EDITORIAL
Obama Is Finished—All He Can Do Is Start World War
Oct. 23 (EIRNS)—China today echoed what Lyndon LaRouche has been saying for months—that U.S. President Barack Obama is so exposed and isolated internationally that he is finished politically, but even more dangerous as a result, since his only option (other than resigning) is to launch a war on Russia and China, a war that would certainly mean the nuclear extermination of much of the human race.
People’s Daily, a primary voice of the Chinese leadership, editorialized today on the “freedom of navigation” provocation on Friday, in which Obama and Defense Secretary Ash Carter sent a guided-missile destroyer through Chinese waters, unannounced, near China’s Xisha (Paracel) islands in the South China Sea. The editorial notes that the Philippines, under their courageous new President Rodrigo Duterte, has rejected the Obama war policy in favor of cooperation in development with China. By deploying the destroyer, the editorial continues, breaching both Chinese and international law, Obama is “telling the world that it can tolerate neither a tranquil South China Sea, nor a peaceful and stable Asia-Pacific. Since it cannot find a puppet troublemaker any longer, the exasperated Washington has to create a disturbance by itself.”
While China focuses on the strategic failures of Obama’s war policy, the economic collapse created by Obama’s failed policy of propping up Wall Street, rather than building the real economy, is the second prong of Obama’s irreversible political doom, and that of his clone Hillary Clinton. The administration is frantically trying to put off the crash of the Western financial system until after the election, by ignoring the demise of Deutsche Bank, the unraveling of the Italian banking system, the impact of the Brexit vote, and the “contagion” these and other crisis spots have on the Wall Street and London banks. More ominously, Obama is driving to start a war before he leaves office, or even before Election Day Nov. 8—over Syria, Ukraine, or perhaps Korea, any one of which would mean war with Russia and China.
The target is not the mythical “aggression” by Russia or China, but precisely the opposite—the development process already set in motion by China and Russia, which is directly bringing nations across the developing sector into cooperation in China’s win-win Silk Road development, and is even reaching into Europe, offering the European nations an alternative to NATO’s wars and the disintegration of their economies. To further that process, the Schiller Institute this past week held two conferences, one in Essen, Germany, and one in Lyon, France. The purpose of the two conferences, enunciated by Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, is to bring Germany and France back to the de Gaulle-Adenauer tradition, through cooperation with Russia and China. Essen and Lyon are key European points on China’s Silk Road rail lines, now serving to expand East-West trade and cooperation. The conferences featured speakers from China, the Middle East, and across Europe, including representatives of institutions from industry, science and engineering, on the urgency of global cooperation to restore the European and world economy. Chinese songs and German Lieder by Franz Schubert, both sung by a Chinese bel canto singer, and both accompanied by classical Chinese instruments, set the tone for the sharing of culture through the Silk Road process.
The same process is taking place in Manhattan, through Lyndon LaRouche’s Manhattan Project, bringing nations together to confront together the world-historic task facing the human race today—either cooperation to build the world and crush the terrorist scourge, or descent into global war under the would-be new imperial lords of the Earth. Obama and his British controllers are weak and exposed—it is time to push them out.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
More U.S. Provocations around Chinese Islands
Oct. 23 (EIRNS)—The U.S. conducted another one of its “freedom of navigation” provocations in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was concluding his successful visit to Beijing, where he clearly indicated that he would not be part of the “World War III policy” that the U.S. is pushing. On Friday, Oct. 21, the USS Decatur, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed near the Paracel Islands, which are only 300 miles from the Chinese island of Hainan. No doubt Obama was sending a signal that the U.S. will continue its buccaneering in the South China Sea with or without Philippine participation.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry immediately issued a strong statement saying that the ship’s “entrance into China’s territorial waters is a serious illegal act and a deliberately provocative act,” and that the Ministry had made “solemn representations” to Washington. In a separate online statement, the Foreign Ministry said the action had seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security interests, and had seriously broken relevant Chinese law and international law. This is the third such provocation by the U.S. this year, and this time it was conducted near the islands closest to the mainland of China.
