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s dignity and rightsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. The Saudi government could ban writers critical of the religious establishment, governmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s activities or the royal family from publishing articles and could even shut down critical blogs or threaten to arrest university professors & lecturers for exercising free speech! As such two writers were threatened to be put to death if they did not repent authoring ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-heretical articlesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in 2008. That same year the Supreme Judicial Council head declared that it was permissible under ShariƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢a law to kill owners of satellite television channels that broadcast immoral & anti-Islamic content. The Saudi government has through the Law of Printed Materials & Publication ensure they are in total control of printed materials, bookstores, import, rent & sale of films, foreign media offices & their correspondents. Men have ended up imprisoned after severe lashing for discussing sex publicly! What would the West have to say to these violations! While the West accuses countries of denying its people the right to internet, only 8% of Saudi Arabians use internet. Email & internet chat rooms are monitored, other sites are blocked.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Freedom of expression is also an area that the West accuses countries of denying to their citizens but the West seem not to care when the Saudi government censors public artistic expression & prohibits cinemas & public musical or theatrical performances! Public meetings are segregated by gender & men & women are allowed to mix only in restaurants of Western luxury hotels. Moreover demonstrations are also denied & security forces will arrest demonstrators & it is considered a crime to participate in unauthorized public assemblies. What can the West say about the Saudi Government revoking the rights of citizens to travel outside the country for political reasons! There have even been instances of bloggers been prevented from leaving Jeddah airport to speak at international press forums or even to receive human rights awards! The Saudi Government generally does not cooperate with international human rights organizations in investigations of alleged violations of human rights since the Basic Law provides that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-the State shall protect human rights in accordance with the Islamic ShariƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢aƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. That requests made from five UN human rights special rapporteurs since 2005 have been totally ignored & disregarded shows how much the Saudi Arabian government cares pittance about international standards on human rights & begs to question why the UN, its Secretary General & the Western leaders remain mum when they are so quick to descend on less powerful countries humiliating them with strong international condemnations despite their human rights records being no where near the at atrocities that are taking place in Saudi Arabia.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Do people know that the Basic Law of Saudi strictly prohibits the establishment of political parties or political groups that opposes or challenges the regime?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When everyone should enjoy the right to practice oneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s choice of religion the Saudi government prohibits the public practice of other religions & has outlawed possession of non-Muslim literature or symbols. Anyone publicly wearing non-Islamic religious symbols risked confrontation with the authorities. A Muslim who converts to another religion is even likely to be executed. Basic Law does not have provisions for freedom of movement within Saudi Arabia, foreign travel or emigration & repatriation, though the Government did not restrict free movement for male citizens. National Identification Card for females depended on the consent given by her male guardian (father, brother, husband or son) in writing. Even a passport is issued to a female following the written consent of a male guardian.
