Susan Lindauer: IRAQ – The Legacy of Deception and Its Costs

IRAQ: THE LEGACY OF DECEPTION AND ITS COSTS Susan Lindauer, Former CIA Back Channel to Iraq at the United Nations Most Americans are astonished to discover that right up to 9/11, the CIA was developing a “Real Politik” vision of Iraq that recognized the fast approaching collapse of U.N. Sanctions. The CIA was preparing for …

NIGHTWATCH: Financial Crisis Now a Crisis of Fundamentals

Europe:  Updates. In an interview with a French daily on 25 December, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde stressed that Europe’s financial crisis is turning into “a crisis of confidence in public debt and the solidity of the financial system. Greece: According to an IMF source involved in discussions with Greece, the situation in …

Chuck Spinney: Financial Coups Destroying Europe

The core of neoliberalism is a political-economic theory masquerading as a scientifically pure economic theory.  The central claim is that efficiency and economic growth is the means to maximize individual welfare, and in so doing, neoliberal policies maximize the collective welfare. In theory, Neoliberalism’s key tenets — the supremacy of the market, globalization of capital …

Chuck Spinney: Europe in Crisis Rule by Troika Spain and Hungary Next

Rule by troika by Serge Halimi Le Monde Diplomatique, December 2011 Former bankers Lucas Papademos and Mario Monti have taken over in Athens and Rome, exploiting the threat of bankruptcy and the fear of chaos. They are not apolitical technicians but men of the right, members of the Trilateral Commission that blamed western societies for …