[lbo-talk] FAZ: Experts Suggest the CIA, Not Kim Jong-il, is Counterfeiting Dollars

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Thu Jan 11 10:38:01 PST 2007


There were a couple of pretty astonishing articles in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung over the weekend that I haven't seen any trace of in the US press. Die FAZ (as it's universally known) is far and away the most respected newspaper in Germany, and probably in Continental Europe as a whole -- kind of a combo of the NYT and the Wall Street Journal. Below is the first story they ran, which is short and gives the kind of stunning gist. (The English translation is from Global Research, and I give the URL to both.) It was followed on Monday by a much longer article that gives more details and is available here if you read German:

http://www.faz.net/s/RubFC06D389EE76479E9E76425072B196C3/Doc~EE773DF6A8F2446F2BBB6CBA26E7F6816~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

If I get a chance, I'll try to translate that longer one. It's by the same author, Klaus Bender, and he says he's summarizing the consensus of a Europe-wide conference of experts recently convened on the subject and sponsored at the highest intergovernmental level. Bender bases his claim for expertise on the subject on the fact that he wrote a book on the subject of banknote printing, which has been translated into English:

http://www.amazon.com/Moneymakers-Secret-World-Banknote-Printing/dp/352750236X/sr=1-1/qid=1168539039/ref=sr_1_1/102-7130272-7685747?ie=UTF8&s=books

I haven't read it and don't know anything about him. IIUC, it is specifically the banknote charge that is the whole basis of the financial sanctions (i.e., freezing North Korea's funds in Macao) that have recently put so much bite on the place. A European governmental consensus that the charge is not true would presumably make a difference.

It could all be false, of course, but just these things appearing in die FAZ seemed worth noting.

Here's the short version, followed by the original German:

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BEN20070109&articleId=4393

Global Research, January 9, 2007

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Germany

Translated by Armin Broeggelwirth, Watching America

Experts Suggest the CIA, Not Kim Jong-il, is Counterfeiting Dollars

by Klaus W. Bender

Sources allege that the CIA prints the falsified 'Supernotes' at a secret facility near Washington to fund covert operations without Congressional oversight.

January 6, 2006

Germany - Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung - Original Article

(German)

The American secret service, the CIA, could be responsible for

manufacturing the nearly-perfect counterfeit 50 and 100-dollar-notes

that Washington pins on the terror regime of North Korea. The charge

comes after an extensive investigation in Europe and Asia by the

Sunday edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung of

Frankfurt, and after interviews with counterfeit money experts and

leading representatives of the high-security publishing industry.

The U.S.-dollar forgeries designated "Supernotes," which are so good

that even specialists are unable to distinguish them from genuine

notes, have circulated for almost two decades without a reliable

identification of the culprits. Because of their extraordinary

quality, experts assume that some country must be behind the

enterprise.

The administration of George W. Bush officially accused Pyongyang of

the deed in the autumn of 2005, derailing Six-Party Talks on

Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. Since then, tensions on the

Korean Peninsula have increased considerably. America charges that

North Korea is financing its rocket and nuclear weapons program with

the counterfeit "Supernotes."

North Korea is one of the world's poorest nations and lacks the

technological capability to produce notes of such high quality.

According to the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung, North Korea

is at present unable to even produce the won [the North Korean

currency]. The sources, which do not wish to be identified, allege

that the CIA prints the falsified "Supernotes" at a secret facility

near Washington to fund covert operations without Congressional

oversight.

German Version:

http://www.faz.net/s/RubFC06D389EE76479E9E76425072B196C3/Doc~EE773DF6A8F2446F2BBB6CBA26E7F6816~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

Stammen die Supernotes von der CIA?

Photo: Diktator - aber auch Geldfälscher? - Kim Jong-Il

06. Januar 2007

Der amerikanische Geheimdienst CIA könnte für die Herstellung der

perfekt gefälschten 50- und 100-Dollar-Noten verantwortlich sein,

welche Washington dem nordkoreanischen Terrorregime unterstellt. Das

haben umfangreiche Recherchen der Frankfurter Allgemeinen

Sonntagszeitung in Europa und Asien bei Falschgeldfahndern und

führenden Vertretern der Hochsicherheitsdruckindustrie ergeben.

Die auch als supernotes bezeichneten Dollar-Fälschungen, die selbst

Fachleute nicht mehr von echten Noten zu unterscheiden vermögen,

zirkulieren seit nahezu zwei Jahrzehnten, ohne daß die Täter ausfindig

gemacht werden konnten. Wegen der außergewöhnlichen Qualität gehen

Experten davon aus, daß dahinter ein Staat stehen muss. Die

Administration von George W. Bush hatte offiziell Pjöngjang der Tat

beschuldigt und damit im Herbst 2005 die Verhandlungen im Rahmen der

Sechser-Runde über einen Verzicht Pjöngjangs auf sein

Atomwaffenprogramm platzen lassen. Seither haben sich die Spannungen

auf der Koreanischen Halbinsel bedrohlich verschäft. Amerika

unterstellt, dass Nordkorea mit den gefälschten Dollar-Noten sein

Raketen- und Atomwaffenprogramm finanziert.

Nordkorea ist eines der ärmsten Länder der Welt und technisch nicht

zur Produktion der Dollarblüten in der Lage, schreibt die F.A.S. Es

vermag derzeit nicht einmal seine eigene Währung Won zu drucken. Die

Quellen, die nicht genannt werden wollen, unterstellen dem Bericht

zufolge dem amerikanischen Geheimdienst, dass er die Dollar-Noten in

einer Geheimdruckerei nahe Washington selbst fälscht, um sich so

Geldmittel zur Finanzierung verdeckter Operationen in Krisengebieten

zu verschaffen, die keinerlei Kontrolle durch den Kongress unterworfen

wären.

© Copyright Klaus W. Bender, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung,

Germany, translated by Armin Broeggelwirth, Watching America, 2007

© Copyright 2005-2007 GlobalResearch.ca



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