Egypt, Syria and Turkey: The Lepers with the Fewest Fingers
With the financial news focused on the unraveling of Europe’s state finances, the mounting economic catastrophe in the Muslim world has barely merited a mention. Egypt and Syria are about to go over a cliff, while Turkey, supposedly the poster boy for Islamic success, faces a nasty economic reversal — not a catastrophe of Egyptian proportions, but sufficient to destroy Tayyip Erdogan’s reputation as an economic wizard and make his fractious country hard to govern. The so-called Arab Spring will end with no winners, only losers.
Egypt: Two Months Import Coverage, and Falling
Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $36 billion before the February uprising. The central bank claims that it still has $22 billion on hand, but an analysis by the Royal Bank of Scotland reported by the Financial Times puts the true number at just $13 billion, or two months’ import coverage for a country that imports half its caloric consumption. The central bank has lost $23 billion of the $36 billion in the past ten months, the RBS analysis concludes. Adds the FT:
Even that’s not the end of the story. First half 2011 balance of payments figures showed a deficit of $10.3bn in a period when the central bank actually lost $17.6 bn in liquid and other foreign currency assets, says Agha.
So hard currency is going into capital flight and into the proverbial mattress. Egyptians are even hoarding Egyptian currency, with the level of currency in circulation growing dramatically this year at an annual rate of 25 per cent, compared with 13 per cent previously.
By early 2012, expect to find the members of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces moving into just-purchased mansions in South Kensington or Cannes, and bare cupboards in state warehouses. The military’s only response to the crisis was to fire all the independent directors of Egypt’s central bank, as I reported last month. That implies that they want a free hand to embezzle. By the end of next year, I predict, Egypt will become Somalia-on-the-Nile.
Assad Goes for Broke, Literally
Syria, meanwhile, plans to raise government spending by 60 percent, mainly in the form of salary hikes for state workers, while tax revenues plunged by 40 percent, Bloomberg News reported today. By my back-of-the-envelope calculation, that would put Syria’s government deficit about a third of GDP. Syrians were hungry before the uprising against Assad, which began with a protest over food prices. The Assad regime is betting the Syrian treasury on its survival, and the likeliest outcome is a collapse of the currency and chaos. It is hard to measure the economic misery of a country in civil war, particularly since the government has restricted food, energy and water provisions to areas of opposition strength. If the civil war continues, of course, the body count will take everyone’s mind off the economy.
Erdogan to Turks: “Let Them Eat Baklava”
The obvious solution, blame the Jews. All the failures are the result of a Zionist Conspiracy. What could be more obvious to a Muslim?
I see that you got an immediate validation to your argument from London. It’s not just the jews that are to blame, though. It’s all the infidel West, of course. But the jews control it.
What can starving Islamists do short of jihad? Are they capable of anything else? It’s so predictable. I had not seen the comments here yet when I blogged about this post:
“Starvation and Islamism, now that’s a great combination. They’re bound to try and jihad their way out of it. With the West’s help”
The PostWest
http://www.fallofknowledgeandreason.blogspot.com
Living off the infidels has always been Islam’s way, after all what else are they capable of doing? Even their religion is plagiarized from Judaism and Christianity.
Muslims can go from invincible conquerors to oppressed victims and back again in a matter of seconds.
On second Islam will rule supreme and will crush anything in its path. The next Muslims are poor victims of oppressive Zionists and western infidels.
If only they could decide. Are they omnipotent conquerors or are they hapless victims?
If they try to jihad their way out of it, well that is what belt fed machine guns and Iron Dome are for.
The Muslim way: omnipotence or hapless victims goes hand in hand with the brain pathology known as psychopathy. The culture and the rearing of young boys, facilitates behavior close to what western people call sociopaths or psychopaths. – Not only is their alleged cult brutish, but as well plagiarized from others as mentioned above.
BTW, if I were a starving Islamist living off Jizziyah from the West I would refrain from turning the West into another ME and killing the golden goose. Alas, logic has never been Islam’s forte.
The Turks like to blame the Armenians…
I see that the Zionist neocon Islamophobe Goldman is at it again. Always writing about the coming collapse of the Arab and Muslim countries. Lies! Zionist propaganda! You are a filthy lying hasbaRAT Zionist propagandist! All your efforts are for naught…
The Arab Spring is the beginning of the end for the Crusaders, Zionists and Infidels in the Middle East. For several decades the Great Satan and the Little Satan have installed and propped up illegitimate stooges to repress us and cooperate with them. That is now coming to an end. We are now overthrowing the pro-Western and pro-Zionist puppets that you decadent infidels have installed and propped up for the last few decades.
A New Middle East is emerging. The pro-Western and pro-Zionist illegitimate dictators are being overthrown, one by one. And in their place we are establishing Islamic states ruled by the Sharia, from Egypt to Yemen, from Turkey to Somalia, from Libya to Syria, from The Land of the Two Holy Mosques to Sudan, from Tunisia to Gaza, from Jordan to Lebanon, from Indonesia to Pakistan, from Iran to Bangladesh, and many other places (and one day in Europe, and eventually in America).
