Mullings An American Cyber Column By Rich Galen

US & Int'l Papers

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I RAN From the World Bank

Wednesday November 7, 2007

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From Greenville, South Carolina

If you live or work in Your Nation's Capital, about once a year you watch rich college kids showing up about once a year to demonstrate against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Over the years I have ridiculed these protesters as bored, rich college students whose parents probably earn their entire room, board, tuition, and beer money in a single week being hedge fund operators in Connecticut.

As it happens, the next time a bunch of spoiled, rich, bored, college kids put Hopalong Cassidy bandanas over their mouths and march on the World Bank building on Pennsylvania Avenue � I might just join them.

For those who might have been absent for the past few years, Iran is something less than a valuable ally of the United States. In fact, Iran may well be the number one villain on the international stage.

Iran is under several levels of international sanctions - most led by the US - because of its craving to create a nuclear bomb.

Notwithstanding the desires of most of the civilized world to put limits on Iran, the World Bank is planning to proceed with some $870 million worth of loans - much of which is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States (read, you and me).

According to reporting first in the New York Sun newspaper by Eli Lake,

The World Bank is defying requests from an influential congressman to stall nearly $900 million in loans to Iran.

The "influential congressman" in question is Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) who has asked the World Bank President, Robert Zoellick to delay or deny the nearly Billion dollars in loans to the world's poster child for "rogue nations."

According to the NY Sun:

Mr. Kirk said that senior National Security Council staff told him that they did not think the World Bank loans were helpful to the American strategy of applying economic pressure to Iran to persuade the mullahs to end their enrichment of uranium.

Notwithstanding that Iran is the principle patron of terrorism in Iraq; and has made it national policy to eliminate Israel and, to that end, has sent arms, missiles, and advisors to Lebanon with the singular goal of destroying Israel, the World Bank is loaning these thugs just shy of $1 Billion.

According to Newsmax.com "The main Iranian bank now handling the World Bank transactions is Bank Melli, which was recently designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as financing the nation's nuclear program."

This is not good. The US Treasury Department has responsibility for fingering financial institutions which may be helping fund bad guys who want to kill us.

According to the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) Iran has proven oil reserves of about 138.4 BILLION barrels.

At current prices that represents something on the order of 13.2 TRILLION dollars.

Why, then, does the World Bank think it needs to lend Iran anything more than a farthing?

Again, according to NewsMax:

Projects to be funded by the loans include improvements to Tehrans' sewage system, relief for victims of the Bam earthquake, and efforts to improve access to health care for rural Iranians.

This is a pretty simple question: Do you want your tax dollars to be spent helping Iran improve the sewage system in Tehran?

I am thinking very seriously about this and I come down on the side of � no. Let the Iranian government take some of the money it is spending on its program to develop nuclear programs and spend it, instead, on a sewer project in Tehran.

Either the Iranians spend that money or you and I have to spend our money.

Is this becoming more clear to you?

According to the World Bank the largest contributors of capital for these sorts of loans - in order - are: "the Americans, the Japanese, the Europeans, and the Saudis."

It seems to me that if a country is one of the world's largest producer of $96 per barrel oil; they do not need my help in enhancing its sewer system.

But, maybe I'm wrong about that.

On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: Links to the articles dealing with the World Bank; a Mullfoto which will make you laugh and a Catchy Caption of the Day.

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