By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Though as further evidence ISIS is establishing a form of structuralized government, ISIS claims it will undermine Western currency markets with its minted bullion coins. It is using such to establish internal payments and as a hard currency to fund its black marketeering in illegal trade items. Since ISIS lacks a recognized currency, gold provides an intrinsic value in trade in foreign commerce.
However its reliance on bullion coinage can also make it vulnerable to economic countermeasures.
ISIS released on August 29th a propaganda film touting its return of the gold dinar, claiming it will displace the United States from international financial transactions by replacing dollars with bullion coins such as gold, silver, and copper. The film titled “The Rise of the Caliphate: Return of the Gold Dinar” describes how the United States created the Federal Reserve, promising to make payments in gold upon demand accompanied by surrendering dollars. However, the United States then deceived the world by switching to a fiat currency with paper dollars and eventually removing the dollar as payable in gold. The US then maintained dollars in a “satanic way” by using oil, forcing other countries to buy and sell oil in dollars through the petrodollar system.
A site dedicated to the ISIS coinage makes the following claim:
Declaration of the Islamic State launching its own currency
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful! Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace be upon Muhammad and his family and companions…
Under decree of caliph Ibrahim (May Allah bless him!), ruler of all faithful Muslims of the Islamic State, proclaiming the Islamic State to produce its own currency to prevent blind and tyrannical monetary system that was imposed on the Muslims and was a reason for their enslavement, impoverishment and the wasting of national wealth, making it easy prey in the hands of the Jews and Christians. For this purpose the Islamic Financial House has examined the issue and developed a project (Praise be to Allah!) dedicated to minting gold and silver coins according to the domestic value of these metals.
This site (ISIS-Coins.com) tracerouts to a hosting company in Luxembourg, and has its domain registration made private by a company in Russia. It might be proxied.
The ISIS now claims replacing dollars with gold will cause major economies such as Russia and China to sell US T-bills, leading to a collapse of the economy in America.
Al-Monitor reports during an interview with a former jihadist and Islamic commentator Najeh Ibrahim who stated:
“The fact that [ISIS] is monetizing its currencies carries more than one message. The first message is addressed to the world, in which IS confirms that it has become a [legitimate] state. The second is addressed to Muslim youth, in which IS asserts that the Muslims’ dignity and economic power, lost since the era of the caliphate, have returned.
Each coin has its own connotation. The first is a 1-dinar coin of pure gold weighing 4.25 grams [0.15 ounces], and this is the same weight as the first gold dinar of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. On its reverse side, the 1-dinar coin has a symbol of seven wheat stalks, representing the blessing of spending in the path of Allah. The second coin is the 5-dinar coin and weighs 21.25 grams [0.75 ounces]; it is imprinted with a map of the world, representing the extent of territory [the Prophet] Muhammad’s reign would reach.”
There are economic, political and scientific relations between the countries [that cannot be overlooked]. To be recognized as a state, [ISIS] must be accepted by others. There are 192 countries in the world and none of them recognizes [ISIS] as a state, and therefore its currency will not be recognized.” He added, “Any currency must be accepted by the transaction parties. The holder of a currency must not feel threatened by using this currency. An Egyptian worker in Libya working in an area controlled by [ISIS] will not accept his salary in [ISIS] gold dinar, because he knows that he cannot transfer this amount to his children in Egypt. If this worker is caught carrying this dinar in Egypt, he may be subject to legal prosecution. People will not use this currency, even if [it is] made of gold.”
The ISIS arguments fail on many macroeconomic fronts. Any given national currency is backed by local governments and the gross domestic product of that nation, goodwill, and economic strength; not just the holding of precious metals. ISIS coinage lacks any recognition by other states and therefore other than its intrinsic metal value fails in the ability to convert it to other currencies. It likely also will be a closed system in with regard to international black market trade because those engaging in illicit trade with ISIS can only return such currency to those recognizing the ISIS. Nations also can ban possession and trade in this currency, severely limiting its demand and encouraging its devaluation.
The metal value of these coins will fluctuate and will be inversely proportionate in many ways to rises in economies of other nations, as investors sell gold abandon a traditionally perceived safe haven during bear markets. The copper coins are for practical purposes entirely valueless due to the value of copper and the small quantities for which the coins are available.
Yet another worrying factor is where ISIS obtains its gold. With the raping of important historical artifacts and world heritage sites it only seems logical ISIS will turn to extracting gold from irreplaceables and robbing citizens of gold held privately.
