At present, the national defense community has identified two of the most serious concern areas in the world today. We have outlined the Chinese threat and how it plays out in the realm of global economic warfare. We have also touched on the threat of jihad seeking to impose Shariah Law on the West. Both of these threats were examined in detail in my 2009 report. Here is a brief introduction regarding how Shariah intersects with the huge Sovereign Wealth Funds of the Middle East (now measured in the trillions of dollars):
“In the aftermath of the 2008 economic collapse . . . Arab-based sovereign wealth funds have already begun rumblings that they will make no further investments in the West unless they are Shariah compliant. These threats even extend to U.S. banks which have been desperate enough for capital that many have added SCF products to their lineup. This was reported in a Washington Times article by Frank Gaffney, Jr. (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/04/treasury-submits-to-shariah/),
“The U.S. Treasury Department is submitting to Shariah …Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert Kimmitt set the stage with his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Persian Gulf states. His stated purpose was to promote the recycling of petrodollars in the form of foreign investment here.
Evidently, the price demanded by his hosts is that the U.S. government get with the Islamist financial program. While in Riyadh, Mr. Kimmitt announced: “The U.S. government is currently studying the salient features of Islamic banking to ascertain how far it could be useful in fighting the ongoing world economic crisis.”
The ties between SCF and SWF are becoming increasingly obvious in other ways as well according to the McCormick report, including:
Strong government support for Shariah-compliant finance throughout the Gulf. For instance, the huge Dubai Holding concern owned by Sheikh Maktoum, has recently been acquiring existing Islamic banks and sponsoring new ones. The Dubai-government owned Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) intends to become an international center for “Islamic finance regulations, standards and practices” by creating ‘an Islamic hedge fund platform, an Islamic finance portal, a commodity exchange (murabaha) and Islamic finance institutes.’
Interlocking directorships between Islamist Shariah-compliant finance, sovereign wealth funds and sovereign wealth. For example, Sheikh Maktoum’s right-hand man and chief investment officer, Soud Baalawy is simultaneously the chairman of the Noor Islamic Bank, executive chairman of the Dubai Group and vice chairman of Bourse Dubai, the world’s biggest bourse for Islamic bond (sukuk) listings.
Direct sponsorship and financial support by Persian Gulf rulers for Shariah-centered Islamists and Shariah banks. The two Islamic banks in Qatar (the International Islamic Bank of Qatar and the Islamic Bank of Qatar) are both owned by the ruling Thani family and have the strident Islamist Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi as the chairman of their Shariah advisory boards.
There is a great deal of evidence to support the idea that Sovereign Wealth Funds in Muslim nations are heavily connected to Shariah Compliant Finance. In addition, based on the evidence as well as public statements, it is plain that SCF seeks to displace Western-style capitalism. Putting this together with the large asset base and low transparency of sovereign funds provides a basic rational for the funds to be considered as potential suspects in our basic hypothesis. Two additional considerations, however, must be explored:
1) Would SWF have sufficient access to the markets?
2) Would SWF have the capability to participate in short selling
given their adherence to Shariah?”
Those two questions were answered in detail in the report. Of course, Shariah is not always considered to be violent or even a security threat. But, is Shariah a tool that could be used to bring down Western Civilization? More information will follow…..
All posts Copyright (c) 2011 Kevin Freeman, All Rights Reserved
