Re: The Price of Gold: Does It Matter?
Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:15 am
Elian Marat posted on February 27, 2019...
[BH Note: One of our clients, a keen observer of gold/silver developments,
noted that gold started down on the day that this news broke. He wondered
if the gold was going to be sold to depress gold’s price.]
According to reports by Syrian state news agency SANA, U.S. forces struck
a deal with ISIS whereby the terrorist group would give up 50 tons of gold
across eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zour province in exchange for safe passage.
The precious metal, worth about $2.13 billion, was plundered by the self-
designated “caliphate” as its reign of terror spread across Syria and Iraq
between 2015 and 2017. Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reports that local
sources claim U.S. Army helicopters have already transferred the gold from
the U.S. forces’ base in Kobani, the Kurdish-controlled city that lies
close to Syria’s northern border with Syria. A portion of the gold was
also distributed to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which
dominates the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The news comes
after SANA claimed that locals witnessed U.S. helicopters airlifting
large cases of gold amounting to about 40 tons from the al-Dashisha area
in Hasaka’s southern countryside earlier this month. The gold was purportedly
looted by ISIS from Mosul in Iraq and other parts of Syria.
The Syrian state media outlet claimed that ISIS leaders were on-hand to
guide the U.S. helicopters to the places where the gold was stashed,
“closing a deal by which Washington spared hundreds of the terror
organization’s field leaders and experts.” The claims by the Syrian
government outlet coincide with reports by U.K.-based war monitor, the
Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), which alleged that the U.S.
and its Kurdish allies had been sparing ISIS fighters in hopes of acquiring
the group’s war spoils.
60198 The SOHR said:
“The U.S.-led coalition forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)
deliberately do not target the areas under the control of the ISIL
terrorists and commanders in Eastern Euphrates in Deir el-Zour as
they are trying to locate this treasure by forcing the ISIL militants
to speak about its location after surrendering.” Syrian and Russian media
alike have long alleged that, contrary to Washington’s claims, it is
waging a war on the extremist group. U.S. forces are instead collaborating
with them in myriad ways. During the destruction of ISIS-controlled Raqqa
in Syria by the U.S.-led coalition, a secret deal was struck with the
group that granted members safe passage as it evacuated the area. The deal,
uncovered by the BBC, ensured the survival and freedom of many top ISIS
leaders and a number of foreign fighters. The U.S. still maintains its
base in al-Tanf at the Syrian-Jordanian border in contravention of
international law and against the wishes of the Syrian government on
the pretext of combating ISIS. Moscow has repeatedly accused the United
States of forming new armed groups from the remains of ISIS, where they
are allegedly given free rein and pop up “like a jack-in-the-box” to
ambush Syrian troops before fading back into the U.S.-controlled region.
[BH Note: One of our clients, a keen observer of gold/silver developments,
noted that gold started down on the day that this news broke. He wondered
if the gold was going to be sold to depress gold’s price.]
According to reports by Syrian state news agency SANA, U.S. forces struck
a deal with ISIS whereby the terrorist group would give up 50 tons of gold
across eastern Syria’s Deir el-Zour province in exchange for safe passage.
The precious metal, worth about $2.13 billion, was plundered by the self-
designated “caliphate” as its reign of terror spread across Syria and Iraq
between 2015 and 2017. Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reports that local
sources claim U.S. Army helicopters have already transferred the gold from
the U.S. forces’ base in Kobani, the Kurdish-controlled city that lies
close to Syria’s northern border with Syria. A portion of the gold was
also distributed to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which
dominates the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The news comes
after SANA claimed that locals witnessed U.S. helicopters airlifting
large cases of gold amounting to about 40 tons from the al-Dashisha area
in Hasaka’s southern countryside earlier this month. The gold was purportedly
looted by ISIS from Mosul in Iraq and other parts of Syria.
The Syrian state media outlet claimed that ISIS leaders were on-hand to
guide the U.S. helicopters to the places where the gold was stashed,
“closing a deal by which Washington spared hundreds of the terror
organization’s field leaders and experts.” The claims by the Syrian
government outlet coincide with reports by U.K.-based war monitor, the
Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), which alleged that the U.S.
and its Kurdish allies had been sparing ISIS fighters in hopes of acquiring
the group’s war spoils.
60198 The SOHR said:
“The U.S.-led coalition forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)
deliberately do not target the areas under the control of the ISIL
terrorists and commanders in Eastern Euphrates in Deir el-Zour as
they are trying to locate this treasure by forcing the ISIL militants
to speak about its location after surrendering.” Syrian and Russian media
alike have long alleged that, contrary to Washington’s claims, it is
waging a war on the extremist group. U.S. forces are instead collaborating
with them in myriad ways. During the destruction of ISIS-controlled Raqqa
in Syria by the U.S.-led coalition, a secret deal was struck with the
group that granted members safe passage as it evacuated the area. The deal,
uncovered by the BBC, ensured the survival and freedom of many top ISIS
leaders and a number of foreign fighters. The U.S. still maintains its
base in al-Tanf at the Syrian-Jordanian border in contravention of
international law and against the wishes of the Syrian government on
the pretext of combating ISIS. Moscow has repeatedly accused the United
States of forming new armed groups from the remains of ISIS, where they
are allegedly given free rein and pop up “like a jack-in-the-box” to
ambush Syrian troops before fading back into the U.S.-controlled region.