Greece Spends Bailout Cash On European Military Purchases
As Greek standards of living nose-dive, loans to households and businesses shrink still further, and Troika-imposed PSI discussions continue, there is one segment of the country's infrastructure that is holding up well. In a story on Zeit Online, the details of the multi-billion Euro new arms contracts are exposed as the European reach-around would be complete with IMF (US) and Europe-provided Greek bailout cash doing a full-circle into American Apache helicopters, French frigates, and German U-Boats. As the unnamed source in the article notes: "If Greece gets paid in March the next tranche of funding (€ 80 billion is expected), there is a real opportunity to conclude new arms contracts." With the country's doctors only treating emergencies, bus drivers on strike, and a dire lack of school textbooks and the country teetering on the brink of Drachmatization, perhaps our previous concerns over military coups was not so far-fetched as after the Portuguese (another obviously stressed nation), the Greeks are the largest buyers of German war weapons. It seems debt crisis talks perhaps had more quid pro quo than many expected as Euro Fighter commitments were also discussed and Greek foreign minister Droutsas points out:"Whether we like it or not, Greece is obliged to have a strong military".
From Zeit Online: Fine Weapons For Athens (Via Google Translate)
Frigates, tanks and submarines: A Greek military passes any savings package. And Germany benefited.
The Gift of the Greek Ministry of Defense has the man in the head: up to 60 fighter aircraft fighter for maybe € 3.9 billion euros. French frigates for about four billion, patrol boats worth 400 million euros, as much is the necessary modernization of the existing Greek fleet. Then it still lacks of ammunition for the Leopard tank , also would have two American Apache helicopters will be replaced. Oh, and one would like to buy German U-boats, total price: two billion euros.
What the man who goes in and out of Greece's Defence Ministry, in an Athens cafe is because of the sounds absurd. A State which is on the verge of bankruptcy and is supported by billions of the European Union wants to buy tons of weapons? The man in the café is often seen in photos next to the generals of the Army or Defense, he phoned often with these people, so he knows his way around. He knows how sensitive the issue, and would therefore - like most other party - are not named in the newspaper. He even holds for arms purchases currently not communicable. But could soon change that, he says: "If Greece get paid in March the next tranche of funding of € 80 billion is expected, there is a real opportunity to conclude new arms contracts."
If only one billion staying left, so the man could be, for example, the first Euro Fighter frigates or a binding order.
Really incredible: This spring, decides whether Greece survives in the euro area or the drachma back . On the morning of the internals in the café are freely divulged, physicians treat in Athens hospitals only in emergencies, bus drivers on strike, are still missing textbooks in schools and thousands demonstrate against state officials announced their dismissal. Greece's government announced a new savings program that barely spared a Greek.
Unless he works for the military or the armaments industry . On these two areas is in fact still almost passed without any austerity.
...
Under Greece's EU partners, there are few who speak out publicly in favor, stop the project immediately and Greek armor for a long time. One is Daniel Cohn-Bendit, leader of the Greens in the European Parliament: "From the outside, access to EU countries in practically all the rights of Greece. Nurses will cut the wages and everything should be privatized. Only in the defense budget, it means a sudden, it was a sovereign right of the state. It's surreal. "
Cohn-Bendit believes that behind the hesitation of Europe to entrenched economic interests. Main beneficiary of the Greek armament policy in Europe is just saving champions Germany. According to the just-released report, Arms Export in 2010 after the Portuguese, the Greeks - a state on the verge of bankruptcy - the largest buyers of German war weapons. Spanish and Greek newspapers spread the rumor at all, Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy would have remembered former Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou nor the end of October at the edge of a summit meeting to finding solutions to existing or new arms orders complete. In Papandreou's environment is not confirmed, the federal government decided denied "messages, Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy had recently urged Greece to new arms deals, baseless," said a spokesman via e-mail.
...
Clearly this is apparently also become a state visit in Greece: German Government members expressed their export needs, and the Greeks reiterated their demand for imports. It has every known, "that Greece had invested too much in its military," so Linnenkamp. Yet the Greeks piled on over the years, enormous obligations.
...
But in the spring of 2010 reminded Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (FDP), the Greek government to the order of € Fighter, just weeks before the Greek bankruptcy. "Westerwelle called for a commitment to the Euro Fighter," says someone who has experienced the talks closely. The Foreign Minister also assured again in the Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini: "We do not urge the Greek government to buy. If (they) but, at any time whatsoever, a decision to purchase fighter aircraft meets the Euro Fighter countries want to be represented here by Germany, will be considered in the decision. . This is within the European Union, but completely normal, "A few weeks later Westerwelle called in the stock market newspaper more discipline from the South:" We expect before, there are discussions about aid that Greece executes fully their own homework to consolidate policy. "
How does that work? Not at all, is the defense expert Linnenkamp: "It was totally irresponsible to speak in the midst of severe economic crisis, the issue of Greece's Euro Fighter at all."
