Obama Is Going Down
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—In Europe, in the Mideast, and in Asia, the truth of Obama’s murderous intentions and policies can no longer be hidden. Obama floundered in Vienna, seething inside as Putin was clearly guiding the process. He moved on to Manila for the APEC meeting, perhaps confident that his effort to restore the Philippines to neo-colonial status, occupying the nation once again with U.S. military forces in preparation for a war on China, would restore his narcissistic grandeur. He was instead greeted by a revolt by Philippine patriots, as their Senate rejected his military occupation plans, while APEC refused to even bring up his obscene accusations of Chinese aggression for building up some islands under their control.
Perhaps Obama imagines he will do better in Malaysia this weekend at the ASEAN Summit and the East Asian Summit. But the ASEAN Defense Ministers earlier this month already rejected his effort to call China an aggressor—in fact, the ASEAN Transport Ministers declared their enthusiastic commitment to working with China on the “One Belt, One Road” New Silk Road programs.
Both French and Italian media ran interviews with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad this week—an “in your face” to Obama clinging to his imperial right to remove a sovereign head of state. Assad named the U.S., Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as the creators and funders of ISIS, noting that the Russian intervention has turned the tide against the barbarians. Increasingly, European and American military and political leaders are turning against Obama’s regime change madness and demanding a united effort with Russia against ISIS.
In the U.S., Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, to explain what he means by describing himself as a democratic socialist, evoked the policies of Franklin Roosevelt, who addressed the destruction of the population in his day by creating social programs to grant their economic rights—to employment, health care, social security, education—while taking on Wall Street’s power through Glass-Steagall and other restraints on the power of the banks over the economy and the government. Sanders then described the destruction of living standards in the U.S. today, the horrendous drug epidemic, the collapse of household income and employment, and denounced the “regime change” policies of the recent administrations, creating chaos and terrorism in its wake.
In the U.S. Congress, a legal document is being circulated to members of Congress by EIR which demonstrates that the Supreme Court ruling which found in favor of then-Senator Mike Gravel for reading the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record in 1971, applies equally today to any Congressman with the courage to read the 28 pages of the Joint Congressional Inquiry on 9/11 into the record, exposing the Saudi funding of the 9/11 terrorists who attacked the U.S. In fact, at any moment, under the Supreme Court ruling in the Gravel case, Congress, without consultation with the White House, can declassify the entire 28 page chapter—along with all of the other 9/11 investigative files that have been kept secret for the past 13 years.
Obama’s open alliance with terrorists, and their sponsors in Riyadh, in order to achieve his criminal regime change, can and must be exposed, and must lead to his removal from office, now.
This is a time of revolutionary change. There is no place for pragmatism or half-measures when faced with thermonuclear war and economic collapse. The solution is clear—in restoring Glass-Steagall, joining with China and the BRICS nations in global development programs, restoring real science to the center of policymaking, reviving Classical music and the arts. The time is now. The restoration of Glass-Steagall, wiping out Wall Street altogether, must be accompanied by the kinds of Federal credit-generating programs that can create millions of productive jobs and start the process of reviving a genuinely productive economy.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Assad Tells Italy’s RAI in Interview, The Situation Has Shifted
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—The Italian state television, RAI, broadcast a long interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yesterday. Clips of the interview were shown in prime time, and the entire interview was broadcast on the all-news program Rainews24.
In the interview, Assad says that the Syrian people will decide whether he goes or stays, and that while ISIS controls large parts of Syria, these are mostly desert.
Assad says that the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey have created ISIS, and that with the Russian intervention the situation has changed. His meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss military strategy and the strategy from Vienna was very satisfactory.
However, even more important than the interview itself, was the description of the meeting with Assad by RAI President Monica Maggioni, which appeared prior to the interview. Maggioni, before becoming head of RAI, was a war correspondent, then a political editor, and had interviewed Assad two years ago. The current interview was conducted by another RAI journalist, but it is clear that Maggioni herself arranged it.
In today’s La Stampa, Maggioni described the meeting with Assad in an article under the headline, “Calm and Self-Assured, Assad Seems To Be Strong in the Saddle.” Assad received her, not in a bunker, but in his house in a middle-class neighborhood in Damascus, like any normal host. “We have to make an effort to remember that we are in Damascus, in the middle of the war, talking to Bashar al-Assad,” she writes.
Assad “feels that three key factors have changed a scenario which, two years ago, seemed to be approaching the total collapse of Syria: the global threat represented by ISIS; the return of Iran to international tables; and Putin’s action.”