However at the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology which is a coeducational research university women are permitted to work jointly with men & can forgo their veil in classes as well as drive cars on campus. A women risked being arrested by the religious police if found riding a vehicle driven by a male who was not an employee or a male relative. The Saudi Government does not recognize spousal rape & according to law if a man rapes a woman, she is viewed as being at fault for illegal mixing of genders & is punished along with her attacker. Saudi women are prohibited from marrying non Muslims or non citizens but men may marry Christians & Jews. Despite statistics on rape not being available it remains a serious problem in Saudi. While there is no law with regard to domestic violence, foreign domestic workers become frequent victims of abuse. Prostitution is banned though there are reports of trafficking of women & children for commercial sexual exploitation. Under ShariƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢a law sexual activity between 2 persons of the same gender is punishable by death or flogging (when the West has accepted Gay Rights). It is illegal for men to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-behave like womenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ or wear womenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s clothes & vice versa. Saudi Arabia has no organizations for lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgender persons. However there is a NGO for AIDS patients. Sexual harassment is difficult to measure since there are separate female & male workspaces in workplaces. Women are restricted from using public facilities & women must sit separately when men are present. Women must wear the abaya which covers her entire body in public & her hair as well as face. Girls are ready for marriage as young as 9 years to men as old as 65 years! These marriages were arranged without the consent of the girls & are often to settle family debts.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There are over 1.5million foreign domestic workers in the country. Despite thousands of foreign workers in Saudi they are all subject to & under complete control of their employers or sponsors who hold their passports & have the right to process residence permits on their behalf. Saudi Arabia is a destination point for workers from the South & South East Asia but they are subject to harsh treatment ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” involuntary servitude, non-payment of wages, confinement of passports, restriction of movements. Employment to Saudi women is limited & is confined mostly to education & health care sectors. However, ShariƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢a law does grant women the right to obtain business licenses for work but only after a male guardian gives written permission. However, the Council of Ministers have passed a resolution removing the requirement for women to obtain permission by a male guardian to work so long as the type of business was ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-deemed appropriate for a womanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. According to the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce & Industry nearly 250,000 women work in government departments while 45,000 women work in private firms.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ While public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws, during first half of 2008 the Prosecution & Investigation Commission identified 12,466 cases involving public service officials & agencies for forgery, bribery, public mistreatment & other misconduct. A positive & praiseworthy ruling on Government employees accepting bribes is that they could face 10 years in prison or fines as much as 1million riyals (approx $267,000) Women continue to face discrimination in courts which considers the testimony of one man equal to that of two women.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When Saudi Arabia controls more than a fifth of global crude reserves & holds dollar assets we can well assume why the United States keeps mum about Saudi Arabian atrocities and claim it to be a main ally of the United States. So we can but ask why powerful countries continue to ignore human rights violations purely on the grounds of the economic power that compromises on injustices that prevail. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Saudi Arabia commits if not all but more of human atrocities that the West is ardent champions against. So when the West accuses China, Myanmar, Iran & even Sri Lanka passing bills in their Senates for international action we demand to know why Saudi Arabia has never been held accountable for these violations some of which are not even committed in the countries that the US is pointing fingers at. Subordinating human rights for economic & strategic interests in unfair, unjust & unethical & ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-unacceptableƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Human rights violations by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been no secret. When countries of the Middle East are in turmoil against lists of atrocities that the West feel are valid grounds to uprise against by its citizens we can but wonder why the same does not apply to the citizens of Saudi Arabia. Why are they not joining in these same protests for the issues raised by people of Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Tunisia etc are all very much prevalent in Saudi Arabia & some human rights are far more denied in Saudi than they are in other countries that the US finds deplorable.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As citizens of the world we are all in agreement that human rights must be equally applicable to all & in judging its denial or in judging those that misuse, abuse & deny these rights the same set of international standards must be applied to all irrespective of the economic power or strategic interest they may yield to countries that point accusing fingers. Many of the atrocities that have been committed by the very countries pointing fingers have never been judged even today & that is what is unacceptable for us who demand to know why the international criminal court has done nothing to bring the US to task for its continued crimes against humanity just because it has not signed the Roman Statue! Why has the world bodies that are being paid to be fair & unbiased not done anything for the continued civilians that die as a result of drone attacks in Pakistan & Afghanistan where the US commander can just say ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚sorryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & keep on repeating these incidents on the look out for a man & a movement they have failed to locate for over a decade & has left millions of people dead across the world & billions of property lost.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Soon world leaders are likely to find protests across the world taking place when people begin to understand the hypocrisyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s that prevail therefore the injustices that prevail must see an end once & for all.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Shenali Waduge
March 5th, 2011 at 10:55 am
Excellent Article. Shenali ha brought the focus on the weakest point in the West’s sham human rights record. I recall that there was a programme called ‘death of a princess’ again about what happened to aprincess who had a love affair. I believe BBC showed the film but after much protests by the government concerned and a chorus of support by Bristish politicians.
