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THE TRUMPET WEEKLYTHE TRUMPET WEEKLYA P R I L 1 3 , 2 0 1 3

Iran opens new uranium mines and upgrader 2

Netherlands: Next economy to crack? 4

Thatcher right about nearly everything 5

Does America feel like it is in a depression? 10

Your kids dont actually belong to you! 11

BY BRAD MACDONALD

see GOLD page 12

J it appeared the news cycle had moved on rom

Cyprus, the island nation came splashing back yester-day with news rom the European Commission: Nicosia

will be made to sell around three quarters,or million(. million), o its excess gold reserves. (Excess? Whohas too much gold?)

Whats the big deal?ask some. When a person or nationis in a financial pinch, assets have to be liquidated.

rue. But with Cyprus its not that simple. From the out-set o this crisis, Cyprus has not been in control o its owndestiny. Sure, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades wasin on most, though apparently not all, o the discussions.

Cypruss parliament voted on this and that, and ultimately

agreed to the bailout agreement. But it was all smokeand mirrors. In the end, Cyprus was compelled to agreeto a ruinous bailout package created and prescribed byGermany in consort with the European Commission (EC),the European Central Bank () and the InternationalMonetary Fund (). Now we learn rom the troika that aspart o the bailout agreement, Cyprus will have to sell themajority o its gold.

Te important point to note is that this decision was e-ectively made by Germany and its /EC/ allies, C.

Germany Snatches Gold From Cyprus

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APRIL 13, 20132THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

MIDDLE EAST

The U.S. Struggles forInfluence in IraqSTRATFOR | April 10

A effort by Iraqi o-ficials to intercept Iranian planesbound or Damascus appears to be anact by Baghdad and ehran to easeU.S. pressure on the government oIraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Iraqs alleged plane interceptionsactually reveal a much tighter rela-tionship between Baghdad and ehranas the Syrian conflict continues to

widen ethnic and sectarian fissures inthe region.

Te United States has been press-ing Baghdad to stop allowing Ira-nian aircraf to pass through Iraqiairspace en route to Syria. Afer theIraqi government pledged to do morerandom searches to intercept weaponsheading or Syria by land and air, Iraqiofficials claimed that they orced twoIranian cargo planes to land this weekat Baghdad International Airport.

Te Iranian cargo plane interceptedApril was allegedly carrying human-

itarian supplies. Iraqi officials did notelaborate on the contents o the planeintercepted April .

Tough Iran is now expressingoutrage at the supposed interceptions,the Iraqi government was likely closelycoordinating with Iranian authorities.Conveniently, the interceptions thatBaghdad has publicized so ar revealonly humanitarian supplies destinedor Syria. However, it is an open secretthat Iran has been unneling weaponsand fighters in civilian aircraf primar-

ily through Iraq to reinorce the regimeo Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

Te al-Maliki government is notsimply doing its Iranian alliesaavor in allowing Iraqi territory tobe used or this purpose. Te Shiitegovernment in Baghdad is care-ully manipulating the Sunni politicalsituation in Iraq to prevent the returno a Sunni nationalist insurgencythat could threaten the Shias hold onBaghdad. Te more the Syrian conflict

intensifies, the more reason Baghdadhas to align itsel more closely with

its sectarian allies in Iran and Syria tokeep the Sunni rebellion contained. Al-Maliki also understands that the

United States has a strategic interest inmaintaining a oothold in Baghdadtobalance against Iran, and he can exploitthat interest to try to secure economicand military aid rom Washington.But even the assets the United Statescurrently has in Iraq and increasedaid rom Washington cannot competeeffectively with Irans extensive politi-cal, intelligence, security, religious and

business relationships in Iraq.

Iran Opens NewUranium MinesTHE TELEGRAPH | April 9

T openedthe Saghand and uranium mines in the centralcity o Yazd and the Shahid Rezaeine-

jad yellow cake actory, capable o

M E expert Matthew Levitt told in

an exclusive interview that the recent conviction oa Hezbollah member in Cyprus on terrorism charges isextremely important because the trial outed and exposedHezbollah. Levitt explained that because the trial was pub-lic and included details on Hezbollahs activities through-out Europe, it will pressure Europe to designate Hezbollahas a terrorist organization.

Tat designation would allow European countries toproactively monitor Hezbollah, rather than waiting torespond to a Hezbollah attack, which would be a minutetoo late, said Levitt.

Dr. Matthew Levitt served as a counterterrorism intelli-gence analyst at the Federal Bureau o Investigation beore

becoming deputy assistant secretary or intelligence andanalysis at the U.S. Department o the reasury.

According to Levitt, during the trial in Cyprus, Hos-sam aleb Yaccoub admitted conducting surveillance ocivilians in the country or Hezbollah, although he deniedany terrorist activities. Beore he went to Cyprus, he saidhe was sent by Hezbollah as a courier to urkey, Franceand the Netherlands, demonstrating the global reach o

the group. He also said, I belong to Hezbollah, I was just

carrying out surveillance on the Jews, we do this all overthe world.

Levitt said the European ootprint in this case is hugeand that because its findings are public, it will put extremepressure on the EU to expand its efforts against Hezbollah.

Europe, unlike the United States and other countries,has not designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Tisallows the group to operate offices and openly conductundraising and other operations in European states.

Levitt noted that the trial, combined with increasingcriminal activity by Hezbollah, involvement in Syria, andactions to destabilize Lebanon puts Hezbollah in thecrosshairs.

Levitt explained that Iran and Hezbollah have a strate-gic partnership, and that Iran has tasked Hezbollah withtargeting Israeli tourists worldwide. Tis, said Levitt, is notnecessarily in Lebanese interests, but is because o the rela-tionship with Iran. Te act that Iran is a strategic partnero Hezbollah trumps its other interests, says Levitt.

Hezbollah has capabilities that span the globe, accordingto Levitt, and has a presence on almost every continent.

Cyprus Outs Hezbollah, Pressures EULIGNET | April 5
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producing tonnes o yellow cakeannually, to mark Irans NationalNuclear echnology Day, official newsagency said.

Te two mines in the city o Sa-ghand in central Iran operate , eetunderground, and are within mileso the yellowcake production acility

in the city o Ardakan, in Yazd prov-ince, state television said.

Yellowcake is the impure state ouranium oxide later used in enrich-ment acilities.

Te announcements, on the occa-sion o Irans national Atomic Energyechnology day, come shortly afertalks between Iran and six worldpowerson ehrans nuclear ambitionsailed to achieve a breakthrough.

Iran enriches uranium to both .and percent levels in its Natanz and

Fordo enrichment acilities. Uraniumpurified at high levels can be used in anuclear weapon.