China’s Ministry of Defense said the act was clear evidence that the U.S. is the real trouble-maker in the South China Sea, at a time when the overall situation in the region is embracing positive development. The Ministry warned that the Chinese military will strengthen its surveillance and defense power in the region if needed, in a move to firmly protect China’s national interests.
People’s Daily: ‘China Will Never Allow the U.S. To Run Amok in the South China Sea’
Oct. 23 (EIRNS)—People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party issued an editorial today with the above conclusion, in response to the Obama Administration’s deliberate provocation on Friday, Oct. 21, in sailing the guided-missile destroyerUSS Decatur through China’s Xisha (Paracel) Island waters. The editorial strongly protested the provocation and said that China “will take a series of effective counter-measures.”
They note that the mantra that such provocations are testing “freedom-of-navigation” is a fraud, since there is no restraint on freedom of navigation, other than Chinese and international law requiring that foreign warships need approval from the Chinese government before entering Chinese waters. “The illegal entry of U.S. warships into Chinese waters without permission seriously violates China’s sovereignty and security interests, breaches both Chinese and international laws as well, and poses threats to peace, security as well as order in the relevant waters,” the statement says.
But the editorial goes further to identify the danger that Obama, having lost his “pivot to Asia” gambit to militarily encircle China a result of the Philippines rejection of Obama’s war plan, is frantically acting alone, and could go out of control.
They continue: “Washington has to realize that it is rightly this hegemonic mentality that has resulted in its declining global influence and inability to provide public goods with positive energy. It also has to admit that the era when one country can dominate an alliance network by creating tensions with lies will never come back. No one wants to weaken the U.S.’ influence in the Asia-Pacific region, but such influence must be based on a positive dedication to common development of the whole region. Its outdated hegemonic mentality is by no means accepted by regional countries who aspire for peace, cooperation and shared progress.”
U.S. Unwilling To Part with Its Role as Global Arbiter, Lavrov Tells Conference
Oct. 21 (EIRNS)—In remarks to a conference on Oct. 20th, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that it is the West that has let the genies of Al Qaeda and ISIS out of the bottle with its interventions in the Arab world.
“There is no need to speak about the complexity of the current period in international relations. It is a breakthrough period when a new polycentric architecture of international relations continues to be formed,” said Lavrov. “We see how this process is confronting active opposition on the part of those who are unwilling to part with the habitual role of so-called global arbiter.”
According to TASS, Lavrov believes that all of this contributes to global and regional instability and increases a potential for conflicts.
“What we see in the Middle East and Northern Africa is a graphic illustration of that,” the Russian Foreign Minister went on to say. “The disintegration of state structures created numerous seats of instability, such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Libya. Such [a] state of things is the result of malpractice of geopolitical engineering of western colleagues; the interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states; attempts to change undesirable regimes, and the so-called democratization according to one’s own templates,” Lavrov said.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Emphasizes, Entirety Of Syria Must Be Liberated
Oct. 23 (EIRNS)—Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the “Vesti V Subbotu” TV program yesterday during an interview, that the entirety of Syria must be liberated and the country preserved as a unified state. “There are just two options: Assad sitting in Damascus or the Nusra sitting in Damascus,” Peskov said. “And Assad must sit in Damascus to ensure a political settlement.”
“Some countries are trying to play with the devil and use terrorists to get rid of Assad, and some just say thoughtlessly that Assad must leave,” Peskov continued, reported the Associated Press. “If Damascus falls and terrorists take hold there, there will be no political settlement then.” Given the international situation around Aleppo, though, Peskov is not optimistic that a settlement can be achieved anytime soon. “I would love to be optimistic to say it may be seen now in future, but, unfortunately, the information we receive would not allow us be thoughtlessly optimistic,” he said. “Clearly, the international community faces very long and tense work,” he added, according to TASS.
“The territory of Syria must be liberated,” Peskov said. “It must be liberated and everything must be done to prevent the country’s breakup, which could have catastrophic consequences for the entire region.” With respect to the Russian base in Tartus, Peskov said that the Russian military presence in Syria is, itself not the goal. “And the goal, which the President voiced in the very beginning, is assistance to the Syrian legitimate authorities in fighting terrorism, in fighting IS and other terrorist organizations,” he said.
