For Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,
the financial crisis that is costing his government $200 billion
may also provide an unexpected opportunity
to expand his country's influence.

USA FORFEITS ICELAND TO RUSSIA

Rejected by its Western allies, Iceland yesterday said it was in talks
to borrow 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) from Russia to shore up its financial system.
It would be the first time Russia has extended financial assistance to a NATO country.
"This is a case of using foreign aid to pursue geopolitical objectives."

Iceland

Yesterday the country of Iceland, abandoned by NATO, declared bankruptcy and was bought up in foreclosure by Russia - a Mafia-run country which itself was bankrupt a mere few years ago, but which is now the home of more billionaires than anywhere else on the planet - due to the plundering of its resources by its Communist-cum-Capitalist leaders. See RUSSIA IS HELL'S INFERNO.

This Western World abandonment of Iceland has parallels to how America abandoned Cuba, allowing Russia to take it over in the 50s and 60s, and when Russia went bankrupt in the 80s, China took Cuba over. See COMMUNISM CUBAN STYLE

The herding of Cuba into Russian control was done before JFK was elected president and continued after his assassination (it was another reason the powers-that-be killed him, ie he vowed that Cuba would one day raise its flag in a free Havana). See JFK'S ICH BIN FREE HAVANA

America and Russia and China have actually been playing into each other's hands (propping one another up like three sheaves of corn to keep the masses down as Orwell said) since before the Russian Revolution (whose Communist leader Bronstein, alias Lenin, lived in New York and fundraised the take-over there) and ever since (albeit under cover and secrecy as they "pretend", in peacetime, to be enemies, ie Cold War, only coming out in the open as "friends" during wartime, ie Hot War, when, as in WWII, the USA propped up Stalin in Russia and helped Mao come to power in China).

Another symbolic parallel of the forfeiture of Iceland to Russia is that Bobby Fischer - the disowned American hero who beat the Russians at their own game (chess) in Iceland in 1972 - had all of his money (millions of dollars) invested in an Iceland bank, having been forced to transfer it there by a Swiss bank in 2006, after being persecuted by his own country, America, for 35 years. If, after his recent death nine months ago, his heirs have not got Fischer's money out of the Iceland bank, then the Communist-Capitalists in Russia, his arch enemy, have it now. See UNCLE SAM LOST BOBBY FISCHER & FISCHER VS SPASSKY DOCUMENTARY

The banking chaos that is happening in the Western World now is being perpetrated by forces above and beyond our borders, by the international bankers who OWN all nations, big and small. Their control of the USA economy was a reality and threat JFK was aware of (learned it from his father) and in his short 1,000 days in office, he attempted to remedy the situation. It's another reason the powers-that-be killed him. See JFK VS FEDERAL RESERVE & JFK DEFENDED DOLLAR & CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND & GREENSPAN FROM JEKYLL ISLAND

As we approach the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, the world is suffering for not having brought the evil forces behind his murder to justice, those same evil forces who, 100 years before, arranged the assassination of President Lincoln, and who, to this day, destroy anyone who attempts to expose them. See LINCOLN, KENNEDY & MONEY & PALIN RIGHT ON RUSSIA ~ Jackie Jura

Iceland teeters on the brink of bankruptcy
by Jane Wardell, Associated Press, Oct 8, 2008

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — This volcanic island near the Arctic Circle is on the brink of becoming the first "national bankruptcy" of the global financial meltdown. Home to just 320,000 people on a territory the size of Kentucky, Iceland has formidable international reach because of an outsized banking sector that set out with Viking confidence to conquer swaths of the British economy — from fashion retailers to top soccer teams. The strategy gave Icelanders one of the world's highest per capita incomes. But now they are watching helplessly as their economy implodes — their currency losing almost half its value, and their heavily exposed banks collapsing under the weight of debts incurred by lending in the boom times. "Everything is closed. We couldn't sell our stock or take money from the bank," said Johann Sigurdsson as he left a branch of Landsbanki in downtown Reykjavik. The government had earlier announced it had nationalized the bank under emergency laws enacted to deal with the crisis. We have been forced to take decisive action to save the country," Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde said of those sweeping new powers that allow the government to take over companies, limit the authority of boards, and call shareholder meetings. A full-blown collapse of Iceland's financial system would send shock waves across Europe, given the heavy investment by Icelandic banks and companies across the continent....Famous for its cod fishing industry, geysers, moonscape and the Blue Lagoon, Iceland was the site of the Cold War showdown in which Bobby Fischer of the United States defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in 1972 for the world chess championship. Last year, Iceland won the U.N.'s "best country to live in" poll, with its residents deemed the most contented in the world. No more.... But the whole system was built on a shaky foundation of foreign debt. The country's top four banks now hold foreign liabilities in excess of $100 billion, debts that dwarf Iceland's gross domestic product of $14 billion....