Leaving CorruptistanSPIEGEL ONLINE | April 6

G riendship betweenHamid Karzaiand the Americanshas long been a thing o the past, thenegotiations are dogged. For weeks

now, the Aghan president has beenhaggling with the United States overits troop withdrawal.

Karzai is putting the Americans onnotice that, this time, it is the Aghanswho are calling the shots.

For example, Karzai recentlyordered elite U.S. soldiers to pull outas quickly as possible rom Wardak

Province, an important gateway orinsurgents headed toward Kabul. Tesoldiers have been accused o abusing

villagers, but the accusation has yet tobe substantiated.

Just how poisoned relations havebecome can be seen particularlyclearly in the way Aghans reacted to

an order handed down by GeneralJames Mattis . In January, Mattisplaced Kam Air, a private airline, onthe blacklist o companies no longerallowed to receive contracts rom theU.S. military. Te Americans suspectKam Air o having smuggled bulkquantities o narcotics to Central Asiaon passenger flights.

In an unusually harshly ormulatedofficial communiqu to U.S. Ambas-sador James Cunningham, AghansForeign Ministry demanded that all

documents related to the Kam Aircase be made available to the Aghangovernment immediately. PresidentKarzais office has even threatenedto file a compensation/damages suitagainst the U.S. military i no concreteproo o the allegations is supplied.

Te Aghans ervent reaction ishard to comprehend, especial ly giventhe act that Kam Air is a completelyprivate company in which the statehas no financial stake.

Aghanistan produces percento all the opiumconsumed worldwide,and most o those in power profitrom its trade. Nevertheless, not asingle one o the top-level drug baronswith ties to Karzais network has yet tobe convicted.

Is that what a successul missionlooks like? O course, quips one

Western diplomat. We declare victory,and then we leave.

TW I N B R I E F

n Dividing the Middle EastDubais police chie lashed outat theMuslim Brotherhood (MB) last week,

shedding more light on the growingriction between Shiite and SunniMuslims in the region. Te MB isbanned in the United Arab Emirates(), and is seen with a great dealo suspicion by many o the Sunni-ruled Gul states. A string o arrestsin the has done nothing to healthe divide. Ninety-our members othe protest group al Islah have beenarrested on charges o attempting tooverthrow the government. Te alIslah movement is suspected by

officials to be unded by the MB inEgypt, supporting the belie that theBrotherhood has a broader plan orthe region. Mr. Khalan shares theconcern o many Sunni leaders whosee that Iran has benefited rom eachtoppled government so ar. AlthoughEgypt is overwhelmingly Sunni, itessentially ell to Iran in when theMB took control. Now the Gul statesare working to try to prevent thatrom happening with other nations. In

December , the Gul CooperationCouncil released a statement attackingthe continuing Iranian intererencein the affairs o the Gul CooperationCouncils states. Since the U.S. iswashing its hands o the Middle Eastand ocusing more on eastern Asia,watch or the Gul states to look moreand more toward Europe or backing.

EUROPE

Greeces War ClaimsAgainst GermanyTHE TELEGRAPH | April 9

P A Samaras held aspecial meeting with the oreignminister Dimitris Avramopoulos andother key officials this morning tolimit the diplomatic damage rom the

-page report.Te documentstamped Aporito,

or secretwas drafed by a panelo experts appointed by the Greekfinance ministry and delivered to o-ficials last month.

Te alleged claim against Germanyreaches a grand total o billion( billion), including bil-lion ( bil lion) or rebuilding the

countrys inrastructure afer the Nazioccupation rom to . Tis is percent o Greek .

Te report was first leaked to theGreek newspaper To Vimaover theweekend in a story titled What Ger-many Owes Us.

Te panel concluded that Ath-ens has legitimate grounds to pressclaims. Greece never received any
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compensation, either or the loans itwas orced to provide to Germany oror the damages it suffered during thewar, it said.

Te newspaper said the issue hasdetonated like a bomb at a criticaljuncture when Greece is under intensepressure rom creditors. Te govern-ment should publish all the findingsand determine its position on thissensitive issue, it said.

Tere has long been a vocierouslobby calling or war reparationsrom Germany, with the so-called

National Council ca lling or asmuch billion (. billion) tocover stolen art work and the loss o percent o economic output overalmost our years.

Greece has already enjoyed con-siderable debt relie, though at theexpense o private pension unds,insurers, and banks, rather than at the

expense [o] the German state or othereurozone countries.

Netherlands, the NextChip to Fall?Mike Shedlock, BULLION MANAGEMENT

GROUP | April 10

T N, Berlins most

important ally in pushing orgreater budgetary discipline in Europe,has allen into an economic crisisitsel, with huge debts and a burst realestate bubble.

Te Netherlands is acing the kindo real estate crisis as the U.S. andSpain did. Dutch banks have pumpedbillions in loans into the private andcommercial real estate market sincethe s, without ensuring that bor-rowers had sufficient collateral.

Private homebuyers could eas-ily find banks to finance more than percent o a propertys price.

Instead o paying off the loans, bor-rowers put some o the money into aninvestment und, hoping or a profit.Te money was to be used to pay off theloan, at least in part. But it quickly be-came customary to expect the value o agiven property to increase substantially.

No nation in the eurozone is as

deeply indebted as the Netherlands,where banks have a total o about billion (. billion) in mort-gage loans on their books.

Consumer debt amounts to about percent o available income. Bycomparison, in even the Spaniardsonly reached a debt ratio o percent.

Te Netherlands is still one o themost competitive countries in the EU,but the bursting real estate bubblethreatens to take down the entire

C but a stimulusor her to stick even more strongly

to her moral and political convic-tions. Margaret Tatcher came rom aamily that was embedded in the old

traditions and the heritage that oncemade Britain GreatBritain.

In the latter hal o the th cen-tury, the rise o Margaret Tatcher inthe political ranks o the Conservatives in Britain primedher or her role as a three-term prime minister.

Between the time o her election in and her orcedresignation rom the office o prime minister in ,Mrs. Tatchers economic policies transormed the Britisheconomy rom its s state o listless drifing to one othe strongest o global economies.

Secretary General Anders Fog Rasmussen summedup Mrs. Tatchers leadership o Britain in the ollowing

terms: Baroness Tatcher was an extraordinary politi-cian who was a staunch deender o reedom, a poweruladvocate o and the transatlantic bond. She stronglysupported values and principles, believed in a strongdeense and played a leading role in ending the Cold War.Troughout her tenure as British prime minister, MargaretTatcher stood on principle and showed great courage, vi-sion and leadership ( press release, April ).

In August , Herbert Armstrong met Mrs. Tatcherat Downing Street, the prime ministerial residence. Teirparting comments to each other ollowing a hal-hourmeeting were reiterated by Mr. Armstrong in an address to

his supporters in Pasadena, Caliornia, on Nov. , .Commenting on that meeting, Mr. Armstrong went on

to reiterate, As we were leaving, she said, Well, theres onething. Our two countries, the United States and Britain,must absolutely continue to hang together. And I said, I

they dont hang together, theyll probably hang separately.Sometime afer Britain had signed up to the Maastricht

reaty that was to chart the course to dominance by Ger-many in Europe, Mrs. Tatcher gave a very clear explana-tion o her reaction.

At a meeting with Francois Mitterrand, George H.W.Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev in , Mrs. Tatcher de-clared: I was opposed to German unification rom earlyon or the obvious reasons. o uniy Germany would makeher the dominant nation in the European community. Teyare powerul, and they are efficient.

Tatcher then said, All this is flatly contrary to all my ide-als. Some people say you have to anchor Germany to Europe

to stop these eatures rom coming out again. Well, you havenot anchored Germany to Europe, but Europe to a newlydominant Germany. Tat is why I call it a German Europe.

Te Iron Lady was right.With her dies the final slice o real, courageous British

political leadership. Tat quality o Britishness will notreturnever!Your Bible says so. In act, it is destined to bereplaced by a ar better qualitythe perect character othe very One who gave Britain its greatness rom the begin-ninghaving no connection with earthly politics.

Follow Ron Fraser: Twitter

Margaret ThatcherExit the Iron Lady

RON FRASER

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economy. Unemployment is rising,consumption is down and growth has

come to a standstill. Despite toughausterity measures, this year thegovernment wil l violate the EU deficitcriterion, which orbids new borrow-ing o more than percent o .

Its a heavy burden, especially orDutch Finance Minister Dijsselbloem,who is also the new head o the EuroGroup, and is now both a watchdogor the monetary union and a crisiscandidate.

France, Germany:Tense AlliesSTRATFOR | April 5

T events attest to thegrowing political tensionbetweenGermany and France. On April ,French Finance Minister PierreMoscovici said France would needmore time to cut its deficit. Ten onApril , French President Franois

Hollande received Peer Steinbrck, amember o Germanys main opposi-

tion Social Democratic Party and acandidate or chancellor. Some consid-er the invitation an affront to currentGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Hollandes leadership status inEurope has weakened as Merkelshas strengthened. In this context, heis trying to use the German electioncampaign and ties to the Social Dem-ocratic Party to weaken Berlins pushor austerity. France and Germany willlikely reach an agreement on Francesdeficit; Paris and Berlin want to pre-

serve their alliance, and Berlin doesnot want to see Paris build a wideropposition base. However, consideringthe popularity o Merkels approach tothe European crisis within Germanyand skepticism towards bailouts, un-damental tensions will remain.

While Steinbrck used his meetingwith Hollande to promote internationalsupport or his candidacy, his strategyis not without risks. Polls show thatmost Germans support Merkels tough

stance on fiscal discipline in the euro-zone. Steinbrck knows that capitulat-

ing to French demands will not endearhim to German voters. An importantreason or Merkels popularity is thecountrys approval o her crisis man-agement, which calls or structuralreorms and austerity in peripheralcountries and opposes Germanys con-tinued financing o bailouts.

[A]fer the elections in Septem-ber, the German government likelywill continue to clash with Paris; theEuropean Unions shortcomings arestructural, so differences between Ber-

lin and Paris will remain regardless opolitical leadership.

An Institution WhereFacts Are SecondaryTHE TELEGRAPH | April 8

T H prime minister haspoured scorn on the European par-liament describing it as place where

I stil l terribly hard or those who opposed her to admitit, but Margaret Tatcherwas right about most things.She was right that Britains trade unions had become

much too powerul. She was right that nationalized indus-

tries had to be privatized. She was right that inflation hasmonetary causes.

She was also mostly right about oreign policy. She wasright to drive the orces o Argentinas junta out o theFalklands and she was right to exhort a wobbly GeorgeH.W. Bush to mete out the same treatment to Saddam Hus-seins orces in Kuwait.

Above all, however, Tatcher was right about Europe.She was right to push Europe in the direction o real reetrade by backing and signing the Single European Act o. Yet she was equally right to oppose the idea o a singleEuropean currency.

Consistently, Tatchers skeptics took the side o those,

such as Nigel Lawson, Geoffrey Howe and John Major, whoavored shadowing the Deutschmark and then peggingthe sterling-mark exchange rate.

Having been dragged kicking and screaming into the in October , Tatcher denounced the Delors planor a ederal Europe with a defiant No! No! No!one noapiece or the European parliament, government and sen-ate he envisaged. Just weeks later, deserted by her cabinet

colleagues, she was orced to resign. It has long been conventional wisdom that Tatcher was

wrong about one thing above all. She was wrong, so theargument goes, to oppose German reunification. Indeed,

most recent accounts o the events o - portrayher as a kind o emale Basil Fawlty, stuck in some kind oSecond World War time-warp.

Yet uture historians may look back on negative reactionto German reunification with more sympathy than mostcommentators elt at the time. In an internal memorandum,written on Feb. , , Tatcher offered a shrewd commen-tary on West Germanys position that reunification wouldpose no strategic threat i it was accompanied by increasedEuropean integration. Te problems will not be overcomeby strengthening the E[uropean] C[ommunity], she wrote.

Germanys ambitions would then become the dominantand active actor.

Tere are rather a large number o people in southernEurope todayand perhaps also in Pariswho would ac-knowledge that here, too, Tatcher was right. Only last yearthe Italian prime minister complained o being treated as iItaly was in a semicolonial relationship with Germany.

Margaret Thatcher: Right About Nearly EverythingFINANCIAL TIMES | April 8

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F purloin the savings and bank deposits inLaiki and the Bank o Cyprus, including the workingunds o the University o Cyprus, and thousands o smallfirms hanging on by their fingertips.

Ten they seize three quarters o the countrys goldreserves, making it ever harder or Cyprus to extricate itselrom at a later date.

Te people o Cyprus first learned about this rom aReuters leak o the working documents or the Eurogroupmeeting on Friday. Tis seemed to catch the centralbank by surprise. Officials said they knew nothing about it.So who in act made this decision?

Cypriots are learning what it means to be a member o amonetary union when things go badly wrong.

It is an interesting question why Cyprus has been treatedmore harshly than Greece, given that the eurozone itselset off the downward spiral by imposing de acto losses o

percent on Greek sovereign debt held by Cypriot banks.And, urthermore, given that these banks were pressuredinto buying many o those Greek bonds in the first place bythe EU authorities, when it suited the Eurogroup.

You could say that this is condign punishment or theailure o Cyprus to deliver on its side o the bargain on the Annan Plan to reunite the island, divided by the At-tila Line since the urkish invasion in .

