Kevin Jon Heller
Ah, hypocrisy — thy name is the United States. First up, US anger at Israel for
not supporting a lawsuit concerning allegations that the Bank of China laundered money for Hamas and Islamic Jihad:
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren was called back to Israel to take part in an emergency meeting convened this weekend by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu so
that Oren could pass on messages sent by the US administration and
Congress in the wake of tensions between the two countries.
The tensions and lightening visit stem from the US’s outrage at
Israel’s decision to back out of their commitment to a terror
prosecution involving the allegedly laundering monies for Hamas so that Netanyahu and his family could embark on their State visit to the country last May.
This weekend Nahum Barnea and
Shimon Shiffer from Yedioth Ahronoth broke the story and revealed that
the Chinese government threatened to cancel Netanyahu’s visit if Israel
refused to promise that senior Israeli defense officials would refrain
from testifying against the Bank of China in a federal court trial
currently underway in New York.
According to the report, China conditioned Netanyahu’s visit on the demand the officials retract their promise to testify in the trial being led by the family of terror victim.
[snip]
The story has invoked the rage of the White House, a number of US
congressmen and Jewish organizations active in the US who were
flabbergasted by the decision to back out of a legal battle against the
funding of international terror only in an attempt to prevent harm from
coming to Netanyahu’s visit.
How dare Israel be so soft on terrorism! How could they think it’s
okay not to support “a legal battle against the funding of international
terror”?
Oh,
wait:
It is a dark day for the rule of law. Federal and state authorities have chosen not to indict HSBC,
the London-based bank, on charges of vast and prolonged money
laundering, for fear that criminal prosecution would topple the bank
and, in the process, endanger the financial system. They also have not
charged any top HSBC banker in the case, though it boggles the mind that
a bank could launder money as HSBC did without anyone in a position of
authority making culpable decisions.
[snip]
There is no doubt that the wrongdoing at HSBC was serious and
pervasive. Several foreign banks have been fined in recent years for
flouting United States sanctions against transferring money through
American subsidiaries on behalf of clients in countries like Iran, Sudan
and Cuba. HSBC’s actions were even more egregious. According to several
law enforcement officials with knowledge of the inquiry, prosecutors
found that, for years, HSBC had also moved tainted money from Mexican
drug cartels and Saudi banks with ties to terrorist groups.
Those findings echo those of a Congressional report, issued in July,
which said that between 2001 and 2010, HSBC exposed the American
“financial system to money laundering and terrorist financing risks.”
Prosecutors and Congressional investigators were also alarmed by
indications that senior HSBC officials might have been complicit in the
illegal activity and that the bank did not tighten its lax controls
against money laundering even after repeated urgings from federal
officials.
Apparently, only the United States has the right to put its economic
interests ahead of the war on terror. Other countries just have to suck
it up and do the right thing.
PS. Let’s also not lose sight of the double-standard at work
regarding UK/US and Chinese banks. Next time you get angry that China
doesn’t meekly accept direction from the State Department –
cough, Edward Snowden, cough – you might want to keep that double standard in mind.
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