Cutting of your nose, to spite your face

NYT Chad threatened Saturday to cut off its flow of oil unless the World Bank releases money frozen in a dispute over how the government should use its oil revenues.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Do they think they will get any oil revenues, if they cut off oil exports?

The announcement followed a late-night meeting by President Idriss Déby and his cabinet to discuss their response to the rebel attack on the capital on Thursday. The rebels, led by former commanders in Mr. Déby's army, were repulsed but are believed to be regrouping nearby. It is likely that the government wants the frozen money to pay for its fight against the rebels. Chad had a deal with the World Bank to pay for a pipeline on condition that most of the revenues would be used to ease poverty. Mr. Déby broke that deal this year to use the money to finance his military,

I suspect they already got and spent money from the World Bank for the bank to require that deal, and if the World Bank did not require them to keep any deals it made, then it would lose all power to make deals.

prompting the World Bank to suspend $124 million in aid.