Greek Cypriots gained admission to the EU on the basiso a gentlemans agreement, then resiled rom the accord.President assos Papadopoulis later deployed the resourceso the state to secure a No in the reerendum on the

Greek side o the island. No wonder the EU is disgusted.But there again, Greece behaved just as badly. It

threatened to block Polish accession to the EU unless astill-divided Cyprus was admitted, much to the ury oBerlin.

Te workhouse treatment o Cyprus is neverthelessremarkable. Te creditor powers walked away rom theirresh pledges or an banking union by whipping uplargely bogus allegations o Russian money-laundering in

Nicosia. A Council o Europe by a British prosecutor hasailed to validate the claims.

Te EU authorities have gone to great lengths to insistthat Cyprus is a special case, but I ail to see what is spe-cial about it. Tere is ar more Russian moneylaunderedor otherwisein the Netherlands. Te banking centerso Ireland and Malta are just as large as a share o .Luxembourgs banking center is at least our times moreleveraged to the economy.

It should be clear by now that the solemn pledges o leaders are expendable. Tey change their mind wheneverits suits them, and whenever the internal politics o theirown countries demands.

Cyprus may not be a template but it is clearly a warn-ing to any other country that needs help rom nowon. Te creditor powers will go to extraordinary lengths toavoid sharing the costs.

We now learn that one o those lengths is to seize goldreserves. So what will happen as Portugals economy slidesdeeper into its contractionary vortex, and its deficits remainstubbornly stuck near percent o despite the fiscalcuts, and its public debt hits percent o this year?

Portugal holds tonnes o gold, the th largest hold-ing in the world, and more than either Britain or Spain.

So will the troika order Portugal to hand over these

reserves i the country requires a second bailout, as deemedlikely by a great number o analysts in the city?

EMU Plot for Cypruss GoldAmbrose Evans-Pritchard, TELEGRAPH | April 11

liberal, lef wing and Green s bel-low at each other with bulging veinsand as an institution where acts are

secondary. Hungarians think debate is based

on a sober, matter-o-act, the-other-person-may-be-right logic, but the Eu-ropean Parliament is not a Europeanplace, [Viktor] Orban said, during a

radio interview. Facts are secondary.Mr. Orbans disparaging remarks

on the European parliament come aweek beore the institution debates thestate o democracy in Hungary. Tecentral European country has acedsevere criticism rom the EUandother European bodies over a serieso contentious laws and changes tothe constitution, which, critics claim,undermine democracy.

In response, the Hungarian

government has mounted an un-abashed deense, accusing the EU omeddling in the affairs o a sovereignstate, and lambasting critics overtheir apparent ignorance o Hungar-ian affairs.

Partner Nation RussiaGERMAN FOREIGN POLICY | April 8

T G chancellor and theRussian president attended yester-days opening o the annual HannoverIndustry rade Fair. Tis year, Russiawas the airs chosen partner nation,a move to help promote German-Russian economic relations.

Te German Committee on EasternEuropean Economic Relations an-nounced a German-Russian economic

summit to be held today. Since the/Green coalition governmentencouraged the economic coopera-tion years ago, the trade volume hasgrown rom . billion (. bil-lion) in to more than billion(. billion) in to Germanysadvantage.

Germany is ensuring its access to

energy resources rom Russias hugedeposits, while also tapping into thelucrative market or the Germanexport-oriented industry. Te Ger-man industry needs this market, sinceits sales to the southern eurozoneare tapering off, due to the economiccrisis. Berlin is also seeking to boostthis cooperation because o Chinasgrowing influence in Russia.

Moscow and Beijing are not onlyplanning to expand their bilateral
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9985038/Cyprus-to-sell-400m-of-gold-as-bail-out-costs-nearly-double.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9985038/Cyprus-to-sell-400m-of-gold-as-bail-out-costs-nearly-double.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9985038/Cyprus-to-sell-400m-of-gold-as-bail-out-costs-nearly-double.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9985038/Cyprus-to-sell-400m-of-gold-as-bail-out-costs-nearly-double.html

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economic relations, they are alsoincreasing their political and mili-tary cooperationat the expense oWestern hegemony, as seen rom theGerman perspective.

TW I N B R I E F

n Bungled bailout costs CyprusbillionsTe total amount o money needed tosave Cyprus has increased by around billion (. billion), since thefirst bailout agreement was announcedon March . A leaked EuropeanCommission document, dated April ,shows that the total cost o the bailoutwill now be billion ( billion).Back in March, the total bailout was billion. Europe will still contributeonly billion ( billion), but Cy-

pruss portion has more than doubled,rom billion to billion. Tats theequivalent o about a third o Cyprussentire annual economic output. Tesekind o figures mean that Cyprus willprobably need another bailout, or atleast an extension on the current pro-gram. It will keep Cyprus subservientto Germanyor years to come.

n Former German chancellor:I acted like a dictator

Former German Chancellor HelmutKohl admitted that most in Germanydid not want the euro, and that he acted

like a dictator. He made the remarksin an interview in conducted by

journalist Jens Peter Paul or his doc-trate thesis, which was published several

years later and recently been picked upby the media. Kohls motivation, hesaid, was to avoid war in Europe. Na-tions with a common currency neverwent to war against each other, he said.A common currency is more than themoney you pay with. Kohl chose notto step down in and let Wolgang

Schuble succeed him as chancellor, ashe elt Schuble lacked the experience topersuade the country. Tis is yet urtherproo that the euro and the EU is ananti-democratic project.

n Portugal could be pushed intoanother bailoutPortugals supreme court blocked sev-eral key parts o the countrys austeritybudget on April , urther complicat-ing the countrys efforts to meet its ob-ligations under its bailout package. Te

court ruled that the governments cutsto public sector workers pay and pen-sions, as well as unemployment andsickness benefits, were illegal becausethey were a violation o the principleo equality and the principle o airdistribution o the public burden. Teruling makes it incredibly difficult orPortugal to get its spending under con-trol. A couple o days later, PortuguesePrime Minister Pedro Passos Coelhocalled the nations economic situa-

tion a national emergency. A leakeddocument published by the FinancialTimes showed that the timetable orwhen Portugal has to pay back its loanswill probably have to be extended byseven years. Te Financial Times wrotethat although the document doesnt

address it directly, it makes clear thatPortugal will have a very hard timeavoiding a second bailout.

n Jack Lew tries to convinceEurope to become like AmericaU.S. reasury Secretary Jack Lewtraveled to Europe on April to visit

with high-profile European Unionfinancial leaders in an attempt toconvince them to cut back on austeritymeasures and instead ocus on growthpolicies. Mr. Lew aces an uphill battlein convincing his EU counterparts.He met with Mario Draghi, presidento the European Central Bank, JosManuel Barroso, president o theEuropean Commission, Herman VanRompuy, president o the EuropeanCouncil and German Finance Minis-ter Wolgang Schuble. Lack o growth

in the eurozone is affecting theAmerican economy, and Lew wants toturn it around. Standing in the way oMr. Lews growth policy, which couldbe better described as a borrow-and-print-more-money-to-spend policy,are several o Europes most powerulpolicymakers. Germany has shownlittle willingness to ease the burdensplaced on austerity-enslaved nationssuch as Greece and Cyprus. Tetruth is that the current euro crisis is

being used to drive European integra-tion. Tis is a crisis that EU leaderswill not let go to waste. It is allowingthem to break taboos to drive orwardon the path to a unified Europeangovernment. Tere is no need or Ger-many to change its economic policies.