Putin May Boost Russia's Power as Iceland Seeks Loan
by Henry Meyer, Bloomberg, Oct 8, 2008

For Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the financial crisis that is costing his government $200 billion may also provide an unexpected opportunity expand his country's influence. Rejected by its Western allies, Iceland yesterday said it was in talks to borrow 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) from Russia to shore up its financial system. It would be the first time Russia has extended financial assistance to a NATO country. "This is a case of using foreign aid to pursue geopolitical objectives,"' said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at UralSib Financial Corp. in Moscow. "This is good economics because it shows Russia's in a strong financial position: it can afford to lend 4 billion euros to someone else."

Even with the ruble near an 18-month low and the stock market suffering its worst rout since the 1998 default, Russia has weathered the global credit crunch with $563 billion in currency reserves, the world's third-largest amount. That financial muscle is giving Putin a weapon to challenge the U.S., which is grappling with its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Iceland sought the [Russia] loan after taking control of two of the country's largest banks and lending 500 million euros to a third. The request comes as the country's financial system is near collapse. "If it goes through, this will be a very, very big help for us," said central bank chief David Oddsson, who complained that other European nations had failed to rescue Iceland. "We haven't got so much help from our very good friends in the Western hemisphere; this decision by the Russian government to take up negotiations is very much welcome," Oddsson told Bloomberg Television. Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Russia's reaction to the request was "positive."

Ordinary Icelanders, whose country for decades hosted a U.S. airbase, seemed grateful, too. "Iceland is turning into the little Cuba of the north," said Ragnar Hannes Gudmundsson, 38, a former bank employee who is now a teacher. "The Soviet Union supported Cuba decades ago and now they are saving us."

Russia's ability to dip into its reserves -- it has pledged almost $200 billion to boost liquidity and reduce borrowing costs -- is in stark contrast to the situation it faced nine years ago: Reserves then stood at just $12.5 billion. When Putin took over as president on Dec. 31, 1999, he inherited a government that had defaulted on $40 billion of debt and devalued the ruble in August 1998, wiping out millions of people's savings and pushing Russia to the edge of bankruptcy. Since then, the economy has grown almost 7 percent a year on average, fueled by high oil prices. Now, the prospects for Russia are clouding as crude prices fall on concern of a global economic slowdown. Oil futures have declined about 40 percent from the record $147.27 reached July 11. Russia depends on oil and gas for more than two-thirds of its export earnings. Russia halted trading today on its stock markets after the ruble-denominated Micex Index slumped 14 percent in the first 35 minutes of trading and the dollar-denominated RTS Index plunged 11 percent in the first half hour. The RTS has dropped two-thirds this year, the sixth-worst among 88 national equity indexes tracked by Bloomberg, a sell-off exacerbated by the five-day war in Georgia in August. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday announced $36 billion of loans for banks on top of a $150 billion support package pledged in September for companies and lenders.

If Russia can support its stock market and preserve growth, the current financial crisis represents a chance to demonstrate [Russian] "influence in the world economy and the diminishing influence of the U.S", said Sergei Markov, an adviser to the Kremlin who is a lawmaker in the ruling United Russia party. Both Putin, 56, and Medvedev, 43, have criticized the U.S. for spreading financial contagion around the world. U.S. "irresponsibility" led to the global credit squeeze, which may reduce Russian growth to as little as 5.7 percent this year, according to the finance ministry, Putin told a cabinet meeting Oct. 1. A day later, Medvedev said at a forum in St. Petersburg that the financial crisis showed that the time when one economy and one currency dominated the world economy was "over."