“He characterizes the Western policy which has destabilized the region, sometimes supported armed groups and eventually did not control its ultimate consequences, as incomprehensible. ‘Al-Qaeda was created by the Americans, based on the Wahhabist ideology and on Saudi money. ISIS and al-Nusra are an emanation of al-Qaeda.’ And, he says, only Putin’s intervention is allowing the ability to achieve more control.”
Assad “does not remind one in any way of the great contemporary losers. He is not the spirited Qaddafi who spoke of final victory when he was defeated, he is not the Iraqi information minister who says ‘The Americans will never reach Baghdad’ when the Fifth Corps tanks are on the march in the background. It is a different matter, difficult to understand and full of contradictions. Surely, however, from this house in the center of Damascus goes through one of the possibilities to manage one of the most complex phases of history in which we are living.”
The full interview is available either in video in Italian, on the website of Rainews24; or, the transcript of the interview in English translation on website of Syrian state television.
Virginia State Sen. Richard Black Releases Nov. 14th Letter to Syrian President al-Assad
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—Senator Richard Black (Republican, 13th District Virginia) has written a second letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, this time welcoming the Russian intervention against ISIS and praising the recent Syrian victories on the battlefield.
Excerpts from the November 14th, 2015 letter follow:
“Bashar al Assad President of Syria, Damascus, Syria.
“Dear Mr. President:
“I was pleased by the Russians’ intervention against the armies invading Syria. With their support, the Syrian army has made dramatic strides against the terrorists.
“I was delighted by Syria’s resounding victory over ISIS at the Kuwairis Airfield. My compliments to those who heroically rescued 1,000 brave Syrian soldiers from certain death. I am convinced that many such victories lie ahead.
“The Syrian War was not caused by domestic unrest. It was an unlawful war of aggression by foreign powers determined to force a puppet regime on Syria. General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, revealed that by 2001, Western powers had developed plans to overthrow Syria. Yet after fifteen years of military subversion, NATO, Saudi Arabia and Qatar still cannot identify a single rebel leader who enjoys popular support among the Syrian people.
“Foreign powers have no right to overturn legitimate elections and impose their will on the Syrian people. Syrians alone must determine their destiny, free of foreign intervention. I am disappointed that the UN has turned a blind eye to the unlawful interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
“Before the war began, Syrians had the greatest religious freedom and women’s equality of any Arab people. Many Americans are surprised to learn that the Syrian Constitution provides for free elections, religious freedom, women’s rights, and the Rule of Law. Before criticizing Syria, the U.S. might first insist that our allies Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, U.A.E. and Kuwait grant similar freedoms to their own people.
“I am disappointed that the U.S. has countered Russian assistance to Syria by forwarding shipments of TOW anti-tank missiles to the terrorists. This will only prolong bloodshed in Syria. And supplying weapons to ‘good terrorists’ while denying them to ‘bad terrorists’ is a fool’s game. The reckless dissemination of TOW missiles threatens worldwide civil aviation. Long-range anti-tank weapons can easily be targeted to destroy passenger jets taxiing for takeoff. As a Virginia Senator, I am concerned that such missiles might find their way to remote areas adjacent to Reagan National Airport, Dulles International Airport [both in Virginia, serving Washington, D.C.] and others. I have corresponded with the United States President about these concerns….
“People have begun realizing that the Syrian terrorists are militarily supported by our allies, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Indeed, ISIS has no more loyal backer than Turkey, which serves as its main conduit for jihadists, weapons, medical support and trade….
“It is apparent that the objective of the Turks and Saudis is to impose a murderous theocratic dictatorship on the Syrian people. If they succeed, Christians and other minorities will be slaughtered or sold into slavery. Many good-hearted Sunni and Shi’a Muslims will also be burned, drowned, crucified and beheaded.
“But world opinion is turning against the terrorists and their supporters. The cruel mistreatment of captured Syrian soldiers by terrorists groups is appalling. Many Americans find the behavior of these so-called ‘moderates’ morally abhorrent.
“I bled, fighting to defend this nation’s honor. I will oppose American support for terrorists, like the Army of Conquest and ISIS that threaten Syria. Many Virginians join in praying that the Syrian Arab Army and its allies will triumph over the forces of evil, and that peace will soon return to Syria.
“Thank you for protecting the lives of Christians and of all good people of Syria.
“Sincerely, Richard H. Black, Senator of Virginia.”
