The American empire is falling with the dollar

[M.A.D.]

i talked to the manager of one of the leading banks last friday and she said that the bankers forcasted that the dollar will dip to 38 pesos to a dollar but will bounce back after it reaches its lowest low so to speak.

i mean America will still be the strongest country and economy in the world. for them, this is just a temporary set back. the world's biggest bully will certainly not allow this to happen to itself, at least not for a long time.

Maybe. But it will be very difficult for them to gain lost ground. If more countries will allow other types of currency in the energy trade this will make it much more difficult, if not impossible for the dollar to regain its former glory. China has that trump card, they hold one of the largest foreign dollar reserves in the world. And china is currently in conflict with the US in sudan because both of them have energy interests there. The chinese offer a better bargaining chip, and bush ain't happy.

Once Iran finishes their nuclear power program - they will increase oil output since they won't have to consume much of their own oil for power generation. They would flood the market with more oil readily and they won't be accepting USD.
[br]Posted on: November 13, 2007, 12:50:21 PM_________________________________________________

thats a bit far fetched and obviously not written by a real journalist. I mean the entire segment about those military bases is utter none sense.
I liked Putins quote though, it's quite obvious that it's true. Putin isn't a real friend to democracy either, lets see if he manages to stay somehow in power after his term ends. Since Bush will be finally leaving for sure

Well if you take his point literally it would not make any sense. But it looks like he is stressing the bases for its value-for-value equivalent in terms of not only military, but economical value. Since it is quite obvious the deployment of those bases are not in favor with the best interests of the US majority, but is dictated by the few who only have farsight for their own interests. This obviously is not by an economist, since there is no empirical data to show. But it is quite suprising that some of the things mentioned here are happening now. And maybe soon others may follow suit.

OT: Maybe china has good reason to ban bloggers that challenge their government since a news like this will never cater to their liking.(if china were in the shoes of the US in this case)

[LytSlpr]

Maybe. But it will be very difficult for them to gain lost ground. If more countries will allow other types of currency in the energy trade this will make it much more difficult, if not impossible for the dollar to regain its former glory. China has that trump card, they hold one of the largest foreign dollar reserves in the world. And china is currently in conflict with the US in sudan because both of them have energy interests there. The chinese offer a better bargaining chip, and bush ain't happy.

Once Iran finishes their nuclear power program - they will increase oil output since they won't have to consume much of their own oil for power generation. They would flood the market with more oil readily and they won't be accepting USD.

True enough but in the long run it is very most unlikely. This analogy could be true but is too speculative at this point. I mean America will still be America, the economic giant regardless of this setback. Uncle Sam will always find ways. Even if they have to OWN Iraq to make up for "lost ground" so to speak.

[rodsky]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n3g5lUgkWk

-RODION

[M.A.D.]

True enough but in the long run it is very most unlikely. This analogy could be true but is too speculative at this point. I mean America will still be America, the economic giant regardless of this setback. Uncle Sam will always find ways. Even if they have to OWN Iraq to make up for "lost ground" so to speak.

Well all we can do is hope for the best for america. It seems like it won't be easy to defeat the spirit of the Iraqi people.

US-IRAQ: Ill-Equipped Soldiers Opt for "Search and Avoid"
WATERTOWN, New York, Oct 24 (IPS) - Iraq war veterans now stationed at a base here say that morale among U.S. soldiers in the country is so poor, many are simply parking their Humvees and pretending to be on patrol, a practice dubbed "search and avoid" missions.

Phil Aliff is an active duty soldier with the 10th Mountain Division stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York. He served nearly one year in Iraq from August 2005 to July 2006, in the areas of Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, both west of Baghdad.

"Morale was incredibly low," said Aliff, adding that he joined the military because he was raised in a poor family by a single mother and had few other prospects. "Most men in my platoon in Iraq were just in from combat tours in Afghanistan."

According to Aliff, their mission was to help the Iraqi Army "stand up" in the Abu Ghraib area of western Baghdad, but in fact his platoon was doing all the fighting without support from the Iraqis they were supposedly preparing to take control of the security situation.

"I never heard of an Iraqi unit that was able to operate on their own," said Aliff, who is now a member of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). "The only reason we were replaced by an Iraqi Army unit was for publicity."

Aliff said he participated in roughly 300 patrols. "We were hit by so many roadside bombs we became incredibly demoralised, so we decided the only way we wouldn't be blown up was to avoid driving around all the time."

"So we would go find an open field and park, and call our base every hour to tell them we were searching for weapons caches in the fields and doing weapons patrols and everything was going fine," he said, adding, "All our enlisted people became very disenchanted with our chain of command."

Aliff, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), refused to return to Iraq with his unit, which arrived in Kirkuk two weeks ago. "They've already lost a guy, and they are now fostering the sectarian violence by arming the Sunnis while supporting the Shia politically ... classic divide and conquer."