Chinas ExpandingDrone ProgramSTRATFOR | April 9

C rapidly expanding its re-search into and production, deploy-ments and sales o unmanned aerial

vehicles . Te primary role o thisgrowing program is to help Beijingcontrol and monitor disputed territo-ries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Beijing has decided to prioritize itsdrone program or security and eco-nomic reasons. In the security sphere,these machines are very useul orpatrolling the East and South Chinaseas, allowing Beijing to maintain apresence in the disputed waters, andplay a role in Chinas anti-access/areadenial strategy.

China is developing multiple typeso drones, ranging rom high-altitude,long-endurance designs like the U.S.

Global Hawk to small, hand-launcheddesigns similar to the U.S. Raven.

Te United States and Israel arecurrently the leaders in this technol-ogy. While Chinas drones are not asadvanced, tested or capable o thesame ranges, they do allow Beijing tomonitor its borders and waters moreeffectively due to extended loiter time.Tey also help China deter coun-tries rom intervening in the areabyhelping detect and target potential

ASIA
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10487.29060.0.0/economy/cyprus-a-vassal-state-of-the-german-empirehttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10487.29060.0.0/economy/cyprus-a-vassal-state-of-the-german-empirehttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/915.26938.65.0/world/globalization/europes-true-nature-exposedhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/5694.27962.110.0/economy/the-unseen-danger-in-europes-economic-crisishttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/5694.27962.110.0/economy/the-unseen-danger-in-europes-economic-crisishttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10518.19.0.0/economy/jack-lew-tries-to-convince-europe-to-become-like-americahttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10518.19.0.0/economy/jack-lew-tries-to-convince-europe-to-become-like-americahttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7858.6472.0.0/world/military/chinas-military-advancements-surpass-western-expectationshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7858.6472.0.0/world/military/chinas-military-advancements-surpass-western-expectationshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10323.21988.0.0/world/military/will-china-call-americas-military-bluffhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10323.21988.0.0/world/military/will-china-call-americas-military-bluffhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7858.6472.0.0/world/military/chinas-military-advancements-surpass-western-expectationshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7858.6472.0.0/world/military/chinas-military-advancements-surpass-western-expectationshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10518.19.0.0/economy/jack-lew-tries-to-convince-europe-to-become-like-americahttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10518.19.0.0/economy/jack-lew-tries-to-convince-europe-to-become-like-americahttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/5694.27962.110.0/economy/the-unseen-danger-in-europes-economic-crisishttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/5694.27962.110.0/economy/the-unseen-danger-in-europes-economic-crisishttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/915.26938.65.0/world/globalization/europes-true-nature-exposedhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10487.29060.0.0/economy/cyprus-a-vassal-state-of-the-german-empirehttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10487.29060.0.0/economy/cyprus-a-vassal-state-of-the-german-empire

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violators o the area they are trying todeny. Tis is at the heart o the anti-access/area denial strategy and Chinasmotivation or devoting resourcesto the program. Beijing has plans tobuild coastal drone bases by toincrease its ability to survey the regionor possible intrusions or threats.

TW I N B R I E F

n North Koreas strategy ofunpredictabilityA new evaluation o North Koreas nu-clear capability published on Tursdayby the Pentagons intelligence branchdetermined or the first time, with

moderate confidence that Pyongyangcan build nuclear weapons compactenough to be delivered by a ballisticmissile. Also on Tursday, North Korea

spouted off a resh bout o war rhetoric,claiming that it has powerul strikingmeans on standby. Analysts believeit implied another missile launch, andprobably o a rocket capable o reach-ing the American territory o Guam.In recent months, North Korea hasconducted a rocket launch, carriedout an underground nuclear test andthreatened a preemptive nuclear strikeon the United States and South Korea.Although many in the West are quick

to deride North Korea, Pyongyangs

seemingly erratic threatsare not irra-tional, and the news o its nuclear abili-ties is significant. Wielding the weapono unpredictability, North Korean lead-ers are able to rally their population,and they will likely be able to obtainconcessions rom the internationalcommunity. So ar, the U.S. response to

the intensiying belligerence has beensurprisingly strong. But until Chinathe only nation with real leverage overthe Northreins Pyongyang in, NorthKorean leaders will likely continue towield the weapon o unpredictabilityto rally the people, to obtain more aidand to divert the Wests attention awayrom stealthier enemies.

n Moscow fuming overU.S.-Georgia military drillAround U.S. Marines and sev-

eral hundred Georgian Army troopsparticipated in a month-long militarydrill in the ormer Soviet republic thatended last week. According to reports,the exercisecode-named AgileSpirit inuriated Russia, Geor-gias neighbor to the north. Teseannual events, which our Americanpartners explain as preparation orthe Aghan operations, cause con-cern, said Russian Foreign Ministryspokesman Alexander Lukashevich.

In , Moscow launched a separatist

movement in Russo-riendly regionsin Georgia, which triggered an all-outwar between the Georgian army andthe Moscow-backed separatists. Russiaended up invading Georgiaand wrest-ing the region o South Ossetia romits control, a move which Trumpeteditor in chie Gerald Flurry said

marked the beginning o a danger-ous new era in history. Regarding themilitary drill last month, Lukashevichsaid Georgia is reusing to come toterms with new political realitiesaclear reerence to Russias inva-sion and conquest. Te U.S. values itsalliance with Georgia, not only due toRussias alarming invasion, butalso because U.S. and troops arescheduled to leave Aghanistan withina year, and are struggling to retaininfluence in that resource-rich nation.

World powers view Georgia as a keystaging locale and transport hub orany uture operations in Aghanistan,so they are vying or influence in theormer Soviet republic. Moscows dis-pleasure at the U.S.-Georgia militarydrills provides evidence that the dan-gers o the new era are intensiying.Russia will increasingly assert itsel inGeorgia, the Caucasus and elsewherein the ormer Soviet Union region asit continues its quest to resurrect the

Russian sphere o influence.