In the State Senate, Senator Black has twice entered resolutions in support of the restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act. This November, he won re-election to the Senate against a well-funded Democratic opponent. He won that election even though the issue of his previous letter to the Syrian President thanking the Syrian military for their defense of Syria’s Christian minority against the terrorists had been raised by the opposition.
Russian Air Offensive against ISIS Ramps Up
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—Russian Tu-95MS bombers, flying from Russian territory, launched another 12 cruise missiles against terrorist targets in Syria’s Idlib province today, reported Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. In addition, Tu-22m3 Backfire medium bombers hit six targets in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces, including three oil refineries on territory controlled by ISIS, an ammunition depot, and a mortar repair facility.
“Over the past 24 hours, Russian aviation Tu-160, Tu-22M3 jets have carried out 126 sorties from the territory of the Russian Federation,” Kartapolov said. As of 5 p.m. Moscow time (14:00 UTC), the Russian air group in Latakia, Syria had flown 60 sorties out of a planned 98, destroying 138 terrorist targets out of a planned 190. Kartapolov reported that the Russian air strikes have caused ISIS major manpower losses and disrupted the group’s leaders’ ability to control their forces. “[M]assive losses have completely disrupted the militants’ command in Homs. We’ve noted cases of direct refusal to follow orders,” the general reported.
At the Pentagon, yesterday, Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for the U.S. military command operating in Iraq and Syria, was very dismissive of the Russian long-range strikes, at least the ones involving the Backfire bombers, because they were dropping conventional, unguided bombs in a strike package of 10 or 12 aircraft. “Those are antiquated tactics. We don’t even use those type of tactics anymore,” he told reporters at the Pentagon via videoconference. “The idea of putting, you know, 10 ships in the air at one time, or 12 or even more, are very old fashioned. And those are the type of tactics needed only if you don’t possess … the capabilities to conduct the type of precision strikes that our coalition conducts.”
In fact, however, the Russians are using all of the tools at their disposal, including both precision and unguided munitions. Even in the case of unguided munitions, however, they are likely using their GLONASS satellite navigation system for navigation and bomb release calculations. In other words, the Russians are using the appropriate tools for the particular job at hand.
Hollande, Valls Make Clear What Actions Are Needed To Fight Terrorists
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—Addressing a gathering of France’s mayors on Nov. 18, President François Hollande said the events in Saint-Denis confirmed that France was “in a war … what these terrorists wanted to target was what France represents. That’s what was attacked on Nov. 13. These barbarians targeted France in its diversity. It is the youth of France that was targeted, because quite simply it represents life.”
Prime Minister Manuel Valls has confirmed that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of the Nov. 13 attacks, was killed during the police raid in Saint-Denis. The Interior Ministry said police had searched a further 118 addresses across the country on the night of Nov. 17, and more than 400 houses have been raided and 60 people detained since France declared a state of emergency on Friday Nov. 13.
Hollande will call on U.S. President Barack Obama to show greater urgency in the fight against Islamic State when they meet in Washington next week. Britain’s Guardian cited an unnamed European diplomatic source who described what Hollande will make clear to Obama.
“The message that we want to send to the Americans is simply that the crisis is destabilizing Europe. The problem is that the attacks in Paris and the refugee crisis show that we don’t have time. There is an emergency,” the source told the Guardian. He added, that France has “to act quickly, telling the U.S. administration, the core interests of the Europeans, your best allies, are at stake.” The point is that the French see Obama refusing to act fast enough.
In his address to the National Assembly to extend the state of emergency, Prime Minister Valls warned that terrorists may use chemical and biological weapons in future.
Corbyn Calls for Sanctions on Countries Supporting ISIL
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—British Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn called for slapping sanctions on countries supporting the Islamic State. During Parliament’s “Questions to the Prime Minister,” he asked David Cameron, “Surely a crucial way to help defeat ISIL is to cut off its funding, its supply of arms, and its trade. Can I press the Prime Minister to ensure that our allies in the region, indeed all countries in the region, are doing all they can to clamp down on individuals and institutions in their countries who are providing ISIL with vital infrastructure?
“Will he, through the European Union and other forums, if necessary consider sanctions against those banks and companies and, if necessary, countries which turn a blind eye to those who do dealings with ISIL, who assist them in their work?”
Corbyn’s questions follow a statement he made after the Paris attacks, in which he named Saudi Arabia as a country involved in supporting IS. “Saudi Arabia, maybe not at government level, but certainly at aid-level, has been providing support to ISIL,” he said.