NEW STRATEGIC PARADIGM
China’s New Silk Road and Its Potential for Europe
Oct. 22 (EIRNS)—Underscoring the importance of the New Silk Road initiative were the two Schiller Institute seminars held on Oct. 19th in Lyon, France and on Oct. 21 in Essen, Germany.
The Lyon seminar was co-organized by the Schiller Institute and the Club China EMLyon FOREVER, an association of alumni from the Lyon École de Management (EM), a prestigious national business school which also runs a campus in Shanghai. The speakers included Helga Zepp-LaRouche, president of the Schiller Institute, Professor Shi Ze of the Chinese Institute of International Studies (CIIS), Christine Bierre, editor in chief of Nouvelle Solidarité, the newspaper of Solidarité & Progrès in France, and Jean-Christophe Vautrin, president of the Club China EMLyon FOREVER.
This event was part of a double-pronged offensive of the Schiller Institute to get European countries, France and Germany in particular, to join China’s New Silk Road project. Toward this aim, conferences were organized in two highly symbolic cities: Essen, near Duisburg, in Germany, and Lyon in France.
Duisburg, the largest internal port in Europe, is the first stop of the train three times a week from Wuhan, China; Lyon is the terminus, as it was on the ancient Silk Road. The train transports silica for tires, electronic equipment, LED lamps, and sports apparel from China. It returns loaded with wines, cosmetics and foods. The arrival of the train is a small miracle, covering a distance of 11,300 kms, crossing six countries, changing locomotives eight times, undergoing three transshipments.
Seminar in Essen on Opportunities for Germany with the New Silk Road
Oct. 21 (EIRNS)—The Schiller Institute today convened an all-day symposium in Essen, on “Prospects for Germany in the New Silk Road.” The event, attended by over 120 participants from the scientific, industrial and diplomatic communities, featured speakers from Germany, France, China and Ethiopia, all focused on the opportunities for economic and scientific progress, based on participation in the One Belt, One Road program, initiated by China’s President Xi Jinping, and based on decades of effort by the Schiller Institute to promote a new paradigm of relations among nation-states throughout the globe, based on the common aims of mankind, including advances in all frontier areas of science.
The conference was keynoted by Schiller Institute founder and President Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who focused on the urgent need for Germany to become fully involved in the One Belt, One Road projects that have already transformed the economic and political landscape of Eurasia. She emphasized that the benefits for Germany and Europe would extend beyond the obvious economic advances, and would go a long way to defeating the drive for war against Russia and China that has recently reached a danger point, beyond anything seen since the time of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Zepp-LaRouche’s presentation featured a detailed review of the progress on implementation of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the two cornerstones of the One Belt, One Road initiative.
A number of other prestigious figures from the diplomatic and scientific communities also spoke during the panel sessions. The speakers included two Chinese officials, Zhang Junhui, representing the Chinese Ambassador to Germany; and Prof. Shi Ze of the Chinese Institute for International Studies (CIIS), who is also the director of the Chinese Center for Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies. Mehreteab Mulugeta Haile, the Consul General of Ethiopia in Frankfurt spoke; and French Presidential candidate Jacques Cheminade of the Solidarité & Progrès party. A number of prominent German scientists and industrialists also spoke during the panels, including Prof. Dr. Reinhold Meisinger, professor of mechanical engineering at Nuremberg University and a leading world expert on maglev high-speed transportation; Willi Pusch, who is a leading proponent of a Bonn-Rhine Mainz tunnel project; Dieter Ameling, former President of the German Association of Steel Producers, and the Chairman of the Steel Institute VDEh; and Prof. Dr. Reinhart Poprawe of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology in Frankfurt.
The conference, which was also attended by American economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche, was animated by a profound sense of optimism about the future prospects for Germany and Eurasia if the Federal Republic is fully integrated into the One Belt, One Road vision. During the panel with Prof. Dr. Poprawe, an extensive dialogue was conducted on the relationship between Classical music and culture and the promotion of scientific discovery and innovation.
