By Fe Bongolan
As former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn awaits trial for his alleged assault and rape of a Sofitel Hotel maid, the information and evidence bubbling to the surface becomes more compelling a conundrum. This conundrum almost makes you imagine the possibility of conspiracy: a set-up discrediting the man holding the strings and on the brink of a turning point. That includes two ‘smoking guns’ familiar to Americans: a semen-stained dress, and the potential for the entire European Union’s economic collapse from debt default by Greece — a situation quite similar in seriousness to the US sub-prime lending crisis leading to our economic meltdown of 2008.
Having the wisdom of hindsight from two recent sex scandals that rocked the US — those of President Bill Clinton and former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer — it’s easy to see one way how Strauss-Kahn’s defense team could play his case out in the US courts. Both men in positions of power were taken down by their indiscretions and their respective downfalls used to set up political and economic crime. A conspiracy theory with this type of historical backdrop for Strauss-Kahn’s defense may be plausible enough to provide shadow of a doubt for an American jury, particularly in New York. But before we delve into further speculation on this story, we need to dig deeper and focus on what the IMF, Strauss-Kahn’s former place of employment, does and what was about to happen prior to his arrest on May 15.
Near the end of World War II, the IMF was formed to act as global lender to struggling nations working to recover after that war’s devastation, and by its tradition has been headed by a European ever since. In order to qualify for a loan from the IMF, a country needs to become a contributing member, paying in to a “membership fund” contributing a fair percentage of its gross national income to be used by fellow member nations in need. Memberships are “weighted” based on the amount of a country’s annual contribution using the American dollar as benchmark. The more money you have, the more weight and power you carry.