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said the talks on a loan between Iceland and Russia highlighted a weakening role for the U.S. "I have to say that the news on today's Bloomberg that Iceland was negotiating a $5.4 billion stabilization loan with Russia did not fill me with a sense of comfort about the political implications and the ways in which the world is moving", Summers said yesterday at a seminar in Buenos Aires. Medvedev today repeated calls for talks on the global financial crisis to include major developing nations. "It's obvious that economic egoism is the consequence of a unipolar world" led by the U.S., Medvedev told an international conference hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Evian, France. Russia, which belongs to the Group of Eight club of industrialized countries, has argued for the body to expand. Russia hosted a summit of the so-called BRIC countries, along with Brazil, India and China, in May as part of an effort to develop them as an economic and political counterweight to the U.S. and Western Europe. The world is changing to Russia's benefit", said Markov, who heads the Institute of Political Studies in Moscow. He added that by lending to Iceland, Russian leaders also wanted to counter the damage to their country's reputation in the West from the conflict with U.S.-allied Georgia.

Bobby Fischer goes public on Switzerland & Iceland banks
Chess Base, Aug 1, 2006

Without giving a reason the Union Bank of Switzerland, one of the world's largest, has transferred the assets of the legendary chess world champion Bobby Fischer to a bank account in Iceland, where Fischer now resides. The sum of three million Swiss Francs (US $2.4 m or €1.9 m) was transferred without Fischer's permission and against his will. Nobody knows why.

In an lengthy interview with Morgunbladid, Reykjavik, last Saturday July 29th, 2006 chess legend and world champion Bobby Fischer revealed that he has been in a long and difficult dispute with the Union Bank of Switzerland, one of the world’s major banks, since he received in April 2005, soon after his arrival to Iceland from a detention in Japan, a notification that the UBS intended to terminate his account, which he had held with the bank for over 13 years since 1992.

The UBS asked Mr. Fischer for his banking details in Iceland in order to transfer all his assets and deposits with the bank, around three million dollars, notifying him at the same time about its unilateral decision to terminate all business relationship with him, without stating any reason or clarification for the action. Then, against Mr. Fischer's repeated protests, the UBS, after some extension of the deadline, went ahead in August 2005 and transferred all his funds to the Landsbanki in Reykjavik. The UBS even liquidated all of Fischer's gold coins, from his match with Boris Spassky in Sveti Stefan in 1992, and other investments, without his prior approval at a time when the rate for gold was very unfavorable.

According to Morgunbladid Mr. Fischer was not willing to receive his financial funds from the UBS in this way, he reserved his rights to take appropriate actions and asked Landsbanki to return the remittance immediately to the account of the UBS where the funds have been floating while this dispute continues. Despite several requests from Mr. Fischer himself and his attorneys in Reykjavik, UBS has been unwilling to provide any formal or substantial explanation or reason for this unvarranted action, but has only referred to paragraph 13 in its General Conditions, where UBS reserves the right to cancel any business relationship. A complaint to the Swiss Banking Ombudsman over the strange measures of UBS did not result in resolving the issue, it explained only that UBS had given some additional respite before the account was terminated and it could do nothing. In the interview in Morgunbladid Mr. Fischer states that this discriminatory decision of UBS had taken him totally by surprise and that he considers it illegal. He claims that even though UBS reserves a right to cancel any business relationship with its clients that this clause does not apply in his case as his relation to UBS was for asset management only.

Questioned about possible grounds for this unparalleled action by the USB, Mr. Fischer says that this decision is obviously targeted at his person and adds that one senior officer of UBS had told him that there was a pressure within the bank to do this. "Possibly a third party has had something to do with this as a part of further attacks against me. In fact I don't know what the directors of UBS are thinking but it seems quite clear that the bank is afraid to keep me as a customer." Then Mr. Fischer argues that he does not see the difference whether the bank takes orders from some outside parties to terminate his account or acts on its own initiative to get rid of him to please somebody else or the US Government. "This is absolutely vicious, illegal and very unfair of the USB", says Fischer. Asked about possible lawsuit against the USB Mr. Fischer explains that he does not expect to have any winning chances for the courts against such a big bank. "But I intend to proceed against the UBS in the open court of the general public.

Fischer vs Spassky Documentary (under the Soviet system, chess was not just another game. The Bolsheviks promoted it as part of state policy)

Iceland teeters on brink of bankruptcy (USA beat USSR in chess in 1972) & Bobby Fischer's money in Iceland bank crash (banks now being bought by Russia) & Loan to Iceland boosts Russia power (expands influence & geopolitical aims). AP/ChessBase/Bloomberg, Oct 10, 2008

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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