Bob fisk is a passionate character, quite the performer (definitely go to see him speak if he’s ever in town) and I’m sure he means well, but I wouldn’t assume anything he reports is exactly gospel 
Another one I’d put in the same boat is seymour hersch. He’s been predicting a military attack on iran of some sort for several years now – every time it’s been based on impeccable sources, and every time he’s been dead wrong.
I think this nervousness about currencies just shows that the US is feeling exposed. You guys really do reap dividends from having so many global transactions (including your own debts) measured in something you print yourselves. It shouldn’t MATTER if the middle east starts trading in euros (it certainly doesn’t matter to most other countries – I think australia’s central bank has most of its foreign currency in euros now), but apparently it’s something the US is (presumed to be) sensitive about. Tough luck, I reckon – this is the sort of risk of fluctuations that everyone else has to live with, and you’re not far off no longer being the world’s biggest economy any more. You had your time in the special seat It can’t hurt to have the world’s biggest military suddenly become painfully concerned about global stability for a change (although that’s increasingly the case these days anyway).
