LUONGO: It's the beginning of competition. And the key to this is the fact that Saudi Arabia is there.

This is a beginning.... not an end. Don't mistake the two. It's been building for over a decade since when Obama first used SWIFT to cut Iran out of the global economy.

It's been a stepwise degradation of the old order since.

The first rule of any conflict is "Never Go… https://t.co/vmnxwdIN8n

— Tom Luongo (Head Sneetch) (@TFL1728) June 8, 2024

This is a beginning.... not an end. Don't mistake the two. It's been building for over a decade since when Obama first used SWIFT to cut Iran out of the global economy. It's been a stepwise degradation of the old order since. The first rule of any conflict is "Never Go Nuclear." Obama went there when he threatened the Swiss with SWIFT in 2010 over FATCA and KYC/AML. The Swiss caved.

[SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.]

[FATCA stands for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, 2010.]

[KYC/AML stands for Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering.  Know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) are often viewed as either similar or one and the same. In fact, KYC, sometimes referred to as Customer Due Diligence (CDD), is a critical component of AML programs.]

Iran didn't. Iran figured out how to survive and laid the groundwork for Russia to do the same in 2022. There are a lot of intervening events along that path... I've watched them all. But, this isn't the 'end of the dollar' or anything stupid like that. It's the beginning of competition. The US can change course. Will it? Well, that's up to our Davosian vandals on Capitol Hill. I have very little faith in that. So, Putin http://et.al. do not what they wanted, but what is necessary. And the key to this is the fact that Saudi Arabia is there.