I am told that the Kingdom of Brunii another Muslim country too has a poor record when it comes to the rights of their Chinese population. Numerically they are almost equal with the Muslim population but in contrast Chinese do not have even the right to landownership though they were residents for many generations. Goveenment is kept in power by resident British trained Gurka battalions who recently won the right settle in UK after much agitation. UK rulers are happy to have the support of the Billionnaire rulers who rallyto support with investments and also to bolster the Pound in times of currency depreciations etc.
Coming back to Saudi Arabian behaviour, Saudi rulers too invest heavily in the West and go even to cultivate potential politicians. The film aboutGeorge Bush II, Farenheit 451 recalled how the Bush was helped in his young days into oil prospecting business which spectacularly failed but atno cost as the bill was picked up by the Saudis. The rich Bin Laden family were evacuated to Switzerland in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 amidst the embargo on flying as Saudi are viewd with special favour. They owned something like 10% of the US commercial investments ast the time so there was no retaliation against SA though most of the suicide bombers may have originated from there..
March 5th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Are we Sri Lankans not moving in that direction now Shenali to a certain extent? We have not reached there yet, but….
March 5th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Monarchy. Abdullah is the King, his brother Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, crown prince (King in waiting), all judges appointed by the King, Mufthis appointed by the King. They should change like us to a democracy.
March 5th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
Mahintha is the king. His brother Kothapaya is the defence minister. His brother Basil is the economics minister. His other brother Chamal is the speaker. All the other top posts are held by Mahintha’s relatives. We are like Saudi Arabia without the oil and a little bit more intelligent. Very soon Saudi will collapse. Western powers and Russia will rob its oil and women.
March 6th, 2011 at 3:59 am
Sajith are you a Tamil or a Sinhalese. If you are a Sinhalese you should know how to spell Gotabaya first if you are a Tamil then I can understand. Anyhow you looks to me an Idiot who follows your other Opposition Idiots in our country jealous of the man who brought us freedom and peace. How can you compare King Abdulla or Saudi Arabia to Mahinda and Sri Lanka. You are out of your mind or you are living in another world maybe in America or with white slaves in the west. Visit our country and see the difference between Saudia and Sri Lanka. Do the Saudis have the freedom atleast to play music or demonstrate against anything? Do they have movie theaters or have the freedom of speech or worship other than muslim religion? Can the young men go to the Malls to buy anything for themselves? Can they sit together and enjoy in the restaurent with women? Shenali’s great article but who will read this other than ordinary people like us? will America listen or read our articles. America is the main cause for all the troubles in the world. They destroy peace and talking about peace it’s funny. These monsters will have their day soon and no one will help them that’s my view.
If Mahinda becomes king what is the harm? He is the man of the people.He won every election and he walks with the people,cry with the people and smile with the people and moves with the people where King Abdullah doesnt do that with his people. All Rajapaksa’s are educated and experienced politicians who works for the country and it’s people not like those traitors in the opposition who barks like stray dogs in the open. Your name sake is a thief who robbed Temples in remote areas and his father helped L.T.T.E terrorists in the past and lost his life. You dont know anything about Saudi Arabia Sajith just dont write anything if you dont know anything.Dont be like Avamangalaya or Anura Kumara two gossip Kings in our country. Shenali you always contribute to this forum damn good articles.Keep it up.
March 6th, 2011 at 4:06 am
For a start, how about Petro Dollars?
March 6th, 2011 at 4:19 am
I noticed two more reason why U.S ignores human rights violation in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is a good market for American arms and weapons. For Americans money is more important than human being.
1) In October 2010, Nobel Peace Award winner Obama’s U.S administration and Saudi Arabia signed an arms deal of $60 billion. The biggest arms sale in US history, For 84 new F-15 fighter jets, upgrades to 70 existing Saudi F-15s, 190 helicopters and a wide array of missiles, bombs and delivery systems, as well as accessories such as night-vision goggles and radar warning systems. And is in talks with the Saudi about naval and missile-defense upgrades worth 10 Billions of dollars more.
