'Obama and his magic lamp'
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:53 pmhttp://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KC10Ak01.html
Obama and his magic lamp
By Spengler
For the United States to borrow the US$2 trillion a year that it wants, a poor country like Turkey cannot borrow the $30 billion a year that it needs - unless, that is, the United States borrows it first and re-lends it to Turkey.
When President Barack Obama respectfully suggests that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan might like to jump, Erdogan will ask, "How long should I remain in the air?" Turkey requires a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at which the US has the biggest vote. News that an IMF loan might be delayed sent Turkey's lira crashing to a new low against the dollar last week. Just then, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turned up in Ankara to announce that Obama would visit Turkey in April.
Most analysts expected Obama to adjust American foreign policy to the modesty of his circumstances, constrained by rising foreign debt and enervating entanglements. Instead, Obama has entered the foreign policy area with a magic lamp in hand, namely America's bottomless capacity to borrow, and the whole of the world seems to him a Cave of Wonders - at least for the moment. Does America want logical support for its withdrawal from Iraq, or mediation with Iran, or a back channel to Hamas, or anything else? Obama's wish is Erdogan's command, as long as Erdogan can hold onto power. ...
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Obama and his magic lamp
By Spengler
For the United States to borrow the US$2 trillion a year that it wants, a poor country like Turkey cannot borrow the $30 billion a year that it needs - unless, that is, the United States borrows it first and re-lends it to Turkey.
When President Barack Obama respectfully suggests that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan might like to jump, Erdogan will ask, "How long should I remain in the air?" Turkey requires a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at which the US has the biggest vote. News that an IMF loan might be delayed sent Turkey's lira crashing to a new low against the dollar last week. Just then, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turned up in Ankara to announce that Obama would visit Turkey in April.
Most analysts expected Obama to adjust American foreign policy to the modesty of his circumstances, constrained by rising foreign debt and enervating entanglements. Instead, Obama has entered the foreign policy area with a magic lamp in hand, namely America's bottomless capacity to borrow, and the whole of the world seems to him a Cave of Wonders - at least for the moment. Does America want logical support for its withdrawal from Iraq, or mediation with Iran, or a back channel to Hamas, or anything else? Obama's wish is Erdogan's command, as long as Erdogan can hold onto power. ...
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