AFRICA/LATIN AMERICA

Peace BetweenEthiopia and Eritrea?THINK AFRICA PRESS | April 10

I been over a decade since talks

regarding the demarcation o Eritrea-Ethiopia border stalled, and relationsbetween the two long-standing nemesesdeteriorated into an effective cold war.

Both sides continue to undermineeach others stability, rom allegedlysupporting armed opposition groups towaging a proxy war in Somalia.

At the heart o this crisis is theruling by the Boundary Commis-sion which was established under theAlgiers Agreement, a peace treaty

marking the end o two years o hos-tilities. Te Eritrea-Ethiopia BoundaryCommission was tasked with definingthe contested border, and both sidesagreed to accept its decision. However,having initially welcomed the ruling

in April , Ethiopia reversed itsposition a ew months later, displeasedthat Badme, the flashpoint o the war,had been awarded to Eritrea. Eritreareused to agree to a new commissionand negotiations came to a standstill.ensions remained high and relationsremained sour.

Recently, there seem to have beenimproved prospects or peaceulresolution. Te death in August o Ethiopias long-time leader Meles

Zenawiwhose personal rivalry withEritreas president Isaias Aewerkistoked hostilitieshas raised hopes oa return to the negotiating table. Afertaking office, Meless successor, PrimeMinister Hailemariam Desalegn,

expressed a willingness to travel toEritrea to talk with Aewerki withoutpreconditions.

Several other issues could alsopush both parties to end the low-levelconflict. Afer the Algiers Agreement,both governments sought to settleunfinished scores. In the protractedcold war, however, there was a clearwinner and loser. Ethiopia managedto seize the status o regional hege-mon, leave Eritrea diplomatically
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10466.19.0.0/world/military/is-the-korean-war-back-onhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10466.19.0.0/world/military/is-the-korean-war-back-onhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/5441.3767.0.0/world/war/russias-attack-signals-dangerous-new-erahttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9771.20553.0.0/religion/islam/ethiopias-strongman-dieshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9771.20553.0.0/religion/islam/ethiopias-strongman-dieshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9638.8528.0.0/middle-east/iran/eritrea-in-irans-crosshairshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9638.8528.0.0/middle-east/iran/eritrea-in-irans-crosshairshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9771.20553.0.0/religion/islam/ethiopias-strongman-dieshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9771.20553.0.0/religion/islam/ethiopias-strongman-dieshttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/5441.3767.0.0/world/war/russias-attack-signals-dangerous-new-erahttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10466.19.0.0/world/military/is-the-korean-war-back-onhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10466.19.0.0/world/military/is-the-korean-war-back-on

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isolated, win the support o majorpowers such as the U.S., and get UNsanctions imposed on Eritrea. Eritrea,meanwhile, suffered economically,lost the upper hand in the legal borderbattle, and came to be seen as a pariahstate, accused o sponsoring regionalinstability and terrorism. Te regimein Asmara is now in a struggle or itsown survival. Its military capability

is checked, external pressure remainshigh, its economic situation is dire,and there appears to be simmer-ing domestic dissent as exhibited by

several high-level deections and anarmy mutiny on January .

Tis could suggest that Eritrea ismore likely to agree to talks

TW I N B R I E F

n Mexican drug cartels move intoColombiaTe decline and all o Colombias

drug gangsonce the undisputedmasters o the illicit drug tradehasallowed Mexican cartels to moveinto the areaand gain access to large

supplies o cheap Colombian cocaine.In order to bypass the Mexican cartelsand regain some o their lost profits,the remaining ragments on the Co-lombian cartels are starting to exportmore to Europe. Despite this move,however, the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexicois swifly becoming the dominantcriminal orce in Central America.Until the people o the United States

get their drug addiction problemsun-der control, death and crime will reignthroughout the vast area rom thePanama Canal to the Arctic Ocean.

A o its longstanding policy o building ties withdeveloping countries, China is on course to buy threemillion hectares o the Amazon rainorest rom Ecuador tohelp it secure access to mineral wealth worldwide.

Te relationship between China and Ecuador has beencozy since China began pumping money into Ecuadorthrough financing inrastructure projects and oil refiner-ies in return or mineral resources. Te large amount omoney that Ecuador owes China, combined with the rap-idly deteriorating relationship between Ecuador and otheroreign oil investors, is orcing the South American countryto welcome investment rom the Asian giant.

China has invested heavily in oil to expand its politicaland economic might, and to secure access to its growingdemand or natural resources. China is financing Ecua-dors oil refineries and transportation projects in returnor oil shipments, with around percent o Ecuadors oil

exports currently going to China. It is providing percento the unding or a new . billion oil refinery, Refineriadel Pacifico, which is expected to process , barrelso oil per day.

Ecuador is interested in securing more Chinese invest-ment in its oil industry and would welcome a winningChinese bid on its auction o oil blocks in the Amazonrainorest containing an estimated million barrels o oil.

Ecuadors government is counting on China to investin oil rom the Amazon because o its worsening relation-ship with U.S. oil investors and its indebtedness to China.China, in its continuing attempt to seize mineral resourcesworldwide to accommodate its growing demand at home,is almost certain to take Ecuador up on the offer. Despiteinternational outcry over the environmental damages,China will go ahead and begin its oil extracting expeditionin the Amazon orest.

Chinas Amazon Rainforest Energy GrabLIGNET | April 10

ANGLO-AMERICA

Targeted KillingDefines War on TerrorNEW YORK TIMES | April 7

W S Abu Ghaith, ason-in-law o Osama bin Laden,was taken into American custody atan airport stopover in Jordan lastmonth, he joined one o the mostselect groups o the Obama era: high-level terrorist suspects who have beenlocated by the American counterter-rorism juggernaut, and who have notbeen killed.

John O. Brennan, now director,said last year the preerence was to uselethal orce only when capture was not

easible.Mr. Abu Ghaiths casehe awaits a

ederal criminal trial in New Yorkisa rare illustration o what Obama ad-ministration officials have ofen said istheir strong preerence or capturingterrorists rather than killing them.

I have heard it suggested that theObama administration somehow pre-ers killing al Qaeda members ratherthan capturing them, said John O.Brennan, in a speech last year when

he was the presidents counterterror-ism adviser; he is now the director.

Nothing could be urther rom the

truth. Despite Mr. Brennans protesta-

tions, an overwhelming reliance onkilling terrorism suspects, whichbegan in the administration o GeorgeW. Bush, has defined the Obama years.Since Mr. Obama took office, the and military have killed about ,people in counterterrorist strikes inPakistan, Yemen and Somalia, mostlyusing drones. Only a handul havebeen caught and brought to this
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country; an unknown number havebeen imprisoned by other countrieswith intelligence and other supportrom the United States.