Aliff told IPS he is set to be discharged by the military next month because they claim his PTSD "is untreatable by their doctors".

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the number of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking treatment for PTSD increased nearly 70 percent in the 12 months ending on Jun. 30.

The nearly 50,000 VA-documented PTSD cases greatly exceed the 30,000 military personnel that the Pentagon officially classifies as wounded in both occupations.

VA records show that mental health has become the second-largest area of illness for which veterans of the ongoing occupations are seeking treatment at VA hospitals and clinics. The total number of mental health cases among war veterans increased by 58 percent; from 63,767 on Jun. 30, 2006, to 100,580 on Jun. 30, 2007, according to the VA.

Other active duty Iraq veterans tell similar stories of disobeying orders so as not to be attacked so frequently.

"We'd go to the end of our patrol route and set up on top of a bridge and use it as an over-watch position," Eli Wright, also an active duty soldier with the 10th Mountain Division, told IPS. "We would just sit with our binoculars and observe rather than sweep. We'd call in radio checks every hour and say we were doing sweeps."

Wright added, "It was a common tactic, a lot of people did that. We'd just hang out, listen to music, smoke cigarettes, and pretend."

The 26-year-old medic complained that his unit did not have any armoured Humvees during his time in Iraq, where he was stationed in Ramadi, capital of the volatile Al Anbar province.

"We put sandbags on the floors of our vehicles, which had canvas doors," said Wright, who was in Iraq from September 2003 until September 2004. "By the end of our tour, we were bolting any metal we could find to our Humvees. Everyone was doing this, and we didn't get armoured Humvees in country until after we left."

Other veterans, like 25-year-old Nathan Lewis, who was in Iraq for the invasion of March 2003 until June of that year while serving in the 214th field artillery brigade, complained of lack of training for what they were ordered to do, in addition to not having armoured Humvees for their travels.

"We never got training for a lot of the work we did," he explained. "We had a white phosphorous mortar round that cooked off in the back of one of our trucks, because we loaded that with some other ammo, and we weren't trained how to do it the right way." The "search and avoid" missions appear to have been commonplace around much of Iraq for years now.

Geoff Millard served nine years in the New York Army National Guard, and was in Iraq from October 2004 until October 2005 working for a general at a Tactical Operation Centre.

Millard, also a member of IVAW, said that part of his duties included reporting "significant actions", or SIGACTS, which is how the U.S. military describes an attack on their forces.

"We had units that never called in SIGACTS," Millard, who monitored highly volatile areas like Baquba, Tikrit and Samarra, told IPS. "When I was there two years ago, there were at least five companies that never had SIGACTS. I think 'search and avoids' have been going on there for a long time."

Millard told IPS "search and avoid" missions continue today across Iraq.

"One of my buddies is in Baghdad right now and we email all the time," he explained, "He just told me that nearly each day they pull into a parking lot, drink soda, and shoot at the cans. They pay Iraqi kids to bring them things and spread the word that they are not doing anything and to please just leave them alone."

(END/2007)

LINK: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39788

[ichor_82283]

thats a bit far fetched and obviously not written by a real journalist. I mean the entire segment about those military bases is utter none sense.
I liked Putins quote though, it's quite obvious that it's true. Putin isn't a real friend to democracy either, lets see if he manages to stay somehow in power after his term ends. Since Bush will be finally leaving for sure

I agree on the matter that of the segment military bases as utter non-sense. What a plot to as if defend US with 15 more military bases in every state and to quote the expenditures involved in maintaining these bases. It is totally absurd. the more to mention that more soldiers to protect their homeland if these more than 700 bases are brought home. He talk about security and economy when this writer does not really know what are the consequences not just for US alone but to all. Though, I did not very well mean that peace solely rests on US power.

I believe, this article is a product of a coined sentiment, opinion, and truth molded into a piece of truth that isn't the whole truth.

I like the quote on Hugo Chavez, of Putin, and Ecuador. yet it does not persuade me to totally believe the writer in its entiretity. LET AN ECONOMIST balance the truth on ECONOMY.

True that some of the things mentioned in the article are happening, but it does not still tell the whole. It only tells what it has seen and not from what, permit me to say, of an economist. It does not follow when most are seen, it is the thing.

If dollar plummets and peso soars, a good thing. If dollar plummets and all dollar reserves of each country are replaced with a more stable currency, the world will be in chaos.

[tackielarla]

IMHO, I think the US is doing this intentionally para maka compete sila sa currency sa China, who is artificially lowering its currency.

[Spec-V]

sa katong nag sulti ug nag-ingon diri nga imperealismo ug nag naka-saway sa pa-maagi sa U.S. ug nag Handom nga mo Fail miserably ang U.S.....pastilan dyud mo!!