2). Former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Chas Freeman said of Saudi Arabia
“One of the major things the Saudis have historically done, in part out of friendship with the United States, is to insist that oil continues to be priced in dollars. Therefore, the US Treasury can print money and buy oil, which is an advantage no other country has”.
March 6th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Hello I would like to commend Shenali on her excellent articles. Why doesn’t Ban Ki Moon and the UN set up a human rights commision, and the double standard lying west, investigate the considerable human rights violations, committed by Saudi Arabia or drone attacks that have killed scores of innocent women and children murdered by drone attacks in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and in Iraq committed by UN/US/NATO forces for oil and global imperialism? I fully agree with Ranjith above and to quote him “…Shenali you always contribute to this forum damn good articles.Keep it up.” Yes I fully concure. Keep excellent articles like these coming. Lets expose the unbelievable hypocrisy of the UN and Western Govts especially the US.
March 6th, 2011 at 10:14 am
Hello I would like to commend Shenali on her excellent articles. Why doesn’t Ban Ki Moon and the UN set up a human rights commision, and the double standard lying west, investigate the considerable human rights violations, committed by Saudi Arabia or drone attacks that have killed scores of innocent women and children murdered by drone attacks in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and in Iraq committed by UN/US/NATO forces for oil and global imperialism? I fully agree with Ranjith above and to quote him “…Shenali you always contribute to this forum damn good articles.Keep it up.” Yes I fully concure. Keep excellent articles like these coming. Lets expose the unbelievable hypocrisy of the UN and Western Govts especially the US. Sri Lanka has every right to tell the UN, Ban ki Moon US,UK European Govts to go to hell! Leave Sri Lanka alone.
March 6th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz is almost 90 years old; his death at any moment now will give the voiceless democrats a chance. It will be a huge setback for USA and other secret supporters of dictators. Others are not as astute as him in international and domestic affairs.
March 7th, 2011 at 7:37 am
Post World War II brought in oil based/arms based economies in the west and the rise of Corporate power. But, economic issues & Climate Changes all over the world is forcing every country to look for Alternative & Sustainable energy. This may be the great balancing factor that we are all looking for …. We are at present in an age of transition.
Places like Saudi will be forced to change for the better for their masses.
March 7th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
All this trouble in the ME is created by Israel and US. Saudi the animal kingdom is thier firend – so nothing happens there.
We must thank Shenali for bringing up this issue. Petro Dollars are fed to Sir Lankan Muslims too and they too are silent on this animal kingdom
March 8th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
I congratulate Shenali on her excellent article. While doing so I wish to point quite categorically that the Christian Western Powers, the Christian Church nor do their lackey now increasingly on the point of being overthrown interested in either human rights or democracy. Their agenda is exploitation of the rest of the world and their lackey how to stay in power and get rich. Rest of the world is their play ground, the hunting grounds and the killing fields. While the Christian Church is spreading the God-virus the others are showing the Human Rights and Democracy stick to the rest of the world.
While both these ideals are theoretically the best, perfecting them has diminishing returns as well as costs that are beyond the horizon of most the so called Third World countries. It is chasing a mirage trying to placate these gods. However much good we do it is not good enough. We must take what they say with a pinch of salt and try and comply to the levels we can afford and maintain. However much we try to comply the goal posts will continue to move!
Classic case of double standards is the last stages of the Terrorist War which ended in Nanthi Kadal lagoon. Immediately after we won the war they did the classic volte face. Immediately instead of congratulating the victorious nation, they accused us of genocide. The same thing happened earlier in 2001 when the Al Qaeda struck their throat and jugular the world thought for a while that the civilized world will go against all forms of terrorist activities around the world. However it was not to be.
