International Forecaster Weekly

Greece Demands German Reparations For WWII as Grexit Nears

You know things are bad when even the progressives and socialists who voted you into power are calling you out for capitulating to the banksters.

James Corbett | April 8, 2015

Regular readers of this column will remember when I “boldly” predicted that Syriza would change nothing regarding the Greek status quo and that those celebrating the party’s election win earlier this year were going to be as sorely disappointed as Obama’s “Hope & Change” cheerleaders. Actually, it wasn’t such a bold prediction for those who understand that the only meaningful changes...

...that are ever going to happen are going to be structural changes implemented bottom-up in peer-to-peer decentralized economic systems that have nothing to do with regional currencies, central banks or deals with the IMF, but some people treated it as a bold prediction.

    Sadly enough for the Greek people (with whom I truly do sympathize) that prediction was all too accurate. Since Syriza’s dramatic “no talks with the troika” rhetoric to their talks with the troika (oh, I’m sorry, the “Brussels Group“) to their inevitable complete cave-in (and re-cave-in) they have fallen all over themselves to make their payments to the banksters, complete all the bankster-assigned homework, and pledge their fealty to the banksters (in the only language the banksters understand, of course: fiat debt money and austerity conditions). And still, the banksters use every opportunity to remind Syriza and its supporters who’s really calling the shots in Athens (hint: it’s not Tsipras).

    You know things are bad when even the progressives and socialists who voted you into power are calling you out for capitulating to the banksters.

    Don’t worry, though; Alexis and Co. have a new hope and change game to sell the public. The answer to the debt debacle crippling the Greek economy and driving the Greek people to the breaking point is…(wait for it…)…more debt!

    As Tsipras prepares to meet with Putin in Moscow this week, reports indicate that Russia may just dangle the carrot of a less restrictive loan program in front of Greece’s face. Of course, the same report suggests that in return for gas discounts and loans, Russia “would want access to Greek assets.” Plus ça change…

    If there is any bright spot to this unfolding disaster, it’s that the latest move in this kabuki theater performance is at least more entertaining than the previous ones. Greece is now demanding €278.7 billion in World War II reparations from Germany, which (wouldn’t you know it) is actually more than the €240 billion it owes the EU. It is the first time Athens has attempted to put a specific dollar (er…euro) figure on the Nazi occupation of the country over 70 years ago, and it is the most transparent sign yet that Greece has reached the bottom card in its deck of negotiating tactics.

    Problem solved! Now I guess the Greek government just has to decide what to do with its sudden €38.7 billion windfall, right? Well, not according to Merkel’s spokesman: “It is our firm belief that questions of reparations and compensation have been legally and politically resolved.” According to the Germans, all reparation obligations were met in two previous rounds of payouts in 1953 and in the 1960s. Adding that there is no reason to hold talks on the issue, it looks like Berlin’s check will be in the mail when pigs learn to fly or when the Greek military goes and takes it from them, whichever comes first.

    But if there is any real bright spot here, it is that the Eurozone is closer to the “Grexit” and ensuing collapse than ever before. Both Greece and the ECB itself are said to be preparing plans for a Greek withdrawal from the Euro, a move that would have enormous implications for the future of the EU. As we face the very real prospect of a shake up or even a break up of the Eurozone and the failure of the globalized ECB-led euro currency monstrosity, there is genuine reason to be hopeful that things fall apart quickly. While no one is excited about the prospects of the working men and women who will invariably suffer under such a transition, it is probably the last best hope for a derailment of the globalist one world currency agenda and the introduction of an IMF-administered globalist reserve currency regimen which would be the corner stone of the one world bankster-controlled government.

    Syriza supporters recovering from their election hangover will not have much to thank their government for when and if this takes place; that is, unless they enjoy the targeted tax audits and electronic “Citizen Smart Cards” Tsipras has promised to implement to crack down on middle class tax evasion in the future socialist paradise of Greece. But if they do manage to push the EU to their breaking point, I promise to publicly thank Syriza for their service to humanity and gladly chow down on some humble pie as the EUpocalypse begins.

    Of course, I’d thank the people of Greece even more if they began embracing the peer-to-peer economy and eschewing the banks, governments, fiat debt money and globalist corporations that created this nightmare in the first place.