Populist Review

He's Got an Uncontrollable Surge...

   With his autonomous decision to send an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq, King George has assumed a dictatorial prerogative that leaves Congress no other choice but to cut funding for the war. If they don't, if they choose to debate semantics or concepts like "victory" or success," their deference will demonstrate an inability to rein this evolving dictatorship and render themselves obsolete.

   This is a watershed event for our country. In six short years, Bush has transformed the presidency into a dictatorial power, much like Hitler in 1933. Using the Reichstag fire 9-11 as a justification, he's created an American Gestapo by placing all intelligence-gathering services under military rule, hardlined to the Oval Office, and giving them sweeping powers to spy and detain American citizens. He's suspended basic constitutional rights in place for hundreds of years. He's invaded Poland Iraq with false assurances to the world and outright lies to the public. He's established secret prisons overseas where political dissidents enemy combatants can be tortured without trial or redress. He's cloaked his hegemony in anti-semetic "terrorist" propaganda to incite the citizenry to render their sons and daughters. All he needs now is an Enabling Act to elevate himself to the position of Fuhrer Decider and an edict outlawing opposition parties, and he'll be there.

  Neither can be far off.

  Fact is, Bush's audacious expansion of the war is a gauntlet thrown at the public's feet and a challenge to anyone who thinks they can override his omnipotence. And it may well be the first and last chance Congress ever gets to stop this cowboy before he ignites a global conflagration. Congress must cut funding for this war. Period. There is no other choice. Anything less, any attempt at reason or concilliation, any attempt to legitimize his criminal enterprise in the Middle East, will end in disaster, especially if he moves on Iran.

   Bush is no Hitler. That much we know. He doesn't have the cunning or the popular support. If anything, he's closer to Louis XV if the polls we read are correct. But his neocon advisors--a misnomer designed to seduce the politically naive--are fascists, through and through. And such fascists, as we learned years ago, have no respect for democracy or its institutions.

  When Bush requests the $5.6 billion he needs to pay for his ludicrous troop surge and the additional $1.2 billion he wants for "rebuilding" and "jobs programs" in Iraq, the answer from Congress should be a resounding no. Questioning the logic behind his strategy, as many in Congress have done (including Republican Sens. Smith, Colemen, Hagel, Snowe, and Brownback) or passing non-binding resolutions, as suggested by Sen. Charles Schumer, is not enough. The request for additional funds should be denied out of hand, and Sen. Kennedy's proposal to require congressional approval for troop increases should be passed quickly. Anything less would concede the authority of civilian rule and shatter our illusion of democracy.

                                                

Andrea Hackett is an freelance journalist, founder of the Las Vegas Dancers Alliance in Nevada, and editor of the Populist Review. She may be contacted at andreahackett@cox.net

China, Russia, Iran and the Collapse of the U.S. Dollar

   As calls for economic sanctions grow louder, Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, heads to China this week with seven members of the Bush administration and Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke. At issue is China’s reluctance to let its currency fluctuate against other currencies, a precondition for their 2001 entry into the WTO, and their practice of intervening in foreign exchange markets to keep the yuan artificially low. Both actions violate the terms of their “most-favored” trading status and both have had devastating effects on U.S. manufacturing and Sino-American trade balances.

  But the threat of sanctions, or even the sanctions themselves, may do little to dissuade the Chinese. With over $1 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, mostly in dollar-denominated treasury and mortgage-backed securities, the Chinese clearly have the upper hand. They currently have enough assets to buy all the gold in all the world’s central banks twice over. They have enough reserves to buy all the residential property in London. A mere 5% of their assets, if properly invested, could buy the world’s annual mine production every year into perpetuity. To put it bluntly, if this were a game of Monopoly, China would have enough cash to buy every property on the board and line them with ritzy hotels. The U.S., by comparison, would be lucky to make it past “Go” without landing on Boardwalk or going broke. In light of the situation, we think it unlikely our delegation will reach any meaningful agreement.

    And yet, something must be done. China’s dollar-denominated reserves currently represent 70% of their holdings, due in part to their scheme to keep the yuan low by compelling their central bank to buy incoming dollars. But that ratio may be a-changin' in the months ahead. On Nov. 9^th of this year, the governor of China’s central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, was quoted as saying that China plans to diversify its assets into “many instruments,” a euphemism for “away from the dollar.” Two weeks later, Wu Xiaoling, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China―ranked by Forbes as the 35^th most powerful woman in the world―wrote an academic paper in which she stated: “The exchange rate of the U.S. dollar, which is the major reserve currency, is going lower, increasing the depreciation risk for East Asian reserve assets."

