“Some of the best weapons do not shoot,” states the leaked military manual titled “Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare” that was recently highlighted by WikiLeaks where the US Army states that major global financial institutions such as IMF and World Bank are used as unconventional financial weapons in times of not only conflict but also large scale general war along with leveraging the cooperation of state government.

The document has been originally written in September but has been recently highlighted by WikiLeaks in the light of recent events in Venezuela.

One of its section reads,

“Manipulation of U.S. financial strength can leverage the policies and cooperation of state governments. Financial incentives and disincentives can build and sustain international coalitions waging or supporting U.S. UW campaigns. As part of an interagency effort, the U.S. Treasury can recommend changes to U.S. policy that can provide such incentives to state governments and others at the national strategic policy level. Participation in international financial organizations, such as the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), offers the U.S. diplomatic-financial venues to accomplish such coalitions.”

It further talks about,

“State manipulation of tax and interest rates and other legal and bureaucratic measures can apply unilateral U.S. financial action to open, modify, or close financial flows.”

Moreover, these financial weapons can be used as

“financial incentives or disincentives to persuade adversaries, allies, and surrogates to modify their behavior at the theater strategic, operational, and tactical levels.”

According to the World Bank’s website,

“The United States was a leading force in the establishment of the World Bank in 1944 and remains the largest shareholder of the World Bank today. As the only World Bank shareholder that retains veto power over changes in the Bank’s structure, the United States plays a unique role in influencing and shaping development priorities.”

The notion of the World Bank and IMF being independent is sort of an illusion which puts forward the case for Bitcoin which is a digital currency controlled and regulated by no one.

Created as a “purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”

After the banking crisis of 2008, the creation of Bitcoin has been not only the result of technological progress but also the concerns about conventional banking and money, and political views about the role of the government.

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