...
Dimitris Droutsas is one of the few Greeks who speak openly about these figures. By June 2011, he was of Greek foreign minister. "We have not spent so much money on defense, because we made it fun," he says. The Greek foreign borders must be secured against the waves of migration from North Africa and Asia, almost daily there are conflicts with Turkey. "As Foreign Minister I was always in the afternoon a message from the Defense Department with the list of Turkish violations of our airspace." Greece also been watching with concern the increasing activity of the Turkish navy in the Aegean Sea and have seen a good 35 years on the "Turkish invasion" Cyprus . Since then, the Greeks lived in a state of fear. That with Turkey give an arms race, although both countries are in NATO, Droutsas deems legitimate: "Whether we like it or not, Greece is obliged to have a strong military" point.
...
Resistance in its own population as Droutsas Greeks need not fear. The Greek military security sector promises to the people - and jobs. In a country without its own significant industry that is worth much. German defense companies have recognized this early and with Greek companies closely intertwined. Someone who mitverhandelte long, says: "In Greece, the arms deal as a give and take anywhere. What do I get in return when I buy a tank with you? Always it was also about compensation. Any politician who signed a treaty with the Germans hoped that a corresponding portion flows back. "
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This is a fucking joke.
They almost DESERVE to get fucked over.
at least they can "defend" the drachma
Bomb the persons who put you in debt. Brilliant idea...
Goldman Sachs?
Who the Devil do these Hellenes believe they have to defend themselves against ? The ghost of Hydarnes and his Immortals ? Or perhaps Berlusconi is actually the direct descendant of Titus Flamininus, and is raising an army as we speak ?
Profligate, statist fools.
Well, historically it would be Turkey, but I don't know what the current state of Greece-Turkey relations are.
They're both NATO, members, too, so if Turkey 'annexed' a few of the islands just off their coast, things could get interesting.
Not that we lack things of interest at the current moment, of course.
....The Gift of the Greek Ministry of Defense has the man in the head: up to 60 fighter aircraft fighter for maybe € 3.9 billion euros. French frigates for about four billion, patrol boats worth 400 million euros, as much is the necessary modernization of the existing Greek fleet. Then it still lacks of ammunition for the Leopard tank , also would have two American Apache helicopters will be replaced. Oh, and one would like to buy German U-boats, total price: two billion euros.
I must be getting jaded - €12-18 billion just doesn't sound like a lot of money to me any more.
Give it a couple of years and a croissant on des Champs-Élysées will be €20 billion.
More likely he's a descendant of Anus Flamininus.
You mean who had the diplomatic idea of pushing Greece in the NATO and then in the EU?
mhhhh... this is a long story, the short version: first the British and then the US...
"economic hit man", a person whose job is to convince people to accept his economic claims to the long-term detriment of their country...to press a form of economic servitude on other countries, where their leaders are pressed to accept loans, allow multi-national corporations to enter the country (arms contracts, privatization) and engage in rapacious development (infrastructure etc)...spelling out the political consequences if the leaders try to assert independence....
how many of those you see on tv every day ??
PP
Every time I think the Greeks can't do any worse, they exceed my expectations. I think it's going to be that sort of year.
All US'ians need to start focusing on the internal shortcomings of the US economy.
Forget Greece - and start cleaning house, here, in The HomeLand.
US is losing competitive advantage in important future oriented technologies.
For anyone who is sick and tired of KEYNESIAN Fiat-Print-and-Miltary-Empire "solutions" - that's right indeed - US EMPIRE IS A KEYNES'IAN CONSTRUCT - read here, learn, get focused and push to RE-STRUCTURE THE US ECONOMY - by pushing the US corporate crony scumbags out of office and LOUDLY & PUBLICLY demanding US returns to R&D, education, manufacturing AND ENERGY-&-MANUFACTURING INDEPENDENCE.
http://www.commerce.gov/americacompetes
Know the facts - get politically active - or die with US EMPIRE.
Energy independence is desirable but is it really feasible beyond platitudes?
>LOUDLY & PUBLICLY demanding US returns to R&D, education, manufacturing AND ENERGY-&-MANUFACTURING INDEPENDENCE.
