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:
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:
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:
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