It is our time now. This is the Great Awakening for Islam. We are returning to our roots. We live in Muslim countries, and our laws will reflect our religion — that’s natural. You infidels are dying. You infidels are retreating. You decadent infidels are bankrupt and your fraudulent economic system will soon collapse. Your fraudulent financial and banking system are destroying your countries, with their haram loans with interest which brings about exploding debts which you can never pay off. Your societies are collapsing. Islam is spreading throughout the world. We are on the march. Islam is on the rise. Christianity is dying. We have lots of children. You decadent infidels kill your children. We will rule over you.
We are also taking over Europe. We don’t even need to use nuclear bombs to conquer you decadent infidels. We already have nearly 50 million of our brothers and sisters in the infidel nations of Europe, who are growing rapidly in number, while the infidels are aging, shrinking, and dying, and are turning it into Eurabia. Our women’s wombs are our greatest weapon. We are conquering you in the maternity wards and kindergartens. You can’t stop it. Your grandchildren will be living under Sharia. It is inevitable. Your granddaughters will wear the burqa. Your infidel lifestyle has proven to be a total and absolute failure. We have the answer. You degenerate Westerners way of life is collapsing all around you. You are unable to solve your own problems. We have a better way of life. You will join us. Either voluntarily, or against your will.
We defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan…and we have now defeated you imperialist American infidels in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are gaining strength every day, while you infidels are becoming weaker and weaker. You are no match for us. We will defeat you easily. You are not ready for what is coming. You don’t stand a chance. It’s not too late. You can still join us. Time is running out for you infidels.
We will soon overthrow the American-backed dictator in The Land of the Two Holy Mosques, and we will cut off your infidels oil supply, and your economy will come crashing down. We are going to take on the fake illegitimate Zionist regime…and when we are done with them, we will come for you imperialist Americans, on U.S. soil, and we will fight you in the streets, house to house, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city, until the Sharia is established and you decadent infidels are subjugated. Allahu Akbar!
Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad [holy war] is our way. Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest hope.
Troll? Is that you?
Actually, this fellow reads more like Allahpundit of old, minus the potty-mouth. No less entertaining, to be sure.
There aren’t any Egyptian and Syrian assets (except maybe for the pyramids — you might find a Russian oligarch willing to shell out a couple of billion to be buried in one of them). Turkey actually has some decent medium-tech manufacturing and will have more as the South Korean auto companies move in.
Zionist propagandist Islamophobe Goldman — Not everything is about economics. We have Allah, the Truth, Demographics, Willpower, and our Holy Warriors on our side. What do you have? Nothing. We have 1.6 Billion Soldiers of Allah — you decadent American infidels are only 310 million. We outnumber you more than 5 to 1. We are 300+ million in the Middle East surrounding the tiny Zionist state of less than 6 million Jews. In the Middle East you are outnumbered by more than 50 to 1. Demography is destiny. We will swallow you Zionists up and spit you out into the sea. The end of the fake illegitimate Zionist regime is near. We will liberate Al-Quds from the Zionist occupier. The pathetic Zionist entity is drowning in the sea of the Islamic Great Awakening. The Jihad and the Sharia are unstoppable! Allahu Akbar!
Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad [holy war] is our way. Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest hope.
Dude. You forgotted one thing: John Galt. Once you have Eurabia, it won’t be worth anything any more. Once again, the Jews win by default.
Allah’s navel! It’s so difficult to tell if this is satire or an actual post. Either way, starving to death at a lopsided rate is not really my idea of success. Good luck with that.
Zeppo, is that you? When did you come out of retirement?
Two mistakes:
1. Islamists do not refer to Europe as becoming Eurabia, instead they refer to Western Nations as Dar al-Amn or the House of safety. The more militant ones might refer to it as Dar al-Harb or the House of war.
2. When mentioning the Prophet, they always add the honorific “Peace be upon him” or (PBUH).
I might add that the real giveaway was the readability of the post, along with correct spelling and grammar.
Pretty Good Trolling: 7/10
S/He’s not a troll.
S/He is a serious analyst who sees what most Westerners don’t want to see.
We didn’t really wake up with 9/11. Some did. Many didn’t.
The danger is here, present.
The war of islam against the West is declared and continuous, our answer has been very confused.
Powerful lobbyists in Washington advance the islamic agenda every day: read the blogs of Pam Geller, read JihadWatch, The investigative project, see what ACT ! for America denounces every day, see the United West of Tom Trento.
And always read
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com
that gives you the general perspective about the world war of islam against Freedom.
Sheesh, guys. “Islamist” is not for real. “Islamist” is not a Muslim. He or she is just pulling our chains. There are many giveaways besides the ones Thess noted above.
I don’t know about the Eurabia comment but I do know that it is acceptable to say “the Prophet” without using PBUH. If the name Mohammed is used then PBUH is added. However, you are likely correct that the post is a spoof.
snd yet that little country is still here!!! through all the evil empires down thru the centuries they have survived—you and yours will not but the jews will –it is the will of God-not the phoney allah of satan
As per Islamist from Londonistan, “We have Allah, the Truth, Demographics, Willpower, and our Holy Warriors on our side. What do you have? Nothing. We have 1.6 Billion Soldiers of Allah — you decadent American infidels are only 310 million. We outnumber you more than 5 to 1.”
That may be…but we kill you 20:1. So, do the math.
Pretty funny but I would not quit my day job yet if I were you.
“Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest hope.”
That is what belt fed machine guns are for. To give the Jihadis what they really really want. We are all about human happiness, that is what we are.
Omdurman II, with no silly cavalry charge this time.
300 million Islamicists? That is about 1 day’s production at an ammunition factory.
See, you produce an Islamicists with unskilled labor that enjoys their work, but it takes 18 years.
We produce a bullet with skilled labor and machines, and it takes a fraction of a second.
Who will win? Who won in the past?
Islamist, at one time, sure, Islamic warriors were successful and winning. but why the collapse after that? What allowed infidels to become so powerful and Muslims so weak? Why do you think you Muslims can make such a comeback that it is endgame and you finally win, when it is clear that ever since the battle of Lepanto in 1571 Muslim power went downhill and infidel power went up? And now Chinese and Indian power may go up, and that still isn’t Islamic power.
The important question to Muslims now is: Do you still think you can really, substantially win, more than just a few isolated successes? Do you really think you can win the endgame and gain worldsupremacy, at least in say 60 or 75 % of the world? And before the end of times, in this century? And if the end of times will still not come, into the space age?
When Muslims finally understand and conclude they cannot win anymore, perhaps then they will be more willing to cooperate with democratic forces.
Cut and pasted commentary. What more proof could we need that Islam is unoriginal, uninspiring and unable to create anything of any lasting value- but really great at destruction?
Absolutely priceless. Thanks for the laugh.
You just described Lovely Earth.
Your analysis is correct.
But I am not as pessimistic as you.
The “house to house”, “city by city” thing has to face the
ninety million (90,000,000) guns owned by Americans.
We can say that the islamic conquest is truly a long “shot”.
I seem to remember imperial Japan and Germany of the 30′s and 40′s calling Americans decadent. Whatever happened to those guys?
Well said, in the move “Der Untergang” the defeated Hitler, just before suicide, predicted that the ruthless Soviet Union would triumph over the decadent, dissoluted “West”ern powers. Ha, what did he know?! (Supposing Hitler really thought that).
what an idiot you are—your arms are too short to box with God– israel is God’s chosen people thru isaac–He will protect them–you will lose–Gen. 12:2-3 ‘I will make you a great nation,i will bless you and make your name great;and you shall be a blessing,I will bless you,and I will curse him who curses you;and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ He is talking about israel–repent and turn to the Lord and live or die in your sins and unbelief in the Lord—–as for taking over the world don’t think so–all you have to offer is hate–you hate your children enough to send them to die thru jihad–you hat your females thru the burqa to keep them enslaved-and thru genital mutilation you deep them in daily pain–sharia is from satan not God–in jeremiah and isaiah and revelation it tells a different story of the end–an imposter will be world leader and an imposter religion will take over-not islam–but something close to Christianity becoz satan want to be like Christ or instead of Christ–he already lost at calvary and you have too with out Christ
I’ve never seen it said better. Thank you! By the way, can you loan me a cup of flour?
I think you might be right but where are you when you gain the world and lose your soul. You can not redemption through your works-deep down inside you know it, it bothers you, there is no escape from the guilt you carry with you. The prophet misled you and you bought the lie. Turn away while there is time. Holy justice will prevail and your life is filled with unpaid sins. Who will pay for your sins-you-how can you do that-
You better hurry up, president downgrade has about put us under already.
Yeah,
But what about the Mexicans in La Raza?….
I guess you didn’t notice that with each passing day, Israel gets stronger while the surrounding Arab countries get weaker. I wonder if you also noticed that the more Islamic a country becomes, the weaker it gets. The Islamists who rule Egypt and Syria will be ruling a starving people.
Razzy, you’re back! And you’ve changed your name!
What, pushing Latino supremacy getting tired, so you’ve selected another “oppressed group?” Good on you!
Here’s a cookie.
“Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest hope.”
I am confident there are plenty of infidels around who will accomodate your highest hope.
So you ninnny other than blowing yourselves up (and blowing up your children and women who are of less value to you than a goat, at least a goat provides cheeze, milk, meat and money) what exactly do you intend to do, throw goat dung at us, launch cavalry style camel charges, mass donkey carts and invade Europe with molotov sheep bombs? If you decide to try something more meaningful a large cloud resembling a mooonlight mushroom (mmmmm so good with butter and olive oil and few onions over a steak) will rise up to allah with your crispy remains.
Achmed, I continue to find this puzzling. Good luck though.
C’mon, people. This is an obvious goof. I’m not going to erase the comments, but you ought to have better things to do than charge the red cape.
Revolutions liberate people from tyranny, but also free them up to indulge old hates, settle old scores and give vent to their passions.
What are the passions that will be unleashed by the revolution that has the Arab nation of 300 million aflame?
Surely, one is for greater freedom, good jobs and prosperity, such as the West and East Asia have been able to produce for their people.
Yet if even European nations like Greece, Ireland and Spain, which used to deliver this, no longer seem able to do so, how will these Arab nations, which have never produced freedom, prosperity or progress on a large scale, succeed in the short time they will have?
Answer: They will not. The great Arab revolution will likely fail.
And when it does, those other passions coursing through the region will rise to dominance. And what are they but ethnonationalism, tribalism and Islamic fundamentalism?