The local lackey of these powers headed by Christian Ranil Wickramasinghe immediately suggested a ceasefire with the LTTE Tiger Terrorists. This was one of the best times for Sri Lanka to have finished off the Tamil racist agenda and the terrorists. However it was not to be. Sri Lanka was condemned to wait out another 8 years for emancipation from terror, thanks to Choura Regina, Christian Ranil and his Christian Cabinet headed by his apostles Ravi Karunanayaka and Jayalath Jayawardhana.
The top policeman of the world – the Secretary of State in the US – Hillary Rodham Clinton who could not even police her husband went on to say there are ‘good terrorists’ and ‘bad terrorists. So much so for their morals. However much we cry for equality of treatment there are some – those who hold the guns, the bombs and the economic clout – who are more equal than others.
In the hunt for resources and captive markets for their produce mainly arms and other war-like materials there is no middle ground. They are fighting not only for their survival, but most importantly to main hegemony over the rest of the world and maintain their standards of living.
If Al Qaeda were to gain power in the middle east, Sharia low will be put in place. However that will not deter the Western Powers to strike deals with them! Just as they did with Col Gaddafi and other Islamic zealots!
These powers will continue to point fingers at us. The challenge before us is how to weather these storms and survive. As long as we are not self sufficient in our basic commodities – mainly food they can blackmail us. As long as our armed forces and intelligent services are not strong enough to stand up to their machinations we will continue to be their victims. We must commence our defense by understanding the role played by the God-virus and the cancer it can cause in our midst and the body politic. Sri Lanka needs to be assertive and show that we can stand on our own when push comes to shove!
Let us understand the forces at play and get the big picture. The rest is easy!
March 9th, 2011 at 2:53 am
The destroyer will destroy everything he can in this world and they are allowed to say “SORRY” for their crimes but not us. Five Sri Lanknas maids were murdered in Saudi Arabia since 2010. Who will help those poor human beings? Who will talk on behalf of them? How many more were raped and assaulted? No human rights for these criminals? How many wars and how many innocent were killed by American monster starting from Vietnam war? Now they were eyeing LIBIYA. Who is next? These criminal forces were trying to harass us too with false accusations thank god we have a strong Government to face them not like the one we had with a tie coat traitor as prime Minister and that one eyed queen of spades from a royal family in my country.
We should not send our Mothers and Sisters to the Middle East for any reason.Have to ban it completely and find ways for our people to earn a living in a better way in better places around the world. Our Motherland is far more better than these countries.We have the freedom of speech and freedom to do any job and freedom to spend in any way we like. These petro dollar criminals will not stop murdering or harassing anyone and they will keep on doing it as they think that money can buy anything including humans. They not only harass women but men too. Nobody knows how much our people suffering in these part of the world. Our Government should discuss these matters with the concerned Governments and find ways to ease the sufferings of our peoples. Our country is a heaven when you compare to these countries in the Middle East.
September 10th, 2011 at 10:38 am
US$, Wars & Earthquakes
By Nalliah Thayabharan
At the end of WWII, an agreement was reached at the Bretton Woods Conference which pegged the value of gold at US$35 per ounce and that became the international standard against which currency was measured. But in 1971, US President Richard Nixon took the US$ off the gold standard and ever since the US$ has been the most important global monetary instrument, and only the US can print them. However, there were problems with this arrangement not least of all that the US$ was effectively worthless than before it reneged on the gold-standard. But more importantly because it was the world’s reserve currency, everybody was saving their surpluses in US$. To maintain the US$’s pre-eminence, the Richard Nixon administration impressed upon Saudi Arabia and therefore Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) to sell their oil only in US$. This did two things; it meant that oil sales supported the US$ and also allowed the USA access to exchange risk free oil. The USA propagates war to protect its oil supplies, but even more importantly, to safeguard the strength of the US$. The fear of the consequences of a weaker US$, particularly higher oil prices is seen as underlying and explaining many aspects of the US foreign policy, including the Iraq and Libyan War.
