hitting two enemies with the one executive order

[tahn1000]

july 31, 2012. without prempting, and WITHOUT DEBATE, obama under executive order 13622

wow, this is interesting...

Executive Order 13622 of July 30, 2012
Authorizing Additional Sanctions With Respect to Iran

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,Show citation box

I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 of March 15, 1995, as relied upon for additional steps in subsequent Executive Orders, particularly in light of the Government of Iran's use of revenues from petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemicals for illicit purposes, Iran's continued attempts to evade international sanctions through deceptive practices, and the unacceptable risk posed to the international financial system by Iran's activities, hereby order:

https://www.federalregister.gov/arti...ct-to-iran#p-1

interesting reason, iran is aparently a "threat" to the international finance system.....
that speaks volumes in itself, but where it gets even more interesting is which banks are facing sanctions....

"The new sanctions also targeted China's Bank of Kunlun and Iraq's Elaf Islamic Bank as institutions that Washington says have helped Iran evade sanctions. The banks will now be cut off from the US financial system."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19069793

the bank of kunlum is a subsidiary of the china's NATIONAL BANK. and a little white lie, they aren't helping the iranian government evade sanctions, they are trading with iranian banks.

"The new penalties announced by the White House on Tuesday target China's Bank of Kunlun and Iraq's Elaf Islamic Bank, institutions the U.S. says have facilitated transactions worth millions of dollars on behalf of Iranian banks that are subject to sanctions.

"Today's action makes it clear that we will expose any financial institution, no matter where they are located, that allows the increasingly desperate Iranian regime to retain access to the international financial system," Obama said in a statement.

Obama also expanded penalties on Iran's energy and petrochemical sectors, authorizing sanctions on those who try to purchase oil from the Islamic republic through the National Iranian Oil Co. and the Naftiran Intertrade Co. Earlier U.S. sanctions already penalized entities that purchased oil through Iran's Central Bank."

sounds expansive. HOWEVER...

"However, the sting of those sanctions was lessened when the U.S. granted waivers to 20 countries because they had significantly reduced their purchases from Iran. Countries that received waivers for Central Bank purchases will also be exempt from these expanded penalties."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1725057.html

.... however, it is a very targeted and specific attack.

"China on Wednesday urged the U.S. to revoke its sanctions against Bank of Kunlun Co., a unit of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp., and warned that the move would damage China's interests and Sino-U.S. relations.

U.S. sanctions against Chinese financial institutions "badly violate rules governing international relations and hurt China's interests," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on the ministry's website. "China is strongly dissatisfied, is firmly opposed to it and will raise solemn representations to the U.S. from both Beijing and Washington." "

and it's definitely calculated to make china uncomfortable on multiple fronts...

"Although CNPC's domestic peer China Petrochemical Corp., known as Sinopec Group, has made great efforts to shield itself from U.S. sanctions to clear the way for investments in the U.S., CNPC is still strongly focused on the Middle East, Ms. Meidan said.

CNPC officials said an Iranian news agency on Sunday was mistaken in reporting that CNPC had pulled out of Iran's offshore South Pars gas field after delays in the project, according to a person within CNPC. CNPC officials said they remain committed to projects in Iran, the person added.

Mr. Qin said Wednesday that China and Iran have normal, fair and transparent business relations in the areas of energy and trade, which "have nothing to do with Iran's nuclear plans" and are "not in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions." "
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...527832056.html

now, someone reminds me.... which country is holding the most IOU's? and which country is it in AMERICA'S INTERESTS to prevent a national recovery, but to use it to maintain instability in the entire region.

so who, exactly is this latest round of president ordered sactions supposed to hurt most? ummm..... china.

[Reef Badlaw]

Iran only understands strength. It's too bad this is an election-year, and we have a weakling-amateur as Commander In Chief right now.

Iran's a sandbox-bully who needs its head crushed by a shovel once and for all. Crushed hard.

[tahn1000]

that executive order doesn't affect iran one iota. in fact it is completely ineffectual EXCEPT for the trouble it causes the chinese government. it seems to be a case of america flexing financial muscle it can ill afford. i hope china does call in it's ious. bout time the usa got a taste of what it's done to other countries.

[Reef Badlaw]

I don't disagree with your last statement, if a country has the backbone and impetus to do it. Bring 'em all on. We're way more on-the-battlefield with China over Taiwan, though. Neither of us give a shit about perceiving the other through the filter of Iranian politics.

