Wheat at record is the worst thing that could happen to Egypt

by David P. Goldman • Jul 20, 2012 at 4:09 pm

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3183/wheat-at-record-is-the-worst-thing-that-could

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The price of wheat on the active futures contract shot up to $943 a bushel from only $625 a bushel just a month ago, due to the drought in the US Midwest and other factors. That is a further blow to stability in Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, dependent on foreign sources for half its caloric consumption. Egypt now imports 800,000 metric tons of wheat a year. At $943 a bushel its import bill is about $28 billion, a $9.5 billion increase over the cost at $625. Egypt has about $15 billion in total foreign exchange reserves but only $7 billion in liquid reserves. I'd say they are in trouble.

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Intel for the FSA

by David P. Goldman • Jul 20, 2012 at 3:51 pm

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3182/intel-for-the-fsa

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C.L Chivers' piece on the bomb skills of Syrian rebels July 18 got a lot of attention. The New York Times reporter noted,

Improvised bombs have steadily become the most punishing weapon in the otherwise underequipped rebels' arsenal, repeatedly destroying Syria's main battle tanks, halting army convoys and inflicting heavy casualties on government ground operations in areas where armed resistance is strong, Western analysts and rebel field commanders and fighters said.

But here's a strange bit of information:

One example was telling: A single rifle cartridge, they said, can cost up to $4, often more than the price of a single blasting cap, the primary explosive used to detonate a makeshift bomb's main charge. (Multiple fighters and commanders in the past week said factory-grade electric blasting caps were available for $1.50 to $3 each, with most costing about $2.)

That's a little odd. So 7.62X39 cartridges (I assume that's what Chivers refers to) go for $4 a pop on the black market, but blasting caps are available for $1.50? In the US, you can get the AK-47 7.62mm cartridges for $0.24 apiece in bulk while blasting caps go for at least $4.00. That means that whomever is supply weapons is providing more blasting caps than rifle cartridges. Someone wants the FSA to have blasting caps. If the attacks are more effective it means that the FSA has better intel about targets. Question is: where are they getting the intel? Turks? Saudis? Both?

Related Topics: Syria, Turkey | David P. Goldman

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