If you know best how to spend other people's money, then maybe you should be in charge of the socialist central planning committee. Please let me know how much of my paycheck I need to send in.
BTW, along with energy independence, I think a strong USA also needs medical independence. In particular, I'm learning how to perform brain surgery on myself.
No doubt comes fully installed with remote disabler...
This is Sparta.
.....or a seth macfarlane take on greece and the eurozone.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoYiAERXv3s
{I know I've used this one before for american politics but it's just so ubiquitous lately}
...go tell the Spartans that modern Greece has nothing to do with "old Sparta" (where gold was forbidden and only fiat money - made of iron - allowed)
Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, by Spartan law, we lie
And you couldn't live with your wife until you were 30.
you are fucking EPIC! Dedication
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvYZRskNV3w
THIS ISSSSSSSSSSS SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTAAAAAAAAAA@!
Oh sure, but you don't have the Albanians breathing down your neck.
"They almost DESERVE to get fucked over."
People like me have been saying that for years: i.e. that the Greeks were filthy pigs who lived like kings and behaved like arrogant parvenus for more than 10 years on borrowed (i.e. stolen) money.
But for whiny leftists, it it always the fault of capitalism, never the fault of the people. It is so easy to accuse something invisible and vaporous when the fucking responsibles are RIGHT in your eyes.
willing, if not ignorant, participants in the NWO scheme... but same could easily be said of Americans, from either side of THE PARTY.
you are completeley ingorant..
tell me smthing u IQ master. Whos teh worse economy in the world ? = US/UK and Japan.
tell me smthing else.. who;s the only country in the world who decided byitself to increase its Credit Limit in order not to default on August 2 2011 ?? = US
Have you any idea why US just decided to increase its debt limit ? Why no other country in the world can do it ?
DO you know why you are still and AA- ??
Do you know that the FED has lended 60bio Euro to ECB ?? ( swaps not loans axxaxaa so you dot get it ! ) why they did it even if the FED is not allowed to lend money to ECB ??
Do you know how many trilloins $ you ve paid to bailout your Banks so far ? YOU paied.. personally.. not me... and WHY ?
PP
The Fed has lended? eh? do you also say 'gots' and gotten.....English was a good commercial language till clots like you started to bastardise it...
How good is your Greek?
It's not anymore insane than what is happening in America. You could say that we "deserve" to get fucked too.
The Greeks are learning. After wasting billions on allowing hairdressers to retire at 50 theyre slowly investing in something that will matter. Although military software engineers and net intelligence would be more useful. Its not like they can go out and buy an oil well and expect to keep it. What else are they going to spend fiat on? They will need all the help they can get to keep the sheeple from running amok when their country is ultimately forced out into the wildnerness.
dupe post.
Bankrupt governments spending money they don't have on defense? Where have I seen that before?
Exactly.
Not really. Greece isn't defending the Petrol Dollar.
I'd sure love to play with Timmy's Excel macro that models the US defense budget versus oil price. I bet the DOD gives him a ref sheet for casualties and the USDA one for the price of Cheerios.
Africa? South America? Southeast Asia? United States of America?
Those people are so screwed..........oh, wait...
Did they use the cash they got from bonds backed in Greek property? http://bit.ly/AdLZQK
Quite so - no different from anywhere else in the world where TPTB hold sway. And dear Ron Paul thinks he can get elected on a mandate which includes the cutting of military expenditure...regretably that aint going to happen which is a tragedy even the Greeks might understand.
Peace and war - two sides of the same coin - but let's have it that way around rather than war and peace. You can't have one without the other but as the contemporary Liverpudlian bard put it "Give peace a chance"
Minipax reports Oceania's perpetual war.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Mini...
the liverpudlian bard, middle name "winston' by the by, also realised:
You just earned yourself an increase in the monthly chocolate ration-from 8oz to 4oz.
Don't fall in with Goldstein.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLynM-GI_Mk
as the man says,
"you better free your mind instead"
Euro governments issues more debt. States use debt for war spending. Banks buy debt. Banks post debt as collateral to ECB. ECB gives loans. Banks use loans to buy more debt. States use debt for war spending. Cash-rich corporations can now lend money to banks through repo deals. Those banks then buy more debt. States use debt for war spending. Rinse and repeat.
US?
Awesome, simply awesome.
B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l ; bring on the dancing sheep......
edit almost forgot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQmut5GI7-k
SURE theres always enough money for a few more F-16's! SQUEEZE those olives harder! Damn peasants!
another slave state, er ally, needed to help bomb Iran...
very kind of you, the word you are looking for is probably vassal
Perhaps they're Hungry for Turkey?