One method that the West can engage in economic warfare against ISIS could be found in a similar front prosecuted against Great Britain during the Second World War by the Nazis–See Operation Bernhard for more information.
In the operation the Nazi Government attempted to crash the British Economy by forging millions of pounds of banknotes and releasing these counterfeits into the world economy. While it did lead to disruptions, failures to fully execute the plan and other factors made the operation largely unsuccessful. It did however force the Bank of England to deprecate the notes subject to counterfeiting and reissue new banknotes.
A similar approach could be taken against ISIS currency. The coinage is easier to forge, save for weight. The West could dump large quantities of counterfeit coins having no intrinsic bullion value in an effort to undermine confidence in the currency and lead to inflationary pressures. Whether such actions would can have a positive cost / benefit remains to be seen however.
By Darren Smith
Source: Al-Monitor
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
And here, the courts agree with me:
“On July 11, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court handed down a significant victory for Defendants involved in asbestos litigation. The holding in Bostic v. Georgia-Pacific Corp. definitively established that the framework for legally sufficient causation as forth in Borg-Warner Corp. v. Flores[1] applied to mesothelioma cases and asbestosis cases alike. The Court rejected the “any exposure” theory of liability and reaffirmed the fundamental tort principle that liability must be based on proof of causation by a preponderance of the evidence. The ruling was not only significant to product manufacturer defendants involved in the Texas asbestos litigation, but for defendants in any toxic tort case that will apply Texas substantive law.[2]
Timothy Bostic died from mesothelioma, which Plaintiffs claim was caused by exposure to asbestos from a variety of sources, including the use of Georgia-Pacific joint compound. Before his death, Bostic testified to helping his father perform weekend drywall projects when he was a child and teenager. Plaintiffs sued dozens of defendants, but Georgia-Pacific was the only defendant left at trial. They argued that Bostic’s incidental exposure to their joint compound could not have caused his illness. Plaintiffs’ experts, Dr. Hammar, Dr. Lemen, and Dr. Brody testified that mesothelioma can result from very small amounts of asbestos exposure and described mesothelioma as a dose response disease. The Jury found liability and awarded Plaintiffs $6.8 million in compensatory damages and $4.8 million in punitive damages. The court of appeals rendered a take-nothing judgment on grounds that the evidence of causation was legally insufficient.
On review, the Texas Supreme Court affirmed, soundly rejecting the testimony of Plaintiffs’ experts and finding that “some” or “any” exposure to asbestos was insufficient to establish causation. They explained that accepting such a standard for causation in mesothelioma cases would impose “absolute liability against any company whose asbestos-containing product crossed paths with the plaintiff throughout his entire lifetime.” Instead they defined the essential teaching of Flores as “dose matters” and declared that the Flores “requirement applies to mesothelioma cases.” ”
Ha ha ha.
Here the court seems to be agreeing that the mere fact of mesothelioma is not proof that some asbestos exposure must have caused it.
As I predicted, the SJW phillyT doubled down.
PhillyT cannot admit he does not know, at least in medicine, what ‘necessary and sufficient’ means.
Asbestos is not even necessary to cause some cases of mesothelioma.
Google “erionite”, which comes from volcanic ash and is, like asbestos, a fibrous silicate, but is NOT asbestos. It also causes mesothelioma. It acts like, but is not asbestos.
So, as I explained, asbestos is not sufficient to cause mesothelioma, and in fact, in some cases, is unnecessary in its origin.
But failing to defeat me, you shift the goalposts, as SJWs are wont, and now claim we were discussing whether or not asbestos was a carcinogen, which we clearly were not.
Epic fail, phillyT.
And hilarious. Thanks for all the laughs.
Once the asbestos fund is all taken by sleazy attorneys like Peter Angelos, mesothelioma will be old news.
The judiciary has ruined our once great nation and the many sleazy attorneys have obliged in it’s destruction. I have formulated arguments that due to the “multiple” unlawful abrogations of the Constitution, we are no longer a lawfully Constituted Republic. If the rule of law has been overthrown by enemies from within, until that government becomes lawfully reconstituted, it is just another rogue nation forcing tyranny on it’s majority.
Know one wants to look at it in this manner, but once you have lost your rule of law through advanced central planning and controls by the oligarchy, which by the way always happens in both direct democracies and democratic republics, you will see a plethora of taxes and regulatory fees to feed the giant. Court ordered enforcements against the middle and lower classes will create a revolving door between liberty and incarceration as the giant attempts to gain greater and greater revenues from their easiest prey.
