ROGER SIMON asks about the financing of Saddam's terror in: SHOW ME THE MONEY!
My question is--where did this money come from? Where did Saddam get the moolah to reward his henchmen for dragging his fellow Iraqis through the streets or dropping them in shredders? I'm not going to say right now it came straight from the UN Oil-for-Food program, but WHERE IS THAT MONEY?Yes, where is that UN money? Perhaps it went back to the same FOUNTAIN OF FUNDING for the Masters of Terror the world over, the French and German banks.
Yesterday, in the Wall St Journal, Michael Gonzalez wrote: Vive Le Checkbook [It's available to subscribers only, so I'll just reprint a couple of indicative paragraphs.]
"Follow the money" is an old adage, and it means that economic interest will eventually explain much human behavior. That France opposed the removal of Saddam Hussein because he owed millions to French banks is proof of this. Less well known, but much more troubling, are key French financial links with other U.S. enemies. They raise the belief that the Franco-American conflict over Iraq was just one slice of the action. For France was not just Baathist Iraq's largest contributor of funds; French banks have financed other odious regimes. They are the No. 1 lenders to Iran and Cuba and past and present U.S. foes such as Somalia, Sudan and Vietnam.The Inigo More report at the Real Instituto ElCano is in Spanish so I am unable to read it, but perhaps those more fluent than I can take a look and illuminate the rest of us.This type of financing is shared by Germany, France's partner. German banks are North Korea's biggest lenders, and Syria's -- and Libya's. But France is the most active. In Castro's sizzling gulag, French banks plunked down $549 million in the first trimester this year, a third of all credit to Cuba. The figure for Saddam's Iraq is $415 million. But these pale in comparison with the $2.5 billion that French banks have lent Iran. The figures come from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, and were interpreted by Inigo More for a Madrid think-tank, the Real Instituto Elcano. As he says, "one could think that Parisian bankers wait for the U.S. to have an international problem before taking out their checkbooks." French banks seem to be almost anywhere U.S. banks are absent. They lend in 57 such countries, and are the main lenders in 23 of those. (His report can be read at realinstitutoelcano.org.) The report offers reasons why Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin really ought to stop using the phrase "our American friends" every time he talks about the U.S.
The Money's Bottom Line, as they say, is that if you want to know of any large, non-Muslim, insititutions that are making it easier for our enemies to kill people of all ilks around the world, you just have to take a look at our 'friends' -- the French and the Germans.
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UPDATE: As noted in the comments, the Inigo More report is not to be found on the English section of the link above but only on the Spanish side. Those who search the English side of the site will not see it and will have a null search string returned.
I took a look at the Real Instituto ElCano site, and it has a version in English (http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/default_eng.asp), but I was not able to track down the report by Inigo More you reference. Do you have a specific link? Or is it available from another site? My wife speaks pretty good Spanish and might be able to take a shot at it, if we can't track down an English translation already extant.
Thanks for the work. I came to you through Roger Simon's blog.
Posted by: Greg Hill at November 25, 2003 11:42 AMIt turns out that it is *only* on the Spanish side since there is not, I imagine, an English translation.
If you search on the Spanish side you can see it, but not on the English.
Posted by: Gerard Van der Leun at November 25, 2003 12:55 PMGreat find, Gerard.
Posted by: Solomon at November 25, 2003 5:04 PMHere's the link to the Spanish version:
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/analisis/360.asp
My wife took a look at it, and it would take her too long to do the translation. However, she has a cousin in Florida who specializes in legal, diplomatic and financial translations in several different languages, including Spanish. My wife thinks that she, as an American Jew, would probably be willing to do this.
I'll let you know in a couple of days. I'd actually like to post it on my blog, but I have a question about the legality of it. Any thoughts?
Posted by: Greg Hill at November 25, 2003 7:23 PMMy name is Pilar Tena, and I am the Deputy Director of Real Instituto Elcano. Mr. Moré's document has already been translated and will be in the web briefly. We are glad you have enjoyed it -it has actually been widely commented- and hope you will visit us often in the future. And we await your comments on any other subject.
Best regards, Pilar Tena
Posted by: Pilar Tena at November 28, 2003 7:54 AMThe simple fact is that, when all other factors are equal, where will consumers spend their money? I believe that in the long run, the best looking, easiest-to-use applications will also be the most successful. I think that's why Apple encourages developers to write programs that are 100 percent Aqua-compliant.
Posted by: Lettice at January 12, 2004 3:22 PMWhether native or not, this is obviously one of the first steps on your way to OS X. Keep in mind that often, the functionality of your code has a lot to do with how your interface is designed. How many developers have come up with great functional ideas from working with their interface or looking at their competitors'? Start working on your Aqua compliance from day one. Don't wait until the last minute.
Posted by: Abraham at January 12, 2004 3:23 PMHelp! Did you include help tags in your applications? (I'd be lost without them.) Also, be sure to take extra time to develop your other help files. The Apple Help Viewer supports HTML, QuickTime, and also AppleScript. Take advantage of it! There isn't anything I hate more than going to the Help menu and finding there isn't any help.
Posted by: Noe at January 12, 2004 3:23 PMAdhere to Window Models. Document windows, Utility windows, Click-through, Layering, Drawers, Controls. How do users open windows, how do you properly title windows?
Posted by: Ellis at January 12, 2004 3:24 PMThis topic is one we will tackle later in this article, but it refers to making sure that your application and the dock aren't fighting it out for supremacy of the screen.
Posted by: Harry at January 12, 2004 3:25 PMAdhere to Window Models. Document windows, Utility windows, Click-through, Layering, Drawers, Controls. How do users open windows, how do you properly title windows?
Posted by: Jasper at January 12, 2004 3:25 PMDock Animation. Sometimes animating icons in the dock can be useful in communicating the status of the system or application.
Posted by: Faustinus at January 12, 2004 3:26 PMTo put my money where my mouth is, in each new article I'll build a hypothetical application that illustrates the guidelines I'm covering. Today's application is called "Paint" and will be based on the photo-illustrative icon I created in my last article. Together we will complete each step, and by the end of the project we should have a well-designed, 95%-100% Aqua-compliant application. I'll leave some room for personal preferences and the fact that Apple changes the OS every few months.
Posted by: George at January 12, 2004 3:27 PMDue to the positioning of the Dock, remember that when you build an application, you have to be sure that new document window sizes and positions do not violate the Dock's space. Dock is temperamental and Dock loves his space. If you default to a window size that expands behind the dock, users will have a difficult time reaching the navigation and resize areas at the bottom of the screen. I can personally say that more than once I have been rather peeved that I couldn't get to an area of the window to resize because the default window settings always pop up behind the Dock. In addition, the new Dock in 10.1 will allow users to position their Dock location on either side of the screen as well.
Posted by: Howell at January 12, 2004 3:27 PMAdhere to System Appearance. Does your application use all the sweetly colored buttons, delightfully shaded windows, and all the other "bells and whistles?"
Posted by: Jordan at January 12, 2004 3:28 PM
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