The reality is that the value of the US$ is determined by the fact that oil is sold in US$. If the denomination changes to another currency, such as the euro, many countries would sell US$and cause the banks to shift their reserves, as they would no longer need US$ to buy oil. This would thus weaken the US$ relative to the euro. A leading motive of the US in the Iraq war — perhaps the fundamental underlying motive, even more than the control of the oil itself — is an attempt to preserve the US$ as the leading oil trading currency. Since it is the USA that prints the US$, they control the flow of oil. Period. When oil is denominated in US$ through US state action and the US$ is the only fiat currency for trading in oil, an argument can be made that the USA essentially owns the world’s oil for free. Now over $1.3 trillion of newly printed US$ by US Federal Reserve is flooding into international commodity markets each year.
So long as almost three quarter of world trade is done in US$, the US$ is the currency which central banks accumulate as reserves. But central banks, whether China or Japan or Brazil or Russia, do not simply stack US$ in their vaults. Currencies have one advantage over gold. A central bank can use it to buy the state bonds of the issuer, the USA. Most countries around the world are forced to control trade deficits or face currency collapse. Not the USA. This is because of the US$ reserve currency role. And the underpinning of the reserve role is the petrodollar. Every nation needs to get US$ to import oil, some more than others. This means their trade targets US$ countries.
Because oil is an essential commodity for every nation, the Petrodollar system, which exists to the present, demands the buildup of huge trade surpluses in order to accumulate US$ surpluses. This is the case for every country but one — the USA which controls the US$ and prints it at will or fiat. Because today the majority of all international trade is done in US$, countries must go abroad to get the means of payment they cannot themselves issue. The entire global trade structure today works around this dynamic, from Russia to China, from Brazil to South Korea and Japan. Everyone aims to maximize US$ surpluses from their export trade.
Until November 2000, no OPEC country dared violate the US$ price rule. So long as the US$ was the strongest currency, there was little reason to as well. But November was when French and other Euroland members finally convinced Saddam Hussein to defy the USA by selling Iraq’s oil-for-food not in US$, ‘the enemy currency’ as Iraq named it, but only in euros. The euros were on deposit in a special UN account of the leading French bank, BNP Paribas. Radio Liberty of the US State Department ran a short wire on the news and the story was quickly hushed.
This little-noted Iraq move to defy the US$ in favor of the euro, in itself, was insignificant. Yet, if it were to spread, especially at a point the US$ was already weakening, it could create a panic selloff of US$ by foreign central banks and OPEC oil producers. In the months before the latest Iraq war, hints in this direction were heard from Russia, Iran, Indonesia and even Venezuela. An Iranian OPEC official, Javad Yarjani, delivered a detailed analysis of how OPEC at some future point might sell its oil to the EU for euros not US$. He spoke in April, 2002 in Oviedo Spain at the invitation of the EU. All indications are that the Iraq war was seized on as the easiest way to deliver a deadly pre-emptive warning to OPEC and others, not to flirt with abandoning the Petro-dollar system in favor of one based on the euro. The Iraq move was a declaration of war against the US$. As soon as it was clear that the UK and the US had taken Iraq, a great sigh of relief was heard in the UK Banks.
First Iraq and then Libya decided to challenge the petrodollar system and stop selling all their oil for US$, shortly before each country was attacked. The cost of war is not nearly as big as it is made out to be. The cost of not going to war would be horrendous for the US unless there were another way of protecting the US$’s world trade dominance. The US pays for the wars by printing US$ it is going to war to protect.
After considerable delay, Iran opened an oil bourse which does not accept US$. Many people fear that the move will give added reason for the USA to overthrow the Iranian regime as a means to close the bourse and revert Iran’s oil transaction currency to US$. In 2006 Venezuela indicated support of Iran’s decision to offer global oil trade in euro. In 2011 Russia begins selling its oil to China in rubles
6 months before the US moved into Iraq to take down Saddam Hussein, Iraq had made the move to accept Euros instead of US$ for oil, and this became a threat to the global dominance of the US$ as the reserve currency, and its dominion as the petrodollar.