Sa Presidente pa si Estrada..Nag yango-ngo ang Gobyerno sa Pilipinas didto sa U.S. kay gi Haras pag ayo ang atong Philppine Navy sa mga Insik diha sa Spratly's! Kadarato na-ay external or internal threat dayon "Yango-ngo" didto dayon sa U.S.

Adto na lang mo sa uban nasod mag "Yango-ngo" Diha! Hilas baya ninyo UY!!!

[vern]

With the millions of dollars that come into the Philippine economy, who in their right mind would think this would be good for the Philippines? Use your heads! For all the benefit the Philippines gets out of the US, people talk like they've been molested, never mind their own failures as a Filipino. Elect more great presidents please, elect more self-serving politicians please ... so you can bitch more about anything other than yourselves because it can't be you, it must be someone else. This goes back to how people in the Philippines demonize those who have left the country, but they themselves are more than willing to take. Take ... but never give ... never appreciate ... just take. Ahhh, the Philippines, the land of the friendly, the land of Christians, the land of great culture, the land of taking, never giving ... not even amongst themselves. Those who give are few and far in between.

[Hozenyan]

Elect more great presidents please, elect more self-serving politicians please ...

right back at you ... right back at you... hehe.
OT:
Of course it wouldn't benefit the Philippines if the US would go down, but it is still funny how someone who has so little faith in the Philippine people is moderating a bisdak forum.The fact that Filipinos tend to vote idiots and actors into office is in my opinion fault of the lack of information sources and lack of education. I mean most people here have only two channels to gather information from, and both channels are producing garbage, but the masses here like it, since it distracts them from their problems for a while... Even though a lot of people don't see it, the country is developing despite the lack of leadership in some places, of course not all people are receiving the benefits of the growth but it's enough to look with optimism into the future of this country.

what is your excuse for having elected your current administration? two times?

(im aware that i am generalizing the Americans, so i can answer your generalization if the Filipinos)

I think nobody seriously thinks that your "land of the brave" is falling apart any time soon, but there sure is a growing anti American notion which leads to opinions like these (yes, that article is obviously an opinion not a fact). But who cares right? everyone who criticizes America and isn't an American must be jealous or something. And blaming people to hate America or bush just because Hollywood does so is a rather weak argument, believe me, there are other factors that lead to the fact that people are disliking your beloved beacon of democracy.

[vern]

Bush probably isn't the greatest president the US has ever had, but only history will tell if he was a bad one. People don't like him, Americans and non-Americans alike, but that is democracy, not everyone agrees ... still things get done whether he is loved or not. I don't need an excuse for Bush. You do not like him, I don't like him, but others have other opinions, why would I need an excuse when I have nothing to excuse myself of? He was elected, obviously people have their reasons and unlike some other presidents, he has not been ousted out of offce, he is not a dictator. After the election, he will go on his merry way to Texas to tend to his cattle. History and the Philippine people have already judged the quality of a few Philippine leaders ... ahem Marcos/Erap. The checks and balances of the Philippine democracy has failed the people many times over and what we have are a few families, a few politicians with a tight grip on power. What is your excuse to elect two people to power and then remove them? Lack of education doesn't cut it, democracy does not require a PHD to take part of. This is not about faith, it is about what is happening. Development without leadership only serves to benefit the elite ... those who have, not those who don't. Sure it is nice that the simple man can get a few more pesos here and a few more pesos there, but that is settling for crumbs off the table. If that is what the Philippines wants, I have no pity for it. It can become another India, a nuclear power, rapid IT development, and many more ... yet millions ... more than double that of the entire population of the Philippines ... in poverty.

As for me moderating a Bisdak forum, I don't have to love the Philippine government to love the Philippines just as Americans don't have to love Bush to love America. This is also a forum for discussion, if you would like to discuss topics with those who think alike, join a political party ... because that is not istorya.

I am fully aware that the US is disliked in many parts of the world. They have every right to dislike the US. The US imposes itself where I believe the US does not belong. The US sometimes backs leaders that are unfit for leadership. The US says one thing and does another. The US bullies people because of it's economic might. Some of the many reasons people do not like the US. What boggles my head is how certain people that have never been affected by US policy, people who benefit from the US ... can turn around and talk like the US bombed their cat. Have a goddamn point! Don't take pages clips from Steven Colbert and say "lol, US sucks". It's witty, a lot of the time funny, doesn't win you anything. If people had an actual point, I'd tell them that I agree, many times I won't even say anything, because I already know why the US should be hated. The problem is, people don't know why exactly they hate the US except what the TV says.

You speak "beacon of democracy" like that title should belong to someone else. If not the US ... who? ... France?

Let me end with just a thought, the US may not be the world's knight in shining armor, it might not be fair, the things it does might not please everyone, but the world is better off with the US. Two thousand years of history and human struggle is testament to this fact. Which superpower would the world prefer? ... Russia? Napoleon's France? Nazi Germany? the Mongols? Imperial Japan? a Chinese dynasty? the Romans?