  She’s right. The dollar has been slipping. And “Helicopter Ben,” the nickname given Ben Bernanke after he advocated―somewhat tongue-in-cheek―tossing dollars from helicopters to keep the dollar weak and exports affordable, is hardly the guy to incite confidence in foreign investments. He's also in an impossible situation. If he raises interest rates to bolster the dollar, he risks tanking the U.S. economy. If he lowers interest rates to stimulate the economy, he risks a run on the dollar. Small wonder he’s chosen the path of least resistance: stay the course.

  But “stay the course” may not work very long. The International Monetary Fund― hardly an objective observer―has warned “the U.S. is on course to increase its net external liabilities to around 40% of its GDP within the next few years.” Forty percent! In the face of such untoward debt, the traditional wisdom that the dollar offers the world’s safest investment is being questioned as never before. And many of those questioning that rationale are opposed to our foreign policy and are newly self-sufficient. Russia is now the world’s largest energy supplier, surpassing even Saudi Arabia. They also have the world’s largest gas reserves, followed closely by Iran. Add the fact that Russia is the world’s leader in arms deals with increased shipments to Iran and China, and you get an unsettling picture. Russia, China, and Iran have developed close ties in the last few years and Russia has begun shedding its dollar reserves for gold. A decision by the Chinese to shift their reserves, or any portion thereof, into yen, gold, or euros would likely be followed by many others: Venezuela, Indonesia, Norway, Sudan, Nigeria, the Central Asian Republics, to name just a few. The reverberations from such a shift would wreak havoc for the dollar.

   That is what this meeting is all about. After all the threats and tough rhetoric about Chinese compliance and economic sanctions have been aired for the American public, Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and company will be pleading with the Chinese to keep their reserves in dollar denominated securities. And, for the time being, they may succeed. If the Chinese move part of their cash into euros, their remaining dollar reserves will lose money as the dollar becomes depressed. They’d then have to pony up more dollar-denominated securities to keep the yuan low. If they shift substantial amounts into euros, the U.S. economy would tank and their products would become too expensive for American consumers. If, on the other hand, they let their currency float, these inequities would be corrected. So, why is China so reluctant to do so?

   In our opinion, their reluctance underscores an undisclosed agenda. China's military build-up has been fast and relentless, but it still lags behind the U.S. If and when they achieve military parity, we may be in deep trouble. In the meantime, the fact that they could cripple our economy by simply shifting their dollar reserves should be a wake-up call for our leaders. Lower interest rates and a weak currency may play well in Peoria. But our future depends on the strength and integrity of the U.S. dollar. For the time being, China has the economic edge. But if we don't get our house in order quickly, that edge may become our ultimate undoing.

               

                                                   

Andrea Hackett is an freelance journalist, founder of the Las Vegas Dancers Alliance in Nevada, and editor of the Populist Review. She may be contacted at andreahackett@cox.net

Seoul Searching

   With missiles aimed at their cities and a wave of refuges set to cross the DMZ at the first sign of hostilities, is it any wonder President Bush was snubbed by the South Koreans in his attempt to rally support for a U.S.-backed plan to intercept inbound shipping to North Korea? The South Koreans know how their neighbors to the north escalated their technology to such a point as to pose a threat to their neighbors and the world (despite a U.S. embargo). They did it with the help of Rev. Sun Myoung Moon, the man who built his fortune using military mind-control tactics on our kids while claiming to be the new messiah, sent to finish the failed mission of Jesus Christ. 

  But is Rev. Moon still active?

  Sadly, the answer is yes. Most Americans are unaware of Moon’s sprawling presence, aside from his control of the Washington Times, but fronts for his Unification Church are everywhere: United Press International, American Family Coalition, American Council for World Freedom, American Freedom Coalition, Christian Voice―an organization that worked closely with Tim LaHaye’s Coalition for Traditional Values―American Parents Association, First Amendment Research Institute, International Coalition for Religious Freedom―which boasts Jerry Falwell as an initial board member―International Family Association, International Security Council, True World Foods, which provides much of the sushi served in American restaurants. The list goes on and on.

