 |
Sat Aug 30 2008 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Departments International Issues Conyers challenges Bush for G8 action on vultures, Palast reports from London on BBC Newsnight by Greg Palast June 7, 2007 Congressman John Conyers, still in the thick of his hearings on the firing of US Attorneys, is preparing a new target for investigation: Vultures. We're not talking about the feathered birds of prey, but predators with allies in the White House and Swiss bank vaults full of untraceable currency. These speculators buy up the debt of the poorest nations on the planet for pennies on the dollar -- then use legal extortion or less-than-legal bribery to extract payments from these nations - payments equal to five, ten or twenty times what the vultures "invested." Conyers has personally informed George Bush that he expects the President to join the other G8 leaders to put the vultures out of business. "I'm counting on the President to do the right thing," Conyers told BBC reporter Greg Palast. But if the President doesn't, Bush can expect another set of investigations and hearings on the Administration's inaction and ties to vultures. Tonight Palast's BBC investigative team follows up on previous quarry: Michael Francis Sheehan, a.k.a. "Goldfinger." Goldfinger has already won $20 million from Zambia for a debt he "bought" for less than $4 million. How did he do that? We discovered that the deal was greased by payments to the former President of Zambia's "favourite charity". Could the Zambian President's "favourite charity" be himself? BBC travels to the Boutique Basile in Geneva, Switzerland, where Zambia's charity-minded ex-president, Frederick Chiluba, bought one million dollars in finery, including 206 suits, 349 shirts, each monogrammed with his initials –- and each shirt costing as much as the average Zambian earns in a year. The diminutive despot also bought 72 pairs of shoes -- all with extra-high heels. Still, the vulture "Goldfinger" is closing in on Zambia, demanding another $35 million -- while US law enforcement closes in on him -- and Conyers closes in on President Bush. Who will win this high-stakes derby? Watch the program tonight on BBC Newsnight, available worldwide at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/default.stm and later at www.GregPalast.com --- Greg Palast is the author of the New York Times bestseller, ARMED MADHOUSE: From Baghdad to New Orleans -- Sordid Secrets and Strange Tales of a White House Gone Wild. Email this article to a friend |
Don't forget to check out articles from 2007 and 2008
"Thai voters defy coup leaders"
December 24, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Bush Administration trains members of Indonesian terrorist groups"
December 20, 2007
John M. Miller
"Thailand divides on election"
December 20, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Italians block construction of U.S. Base"
December 19, 2007
David Swanson
"What is after Annapolis"
December 17, 2007
Ahmad Al-Akhras, Ph.D.
"Fear of Chavez is fear of democracy"
December 4, 2007
Greg Palast
"Same old, same old – Israel wins again"
December 2, 2007
Jim Miles
"Thailand's anxious election"
November 29, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Nukes' seventh decade"
November 23, 2007
David Swanson
"The devalued currency of truth "
November 22, 2007
Robert C. Koehler
"The assassination of Hugo Chavez"
November 15, 2007
Greg Palast
"China's hedge strategy"
November 7, 2007
Qing Wang
"Banned from Canada for war protest"
October 31, 2007
Ann Wright, retired US Army Colonel and former US diplomat, AfterDowningStreet.org
"Torture claim is filed against Rumsfeld in France"
October 29, 2007
Doreen Carvajal
"U.S. will tip its hand before attacking Iran"
October 19, 2007
David Swanson
"Canada refuses entry to CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin and retired Colonel Ann Wright"
October 7, 2007
Medea Benjamin
"Tiananmen Square, Burmese style"
October 5, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Forgetting Gandhi on International Non-violence day"
October 1, 2007
Pablo Ouziel
"Airplane hijacker's flight for Burma's freedom"
September 30, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Burma's bloggers"
September 28, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"World War III"
September 5, 2007
David Swanson
"“Free trade” policy craze is crazy, like healthcare"
September 1, 2007
Stephen Crockett
"Profit of doom: of vampires, parasites, and the demise of capitalism"
August 27, 2007
Jason Miller
"Former enemies find new way forward"
August 23, 2007
Mike Ferner
"Thailand constitution"
August 13, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"People's peace delegation to Iran reports back"
August 1, 2007
David Swanson
"British Ambassador"
July 26, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Civil society lost in media sound bites"
July 23, 2007
Pablo Ouziel
"Homeland conspiracy"
July 18, 2007
Robert C. Koehler
"Gender savagery in Guatemala"
July 15, 2007
Michael Parenti and Lucia Muñoz
"Khmer Rouge trial"
July 12, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"The Palestinian left: a lost opportunity for relevance"
July 10, 2007
Ramzy Baroud
"Northern Light: Tony Sutton of ColdType interviewed by Jason Miller"
June 21, 2007
Jason Miller
"Sudan’s reported acceptance of peacekeepers for Darfur must be followed by immediate deployment"
June 15, 2007
Diana Duarte
"U.S. terror Laos"
June 8, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Conyers challenges Bush for G8 action on vultures, Palast reports from London on BBC Newsnight"
June 7, 2007
Greg Palast
"Executioner"
June 4, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Recent attacks in Darfur demonstrate why UN protection force must be deployed"
May 13, 2007
Diana Duarte
"Bombing mystery"
April 5, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Jesus Wouldn't Bomb Anyone: Why are we waging war on the poor and oppressed?"
April 5, 2007
Jason Miller
"Coup six months"
March 19, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Bangkok bombs"
March 17, 2007
Richard S. Ehrlich
"Four years ago today"
March 16, 2007
Starhawk
"Iran in Congress's sights"
March 7, 2007
David Swanson
"How the world can stop Bush"
February 18, 2007
Paul Craig Roberts
"A pox upon Mr. Armstrong’s wonderful world: of illusory democracies, rogue states, and accelerating humanity’s demise"
February 18, 2007
Jason Miller
"Sorry about that"
February 18, 2007
Robert C. Koehler
"The Mecca agreement: what should we expect?"
February 18, 2007
Ramzy Baroud
"The great eight"
February 18, 2007
Marion Schneider
"Overblown threat and Islamophobia"
February 11, 2007
Abukar Arman
"Military explosions shake sections of Vieques"
February 11, 2007
Peace No War
"A new manifest destiny"
February 1, 2007
Robert C. Koehler
"The making of another Iraq"
January 30, 2007
Abukar Arman
"Bush's four anti-terror successes all fictional"
January 27, 2007
David Swanson
"Global food supply near the breaking point"
January 26, 2007
Stephen Leahy
"Oil and foreign policy after Bush"
January 21, 2007
Stephen Crockett
"If Beal Street Could Talk – Part 1"
January 15, 2007
David Swanson
"International delegation travels to Guantanamo, Cuba to protest infamous US prison"
January 3, 2007
Alejandro Beltran
Read Articles by Year:
2007 2006 2005 2004
2003 2002 2001 2000
All content © 1970-2008
The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer