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Seymour Hersh: "We've Been Taken Over by a Cult"

Mcluhan

New member
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh who broke the Abu Ghraib story, the My Lia massacre, and has written eight books, including "Against All Enemies," which details the extent of Gulf War Syndrome, "The Samson Option" which chronicled Israel’s secret stockpiling of nuclear weapons, apparently has another book coming. Here's an interview with Amy Goodman on the subject.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/26/1450204

I found interesting his comments predicting the possibility of Europe and the Russians switching to buying oil in Euros, if the economic calamity of the mounting debt craters the US economy.

Excerpts from the interview:

The press is nowhere. The congress is nowhere. The military is nowhere. Every four-star General I know is saying, “Who is going to tell them we have no clothes?” Nobody is going to do it. Everybody is afraid to tell Rumsfeld anything. That's just the way it is. It's a system built on fear. It's not lack of integrity, it's more profound than that. Because there is individual integrity. It's a system that's completely been taken over -- by cultists.

Another salvation may be the economy. It's going to go very bad, folks. You know, if you have not sold your stocks and bought property in Italy, you better do it quick...

Europe is not going to tolerate us much longer. The rage there is enormous…. I'm talking about our old-fashioned allies. We could see something there, collective action against us… as the dollar goes bad and everybody stops buying our bonds, our credit -- our -- we're spending $2 billion a day to float the debt, and one of these days, the Japanese and the Russians, everybody is going to start buying oil in Euros instead of dollars. We're going to see enormous panic here.
 
Jan 24, 2004
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The Vegetative State
Interesting article from The Economist -

And no, I'm not chanelling OTB. This is from the end of December:

Further to fall

Dec 29th 2004
From The Economist print edition


A new year is likely to bring a new low for the dollar

THE dollar ended the year as it began: heading downhill. It hit a new low against the euro, below $1.36, on December 28th. Against the yen, it was steadier: ¥103, slightly stronger than in late November. The yen has risen by less than the euro because, although the Bank of Japan has not intervened in the foreign-exchange markets since March, the bank looks more likely to act than the European Central Bank. Japan's finance minister, Sadakazu Tanigaki, gave warning this week that his country's authorities would monitor foreign-exchange markets over the New Year holiday. In contrast, Gerrit Zalm, the Dutch finance minister, suggested that the euro's rise so far was acceptable.

Since early 2002 the dollar has lost 37% against the euro and 24% against the yen. But it has shed only 16% against the Federal Reserve's broad basket of currencies, because many Asian currencies are pegged or closely tied to the greenback.

The cause of the dollar's decline is hardly a mystery: private investors are less eager to finance America's huge current-account deficit. The deficit widened slightly in the third quarter of 2004, to a record $165 billion, or 5.6% of GDP. If the deficit remains so big, America's foreign debt burden and hence its debt-service payments will increase sharply.

So far, America's mounting foreign liabilities have not harmed its economy because the rise in its debt in recent years has been offset by lower interest rates. As a result, America still enjoys a net inflow of foreign investment income despite being the world's biggest debtor. But, as interest rates rise, refinancing America's debt will become more costly. Goldman Sachs forecasts that net foreign investment income is likely to shift to a sizeable deficit during 2005, growing thereafter. The investment bank estimates that, if America's current-account deficit remains steady as a share of GDP and interest rates average 5% in future, net foreign debt-service payments will reach 4% of GDP by 2020—a significant drag on American living standards.

By most measures the dollar is already undervalued, but experience suggests that it will need to fall further still to cut the deficit to a sustainable level, say 2-3% of GDP. Capital Economics, a London research firm, forecasts that the dollar will fall to $1.40 against the euro and to ¥90 by the end of 2005. But it expects the dollar to recover against the British pound to $1.82 from $1.93 today, as British interest rates are cut in the wake of falling house prices.
 

danmand

Well-known member
Nov 28, 2003
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I have seen Hersh on TV a few times the last few weeks. He seems convinced that the US have advance commandos in Iran, and that military actions against selected targets are coming this summer.
I have a very hard time believing that the US military would agree to such a stupid move, which for sure would make the Iraqi situation totally untenable.
 

Mcluhan

New member
Drunken Master said:
Here's another Economist article that says much of the same thing:

http://www.economist.com/finance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3445928
Ahh yes, the infallible Economist Magazine. I have three questions for you DM,

#1 did the Economist Magazine predict Britian’s famous convertibility crisis in 1947?

#2 by how much did the Pound fall in three days?

#3 which country’s central bank converted their reserves to USD from Sterling and precipitated the crisis?
 
Jan 24, 2004
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The Vegetative State
Mcluhan said:
Ahh yes, the infallible Economist Magazine. I have three questions for you DM,

#1 did the Economist Magazine predict Britian’s famous convertibility crisis in 1947?

#2 by how much did the Pound fall in three days?

#3 which country’s central bank converted their reserves to USD from Sterling and precipitated the crisis?
1. Oh, I guess they didn't. What, are you thinking the Economist is only reporting on the fall of dollar hoping the glory days of the sterling might come again? ;)

2. Dunno. It did lose 30% of its value by 1949.

3. Um, I'll guess Canada, since we did lend them 1.25 billion as part of Keynes's plan which lead to full convertability.
 