What will eventually unite this turbulent region — when its peoples fail to achieve what they are yearning for — is who and what they are all against.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls.
“He said during a speech in May to the Islamic business association Tuskon in Istanbul that Turks should earn their money “through work, not interest.”
I keep waiting for someone to take them at their word.
What happens when no one buys the debt at any rate of return? Below 10% short term (30-90 days!) would not attract my attention for even a small portion (less than 1%) of my speculative portfolio. I keep expecting some sort of sovereign fiat in all the PIIGS, each of which are a better bet than any Islamic nation.
Then some mullah or another derides interest on Koranic grounds? Yeah, right.
PR (Post Rant). Somewhere someone has to have cash, a lot of cash, to lend. It can only come from two places. Turkey is not a big enough player to impact fiat currency and the West is already over its head. QE-Turkey is a non starter. The Stash of urban myth is supposed to create jobs as invested capital, not passive investment. It simply does not compute.
David,
With Europe down and the US in the same direction, I wonder who “deserves” the Egyptian, Syrian and Turkish assets? And do you think that the Islamists helped to power and funded by the West will permit infidel ownership of their assets like the West permits foreign ownership of its assets?
Nice analysis, which I can’t and won’t dispute. The consequences, however… How accurate have your predictions been in the past? I recall your writing that USA and Iran would war in 2007 (Bush will invade Iran) or was it 2006?
Won’t their Moslem brothers, wealthy beyond the combined dreams of every Caliph combined, pay to feed the masses of these pre-collapsed states?
I sure hope America won’t lift a finger without two conditions: (1) religious freedom for Christians, Copts, Bahais, etc., and (2) collateral, preferably trillions of barrels of oil (not promises, of course, the real thing). And perhaps I should add mass executions of terrorists on their soil as a third condition.
–
EG
–
“We are in a religious war. It will not end until ‘Allah’ is a mythical as ‘Zeus.’” – me.
You can’t be serious.
The Arabs have contributed practically zilch to their Palestinian “brethren”, who live entirely off the West. If the rich Arabs did not support them, will they support the zillions of starving Islamists, most of whom want to get rid of the rich Arab rulers?
Your hope rests on what? Has America, the West or even the Vatican lifted a finger to prevent the oppression and extermination of Christians in the ME? They continue to pump aid into Islamists. In the Palestinian territories they blame the Jews for what Muslims do to Christians.
Wishful
It is the West that is collapsing. Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy…then Spain, Belgium etc… Europe is collapsing…as is America.
America is in terminal decline. The decline is inexorable and irreversible. The American Empire is in retreat. The Pax America is coming to an end. America has a $15 Trillion National Debt. America is running a $1.3 Trillion budget deficit. From 2000 to 2010, America lost 6 million manufacturing jobs, 1 in every 3 we had, and saw 55,000 factories close. There are 26 million unemployed and underemployed Americans. There are 46 million people on food stamps. 22 million people work for the government. 47% of Americans pay no federal income taxes. Out-of-wedlock births comprised 5.3% of total births in 1960, including 2.3% of white births and 23% of black births. Today, the illegitimacy rate is 41%. Among whites, it is 28%; among Hispanics, it is 51%; among blacks, it is 71%. European-Americans have declined from around 89% in 1960 to 63.7% — and will be a minority by 2041. America’s overwhelming 95% Christian majority in the 1960s has declined to only 76%. At the time of the Revolution 99% of Americans were Protestants. Today, this has fallen to 51%. In 1960 3 in 4 Catholics attended church on Sundays. Today, only 1 in 4 attend Mass on Sundays. 1 in 3 cradle Catholics has lost the faith. etc. etc. etc.
We are witnessing not the coming death of a civilization, but the ongoing death of a civilization. America is clearly in the throes of it’s death.
I see the decline of religion as progress, but everything else is so bad that that’s far from enough to save it.
Certainly not when education has been destroyed and replaced with vocational training and indoctrination. America produces people who do not appreciate and acquire knowledge and are unable to reason and to think independently and critically. They are gullible and therefore readily amenable to propaganda about free markets, efficiency, competition, capitalism and American exceptionalism, disseminated by the kleptocracy of the corporate welfare state.
Just because fringe elements participate, there is denial about the significance of the street protests in the West, which indicates the beginning of societal disintegration.
So I agree with you that decline is ongoing. But then, that’s the fate of all dominant civilizations. Name one who has not collapsed.
Do you live in USA? If so I invite you to leave.
Bad karma.
I see, the problems of America is not its own self-destructing domestic and foreign policies, it’s bad karma from the likes of me.
I am only describing the circumstances, I neither wish for them nor am I involved in causing them. Quite the contrary — I regret and deplore them. Neither will I be in denial.
I will pray for you.
Thanks. I feel better already.
May I suggest, however, that you pray for America. It needs it more, although if that’s its only hope, it’s over.
I am not so pessimistic. I am always suspicious of oversimplified linear projections of trends, short term or long term. A curve fit to your data over 250 or so years may show non-linear relationships that contradict your loss of faith in the national ethic.
Kuhn called it a paradigm shift. I refer you to a simple example. In my school days (’50-’70ish) the education community was respected. No longer. The education monopoly-bubble is about to burst. Then what happens to taught conventional thought? I don’t know either, but it will be different, very different.