In response, Cameron, while having to agree with Corbyn, tried to turn the issue around to only military action. “We cannot dodge forever the question of how to degrade and destroy ISIL both in Iraq and in Syria, … yes, go after the money, go after the banks, cut off their supplies, but don’t make that a substitute for the action that’s required to beat these people where they are,” Cameron said.
U.S./NATO Still Aiming at Russia
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—The just-concluded Berlin Security Conference, an initiative of the Behörden Spiegel, the public sector news publication of Germany, featured virulently anti-Russian speeches delivered by Deputy Secretary General of NATO Alexander Vershbow and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. Both of them slammed Russia’s intervention against ISIS in Syria and claimed that Russia still presents a threat of aggression against Eastern Europe and against NATO.
Vershbow claimed that Russia’s Syria intervention is prolonging the war there by keeping Assad in power. In Vershbow’s view, NATO has been the virtuous one in its efforts to forge a good relationship with Russia since the end of the Cold War, while Russia has thrown that away with the choices that it has made, particularly in Ukraine. Russia, Vershbow complained, has built up its military capabilities along its borders, including anti-ship and anti-aircraft systems that impede NATO’s freedom of movement in the Black Sea and Baltic Sea. And so, NATO’s response to Russia must be deterrence.
“By ensuring effective deterrence against a revisionist Russia, we will have a more solid basis on which to engage Moscow—to bring it back into compliance with international law and, in time, begin to rebuild the trust and partnership that Russia has destroyed,” he said.
Nuland similarly lashed out at Russia, particularly with her defense of the Nazi regime in Kiev that she helped put into power. She portrayed the Maidan protests as demands for freedom and democracy, everything that the West has, and which ousted Ukrainian President Yanukovych and the Kremlin responded to with “tanks, Buk missiles, support for the separatists, sabotage, and propaganda.”
She further demanded that the sanctions against Russia stay in place until the Minsk ceasefire agreement is fully implemented and Crimea is returned to Ukraine.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Senate Moves To Block Obama’s COP21 Plans
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed two resolutions which block key sections of the administration’s anti-coal program, which President Obama had planned to showcase at the UN COP21 Climate Change summit, which opens on Nov. 30 in Paris. The first resolution shot down the Environmental Protection Agency rule imposing a 32% cut in carbon emissions from coal-powered power plants in the U.S.; the second was against the EPA rule stating that no further coal-powered power plants will be constructed on the territory of the United States.
Both resolutions passed by a vote of 52 to 46, with the backing of three Democratic Senators—Heidi Heitkamp (NC), Joe Manchin (WV), and Joe Donnelly (IN), who represent states where coal plays a major role in the economy.
Obama blustered that if the House passes similar resolutions, and they land on his desk, he will veto them.
In a second blow to Obama and the British Empire’s plan for genocide under the guise of protecting the environment, Republican Senators then delivered the message on Wednesday, that they have no intention of funding the U.S. share of the $100 billion (minimum) “Green Climate Fund” cooked up to bribe developing countries into signing onto “climate change” restrictions that will end their economic development. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) put it colorfully: “We want to make sure that any of these countries that think they’re going to have a check to cash because of an agreement that the President may make in Paris—they shouldn’t cash the check just yet.”
The venue for the message was a hearing of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, chaired by Sen. Jim Inofe (R-OK). Inhofe had tried repeatedly this fall to get even one EPA, State Department, or Council of Environmental Quality official to testify before the committee on administration plans for the COP21 meeting, to no avail.
In opening the hearing, Inhofe warned Obama that Congress will not approve new money for the Green Climate Fund without first being able to review any deal struck in Paris over the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 UN summit.
“If the President wishes to produce something substantive from the Paris negotiations … there is no way around the Senate…. Let me be very clear: This Congress will not approve a cent of appropriations for the Green Climate Fund,” Inhofe added.
That’s not a small threat. The Queen’s own population-reductionist Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, CBE, told the Guardian on Nov. 9 that the Queen’s climate hoax genocide could proceed without a binding agreement at Paris, but if the OECD nations refused to fund that Green Climate Fund, it could blow up any agreement at all.
Bernie Sanders Draws on Legacy of Franklin Roosevelt, in His Program for America
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—In an hour-long speech at Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) addressed what he views as America’s crisis and what he sees as necessary remedies.
Sanders began with an historical perspective, that many of the government economic and social programs we take for granted today were introduced by FDR in the late 1930s to deal with the millions of impoverished Americans, programs which at the time were all labelled “socialist.” He specifically referenced Social Security, the minimum wage, unemployment insurance, the abolition of child labor, the 40-hour work week, collective bargaining, strong banking regulation, and deposit insurance. Lyndon Johnson followed up in the 1960s with Medicare and Medicaid—also called socialistic, and also taken for granted today.