The lack of communications between the professional class and the working class has placed blinders on our policy makers and business leaders that is creating hopelessness and despair amongst the workers. Many within the majority have given up on our system, as they see it getting worse and worse, making it harder and harder to survive.
If the leadership does not do something soon to correct the abrogations and resultant usurpation of individual rights against the majority, the future of this country is destined for its darkest history.
https://rsjexperiment.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/above-the-law/
The guy who graduated last in my med school class became a lawyer.
And no, they don’t call him “doctor.”
The antonym of thesaurus is phillyT.
The synonym is WFBuckley.
KCFleming – I miss Bill Buckley. He really helped expand my vocabulary when I was in high school and college. My favorite favorite was the Buckley – Vidal debates. 😉
phillyT and Fiver, let me google that for you:
Nature Genetics 43, 1022–1025 (2011)
“Because only a small fraction of asbestos-exposed individuals develop malignant mesothelioma, and because mesothelioma clustering is observed in some families, we searched for genetic predisposing factors. We discovered germline mutations in the gene encoding BRCA1 associated protein-1 (BAP1) in two families with a high incidence of mesothelioma, and we observed somatic alterations affecting BAP1 in familial mesotheliomas, indicating biallelic inactivation. In addition to mesothelioma, some BAP1 mutation carriers developed uveal melanoma. We also found germline BAP1 mutations in 2 of 26 sporadic mesotheliomas; both individuals with mutant BAP1 were previously diagnosed with uveal melanoma. We also observed somatic truncating BAP1 mutations and aberrant BAP1 expression in sporadic mesotheliomas without germline mutations. These results identify a BAP1-related cancer syndrome that is characterized by mesothelioma and uveal melanoma. We hypothesize that other cancers may also be involved and that mesothelioma predominates upon asbestos exposure.”
As you can see, you are both completely wrong.
“Because only a small fraction…” means of course that asbestos is not sufficient to cause mesothelioma, and that the other required co-factor is a rare genetic trait. More, that same trait can cause other cancers in the absence of asbestos exposure, making asbestos neither necessary nor sufficient there. Indeed, mesothelioma is so rare that absent that gene, asbestos may be unable to cause mesothelioma, i.e., neither necessary nor sufficient.
So again we can see neither of you know what you speak of on this matter.
But I expect you to double down on your error, rather than accept defeat.
Becaus that’s what SJWs do.
Wow, manic commenting here too.
Yes we need intelligent, honorable politicians like the liberal Alex Johnstone of the NDP, running for Parliament in Canada. She made phallic Auschwitz jokes this week AND DID NOT KNOW WHAT AUSCHWITZ WAS! We’re being lectured by a person who hails from a country that makes even our most stupid politicians look like geniuses. Greatest democracy ever created, the USA. That is a fact. We don’t need people from inferior countries telling us how to run ours.
“Non sequitur”: a word also swallowed by a truculent, disagreeable, bellicose dinosaur… and apparently regurgitated without retention.
Have a nice day.
NDTE
My derision is not for free speech but speech out of the cost of those who vote. Your idea is to protect the status quo, those who buy and sell our politicians. That makes you a supporter of the oligarchy which plagues this country.
Our political history is one of a government that is bought and sold like any third world country. Politicians comfortably point the finger at the manufacturers of drugs instead of the true culprits, the users. That would be political suicide, to blame the victims, the users, the causes, America. It is always easier to develop an adversary, an enemy, someone other than ourselves. Until Americans understand that they are potentially their own worst enemy, America will be handicapped with this us or them nonsensical mentality. You, Nick, are a perfect example.
Money is speech, and political speech is the most protected here in the US, the greatest democracy ever created. Of course, your derision for free speech is well documented here on almost a daily basis.
First and foremost, no private money in campaign finances. Sound impossible? Imagine the consequences.
… a thesaurus.
Fiver, Sir?
Hmmm…. “edifying,” huh?
What do you call a truculent, disagreeable, bellicose dinosaur?
LOL. Someone better go read what the MD said before they think they hit a jackpot. This thread is edifying.
What the heck, I’ve got another spoon.
http://www.mesothelioma.com/mesothelioma/causes/
The sleazy owner of the Baltimore Orioles made his billions on the backs of dockworkers. Peter Angelos is a plaintiff’s attorney who got in on the ground floor of class action asbestos GOLD.
I think he watches daytime TV, sees those mesothelioma ads, and calls for the pamphlets.
LOL! It looks like we have another one who plays a doctor on TV. Liberals have more balls than brains.