Tis policy on targeted killing,according to experts on counterter-rorism inside and outside the govern-ment, is shaped by several actors: theavailability o a weapon that does notrisk American casualties; the resis-tance o the authorities in Pakistanand Yemen to even brie incursionsby American troops; and the decreas-ing urgency o interrogation at a timewhen the terrorist threat has dimin-ished and the United States has deepintelligence on its enemies.

Tough no official will publiclyacknowledge it, the bottom line isclear: killing is more convenient thancapture or both the United Statesand the oreign countries where thestrikes occur.

Te drone strikes have becomeunpopular abroad; in a Pew ResearchCenter poll last year, just percento Pakistanis supported them againstleaders o extremist groups. And do-mestic critics have attacked rom two

different directions: Some Republi-cans in Congress accuse Mr. Obamao adopting a de acto kill preer-ence because he shut down the s

overseas prisons and does not want tosend more detainees to GuantnamoBay, Cuba. Human rights advocatesargue that some drone strikes haveamounted to extrajudicial killings,the execution without trial o peoplesuspected o being militants whoseidentities American officials ofen donot know and who sometimes poselittle threat to the United States.

Only in the drone era has killingterrorism suspects become routine. Inthe s and s, counterterror-

ism officers captured several suspectsoverseas and brought them back to theUnited States or trial.

Americas ContinuingEconomic DepressionMARKET ORACLE | April 2

T not what economic recoverylooks like. Tis is, however, what an

economic depression looks like: First, the American workorce is ar

smaller than it was beore the economic collapse, even though the

number o Americans o workingage has increased by several millions. Second, the people who are lucky

enough to be gainully employedare earning less.

Tird, with ar ewer people em-ployed, those who are employedearning less, and the long-termunemployed and underemployeddepleting their savings, the numbero Americans living in povertycontinues to grow.

Fourth, with the employed earning

less, millions o unemployed andunderemployed depleting their sav-ings, and interest rates at record lows,Americans are saving less and less.

Finally, the number o Americansdependent on the government orbasic survival has grown by thetens o millions.Only two words adequately de-

scribe this five-year period o erodingliestyle in the United States: economicdepression.

A thatit is abandoning the U.S. dollar ortrade with China is the latest broad-side in the global currency war. Start-ing April , Australia and China willno longer use the U.S. dollar or trade

between the two nations.Tis is a significant announcement

and key development or China as it continues its cam-paign to internationalize the yuan and chip away at thedollars role as the worlds reserve currency.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard made the an-nouncement during an official visit to Shanghai on Mon-day. She noted that China is now Australias biggest tradingpartner and that the direct currency trading would be ahuge advantage or Australia.

She called the currency accord a strategic step orwardor Australia as we add to our economic engagement withChina.

According to bank, more than percent o smalland medium-size Australian businesses that trade withChina plan to offer quotes or goods and services in yuan.

For China, this is a big accomplishment as it workstoward its goal o having about a third o its oreign tradesettled in yuan by .

But or the U.S. dollar, it is another hit in a string o hitsto its dominance as the global reserve currency.

On March , China and Brazil agreed to cut out theU.S. dollar or approximately hal o their trade. Some billion worth o commerce per year will now be con-ducted in yuan and reals. Americas other major ally in

the Pacific announced last year that it would be curtail-ing its use o the dollar too. In June, Japan and Chinabegan cutting out the dollar in bilateral trade. Similardollar exclusion deals have been announced by Russiaand China, Russia and Iran, India and Iran, and Indiaand Japan.

As more nations challenge the dollars position asreserve currency it will greatly impact living standards inAmerica. Interest rates will skyrocket. Te governmentmay be orced to resort to ul l-scale money printing tofinance its debt. Credit and loan costs will rise, potentiallycollapsing Americas consumer economy. Inflation willdestroy the value o peoples savings. And higher levels o

unemployment wil l become a way o lie.By jumping ship and swimming to China, Australia

may think it will mitigate the worst o the looming dollarwar. But eking out strategic partnerships with China comeswith a whole set o other risks that are just as deadly.

Follow Robert Morley: Twitter

Australia to Abandon the U.S. Dollar

ROBERT MORLEY
https://twitter.com/morleyroberthttps://twitter.com/morleyroberthttps://twitter.com/morleyrobert

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Air Force Jets aCasualty of CutsCNN | April 10

T U.S. Air Force began ground-ing a third o its fighter jet fleet onuesday because o orced spending

cuts, one o the most prominent con-sequences so ar o government-wideausterity that began in March.

Dozens o units in the UnitedStates, Europe and the Pacific ulti-mately will stand down, according toa statement rom Gen. Mike Hostage,the commander o the Air Forces AirCombat Command.

Te move involving jets assigned tofighter, bomber, airborne warning andother squads aims to ensure that re-maining units can maintain sufficient

readiness through the remainder o thefiscal year, which ends September .

Units will stand down on a rotatingbasis so our limited resources can beocused on ulfilling critical missions,Hostage said.

Te current situation means wereaccepting the risk that combat air

power may not be ready to respondimmediately to new contingencies asthey occur, he said.

Units that stop flying will shif theiremphasis to ground training. Teywill use flight simulators to the extentpossible within existing contracts, andconduct academic training to main-

tain basic skills and knowledge otheir aircraf.

Your Kids Dont Belongto YouYAHOO | April 8

G B opened his radio showMonday in a state o near disbelieover an promo where anchorMelissa Harris-Perry calmly explains

how your children dont really belongto youthey belong to the collective.

Its almost a parody o reality,Beck said o the clip. It is so ar be-yond what we have ever thought as anation, its remarkable .

For those who havent seen theadvertisement, Harris-Perry says: We

have never invested as much in publiceducation as we should have becauseweve always had kind o a privatenotion o children. Your kid is yoursand totally your responsibility. Wehavent had a very collective notion othese are our children. So part o it iswe have to break through our kind o

private idea that kids belong to theirparents or kids belong to their ami-lies and recognize that kids belong towhole communities.

Beck explained , I thinkthat theres a good to percent oAmerica, maybe even higher now, Imnot sure, [that] will gladly have theState take that over so they dont haveto worry about it. Yet another one oyour responsibilities taken rom youIm sorry. Another one o your respon-sibilities that you will gladly hand over

because you dont know what to do.And so they will do it or you: Dontworry! Well raise your kids. Welltrain your kids. Well educate your kidsbecause its working out so well.

Related: Parents! Take Charge of Your

Childs Incredible Potential

W know what successul people look like. Teyare the ones who do whatever it takes, the ones withthe sharp elbows, the ones who know how to take whatis theirs. But there is a different, better path to success,argues Adam Grant, in Give and ake. Grant, a proessoro management at Wharton, shares research which sug-gest that some o the most successul peoplenot just inbusiness, but in many realmsare in act classic givers,

people who genuinely try to help those around them. Howcould this be? He took questions romMind Matters editorGareth Cook.