Sanders then went into an extended description of the predicates of the destruction of the American middle class over the past 40 years. In the richest country in history, he said, tens of millions of Americans are unable to provide for their families. Striking among his examples were his angry remarks that in this rich country, we have the highest level of childhood poverty in the world, and the most people in prison. He noted that during the past 30 years, there has been a massive redistribution of wealth, so that now the top 1/10 of 1% of the U.S. population owns almost as much as the bottom 90%. His central political solution is that we need to build a political movement to take on the ruling class whose greed is destroying our nation, and create a culture not based on money.
Sanders then described FDR’s 1944 State of the Union, which called for a second Bill of Rights, a formulation which would provide for economic security for all Americans. Sanders noted that true freedom does not occur without economic security, giving several examples. He said that what democratic socialism means to him, is building on those concepts of FDR, and of Martin Luther King. Discussing the political power of the wealthy ruling class that enables it to buy elections and lobby Congress, Sanders said that Wall Street used its wealth and power to obtain deregulation, and when the system collapsed in 2008, they used that power to get bailed out. He pointedly remarked, not only were some banks too big to fail, but bankers are too big to jail.
He described various programs that can be enacted by getting the rich back under control. For instance, healthcare should be the right of all people, not a privilege—which is not a radical idea, but one that’s in use all over the world, and the U.S. should join the rest of the world on this.
On foreign policy, Sanders centered on response to the Paris attacks. He said that consideration of our foreign policy should begin with acknowledging and understanding our mistakes in the past, notably going to war in Iraq for no real reason, and policies of regime change, enumerating some of the governments we’ve overthrown since the 1950s. He said the fight against ISIS is a war for the soul of Islam. He proposed formation of a new NATO-like alliance for that purpose, led by Muslim nations but supported by the U.S. and other friends—and including Russia, reported Mother Jones magazine. He endorsed the agreements made a week ago to create a political transition in Syria, but said that in all things, the fight against ISIS must be primary. Nations such as the U.S. and Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, must put aside their substantial disagreements, and destroy ISIS.
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Egypt and Russia Sign Agreement To Build Egypt’s First Nuclear Power Plant
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—Today, Egypt and Russia signed an historic agreement to build a nuclear plant, Egyptian state TV reported. Describing it as an Egyptian dream, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said: “It is a peaceful nuclear program to generate electric power. Egypt is fully committed to the treaty of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons [NPT]. The signing of the agreement sends a message of the size of the relations between Egypt and Russia,” Xinhua reported.
The plant is to be built in Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast in the northwest of the country. Sisi said Russia will grant a 35-year loan to Egypt for an unspecified amount. A spokesman for Russia’s state-owned nuclear firm, Rosatom, said the plant was expected to be completed by 2022.
Sergey Kiriyenko, director general of Rosatom, said the agreement is for the construction and operation of four 1,200MW reactors, making the country “a regional leader in terms of technology,” said the AFP report. “The Dabaa nuclear plant will be the largest Russian-Egyptian project since the Aswan Dam,” Rosatom’s press service quoted Kiriyenko. “It will mark a truly new chapter in the history of our bilateral relations.”
During the Soviet era, the Russians raised height of the Aswan Dam that British colonial power had originally built, completing the work on the Aswan High Dam in 1970. The high dam was able to control the annual flooding of the Nile and created Lake Nasser, the world’s largest man-made lake. The Aswan Dam and the creation of Lake Nasser also made it possible for Egyptian farmers to grow an extra crop each year in the Nile Delta region by releasing water during the dry season.
APEC Silent on South China Sea—To Obama’s Chagrin
Nov. 19 (EIRNS)—The Obama Administration’s effort to keep their confrontation with China center-stage at the APEC meeting did not fly—there was no discussion of the South China Sea and nothing in the communiqué. On terrorism, the communiqué says, “Economic growth, prosperity and opportunity are among the most powerful tools to address the root causes of terrorism….”
Obama is aiming to go after China’s “aggression” at the ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit, both of which will be held Nov. 21-22 in Malaysia. However, the ASEAN Defense Ministers meeting earlier this month refused to say a word about the South China Sea, despite U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s demands. Instead, the ASEAN Transport Ministers, meeting at the same time, declared they would work hand-in-hand with China on the One Belt, One Road initiative. Obama’s belligerent demands are as likely to be ignored in Malaysia as they were at the G20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey.
