February 1, 2005
Kamloops Daily News



If any other country in the world had the national deficit
of the United States, it would be invaded by the men in
pinstripe suits from the World Bank.  The bankers would
impose restrictions on all spending - - military, education,
and social programs - - until the country got their
financial affairs in order.

But, as American conservatives will tell you, the U.S. is a
special place where world rules don’t apply.  This is
especially true of the U.S. dollar.  The U.S. dollar is a
universal currency, the only one in the world accepted by
all foreign creditors.

It doesn’t matter that the U.S. economy has been near
recession since President Bush came to office. As a
privileged currency, the U.S. can print as much money as it
needs.  Pierre Parisien, an economic analyst, says "the U.S.
can create all the money it needs to buy whatever it wants
from anyone - - which is almost like getting it for free."

It doesn’t matter that government is starved for cash for
social spending because of tax cuts to the rich.

It doesn’t matter that the U.S. has a trade imbalance with
almost every country in the world.   In the American view of
the world there are no foreign countries, only corporate
branch offices bought with low-interest U.S. dollars.  In
this ideology, the trade imbalances are simply between
international branches of the U.S., not between countries.

The strength of the U.S. dollar results in world dominance
in the areas of politics, technology, and military might. 
It explains why the U.S. can survive enormous trade deficits
and military spending that exceeds the rest of the world.

The U.S. dollar has real value but it’s not the gold stored
in Fort Knox.  The gold standard was terminated by U.S.
president Nixon in 1971.  The U.S. dollar is now backed by
oil.

Oil is more precious than gold.  Gold can’t grease U.S.
military machine.  Gold can’t feed the world like oil can.

Fossil fuel fertilization resulted in the so-called "green
revolution" of the 1960s.   Along with minor tinkering in
crop genetics,  it  allowed food crops to be produced on
formerly dead soil.

As long as oil is sold in U.S. dollars only, the link
between the currency and oil is assured.   And it is vital
to U.S. domination that the link be maintained. 

The dominance of U.S. "black gold" is insured by
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties.   Since its
inception, OPEC agreed that it would accept only U.S.
dollars as payment for oil.

Contravention of this agreement would be a serious threat to
the U.S. dollar,  a threat that would have to be confronted
immediately.

That’s what the U.S. did when Iraq decided  to accept the
European euro in 2001 instead of the U.S. dollar.  The
attacks of September 11 provided a convenient excuse for the
U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The U.S. plans to set up a puppet government in Iraq that
would perpetuate the strength of the petrodollar.   The Iraq
invasion serves as an example to other counties of what they
can expect if they even think about selling oil in euros.  
Iran and Venezuela will reconsider plans to sell euro-oil.

The U.S. plan might not go as contrived, depending on the
outcome of the election in Iraq last Sunday.   A  Shia
majority will not likely result in the friendly, compliant
government that the U.S. hopes for.  It is more likely to be
a fundamentalist Muslim government, like that in Iran.

It is imperative for the U.S. that the dollars-for-oil
connection be maintained.

"If this connection should be broken,"  says Parisien in his
article written for the Canadian Center for Policy
Alternatives, " if OPEC, the European Union, and other
economic players were to mount an effective challenge to the
dollar’s supremacy, the U.S. would be forced to curtail its
massive military spending, scrap its costly proposed
militarization of space, and abandon most of its hundred or
more military bases around the world."

The U.S. would have to deal more realistically with its
economic problems and massive financial deficits instead of
relying on the universal acceptance of its currency.  It
might start dealing with domestic poverty and lack of health
insurance for 40 million Americans.

"Eventually, the whole world, including the United States
itself, would be better off," concludes Parisien.

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