Mcluhan

New member
Drunken Master said:
1. Oh, I guess they didn't. What, are you thinking the Economist is only reporting on the fall of dollar hoping the glory days of the sterling might come again? ;)

2. Dunno. It did lose 30% of its value by 1949.

3. Um, I'll guess Canada, since we did lend them 1.25 billion as part of Keynes's plan which lead to full convertability.


#1 lol..I never thought of that! Yes, could be a subversive plot by the Conservatives ..first they let Tony win..twice.. fake the US into thinking they have support for a M.E. invasion which they know all along was planned, Labour absorbs the fallout of committing troops and falls everafter into discredit, meanwhile MI5 has an operative planted in the Economist to write buoyant articles supporting the undervalued theory of the USD against global currencies even in the face of a strengthening Euro and unprecidented US trade deficit and foreign debt.. all the time Britain is discretely steadily buying Euros though Barkleys offshore and the Bank Of Scotland, unloading USD and converting their reserves to Euros in preparation for the moment when the USD falls 30% overnight on electronic trading as E.U. and Russia form a pact to trade Iran’s oil valued in Euros… gold soars..and China is left holding debt assets worth 30% less in 24 hours. Diabolically brilliant DM!

#2 answer: it dropped one third in three days and the US dollar took over as the global currency standard by proping it up.

#3 it was the Bank of India; they dumped their Sterling treasury assets for USD and precipitated the crisis causing Sterling to fall through the floor
 
Jan 24, 2004
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The Vegetative State
Mcluhan said:
#1 lol..I never thought of that! Yes, could be a subversive plot by the Conservatives ..first they let Tony win..twice.. fake the US into thinking they have support for a M.E. invasion which they know all along was planned, Labour absorbs the fallout of committing troops and falls everafter into discredit, meanwhile MI5 has an operative planted in the Economist to write buoyant articles supporting the undervalued theory of the USD against global currencies even in the face of a strengthening Euro and unprecidented US trade deficit and foreign debt.. all the time Britain is discretely steadily buying Euros though Barkleys offshore and the Bank Of Scotland, unloading USD and converting their reserves to Euros in preparation for the moment when the USD falls 30% overnight on electronic trading as E.U. and Russia form a pact to trade Iran’s oil valued in Euros… gold soars..and China is left holding debt assets worth 30% less in 24 hours. Diabolically brilliant DM!
Oh, I have my theories.......

Anyway, even if they are trotting out the old "undervalued" shitck, they do at least acknowledge that at the moment the dollar is unwell.
 

Mcluhan

New member
Drunken Master said:
Oh, I have my theories.......

Anyway, even if they are trotting out the old "undervalued" shitck, they do at least acknowledge that at the moment the dollar is unwell.
Yes, we all have our theories. I am usually wrong when it comes to predicting money markets..good thing I don't play Forex. And for sure Hersh is no economist...not that it matters...because they are usually half right also. But it is interesting to hear him rattle that big chain on the subject of the US dollar and in connection with oil evaluation. I like what he said otherwise through...lol but that's of course only because his point of view matches my own on just about all of it, especially the media and the 'subversive' comments. The US is still fighting a war...these subversives are actualkly resistance fighters...one wonders where their hospitals are...and where do their wounded go..
 
Y

yychobbyist

Finally got through the Hersch interview. He's a compelling guy with compelling ideas. He makes you think. And I think that 30 years from now we'll look back on what's going on today and we'll be saying "why the hell didn't we do something about those scary fuckers?" Our kids will be asking the same thing. And what will we tell them? That anyone who asked hard questions was denounced? What a sad commentary.
 

Mcluhan

New member
yychobbyist said:
Finally got through the Hersch interview. He's a compelling guy with compelling ideas. He makes you think. And I think that 30 years from now we'll look back on what's going on today and we'll be saying "why the hell didn't we do something about those scary fuckers?" Our kids will be asking the same thing. And what will we tell them? That anyone who asked hard questions was denounced? What a sad commentary.
I couldn't agree with you more. It's scary as shit. What (edited to redeem good taste from poor) perceive as my blind hate for Bush, is actually a mix of 51% fear, and the balance loathing. The blinders are full off on this cowboy, and hate doesn't quite measure my reaction. As a footnote the above discussion on the Economist, in 1998 when oil was at $12.00 The Economist wrote a piece that was very bearish on oil...lol..now at $50 a barrel. Course they probably didn't foresee that China's domestic car purchases would double the number of cars in the country over a two year period from 2002 to 2004... and that appears to headed nowhere but up.. While the rest of the world currently thinks oil is going to decline..I would be going long. But then I am the contrarist in the crowd.

Peace.
 
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Asterix

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Aug 6, 2002
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Mcluhan said:
I couldn't agree with you more. It's scary as shit. What Ernst Zundle et al perceive as my blind hate for Bush....
If this is in reference to a particular member on the board, don't you think that's a bit over the top?
 

langeweile

Banned
Sep 21, 2004
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In a van down by the river
Mcluhan said:
Abu Ghraib and My Lia were...?

There is a big difference between reporting on facts like Abu Gharib and My Lai and somehow impliying that the US goverment is taken over by a cult.

One is called good journalism the other is called opinion. When it comes to opinions I like to know the persons background. This usually explains the persons opinion and/or agenda.

Nobody is ever a 100% objective.
 
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