I will pray for you too.
ta
And where will the vast majority of fine, decent, hardworking Americans go when this uh…collapse takes place? We’re Americans. We will rebuild.
85 million people trying to live on a river in Egypt is their greatest problem. This is not a culture of clever middle men like Japan or Singapore but one where eccentricity and innovative solutions are discouraged by day to day cultural constriction and corruption.
In Cairo, the average salary for far too many people is 70 to 75 U.S. dollars a month, far too little for a place that is nowhere near as cheap as it used to be. We’re talking about hotel maids and receptionists, security guards, doormen and even the police. One doesn’t have to wonder which is easier to corrupt, a cop making 75 dollars a month or a cop in the U.S. who makes 70 grand a year.
I’m not an economist, but even a casual observer like me could figure out that a country as poor as this, and that imports half of its food, can’t take the shock of a revolution for very long. Among other things, Egypt needed to get its tourism industry back on its feet, but that is unfortunately the industry that is probably MOST sensitive to chaos (or even the threat of it). Especially in a country that has had violence against Western tourists in the past. It’s much easier to keep oil flowing than it is to keep that tourist money coming in.
As an interesting side note, one has to wonder at the consequences of saving Kuwait from Iraq and which country had the weapons of mass destruction.
The reason the Muslim Brotherhood and salafis in Egypt are indifferent to economic realities like reviving tourism is that they are massively funded by countries like Kuwait. In fact, the total monies makes such groups the biggest receivers of foreign aid in the country according to Al Masry Al Youm whose website has mysteriously just gone offline on the biggest day of protests in Tahrir Square since last summer.
I take it Yemen has its fingers, but it has lost its legs and brain to a nastier disease. It’s going to have refugees fleeing to Somalia when the water runs out. None of the others face such a brutal physical reality, not even Egypt.
To the Islamist in Londonistan, Saudi Britannia, Eurabia
God is Great. And there is but One God. And he is the God of the Christians and Jews. You, my poor lost soul, follower of a false religion, a false prophet and a false God, have but one chance to be righteous before the God of the Christians and the Jews (the one True God)…………and that is to turn from your satanic beliefs and repent and proclaim to all who will hear……..JESUS IS LORD. Otherwise you will suffer eternal damnation.
I personally will never see your islamist pipe dreams come true…….because I will have died fighting against it. Only an infidel would believe in your allah as a God.
When you see “my god is stronger than your god” debates you understand why both the West and Islamic societies are going down the drain.
They probably will be joined by Israel should the ultra-orthodox jews become a weighty enough plurality.
your not a believer are you?? the Bible is true-nothing in it has been proven wrong–just becoz your heart is hard (as pharoah’s was) does not mean God does not exist–look at the heavens-a childs smile -or ask the question of how did morality come about and why does every civilization know within their hearts that killing someone is wrong– or ask about the cambrian period in history-read the Bible-ask questions of God-He can take it and will answer them
It’s the correlation of religiosity with family size that will keep the US thriving into the future while Europe and Asia (yes, even China eventually) dwindle away. Since that is the case, logically you should favor Christianity as it is very compatible with democracy, which probably explains the success of both institutions in the Western world.
Look at it like a version of Pascal’s wager, but you don’t have to make it personally, just hope that others do. And you can have a free ride on our progeny when you go to collect your Medicare and Social Security.
‘Erdogan’s response is to insist that “real” (that is, inflation-adjusted) interest rates should be at zero, citing Koranic injunctions against collecting interest. Bloomberg News reports that anyone who disagrees with Erdogan’s “vision” of zero interest rates winds up on an “enemies list”’
Sound’s like “Better Red than Expert(http://condensedchina.com/china4.html)” from Mao’s China.
“Erdogan probably is not as stupid as he appears” … no he isn’t; he’s crazy …so is ASSad … these bozos will not be long for this world. “Reality” is crazy too … just as crazy as say; someone like Moohammed (he liked cows too; not just little girls). Oh! About that “great awakening of Islam”? When you’re being flushed down the toilet, I suppose it could get rather abrupt when you’re surrounded with turds like Adminanutjob, on the way down! Heh! Heh!
Interesting, Turkish zero interest rates are justified as Sharia compliant. It never occurred to me that Bernake’s Fed, following in the footsteps of Greenspan’s zero interest rates, was essentially being “Sharia compliant.” Isn’t that (quantitative easing) essentially doing fiscal interventions under the guise of monetary manipulation? Is the western separation or distinction between state and church merely the political expression for the separation between fiscal (political) and monetary (private banking) authorities? Seems like that distinction has been breaking down?
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/iowa/2012_iowa_republican_caucus
Either GOP primary voters are fickle as sin or these polls don’t add up. It would seem the anybody but Romney express has stalled. Will Ron Paul slip in and take Iowa and New Hampshire if the ABR vote gets split between Gingrich and Cain?
If Egypt bites it the coptic christians are toast. Flee en masse time.
I wonder if the coptic churches in Egypt have member registries. Such registries would be useful for refugee processing and casualty accounting purposes. The odds of such registries being used against the copts is limited. The Egyptian muzz seem to already know who are copts.
My question is a bit longer term. What happens to the Islamic World when the Lords of Peking finally decide that they’ve milked the current situation for all it’s worth? Or when some of the hostility slops over on to the Chinese side of the table. As the most cold bloodily, racist, power manipulators on the planet, just what happens when they decide that Islam is an insult to the rightful Han hegemony? The first global ‘Tailored Bio-War’? There are some who see this as more than a possibility. And Islam as a fading memory in less than 20 years.
Too bad the West won’t be around to be taught how to deal with Islam.
And – although they are much, much, confused and drunk – let’s not forget the Czars in the new Imperial Russia.
Like China, Russia is waiting for our demise (after greatly helping the Manchurian candidate)… then they will share with China this little planet of idiots.
islam is done anyway. No future for the homicidal fools.
What we can and must do is defend Freedom and America.
We can? Then why haven’t we done it to date?
Do you think that borrowing trillions from China to give it grants in return and jizziyah to the Islamists all over the globe furthers the defense?
Islam is rising. Christianity is dying. Zionists are an endangered species — and will soon be extinct, Insha’Allah.
You Infidels in America and Europe, your decadent nations are collapsing, while our population is exploding. You decadent Infidels are aging and dying out. We will enter your countries, and take over through our sheer numbers, and impose the Sharia — God’s Law. Our women’s wombs are our greatest weapon. We are conquering you in the maternity wards and kindergartens. Your Infidel lifestyle has proven to be a total and absolute failure. We have the answer. You degenerate Westerners way of life is collapsing all around you. You are unable to solve your own problems. We have a better way of life. Allah’s laws are for all nations, all countries and for all time. All other laws are man-made and must submit to the will of Allah. It will be hard for you at first, but once you get used to it, you will be much better off.
We defeated the Russians and the Americans. Allah is on our side! Our victory is inevitable. Time is on our side. Every day we get stronger and stronger, while you decadent Infidels get weaker and weaker. We are ascendent. You are declining. Now is our time. This is the Islamic Great Awakening. We are winning all over the globe. You Infidels are dying. You Infidels are retreating. You decadent Infidels are bankrupt and your fraudulent economic system will soon collapse. Your societies are collapsing. Islam is spreading throughout the world. We are on the march. Islam is on the rise. Christianity is dying. We have lots of children. You decadent Infidels kill your children. We will rule over you. Time is running out for you infidels.
We don’t want your filthy decadent Western culture coming into our societies, and poisoning the minds of our children. We don’t want to have anything to do with your sick poisonous culture — the sexual immorality, pornography, prostitution, filthy movies, homosexual marriage, drugs, alcohol, gambling, consumerism, materialism, hedonism etc. We want nothing to do with your decadent culture.
The Jihad and the Sharia are unstoppable! Allahu Akbar!
Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad [holy war] is our way. Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest hope.
the prophet was a pedophile and a murderer–truth hurts doesn’t it!!! look to your own people and their problems–the nitwits who blew up the world trade center had lots of fun before they blew themselves up (i guess i can understand that when you have nothing to live for–what with all the ugly women you have over there that you have to wrap them up in bedclothes,no parental love,no fun-just jihad to look forward to)—take your tripe and go somewhere else like cuba,venezuela
Christianity is dying in Europe, unless there is a revival. I will give you that. Yet, islam is not rising. Christianity in China and South Korea is rising……..why?………because Christianity is the light of humanity. Every achievement outside of the muslim world can be attributed to Christianity and Christian nations. We are the believers in the One True God. The God of the Christians and the Jews.
Look at the life of your prophet and try to convince me that islam is everything you say it is.
Let me make the readers here aware of one fact about the Big Satan and the Little Satan. A few years after the Iranian revolution, a report asked the Ayatollah Khomeini, how can islam be superior to the West if the Infidels (thats the term used for nonbelievers of islam of which I counter that with infidels are those people who have not found the true light of the world) are so superior to islam and have invented such things as cars, planes, computers, etc. Your ayatollah khomeini thought for a few seconds and then, as if a bulb light up in his brain, “the only explanation is that the West had help from Satan.”
Really? I feel no contempt for you, only pity.
When my daughter was 9 years old, I thought of how horrified AISHA was when your false prophet violated her. At least they were married. The usual islamic argument to your prophet marrying a 6 year old girl and then violating her at 9 years old is that if was common. Scholars disagree. Just look at a 9 year old and tell me that it’s ok. Nobody in their right mind can justify that.
I apologize if I have offended the readers of this blog, but the truth must be told.
More muslims leave islam than convert. This is a fact they will never admit to.
Islam is ascendant. Christianity is dying. Zionism will soon be extinct, Insha’Allah. We are growing…you decadent Infidels are dying. Our Holy Warriors have defeated you Crusaders in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our Holy Warriors are defeating and conquering you Crusaders and Infidels in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya, Paris, Londonistan, Dearborn, Minneapolis, Patterson etc…
Your decadent Western Civilization is on the brink off collapse. Where your decadent Western Civilization came out of — Athens and Rome — is where it will die. Just look at the headlines. Athens has a debt that is 160% of their GDP, and is paying 28.9% interest to service their debt & Rome has a debt that is 120% of their GDP, and is paying 6.8% interest to service their debt.
