Barack Hussein Obama was born a Muslim - So What? It's the DOLLAR - Stupid !

Barack Hussein Obama attended the Catholic school, Fransiskus Assisis,Indonesia from 1967 -71, where documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim. His biological father was a Muslim from Kenya and his biological mother an "atheist" Chiristian (whatever that means) from USA.

His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama's grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both schools he attended. That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in a 'religion' class.

Obama's younger sister, Maya Soetoro, said in a statement released by the campaign : that the family attended the mosque only "for big communal events," not every Friday.

OBAMA'S PAKISTAN VISIT AS A STUDENT:

Hussein Obama also spent time in Pakistan for a fortnight or more has been been omitted in his book which otherwise deals extensively with his life, but does not tolerate any connection with Islam. Question is why has this been deleted?

Obama's roommate was a Pakistani student: Md Hasaan Chandoo, now a financial consultant in NY. According to published reports in Pakistan, Obama in 1981 also stayed at the home of a prominent politician, Ahmad Mian Soomro, in an upscale Karachi suburb, and went on a traditional partridge hunting trip north of Karachi. Soomro’s son, Muhammad Mian Soomro, is a senior politician who served as acting president before the appointment of President Asif Ali Zardari last September.

Obama's mysterious, questionable visit is strange in light of the following facts:

Two years earlier, the Soviet Union invaded neighboring Afghanistan; the Islamic revolution toppled the Shah in Iran; a frenzied mob attacked the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, setting it on fire and killing a U.S. Marine and two Pakistanis; and military ruler Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq hanged former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto – Benazir Bhutto’s father – whose government he had ousted in a 1977 coup.

It is a fact that in the 1980s many Afro-Americans embraced Islam and went to Pakistan. An organisation called Jamaat-ul-Fuqra headed by a Pakistani cleric then based in the US and married to two Afro-American girls played an important role in the recruitment of the Afro-Americans and sending them to Pakistan.

WHAT COULD IT MEAN?

If Bobby Jindal, the Gov of Louisiana converts from Hinduism to Christiany, why cannot Barack Hussein Obama convert from Islam to Christianity? It is only political expediecy in the US and GODS can be changed for that.

Is it then as simple as that? The answer is NO. While Cassius Clay and other African Americans embraced Islam, OBAMA did not have to embrace ISLAM - he was born a MUSLIM. Hence the question is: DID HE EMBRACE CHRISTIANITY AT ALL?

Being an African American and of Islamic religion by birth - Barack Hussein Obama, I feel, will make a terrific President of USA. Hemmed in by very powerful men, he cannot harm USA. However, he will harm the interests of ISRAEL & INDIA in the ARAB world.

On his legacy will rest one fact: Will he be the last black President of USA or first of many. And I feel, Barack Obama will never let the blacks down and he will be a just and a fair President. His every action will be scrtunised and his motives, real or imagined, will fill the blogsphere.

The Israelis probably got their answer from Barack Obama to their liking to the question of : US response to an Israeli attack on Iran. In all probability, Israel will not wait for an Obama Presidency and go for the Iran kill in November / December 2008.

Not being a 33rd Mason or member of Skull & Bones, Barack Obama is not part of the "old boy's network". However he was given a brush up when he met the Bilderberg group - at Northern Virginia. Getting the green light from this secretive and uber powerful group meant a lot to / for Barack Hussein Obama.

The Arab world is hoping for respite and able guidance from Obama which he will probably achieve and tred territories where no US President has gone before.

In all this, Barack's shrill pronouncements of attacking Al Qaeda havens in Pakistan, with or without Pakistan's assistance, sounds hollow and playing to the gallery - which as a consummate politician he will have to do. The token drone strikes may continue but Mr Iraq Surge "Gen Patreus" will go in for a more balanced approach to the region. For INDIA - this might mean "downsizing" its presence in Afghanistan, if Mr IRAQ SURGE thinks its expedient to incorporate Taliban in government. The OBAMA - PATREUS relationship looks more and more like a "BAD COP - GOOD COP" combination which may result in a lot of verbal semantics good for FOX / NY TIMES coverage but very little "on the ground" realities. The only people who can spoil this are the good folks at LANGLEY.

The Afghans are the most xenophobic and fierce fighters in the world who fear no one, except perhaps the Khalsas (Sikhs from India) from whom they took a drubbing. Hence these Mujahids / Talibs are not about to turn tail from NATO / US forces (and neither have they, till now).