   Most Americans are also unaware that many players in the Religious Right have been linked to Moon, who himself is linked with South Korea’s neo-fascist intelligence service and violent anti-communist organizations. Jon Podhoretz of FOX television, Rod Godwin, who left Moral Majority to become business manager for Moon’s Insight Magazine, Louis Jenkins, who founded Friends of the Americas (FOA), identified by Contra leaders as a principle source of their supplies, Tim LaHaye, the best-selling Christian author who writes “rapture” fantasies and founded the Moral Majority.

  They’re also unaware of Moon’s intimate relationship with the Bush family, a relationship that dates back decades. It’s estimated that Rev. Moon funneled as much as $10 million to George Bush, Sr. during the course of the ‘80’s and ’90. Bush also received compensation for addressing Moon gatherings, as he did in Japan where he received “six figures” for his efforts see article.

   What did he have to say about Moon?  

   In one such address, Bush hailed the self-styled demi-god as “the man with the vision” even as Moon was calling American women descendents of a “line of prostitutes” and America “Satan’s harvest.”

  But the Bush family knows a good harvest when they see one and Moon’s rabidly right-wing, Washington Times―hailed by President Reagan as his “favorite newspaper”―has been nothing if not part of that harvest. They supported the illegal war against the Sandinistas and countered well-documented allegations of drug trafficking by the Bush-backed Contras. They led the charge against Lawrence Walsh, special prosecutor in the Iran-Contra hearings, when he threatened to expose the cover-up that protected George Bush. They published false rumors about Michael Dukakas’ mental instability when he outpolled the senior Bush and spread false rumors that Bill Clinton had been recruited by the KGB during a college trip to Moscow.

  And what has Moon received for his efforts? For one thing, taxpayer money. During the 2000 campaign, Moon operatives pushed hard for Bush’s “faith-based” initiative which most people assumed would funnel cash to more traditional organizations. But Moon’s organizations benefited handsomely from the program. Free Teens, an after-school celibacy program run by former high-ranking officials in the Unification Church, received a $475,280 grant for “abstinence education.” Another Moon front, Service For Peace, received $80,000 to provide support projects to coincide with the Martin Luther King, Jr Day of Service. Other Moon groups received money for “marriage improvement” seminars to promote Moon’s right-wing agenda to “purify our sex-corrupted culture” and rid the country of gays (who he calls “dung-eating dogs”). Indeed, James Towley, Director of the White House on Faith Based and Community Initiatives, speaking at a conference sponsored by the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace―another Moon front―announced without hyperbole that Bush’s faith-based initiative was “the centerpiece of the president’s domestic policy.” Such priorities, at a time when our national energy crisis was growing to crisis proportions, serves only to underscore the unholy alliance between Bush and the Reverend Moon.

  In 2003, Bush appointed David Caprara, a Moon operative from Moon’s American Family Coalition to head AmeriCorps. In 2005, as the bodies piled up in New Orleans, the Universal Peace Federation, another Moon front, gave $1 million to Bush’s Points of Light Foundation, ostensibly to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Moon's Washington Times Foundation then purchased education materials from Ignite! Learning, a company owned by Neil Bush that benefited nicely from Hurricane Katrina through donations “earmarked” for his products. This summer, the Houston Chronicle reported that Moon’s Washington Times gave $1 million to the Greater Houston Community Foundation at A&M University (home to Bob Gates)―money that reappeared in a donation to Bush’s presidential library. The connections are relentless and irrefutable.

  But what do Moon’s ties to the Bush family have to do with the North Koreans?

  According to Defense Intelligence Agency documents, Moon’s business empire paid North Korea’s communist leaders millions of dollars in the early ‘90’s at a time when the North Korean government was desperate for cash. The payments included a $3 million “birthday present” to communist leader, Kim Jong II, and offshore payments to the previous communist leader, Kim Sung II, in the order of “tens of millions” of dollars. The Washington Times then attacked President Clinton for failing to be more aggressive in defending the country against North Korea’s missile program. Whether or not that missle program could have been started without Moon’s help is up for debate.   

   But there's no debating the fact that Moon’s agenda has been greatly enhanced by the Bush family―an agenda that calls for Korea's reunification, presumably under fascist rule. And there's no doubt the South Koreans know this. They also realize their security, and the stability of the region, has been greatly eclipsed by this tip in the balance of power. Is it any wonder they're hesitant to provoke hostilities?

                                                   

Andrea Hackett is an freelance journalist, founder of the Las Vegas Dancers Alliance in Nevada, and editor of the Populist Review. She may be contacted at andreahackett@cox.net