Mahathir Calls for a Boycott of the Dollar
by Ahmed Amr
www.dissidentvoice.org
August 1, 2006



 

Once again, Qana has been struck with another premeditated Israeli atrocity. The horrifying images beamed around the world were in great part manufactured by George Bush and his piano-playing dunce in a red dress. Take a lock of hair from each murdered and disfigured Lebanese child and send it to Condi to keep in her hope chest. Who is this barren spinster with a cult like infatuation for Israel’s violent streak? Why is she having "birth pangs" about a New Middle East at the very same time that she is facilitating the slaughter of the innocent children of innocent mothers?    

Just last year, the Bush administration was hitching a free ride on the back of the democratic Lebanese uprising that followed the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri. Today, they are providing aid, assistance and moral comfort to the Israeli thugs who are systematically carpet bombing the country that Hariri dedicated his life to rebuilding. 

As an Arab-American -- I am more certain today than ever that I am a citizen of a racist state. The political elite in Washington continues to be mercilessly indifferent to the loss of Lebanese and Palestinian life. If a state has a racist foreign policy -- you can be certain that it is owned and operated by certifiably psychotic bigots.   

But complaining and cursing, these Neanderthals will not breathe life into the mutilated corpse of a single Lebanese child. It will not reconstruct the Lebanese infrastructure that was so laboriously built after a quarter of a century of civil war. The time for rage is over and the time to take action has come for all people of good conscience. 

While it is easy to despair about changing the course of events in the Middle East, one international statesman has a brilliant plan of passive resistance with a reasonable chance of success. He understand exactly how to confront the American imperial project in the Middle East and make the degenerate neo-cons pay a price for their unconditional support of Israel.

The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad has taken the lead in stating the obvious. “If the world is sincere in helping the Lebanese and Palestinians, they should reject the use of the dollar in international trade. When the demand for the dollar falls, America will be weakened and it will lack the ability to act as a bully in the global stage.”

One of the biggest political taboos in the Middle East is to ask questions about Saudi Arabia’s unnatural attachment to the United States. If a citizen of the Kingdom of oil so much as inquires about why Gulf crude is priced and sold in American dollars and only in American dollars -- they get an immediate invitation to the hangman’s noose. Should they be impertinent enough to ask how much of the oil revenue is off shored -- they risk inviting the rest of their family members to the gallows. 

The dirtiest little secret in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia’s role in enabling American and Israeli aggression against the native people of the region. The secret agenda of the ruling clan in Riyadh has always revolved around maintaining a permanent romance with her American knight in shining armor. To prove the depth of her passion, the lovesick Saudi puppy is even willing to collaborate with America’s other muse -- Israel.  

Israel, on the other hand, is the kind of mistress that takes as much and gives as little as suits her fancy. She knows that the President and Congress of the United States are at her beck and call. Tel Aviv can show up outfitted in a blood stained overall at any Republican or Democratic Party function and expect to be treated like royalty. If she acts like a gluttonous obnoxious pig at the lavish banquet, her mass media entourage has a ready supply of lipstick to pass her off as a debutante. With chutzpah to spare, her Likudnik public relations operatives at CNN and FOX deploy their considerable talent and resources to beg indulgence for Israel’s  “adventuresome spirit.” 

America’s relationship with Israel is a public affair. It is based not so much on love -- but on the vulgarities of financing campaigns and winning elections. If you want a chance to become a player in Washington, meet Tel Aviv’s pimps in the lobby. AIPAC brothels are open 24/7 to cater to a politician’s every need. 

To understand why America has 200,000 men garrisoned in the Gulf region, it is essential to get a few insights into the Saudi role in this unique menage a trois. Riyadh is like the rich old dame who needs a strong man around the house. In exchange for the embracing arms of her reluctant lover, she is willing to part with the family jewels. She doesn’t care how much time America spends in bed with Israel -- so long as her paramour shows up for guard duty in the middle of the night to ward off undesirable suitors. Because she is such a conservative old-fashioned girl, she doesn’t flaunt her relationship with her American lover. What would people say? 