Where does all this leave INDIA?

I do not think an Obama Presidency will take the US-India relationship any higher. There will not be any "bending of rules and special access granted" as India got under Bush Jr administration. This relation will be formal, nice, with an adherence to rules (eg: proliferation etc) and "going by the book".

Expect:

1. Falling US economy = protectionism. High pressure on Indian call centre jobs, BPOs. Not affected will be KPO's whose parents have survived the crash.

2. Enormous pressure on INDIA to sign the CTBT.

Barack Obama will not give any free lunches to the Pakistani army, mostly because he does not have reserves and this is borne out by his two comments :

a) Pakistan has misued the grant of USD 11 bilion given to fight militants, and has instead bought offensive weapons to fight INDIA.

b) Pakistan's greatest enemy is not INDIA but its homegrown militants.

Less money to Pakistan army means good news for India. Or is it? We forget what the response of China could be.

Expect nothing spectacular. His hands, for the greater part, will be tied to domestic economic policies in any case.

Much has been discussed on the US economy. A short primer on what it is facing?

The official version of US debt which is USD 10 trillion. The actual US debt, including "invisibles, or off balance sheet transactions is closer to USD 58 TRILLION. This includes the staggering USD 1 trillion credit card debt that will most likely see the collapse of Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. The sub-prime mortgage losses will be closer to USD 3 trillion and not USD 1 trillion.

Such is the extent of "greed" that is boggles the mind. This can be seen if one sees the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) markets. The CDS market is worth a staggering $ 62 trillion up from USD 900 billion in 2000. (Note: USD 1000 billion = 1 trillion). Which means that this (CDS) Wall Street speculation racket is 5 times the size of all holdings in NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).

If this debt is averaged out: EVERY SINGLE HOUSEHOLD IN THE US OWES A DEBT OF USD 500,000 ( half a million dollars) when their average yearly salary is USD 40,000.

This will lead to austerity measures, where the US citizen is going to opt for positive savings, for the first time (instead of feeding his consumption by borrowed money). MORE SAVINGS means less DISPOSABLE INCOME. This will lead to LESS CONSUMPTION, threatening to pull the US economy down further.

To kickstart the economy, the US Govt will have pump in huge Investments, CROWDING OUT private investments. Lower interest rates will give the catalyst for the investments. This is the begining of a worldwide recession that is expected to last until at least late 2009. Keep an eye on 3 things:

1. CDS Market : It is currently at US $ 62 TRILLION. The higher it goes, longer will be the pain.

2. PRICE OF GOLD: If the price of Gold is US $ 700 or begins to go down, then US will be in DEFLATIONARY PERIOD.

3. DOLLAR INDEX : If this index holds above 70 - the US can prints its way out of the recession (pretty much what it had been doing). However, if the index falls below 70, future growth will be killed as this will lead to higher interst rates and inflation (hence no crowding out effect as govt will not be able to raise cheap debt)

To avoid a long recession, deflation - the US is fighting on many fronts.

December 2008 might see the begining of Bretton Woods II.

Bretton Woods I gave rise to NATO - the hedge against a Russian invasion. Bretton Woods I became a political program and not an economic one. When loans to fund Western Europe's re-development failed to stimulate growth - the LOANS became GRANTS - aka the MARSHALL PLAN. Today , the US cannot afford any Marshall Plans.

The question naturally arises on the primacy of the dollar. Can EURO take over. The answer is NO. The EURO is only a DECADE old and is not backed either by i) SOVREIGN TAXING POWER or by ii) A CENTRAL BANK WITH VAST AUTHORITY. Relying on a currency (EURO) that is dependant on the will of 15 disparate countries DOES NOT MAKE FOR A RELIABLE RESERVE CURRENCY. Hence CHINA, JAPAN, GERMANY, FRANCE etc will ensure that the PRIMACY OF THE US DOLLAR REMAINS.

Bretton Woods I was guaranteed not only by the American political power but was backed by American economic power.

Bretton Woods II will be guranteed by CHINA, GERMANY, JAPAN, FRANCE and the USA.

The end result of both these Bretton Woods remain same : PRIMACY OF US DOLLAR.



THE US DOLLAR IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE NEW KING - THE US DOLLAR.

It's good for INDIA that OBAMA will be tied to US economy and that US needs INDIA for job creation too - limits his chances to play truant and twist India to sign "CTBT". India should simply refuse to sign the CTBT - Period.