Re: SC58

Atheo, It seems to me that your main complaint about Ellens article is the issue of whether the Islamic Scholars would/are actually pursueing an economic system that is not modeled after the western capitalistic system, one not using interest as pertaining to loans because of some religious tenants. I agree with your sentiments that all the societies of the world look like, or are, based on the capitalistic model in general, and interest is most always a part of the equation regarding loans. This issue though in my opinion is a relatively small part of the bigger message of this article, that being that mega corporations, and the capitilistic pardigm in general uses mega loans to poor countries and the interest arrangements for the specific purpose of essentially putting the populations of these countries within thier control under debt enslavement in essence. The huge debt obligations put these countries in the position of having to make deals with the lenders that are highly adverse to thier populations and opens thier lands up to mass plundering and resource degredation because of the same.
The other main part of the article seeks to address the situation that Iran is in the proces of implementing an oil bourse that will trade this commodity in currency other than dollars. Saddam was doing the same thing just before Iraq was attacked and OCCUPIED by US forces. Many think a big part ( as well as seeking to control and capitilize on Iraq's oil reserves ) of the invasion was about stopping the Iraq oil bourse which was going to also trade oil in non-dollar denominations. The US dollars value in recent decade has been supported heavily by world oil sales which for the most part have been transacted in dollars. Many countries see the precarious state of the US economy and its adiction to mass importation of oil as key factors that show that the US may relatively soon find itself falliing from sole superpower status. China just this week turned down the US's attempts to seek funds for helping to bailout Citigroup. They are not so eager now to give loans to a floundering US economic situation. The US is now going to the middle east for funds, which is clearly part of the trip agenda for the Decider's current middle east travels. Many countries are more and more seeking to diversify away from its holdings of US debt, and dollars. So I believe the article in part seeks to emphasize that a big part of the reason the US may attack Iran, is very much about trying to preserve the hegemony of the US dollar, by stopping the Iranian Oil Bourse. The other main part is that neutralizing Iran is a key part of the plans of Isreal, and the US in their sought goals of trying to dominate and control the vital middle east and its critical energy resources.