{"id":4010,"date":"2020-01-11T17:32:30","date_gmt":"2020-01-11T21:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=4010"},"modified":"2020-01-11T17:32:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-11T21:32:30","slug":"trump-the-financial-terrorist-threatens-iraq-yet-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=4010","title":{"rendered":"Trump the Financial Terrorist Threatens Iraq Yet Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

“If The US Does That, It’ll Lose Iraq Forever” – Trump Threatened To Cut Off Baghdad’s Access To Its NY Fed Cash<\/h2>\n

ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n

After\u00a0rejecting Iraqi Prime Minister\u00a0Adel Abdul Mahdi’s request<\/strong>\u00a0to begin talks on the withdrawal of American troops<\/a>, there are now\u00a0more signs of the eroding ties between the two countries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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The Wall Street Journal reports<\/a>\u00a0that according to Iraqi officials (yes, Iraq has anonymous sources too), the\u00a0Trump administration warned Iraq this week that it risks losing access to a critical government bank account if Baghdad kicks out American forces.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are sure, to Schiff et al., that sounds a lot like ‘quid pro quo’, but how will they balance the need to hammer the president with their neocon\/establishment desire to keep boots on the ground, whatever it takes?<\/em><\/p>\n

The warning regarding the Iraqi central bank account was conveyed to Iraq\u2019s prime minister in a call on Wednesday,<\/strong>\u00a0according to an official in his office, that also touched on the overall military, political and financial partnership between the two countries.<\/p>\n

When Iraq needs hard currency, its central bank can request a shipment of bills that it then distributes into the financial system through banks and currency exchange houses.\u00a0While the country\u2019s official currency is the dinar, U.S. dollars are commonly used<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. Fed basically has a stranglehold on the entire [Iraqi] economy,\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0said Shwan Taha, chairman of Iraqi investment bank Rabee Securities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The potential economic and financial fallout is weighing on Iraqi officials<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever you have any amicable divorce, you still have the worry about the children, pets, furniture and plants, some of which are sentimental,\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0said a senior Iraqi politician.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The New York Fed, which\u00a0can freeze accounts under U.S. sanctions law or if it has reasonable suspicion the funds could violate U.S. law<\/strong>, said it doesn\u2019t comment on specific account holders, but\u00a0as WSJ notes,<\/a>\u00a0this financial threat isn\u2019t theoretical<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s\u00a0financial system was squeezed in 2015<\/a>\u00a0when the U.S. suspended access for several weeks to the central bank\u2019s account at the New York Fed over concerns the cash was filtering through a loosely regulated market into Iranian banks and to the Islamic State extremist group.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The New York Fed doesn\u2019t publicly disclose how much money it currently holds for Iraq\u2019s central bank. But\u00a0according to the Central Bank of Iraq\u2019s most recent financial statement, at the end of 2018,\u00a0the Fed held nearly $3 billion in overnight deposits.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The last few years have seen the Iraqi banking system devastated…<\/p>\n

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