Nope. It's to foght off their own citizens. Happened many times before
i really doubt they need 3.5 billion dollar of modern weaponry to fight off their own citizenry.....
Circle jerk
Syria's'ly. Olive oil might not be the only type they obtain soon.
Well said. How to get rich while fucking the peasants?
Can we sic them on Iran?
*That* would be unexpected.
Sell that as ``payback`` for when Persia tried to invade Greece.
Wasn't Alexander the Great payback enough?
+1. Another way to read this is "Europe is investing in its Mediteranean armed forces".
With elements of the Russian fleet parking off Syria, uncertainty with regards to Suez,
and a major power struggle happening over Hormuz and the Caspian, this may not seem
like a bad idea. Now core european nations in this austerity climate could not possibly
justify a spending boost, but greece does nicely: it can't possibly sink faster at any rate.
This is win-win for Europe. the handouts boost core production and serve its interests.
Sorta like folks buying Christmas gifts with their welfare payments. What a great world we live in.
I think they *should* get me a gift for all I do for them. I'm sure it will be arriving any day now...
More like using the last of your remaining credit at the payday loan place to borrow the money to build the gallows from which you will swing. Well, that and a forty.
it's the JPM SNAP benefit card model - issue the card with credits, add limitations on what can be "purchased" with the credit, and stick the populace with the debt.
just expanded to nationstate level, tested on amrkns, exported.
Unicorns, Skittles, Rainbows and Apaches.
You can't make this stuff up.
"Reach around", aye.
Germany just sold greece a stealth 60 foot wooden horse.
Who are they going to use it on this time?
They are not sure yet. The germans just told them to store it in on there largest airfield.
like in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' we forgot to get inside the horse before placing it in Greece...
Molon Labe!
yes greece is obliged to have a strong military to destroy its people and to attack on a moment's notice whenever the usa orders it to do so...
Oh yaeh? Have you ever taken a casual look at the weapon systems deployed by the Greek armed forces? It is a clusterfuck of Russian, East European, West European and US systems. Exactly how they run logistics for all this crap is beyond me. Then again, if weapon purchases are governed by politics, this is what you get.
it's more about the purchasing, less about using what one bought.
growth, passed hand to insane hand.
Simple. Greece military procurement department got tired of Russian hookers and wanted to try something new, and so on.
a bloodbath awaits
If they won't eat the cake, Let them eat Hellfire Missles.
Oh... great. Dutch taxpayer money (roughly 5 billion) for useless secondhand militairy equipment.
<facepalm>
Their getting into the guns, ammo and food thing.
So the IMF is doin the same playbook. GE needs money we'll give you money to buy a nuclear power plant but you have to pay us back a debt that can't be repaid. A defense contracter needs money. We'll pay for your social programs if buy enough planes.
Also used by Intel. 1986. You can buy 100 286 chips if you buy 1000 8086 chips. But we don't want your 8086 chips we want your 80286 chips. You can buy 100 286 chips if you buy 1000 8086 chips.
Same playbook. You can pay your government employees and keep them from rioting if you buy 3 planes.
Fair efficient markets run entirely off coersion.
Greece needs to overthrow these scumbags, get the fuck out of NATO and the EU, arrest all the bankers, HANG THEM. And tell any fucker who is upset to FUCK OFF.
It will take lives. Actually, the exact number of lives equals the killing potential of the arms they bought
Of course it will take lives. Freedom is paid for in blood.
They could take the Icelandic aproach default on the lot, then invite the GOP candidates over for another debate, pipe the bullshit into the Santorini Caldera that should increase the pressure to critical levels enough to cause an eruption that should finish off what's left of the EU........ just a thought...
We all need to overthrow these scumbags, Greece is not special. Different fucking day, same fucking shit.
If Greece displeases its masters, they'll just let Turkey annex the Dodecanese Islands and most of the Northern Aegean.
A new leader of the Greek people will soon emerge and the Greeks will take back what is rightfully theirs and litter the streets with traitors hanging by short ropes. It will also happen here someday soon...
Next Bilderberger meeting 2012 at Haifa - Hotel Rothschild.
No joke.
So no war with Iran until then.
Dont know the date.
with more and more "conspiracy theory" stuffs becoming so obvious, rubbing the collective noses in their own denial, some folks will have steep learning curves this year, and some will continue to pay close attention to the final puzzle pieces being fit into the story.
they really don't care to be "secretive" about much any more, do they.