Saudi Arabia is so enamored with her American beau -- that she is willing to condone Tel Aviv’s slaughter of her innocent cousins in Lebanon and Palestine. A few years ago, she provided assistance for Uncle Sam to invade Iraq. 

Again, why this passionate Saudi attachment to Washington? Because America is more than a lover -- she is a business partner in the greatest most lucrative commercial enterprise in the annals of human history. America is the kind of player who can’t put in a decent day’s work. And when she does bother to clock in, the only thing she is excels at producing are implements of mass destruction. The results of her shoddy work habits show up in the monthly trade statistics. For every dollar of imports -- the “economic giant” can barely work up the energy to export fifty-three cents worth of goods and services. If it were not for arms exports -- the trade deficit would be significantly higher. As it is, the daily trade deficit is two plus billion and rising.  

To make up for her economic lethargy, the United States ends up writing uncovered checks in the form of newly minted dollar bills. And her trading partners keep digesting these IOU’s without complaint. Because they know that, at the end of the day, American dollars and only American dollars, can be exchanged for Saudi crude. 

Basically, the United States has created a new economic niche for itself that allows it to be a currency exporting country on the strength of the oil under the bed of their Saudi paramour. Currency exporting on this scale is a phenomenon that is unprecedented. The repercussions of a sudden disruption in the market for America’s chief export product -- the dollar -- will have dire consequences that will not go unnoticed by the wizards in Washington. 

As for the Saudis, their main concern revolves around maintaining their ability to offshore their petro-dollars to American and European capital markets. This helps explain why the rulers of the oil plantations have no intention of ending this exploitative relationship. With so much money at stake, why search for healthier romantic opportunities?  

What would happen if the Saudis asked America to end the stormy relationship with the murderous whore in Tel Aviv or else? Or else what? Or else Saudi Arabia stops exchanging dollars for oil. Who knows? These are affairs of the heart and the pocket book? Political calculations will have to be made. Maybe America would withdraw its protective embrace and leave the old dame in Riyadh to fend for herself. Imagine that -- America leaving the Arab Gulf forever. No more Fallujahs. No more Abu Ghraibs. No more Hadithas. No more shock and awe or saturation bombing with depleted uranium. No more young American soldiers returning in body bags that should have tags that read: “they died for their currency.” No more teenage Iraqi girls getting raped before being set on fire along with their entire family. No more neo-con con jobs about phantom WMDs and spreading democracy. No more budget busting trillion dollar tabs for a needless and criminal war of choice.   

Of course, the Saudis know they need to keep up their side of the “oil for dollar” bargain to assure American protection. That is why Doctor Mahathir doesn’t expect miraculous and instant results. 

But why leave matters to the Saudis. Why not make it a public issue. A boycott of the dollar is a very legitimate way to peacefully express disdain for the American imperial project in the Gulf, for Washington’s unconditional support of Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian and Lebanese people and for the Saudi clan’s looting of the revenues from the oil plantations. It is a way to confront the many oppressive forces in the Middle East without ever having to resort to a violent collision.  

From a purely pragmatic point of view, a grass roots boycott of American currency will help focus minds in both the Middle East and the West on the real cause of American military adventurism in the region. It will expose the illicit ménage a trois relationship that has buried many an Arab family under the rubble of their homes. Cindy Sheehan will get an answer for why her son died. It will defuse the culture clash trash talk that has dominated the airwaves and ignite an intelligent discussion to explain the real imperative behind the invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq. 

Most importantly, it will create awareness among the Arab masses that their leaders have every means to protect their interests without resort to either war or a cut-off of oil. The goal of a dollar boycott campaign is to force both Washington and Riyadh to go public with their illicit affair -- in the hope that we can make honest women out of the both of them. 