When Athens and Rome default on their debt — your whole civilization will come tumbling down…and that is when we will make our move…
The Jihad and the Sharia are unstoppable! Allahu Akbar!
Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad [holy war] is our way. Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest hope.
As long as there are people leaving Islam, and frankly the possibility of a Muslim writing the following from Shakespeare is as remote as herding cats, Islam will continue to be its own worst enemy.
From the Merchant of Venice:
The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.
We have invaded the homeland of the Crusaders and Infidels, and we are waiting for the decadent nations to collapse…we will then make our move. We are ahead of schedule. We knew that one day your decadent societies would collapse, but we didn’t think it would happen this soon. We are here, and when your rotten civilization comes tumbling down — which it will as soon as Athens and Rome go bankrupt and default on their debt, that will send the snowball rolling down the mountain, as you infidels say, and we will make our move…
We have our Holy Warriors present in Atlanta, Chicago, Dearborn, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Patterson, Philadelphia etc. ready to take action when the time is right…
Our Islamic Invading Armies are defeating and subjugating you Infidels in
Amsterdam, Berlin, Birmingham, Brussels, Bradford, Hamburg, Leicester, Londonistan, Luton, Malmo, Marseille, Moscow, Paris, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Vienna etc…
The Jihad and the Sharia are unstoppable! Allahu Akbar!
Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad [holy war] is our way. Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest hope.
To Jihad Johnny,
I understand that you want to cut off our oil supplies. Make war on Israel and the USA. First of all go ahead and cut off the oil for a start. This year there is a projected shortage of grain products: due to draughts in the US, Russia, and China. With Russia not exporting grain, China scrambling to buy up all the foreign grain reserves it can and the USA having to cut back on its foreign shipments of grain………What the hell are you and your Johnnies going to eat? If I were you, I’d be down on my hands and knees (not praying) but begging for as much grain that you can get. Again, keep up the good work, I am proud of you. Tell it like it really is!
I was very surprised to find out how little oil we actually import from the ME these days. About 24%- only 11% if you exclude the Saudis. At any rate, when the chips are down, I’d MUCH rather live the in the country with the food than the country with the oil.
Although, we have that, too. About the time that ME oil peters out, the Bakken and its kin will be up and running. It almost looks like an evil American plot to suck up ME resources and spare our own, but I don’t give the US gov’t that much credit.
If Islam is so great, why are people who try to leave, faced with the death penalty? This clown says the US is so bad, yet everybody wants to get here. The OWS clowns think Communism is so great, but the Communist nations need to build walls to keep their people from running away. Islam = Communism. Here is a hint, Islam clown-boy, If you need to make death penalties and build walls to keep your membership intact, it might not be such a great deal. Just saying.
Islamist, Hope you enjoy the following-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnjN6bzu_ME
What did you think of the video of the 3 terrors, over at http://www.israelfaxx.com ?
I hope you enjoyed it.
Plus, “We con the world” is found as well. A lot of scrolling down the page needs to be done, but it is worth the effort.
Egypt is drifting into chaos for sure, only stupid people like Hussein Obama thinks that Arab spring spring will turn into Middle Eastern summer. We all know how hot ME summers are. As for Turkey, I agreed with Mr Goldman Turkey’s bubble is ready to burst, the question is when and how violent it will be. Since the inception of Modern Turkish Republic no prime minister ever completed a third term in office and I don’t think Erdoğan will be the first one who will. As for the ME as a whole, The region is pregnant to a very volatile future, just wait until Americans withdraws from Iraq. God help us all.
US should be selling those helo gunships to the Kurds, who should reclaim and declare Free Kurdistan, and ASAP, replace Turkey in NATO.
Let the Saudis annex all of Sunni Iraq and Syria, and let the Anatolian Alevis deal with Erdogan.
Egypt invades Libya, and seizes their eastern oil fields.
It really is that simple…
The real shame is the likely destruction of so many historically significant artifacts as was the case with the Budas in Afghanistan. I doubt these tenth century reprobates have much respect for history. . . just their own mythology.
By the end of next year I predict Somalia
will become Egypt on the Indian Ocean.
Egypt- let us add in the aid from the US (and along with that the usual-
“there’s more where that came from if needed…”)
For example, when trouble first broke out in Egypt noone noticed the USA
sent I heard 2 shiploads of wheat to Egypt. Maybe free or maybe on credit.
Have you heard anyone saying they are hungry in Egypt?
Whereas, Somalia- yes of course, there is a famine and yes a civil war…
Point is there are billions around (Mubaraks?) and billions available from
US for Egypt, right?
Egypt has 100 times the gross domestic product of Somalia so predicting Egypt as Somalia in a matter of weeks is somewhat problematic at best.
Speaking of Turkey and Turkish President. I agree strongly with your summary
of the economy of Turkey and it’s near term crash that is coming it’s way.
I found it strange when Turkish President was bragging in his long-winded speech at the UN recently before the world-about how Turkey “spends wisely and invests wisely in ME and African countries for good things -better than other countries ,hint US…
If these failing economies of Egypt and Turkey and others of their ilk are such that they can’t feed their own people, they will become just more “Somalia’s”….then we must be prepared for their nationals resident here in America(or their sleepers here as “papered” citizens of America) to start putting on suicide vests and blowing themselves up…. blaming their woes on America.
