Wow! Yippee! Debt Relief for 18 nations!!! = which ones?

by - Thu Jun 16, 2005 15:41

US troops to train Mali army:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5874477&cKey=1118858714000
(in additionThree MH-53 helicopters used by special operations forces are on standby to support the teams in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Algeria)

Zambia reopens g-r-a-f-t case:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=5873786

by Davros - Dalek's for a the Ethical Treatment of Little Baby Kittens Thu Jun 16, 2005 13:11

If you're talking about Deputy Zuma getting sacked for taking bribes from Thales then you are going up a wrong-headed cynical street i.

Various big wigs in Thales are well connected to the French government and the French government, like the rest of the developed G8 world, only want what's best for the loser countries. That's why they're so worried about the corruption and that.

There is bound to be some simple explanation, unless you are implying that one hand does not know what the other is doing, or worse still, one hand is pretending it does not know what the other is doing.

Has anyone seen the movie 'O' Lucky Man' by the way? Total fantasy.

by i Wed Jun 15, 2005 21:51

(don't worry its not hard to find)
now over the next weeks make a grid and put a tick every time one appears in the international news on things like -
c-o-r-r-u-p-t-i-o-n (or its polite euphemism g-r-a-f-t-)
arms sales
sporting wins
investment opportunities
blud flag beaches
and so on.
(so far, 4 countries have got newsworthy on the g-r-a-f-t, but I'll watch it a bit more before I start making p-a-t-t-e-r-n-s and a-s-s-u-m-p-t-i-o-n-s coz I'm too cynical me)

by Observer Mon Jun 13, 2005 17:24

[Extract
Campaigners and MPs called the increase 'obscene' and 'unacceptable' at a time when the government is putting so much political capital into relieving poverty in Africa.

continues]

by Davros - Dalek Countrywoman's Association Mon Jun 13, 2005 17:13

Well done to the World Bank and the IMF. This is the measure of their mercy: The 'developed' will not reclaim the money the 'developed' lent the 'developing' so the 'developing' could give it back to 'developed' to build roads for 'developed' trucks to steal away raw materials for 'developed' interesets.

I have not seen such a display of generosity since Reggie Kray opted not to give me a chelsea smile after he nailed my head to a coffee table for not 'coughin' up'.

I hope at least the IMF get to sell some of that plundered gold to help ease the burden of those they have been slowly murdering for the last decades. The U.S. gold lobby might block such a move via Congress as it might bring down the value of the precious substance.

Next thing Sam here'll be wondering if any of that gold came from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I'm not implying anything and I honestly don't know but I would never suspect the IMF of such double standards.

by Sam Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:11

The thing that remains to be seen is if this debt relief really is about new money - often countries announce debt relief, and finance it out of their existing aid budgets.
We need to wait and see where this new money comes from before we start congratulating ourselves and the G8 on "making history".
The danger is that the public thinks the fight is over, and when we continue to try and talk about debt, it will seem like old news.

by Bailiff Sun Jun 12, 2005 18:58

With public and private debt levels rising steadily for years, far past what could be considered a safe level, and increasingly strong warning signs that the economy could be on the brink of total collapse (according to standard IMF criteria for developing nations: a budget deficit equal to more than 5% of GDP, foreign debt 3 times the value of annual exports)... any chance of debt relief for the USA?