Without firing so much as a broken arrow, the Arab monarchs in the Gulf have in their hands the power to instantly change American foreign policy in the region and alleviate the suffering of the people of Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. Doctor Mahathir knows this. He also knows that the Saudis and Kuwaitis will never take the initiative to use that power until they are forced to by popular demand. To generate a mass movement demanding an end to America’s dollar hegemony -- we need to listen to the diagnosis and cure recommended by the good Malaysian doctor. Let’s do it for the victims of Qana and let’s start the boycott now. Boycott the dollar for the sake of peace, justice and honor. 

Ahmed Amr is the editor of NileMedia.com. He can be reached at: Montraj@aol.com.

Other Articles by Ahmed Amr

* While Lebanon Burns, the Saudis Feign Impotence
* Lebanon, Gaza and the Consistently Racist American Standard
* Gaza and the Treason of the International Community
* The Iraq War and the End of Economics
* The Palestinians Have No Friends
* Video Tapes and Liberator’s Justice in Haditha
* Abandon the Palestinians or Abandon the Dollar
* Let the Peace Camp be a Wide Open Field
* Yellow Think Tanks and Yellow Journalism
* First They Came for Abdul Rahman
* A Chat With POTUS About Iraq
* Plan Z in Iraq
* Germany Must Deliver a Palestinian State
* Why Can’t We All Insult One Another?
* All is Fair in Egyptian Elections
* Bush Owns the OSP and the Broken Iraqi Pottery
* Suing the War Party
* Dousing the Plame Flames
* Can You Super-Size a Sulzberger?
* Judith Miller’s Bloody Stain on the Press
* The Public’s Right to Know All About Judith Miller
* Red Ink for Sulzberger and Judith Miller
* The Crude Truth about the War in Iraq
* Enough Already With The Neocon Voodoo Experiments In Iraq
* Bush Elects to Smear and Dodge Cindy Sheehan
* Bush Launches “Operation Cindy Sheehan”
* Cindy Sheehan Confronts Judith Miller’s War
* Plaming Cindy Sheehan
* Honesty Is The Best Foreign Policy
* Plame Games Expose WMD “Intelligence Failure” Scam
* Fire Sulzberger and Judith Miller for WMD Hoax
* Is Sulzberger Hiding Judith Miller in Jail?
* Plame Games Originated with Judith Miller
* Judith Miller is No Martyr and Sulzberger is No Saint
* AIPAC Can Place You by the Elbow of the President
* Indict the UN for Abandoning Srebrenica
* Did Blair Know About the OSP? And When Did He Know It?
* A Tale of Two Egyptian Newspapers
* Illegally Financing the WMD Hoax
* Is Intervention in the Gulf Still a Profitable Venture?
* Lebanon Searches for the Truth, American Pundits Spin Iraq
* Syria Out of Lebanon and Israel Out of Syria
* Honoring Rafiq Hariri’s Legacy
* From Axis of Evil to Exit Door for Weasels
* Bush League Group Think
* We Don’t Do War Without War Crimes
* I'm So Sorry, Yasser
* OBL and Twenty-Year Time Bombs
* Let Rupert Murdoch Appoint the President
* This Isn’t Your Daddy’s Gulf War
* Bush Debates Robin Cook in St. Louis
* A Billion Dollars for a CYA Operation
* American Ballots and Israeli Bullets
* Was Allawi’s Speech a Crime?
* None Dare Call Them Neo-cons
* Choosing the Last Man to Die
* Republican Conventional Lies
* Fixing the Son of Pollard
* A Clinical Resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict
* Pepsi or Coke? Nader is the Healthier Choice
* America’s Exceptional Treatment of the Palestinians
* Kerry’s Right to Return
* Blair’s Butler and the OSP
* Rachel Corrie and Klinghoffer
* Anybody But Bush or Kerry
* Clinton on Barak’s Generous Offer
* Rummy’s Don’t Do List
* Tear Down the Palitentiary Walls, Mr. Powell
* Dead Dictator Talking
* Exit Emperor Bremer
* Jesus and George Abu Ghraib Bush

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