09 Apr 08 Ted Koppel on BBC World News America : China has bought $600 billion worth of US Treasury Notes ; effectively underwriting the Iraq war for the US

Just watching a great interview with Ted Koppel on BBC World News America. I miss watching Ted Koppel on Nightline… his point of view and (above all) calm delivery style is still so appealing.

He was being interviewed about the … attack on the Olympic torch, and how the US is between a a rock and a hard place (again) in terms of their relationship with China.

I didn’t know this, but China has effectively loaned the US about $600 billion dollars (yes, $600,000,000,000) by buying US Treasury Notes.. those are the kind of dollars that the US Military is spending on the war effort in Iraq.

So in an odd sense, China is financing the US-led coalition (ahem) in Iraq…

No wonder that every single police office in San Francisco was called back to duty to participate in the “protect the Olympic torch” mission. After all, if the US cannot protect a torch running in the street… how can we ensure, err, national security ?

Hmm, is the Beijing torch coming to Canada?

Tags: Beijing Olympics, china, globalization, human rights, Olympic torch, Politics, War