[tahn1000]

if you look at the sanctions it attacks the chinese government on three fronts. firstly, china is investing in the oil infrastructure of iran, working to secure their oil future, which clearly america is also doing but by attacking oil rich countries. china gets theirs through peace, america by warfare, which by sanctions they are showing their objection to.

secondly it is a chinese government owned bank which is directly mentioned in the edict itself and block that bank on the new york exchange from trading, plus the fact that america will restrict the same government owned oil company (which owns the bank) from directly investing in the usa itself.


interestingly the edict also mentions THE NABUCCO PIPELINE PROJECT which the usa is a supporter of.
"The Nabucco pipeline (also referred as Turkey–Austria gas pipeline) is a proposed natural gas pipeline from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March in Austria diversifying natural gas suppliers and delivery routes for Europe. The pipeline attempts to lessen European dependence on Russian energy. The project is backed by several European Union states and the United States and is seen as rival to the Gazprom-Eni South Stream pipeline project. At the same time, there are some doubts concerning viability of supplies. The main supplier is expected to be Iraq with potential supplies from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Egypt." - wikipedia.org

maybe it was "all about the oil"...

published sep 30, 2010...
"The Nabucco natural-gas pipeline venture sees Iraq as the “most real” supplier for the pipeline, which will ship fuel from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

Iraq is bigger and less dependent on Russia than Turkmenistan or Azerbaijan, Head of Corporate Affairs Dimitar Abadjiev told reporters in Bucharest Thursday. “That’s why I expect to have the first gas from Iraq,” he said.

The 7.9 billion-euro ($10.8 billion) pipeline is designed to carry gas more than 3,300 kilometers (2,050 miles) from Turkey to Austria to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia. The venture on Sept. 6 said it may get as much as 4 billion euros in loans from the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank...."
"assurances" were given...
"The venture is in preliminary talks with Iraqi authorities via RWE AG, which is among Nabucco’s shareholders, Abadjiev said. It also is in talks with Egypt, he said.

RWE, Germany’s second-largest utility, in August signed a cooperation agreement with the regional Kurdish administration in northern Iraq to help develop the Iraqi region’s gas distribution network.

[HH] Domestic Needs

“Before any export, our gas will be used to meet the needs of the people of the Kurdistan region and neighboring areas,” KRG Prime Minister Barham Salih said in an Aug. 26 statement posted on the regional government’s website. “These resources are being developed for the people of Iraq in accordance with the constitution. Gas not needed at home will be available for export.”"

but the iraqi government is not having much say it seems, and knows it...
"The Iraqi oil ministry responded by publishing a statement on its website “stressing that Iraq is exporting crude oil and gas through the Iraqi oil marketing company exclusively and there is not any other party authorized to sign contracts with international companies.”"

so the consortium is simply buying up iraqi oil company shares...
"Nabucco shareholders Hungary’s Mol Nyrt and Austria’s OMV AG each bought a 10 percent stake in Dana Gas PJSC’s Iraqi unit Pearl Petroleum in May 2009 as part of a plan to supply the pipeline."
- http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/def...ier-2010-09-30

the edict also SPECIFICALLY AND RETROSPECTIVELY BLOCKS, by banning ALL INVOLVED CONTRACTORS, AND FINANCIERS FROM NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, ALONG WITH THE FREEZING OF THEIR ASSETS, competing gas lines into europe, meaning these two ...
"This planned pipeline will connect Iran's South Pars gas field with Turkey and then with European markets. It would consist of two principal sections:

Iranian section, also is called Iran Gas Trunkline 9 or IGAT-9, starting in Assaluyeh will transport gas from South Pars gas field to the city of Bazargan at the border with Turkey.[2][3]
The Europ,n section, which will cross Turkey, passing on to Greece and Italy.[2][3] In Italy the pipeline would be split:the northern branch will run to Switzerland, Austria and Germany, while southern branch will supply France and Spain.[4][5][6] It is not clear if the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, foreseen for Iran gas export to Europe, would be part of this project or not." - wikipedia.org

quashing the trans-adriatic pipeline will also ensure greece's economy remains broken, as it is already under construction (by a swedish gas corporation) and was supposed to join onto the persian pipeline.

[tahn1000]

it seems that the edict has been moved. this is it's new address - https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/08/02/2012-19055/authorizing-additional-sanctions-with-respect-to-iran#p-40

[Reef Badlaw]

First, ya gotta prove we nailed a country for oil. Who? Nigeria's ripe... we haven't touched 'em. Libya; we still get our usual 2%. We barely received anything from Iraq. Even if you go with the it's still all under the sand hokum, there was no assurance we'd ever get any of that. Our price-per-gallon would be back under a dollar in-price.

I know more about the pipeline east, through Russia's Lake Baikal region, north of Mongolia, reaching the Pacific.