Cook: How do you think that Americans tend to thinkabout the personality o successul people, and what firstled you to suspect that this may be wrong?

Grant: Many o us assume that to achieve success, itsnecessary to get at least as much rom other people as wecontribute to them. I were too generous, others will takeadvantage o us, and well end up running out o timeand energy to work toward our own goals. Most o us

assume that people achieve success and then start givingback. But what i the opposite is true? Could it be that giv-ing first actually leads people to succeed later?

Cook: And then where did you go with this question?What research suggested to you that it might be true?

Grant: In one o my own studies, hundreds o sales-people completed a questionnaire on their commitment tohelping coworkers and customers, and I tracked their sales

revenue over the course o a year. I ound that the most pro-ductive salespeople were the giversthose who reportedthe strongest concern or benefiting others rom the verybeginning o their jobs. Tey earned the trust o their cus-tomers and the support o their coworkers. Similar patternsemerged in a number o other fields, and beore long, I hadmany data points showing that the most successul peoplein a wide range o jobs are those who ocus on contributingto others. Te givers ofen outperorm the matchersthosewho seek an equal balance o giving and gettingas well asthe takers, who aim to get more than they give.

The Secret to Success Is Giving, Not TakingSCIENTIFIC AMERICAN | April 9

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9145.20626.143.0/society/family/parents-take-charge-of-your-childs-incredible-potentialhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9145.20626.143.0/society/family/parents-take-charge-of-your-childs-incredible-potentialhttp://www.giveandtake.com/Home/AdamGranthttp://www.giveandtake.com/Home/AdamGranthttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9145.20626.143.0/society/family/parents-take-charge-of-your-childs-incredible-potentialhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/9145.20626.143.0/society/family/parents-take-charge-of-your-childs-incredible-potential

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APRIL 13 201312THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

When a nation no longer hascontrol over its national assets, can itstill be considered a sovereign state?Also, consider the tremendous powerat Berlins disposal i it possesses theleverage to compel another nation tosell a core national asset. Moreover, we

learned yesterday that Germany not only has the power tocrush a nations sovereignty, it also has the motive!

More people need to be alarmed by this. Europesfinancial crisis began in , and since then a number oeurozone states have had to go to Germany and the EU ormoney. Berlin has generally responded by demanding someairly stringent austerity measures in return or bailoutmoney. Yet, although it has demanded austerity, Berlin hasnot asked or compelled a single eurozone country in needo a bailout (like Greece, Ireland, Portugal) to sell part orall o its gold reserves.

Until now.We should note that Wednesday evening the Central

Bank o Cyprus () denied the report that Cyprus willsell some o its gold. Te announcement o the gold sale,however, came rom the European Commission, which,together with the and the , and under Germanysdirection, is actually responsible for drawing up Cyprussbailout. Also, the media and analysts paid little attention tothe s denial and continue to report that this is happen-ing. I wonder i the Central Bank o Cyprus simply hasntbeen told that its selling its gold?

o raise the desired million, Cyprus will have to sellaround . tons o gold (at the current price). Te nationowns about . tons o gold, according to the World Gold

Council. So it will have to depart with about . percent, , o its total reserve. Again, Cyprusdidnt decide to sell, it was told by the German-led troikathat it mustsell i it wants bailout money.

Who will it sell the gold to? Its almost certain the buyerswill be the European Central Bank and the InternationalMonetary Fund. Afer all, theyre the ones, with Germanyssanction, bailing out Cyprus. Te and possessabout , tons and tons o gold respectively. Germanyhas , tons, and is the worlds second-largest holder ogold. ogether, this amounts to , tons o gold. Tatequals about percent o Americas total gold supply.

Note: Tat figure include the gold reserves o

other European countries. And i Cyprus is a precedent,then some o this gold could also start to make its way toBrussels and Frankurt. I think this could be a turning

point,said Jonathan Spall, director o precious metals atBarclays Capital. Central bank stocks o gold which hadlooked to be ring-enced in the bailout process .

What i Germany and the make a play or goldowned by other ailing European economies?

Italy is the ourth-largest holder o goldits centralbank holds , tons. France has the fifh-largest stockpilein the world with , tons. Te Netherlands has tons.

Portugal has about tons. Spains holdings stand at .tons. Austria has tons. Belgium tons. Greece hasabout tons. All totaled, the stockpile o gold i col-lected rom the European nations mentioned above,including the but not including the (as that goldtechnically belongs to all members)would come toroughly , tons.

Tat exceeds Americas stockpile by ,. tons!

Tats more than enough to bolster a centralized fiscalauthority and underpin a newly revived European cur-rency.

Nearly all these eurozone nations are experiencingextreme financial difficulty and will inevitably requireurther assistance. Meanwhile, Germany and many othersin Europe recognize the need or greater fiscal consolida-tion and centralization. Is it inconceivable that Germany,as part o an effort to augment a central European fiscalauthority and restore confidence in the euro, might compelthe likes o Spain, France, Italy, Portugal or Greece, just asit has done with Cyprus, to sell some or all o their gold tothe ? rue, it wouldnt be a simple or clean task (were

talking about abdicating national sovereignty), but extremecrises like Europe is enduring demand extreme measureslike were seeing in Cyprus.

When we step back and look at it, there are hints thatGermany and the might be pursuing some sort olarger strategy that includes consolidating gold.

In January, Germany suddenly announced that it wasrepatriating its gold rom France and the United States.

In February, it was discovered that buried withinGreeces bailout package is a stipulation that allows the EUto seize Greeces gold reserves.

Prominent German politicians in recent years have

openly discussed the need or Italy and Spain to sell gold topay off debt.Now Cyprus is being compelled to sell most o its gold

to the and .Is this mere coincidence, or is there something else go-

ing on here? Is it possible that Cyprus is merely the first omultiple European nations that will be made to send goldto a central European authority, one led by Germany? Wewill know in time. What we know, however, isthat Berlins power and influence in Europe, especially onissues o finance, is unparallelled and unchecked. Wereseeing Germany get tougher and tougher with the resto Europe, especially with southern European countries.

Financially, the Continent has been subjugated and, asCharles Moore recently wrote, lies prostrate beore theGerman imperium. Te same is happening politically witheach passing month.

Consider all this in the context o Germanys undeniablehistory o political and financial imperialism, and you getan eery sense that dark orces are at work in Europe. Youneed to stay tuned to the Trumpet.I you havent read italready, read Germanys Gold Hoard.

We dont have all the details, but its clear something isaootand Germanys play or Cypruss gold mightjust bethe beginning. Follow Brad Macdonald: Twitter

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