Obama's Best Friend Forever exchanges $3 billion in gold for Iranian oil
President Obama's Best Friend Forever, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is evading the international sanctions against Iran by paying for Iranian crude oil in gold. Over the past several months, Turkey has exported some 60 tons of gold to Iran, having a market value of about $3 billion, in exchange for Iranian crude oil. And the only American who does not appear bothered by this is Barack Hussein Obama. Adam Kredo reports (Hat Tip: Sunlight).By using gold instead of money, Turkey is able to skirt Western sanctions on Iran’s oil trade, particularly those pertaining to SWIFT, the global money transfer service that until recently assisted the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian financial institutions.Kredo also suggests that Prime Minister Erdogan himself may be lining his own or his family's pockets.
Over the past several months, Turkey has given Iran 60 tons of gold, or more than $3 billion, according to a July 8 report on the Turkish news site Vatan Online. The report was translated by the Open Source Center, a translation service used by the CIA.
The exchanges raise questions about the Obama administration’s decision to grant Turkey a temporary waiver exempting it from U.S. sanctions to Iran, according to foreign policy experts and those on Capitol Hill who speculated that the revelation could spur Congress to pass a new round of Iran sanctions to prevent such trades.
“The idea that Turkey needs a waiver for more time to disconnect itself from the Iran oil trade is ludicrous,” said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser on Iran and Iraq. “Turkey is playing Obama for a fool.”
“Like a loose school girl, Obama may think he can become popular by giving away the goods to whomever tells him he is the apple of their eye,” said Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “Obama doesn’t understand that for regional rulers like [Turkish Prime Minister] Erdogan and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, he has gained not respect, but disdain.”
“It would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic: Everyone but Obama knows that Turkey and Iran are cheating,” said AEI’s Rubin. “Heck, if precedent informs, than Erdogan himself—or at least the son-in-law to whom he often directs contracts—is probably making a handsome profit on trade.”What could go wrong? Read the whole thing.
The underlying problem, Rubin said, “is that while Obama claims his sanctions policy is a success, Iran is moving closer to a nuclear bomb. While Obama admires himself in the mirror and tells himself how smart and popular he is, the region may very well slide into war.”
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Iran sanctions regime, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:29 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, the key thing to remember is that Turkey is a full on member of NATO. Any messing with them, even if they provoke it, can bring the wrath of the U.S. Jets and, who knows, maybe the B-52 carpet bombers. Obama is the provocateur. Turkey is just his puppet.
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