This is why I keep saying that we need to change our strategy and not have our massed troops positioned in West/Centra Asia; we should revert to expanding mobile offshore flotillas and drones. This change, in conjunction with an increased vigilance here in America of domestic terrorism is the coming wave of our warfare against our Islamist enemy. We may very well need out uniformed troops special forces here in America to augment the local civilian police forces.
The more intensive focus on domestic Islamist/Muslim cells here at home needs to be our priority.
This, in turn, means that the A.C.L.U. and the C.A.I.R will also be girding themselves against their fellow Americans…..using “Lawfare” and our own hard won liberties against us. We Americans must learn to fight subversion, subversion, subversion. In that order. The wailing and shrieks of the “passive Muslims” here at home will be much louder. We must expect this, and not give in to them in the name of “political correctness”.
[….parenthetically, we ought to learn to ignore all such ‘posters’ as this “Islamist in Londonistan” as agitators, and let the Brits handle them……easier said than done, of course, now that the politically correct Brits have permitted themselves to be made incubators of Muslims running amok.
I shake my head in wonderment at the land of the Magna Carta……talk about “unintended consequences”…….!
More likely, “Iran on the Canal”. Egypts’ greatest problem is that it is now under the control of Islamic Jihad and that fact ensures its ultimate destruction.
The OneWorlders are genocidists and will strive to create such economic chaos that multitudes will rebel, starving, in misery- and that will provide a rationale for brutal repression; genocide, aimed at porential resistors of the Globalists- but asertedly meant for the evil rich, the evil religious, the evil (political)right. The survivors will become slaves to the Mahdi’s ruling class, the Raghead Conquerors of the Universe. Ten years ago the camel had his nose in the tent. Now he has his head in. When he gets all the way in you’re going to have a romantic experience you could never forget- if you survived.
But you won’t.
Why are the followers of Al Khiddif id’Ullah , like ‘Islamist in Londonistan, Saudi Britannia, Eurabia’ above, so damn angry? People with such overwhelming anger management issues should seek treatment and medicate.
I apologize(again).Since when did the rational planning ever seem to be at
the forefront of activities in most ME countries? I keep fooling myself into thinking their will be rational outcomes. Turkey for example- President Erdogan tries to appear to be so rational most of the time-totally masking what is going on in Turkey.
The author and posters here are right.Be warned.I hope to learn to stop being unreasonably optimistic. It is just not real.
Pray for the people of Egypt and Syria.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3__N2xnhKu8&feature=related
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxWyNRhia40&feature=related
Winston Churchill wrote in his book River War in 1898, while he was a journalist in Sudan when he was 25 years old.
Muslims have never been able to invent anything really useful. Partly this is because the schools concentrate on learning the Koran word by word rather than true inquiries into nature, politics or anything.
They are taught not to question but to submit, to be a slave of Allah. They simply parrot the Koran over and over and over again, rather than cultivate any spirit of enquiry. It is brainwashing.
What young Winston Churchill found out more rhan 110 years ago many people don’t understand today.
Lot of fun here today. Remember Napoleon said: The moral is to the physical as three to one. WWI and the Maxim put the lie to that. Clausewitz has the same problem as did Kissinger. After a certain point material talks and passion walks. I though S. would remind people that the Ottomans finally fell because they ran out of money: when they couldn’t buy they wouldn’t make.
Muslims mistake kindness for weakness and forbearance for cowardice. Actually the West is playing ‘rope a dope’ so Islam gives enough provocation to more effective measures.
As long as the West tries to use soft power, Egypt will get fed, and the West will never force Egypt to change enough to do anything worthwhile. Nancy Birdsall is very good on the limits of IMF power.
I would hope that the West might see that all their help strengthens the enemy, because it is seen as an act of weakness, directed by Allah.
It has nothing to do with reasoning and logic. It’s pathology. The more intolerable the Islamists are, the more tolerant the peace loving crowd feels about themselves for tolerating them.
That’s why liberals don’t care much for stand up citizens. Stand up citizens don’t boost their self image as magnanimous and forgiving.
Answer: Islam, the Word of God that brought civilization to the chaos of Arabia and then a Renaissance to Europe, is irrelevant today.
Question: What is relevant today?
David,
As you have been predicting, the gloves are starting to come off of the new Egyptian Junta.
http://news.yahoo.com/police-burn-protest-tents-clear-cairos-tahrir-190333136.html
Does the early emergence of the iron fist imply an even faster rate of deterioration than expected? In terms of timeline, how long from the fall of the military junta until total collapse of the organized state? As I’ve mentioned before, I believe such a total collapse would be devastating to the Western political internationalist worldview. How much time is left to prepare?
Egypt is going to be in deep trouble, but it will not become “Somalia-on-the-Nile”.
Somalia is a backwards country that has never been civilized. Egypt has been civilized for 5,000 years.
Somalia is a tribal society, which has never had an effective national government. Egypt has a strong national identity, and has always had an effective government (usually national, sometimes as a province of a larger empire).
Bad things will happen in Egypt, but they won’t be like Somalia.
Indeed, Somalia now is better off than Egypt could be in another year or two. Somalia has had its government break down, and general civil disorder, but they’ve had that damage and still avoided outright mass starvation. I don’t think Egypt will do as well.