Muammar Qaddafi made a similarly bold move: he initiated a movement to refuse the US$ and the euro, and called on Arab and African nations to use a new currency instead, the gold dinar. Muammar Qaddafi suggested establishing a united African continent, with its 200 million people using this single currency. The initiative was viewed negatively by the USA and the European Union (EU), with French president Nicolas Sarkozy calling Libya a threat to the financial security of mankind; but Muammar Qaddafi continued his push for the creation of a united Africa.
Muammar Gaddafi’s recent proposal to introduce a gold dinar for Africa revives the notion of an Islamic gold dinar floated in 2003 by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, as well as by some Islamist movements. The notion, which contravenes IMF rules and is designed to bypass them, has had trouble getting started. But today Iran, China, Russia, and India are stocking more and more gold rather than US$.
If Muammar Qaddafi were to succeed in creating an African Union backed by Libya’s currency and gold reserves, France, still the predominant economic power in most of its former Central African colonies, would be the chief loser. The plans to spark the Benghazi rebellion were initiated by French intelligence services in November 2010.
In February 2011, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has called for a new world currency that would challenge the dominance of the US$ and protect against future financial instability. In May 2011 a 32 year old maid, Nafissatou Diallo, working at the Sofitel New York Hotel, alleges that Strauss-Kahn had sexually assaulted her after she entered his suite.
On Aug 18 2011, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announces a plan to pull Gold reserves from US and European Banks .Venezuela reportedly has the largest oil reserves in the world. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been a strong proponent for tighter Latin America integration – which is a move away from the power of the US banking cartels.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez formed oil export agreements with Cuba, directly bypassing the Petrodollar System. Cuba was among those countries that were later added to the “Axis of Evil” by the USA. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the US of using HAARP type weapons to create earthquakes.
On Aug 24, 2001 a 7 magnitude earthquake rocks Northern Peru bordering Venezuela which doesn’t use the Petrodollar system and Brazil which has been engaged in discussions to end US$ denominated oil transactions. Is it a coincidence that these uncommonly powerful earthquakes are occurring in historically uncommonly large numbers during such a short period of time?. And that they are occurring in or close to countries that have been seriously discussing plans to leave the Petrodollar system, or are already outside it?
HAARP stands for High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program. It is an ionospheric research program that is jointly funded by the US Air Force, the US Navy, the University of Alaska and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The HAARP program operates a major Arctic facility, known as the HAARP Research Station. It is located on an US Air Force owned site near Gakona, Alaska. HAARP has the ability to manipulate weather and produce earthquakes. It is capable of directing almost 4 Mega Watts of energy in the 3 to 10 MHz region of the HF band up into the ionosphere. This energy can be bounced off of the ionosphere and directed back down at the earth to create earthquakes. Patents have been applied for discussing such applications. HAARP could potentially be used by adversaries to produce such events.
HAARP based technology is being actively used to emit powerful radio waves that permeate the earth and subsequently cause strong enough oscillations along fault lines of targeted areas to produce earthquakes.
Thigh power radio waves of HAARP can be used to produce such intense vibrations as to cause an earthquake. HAARP based technology can be used to encourage/produce various weather phenomena such as hurricanes, flooding, or drought through manipulation of the ionosphere. Already Russia, China and Venezuela have suggested that a HAARP type technology weapon is capable of such and attack and been used against several countries causing severe destructions in Haiti, Japan, Russia, China, Iran, Chile, New Zealand, Afghanistan, India etc.
What would the probable response be to such an attack be? An armed conflict with the US? Or perhaps something more within reach and even more damaging at this point, the elimination of the Petrodollar system and a subsequent dumping of surplus US$ into the international and US financial markets resulting in the quick collapse of the US$. Attacking these countries with HAARP would destabilize their economies and currencies and to prevent a move away from the US$ and the Petrodollar system.