Israel Matzav

Islamists seek to collapse the dollar?

I don't know how much the collapse of the US dollar is being felt in the States, but for those of us (like me) who earn most of our income in dollars and pay most of our expenses in a different currency (in my case, the Israeli shekel), the effect of the dollar's collapse has been devastating. Last August, there were about 4.2 shekels to the US dollar. Today, there are around 3.35. While I can bill Israeli clients in shekels, there's not a whole lot I can do about American clients. The bottom line is that I have a lot less shekels to spend these days when I bring in the same amount of dollars as a year ago. And expenses in shekels are going up, not down. For example, a gallon of gasoline here is more than $7 per gallon.

MEMRI reports that what's happening to the dollar today did not happen on its own. MEMRI claims that the Islamists have actually been attempting to orchestrate the dollar's collapse and with it the collapse of the American economy.

As was argued in a 2007 MEMRI analysis, many of the jihadists and their supporters have come to view their struggle against the U.S. and the West as an economic war. More specifically, they have come to the conclusion that it is financial, rather than military, losses that will prompt the U.S. to change its policies in the Middle East and elsewhere. Consequently, they emphasize the importance of targeting U.S. interests around the world, and of directing their military jihad primarily at targets that affect the U.S. economy.

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The dollar can expect two additional blows that will break its back... [namely] the announcement of the return of the Caliphate..." and the reinstatement of the gold standard in international monetary trade.

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A recent posting on the Al-Ikhlas forum urges the mujahideen and their supporters to sell their dollars, if they have any, because Al-Qaeda is planning a strike inside the U.S. so that it will undermine the American economy: "[I advise you] to get rid of [your] American dollars... and buy gold instead... or real estate. The next attack inside the U.S. is imminent... Zawahiri will convey his instructions [regarding this attack] in his next [message]... This attack will put an end to the so-called United States of America and destroy its economy completely... The day of the attack is very near..."

Given that it is highly atypical for Al-Qaeda to give prior warning of its attacks, the message is probably an attempt to pressure Muslims to sell dollars, in order to generate pessimism in the dollar market and thus accelerate the drop in its value.

Will the United States stand up and fight? Will the United States do what needs to be done to end the Islamist role in the American economy, such as developing enough domestic sources for oil and alternative energy to end American dependence on supplies from Islamist countries like 'our friends the Saudis?' Or will the United States economy collapse and - God forbid - the American people submit to the dictates of the desert kingdom from the 8th century? Stay tuned.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:26 PM