South Africa Withdraws from International Criminal Court, Joining with Putin To Flank the Empire
Oct. 21 (EIRNS)—The South African government announced today that it is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), one of the cat’s paws of the City of London and Wall Street financial oligarchy that is used to destabilize and destroy sovereign nations. The requisite letter of notice to the UN Secretary General was signed and sent by Minister of International Relations Maite Nkoana-Mashabane on Oct. 19.
This step has been brewing. At the African Union (AU) Summit in June, a proposal from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for AU members to withdraw from the ICC was discussed and received wide support. But the governments of Kenya, South Africa, and others had been itching to pull out since much earlier than that.
So where is Russian President Vladimir Putin in this? On Oct. 10, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that France will ask the ICC prosecutor to open an investigation into war crimes that France, Britain, and the U.S. claim have been committed by Russian and Syrian forces in eastern Aleppo. His move was to strike back following Russia’s veto of a UN Security Council resolution on Syria drafted by France.
Fortuitously, South African President Jacob Zuma began a three-day state visit to Kenya the same day.
The BRICS Summit, including Russia and South Africa, followed on the weekend of Oct. 15-16.
The South African cabinet made the decision to withdraw, on Oct. 19.
South Africa’s case is straightforward, as presented in a statement today by Minister of Justice Michael Masutha. He states, in part: “The ICC compels South Africa to arrest persons who may enjoy diplomatic immunity under customary international law but who are wanted by the ICC for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, and to surrender such persons to the ICC. South Africa has to do so, even under circumstances where we are actively involved in promoting peace, stability and dialogue in those countries. We wish to give effect to the rule of customary international law which recognizes the diplomatic immunity of heads of state and others, in order to effectively promote dialogue and the peaceful resolution of conflicts wherever they may occur, particularly on the African continent.”
The argument is not hypothetical. The ICC has wittingly sabotaged peacemaking efforts in Africa. Much of Africa will now follow the South African example.
The ICC has been exposed in Executive Intelligence Review for years. One article, with special reference to Sudan and Kenya, was summarized and reprinted in Kenya’s The Standard on Oct. 9, 2009.
SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
China Launches First Indigenous Maglev Train Projects
Oct. 22 (EIRNS)—China is launching a bullet train project involving a 600 kph high-speed magnetic levitation (maglev) test line and a 400 kph international multimodal transport high-speed maglev train, said CRRC Corporation Ltd., according to reports by China Radio International (CRI English) today. Beijing’s Ministry of Science and Technology will also transfer some key research projects over to enterprises, including the CRRC, as a conference on major special rail transportation projects announced today.
CRRC, the first enterprise to take on the trial projects, received seven out of ten projects from the Ministry of Science and Technology: CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, CRRC Qingdao Sifang and CRRC Tangche, all subsidiaries of CRRC, will develop a bullet train, CRI English reported.
Two bullet trains are designed to adapt between temperatures of +40°C to −50°C and another train between +50°C to −25°C. The 600 kph high-speed maglev project is planned to have a high-speed maglev test line at least 5 km long, and to include by a high-speed maglev test train. The 400 kph international multimodal transport high-speed train will have 4 maglev motor cars and 2 trailer cars. According to Xinhua’s report, this train will be able to “alternate between different track gauges ranging from 60 cm to 1.676 meters.” A prototype model version of the maglev train was already presented at the China-ASEAN meeting Sept. 12.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
New Rules on Medicare Payments Will Drive More Physicians To Quit Treating Elderly
Oct. 21 (EIRNS)—New rules were announced Oct. 15 by the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) which change drastically how Medicare will pay doctors for their services. This adds to the already severe trend of doctors opting out of treating Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP (poor children) patients, because of being stiffed for payment, coerced on how to treat, and slammed with e-records mandates. Already, even patients who are able to have Medicare supplemental insurance or Medicaid, often desperately search for a doctor “who will take them.”
The new payment system is called MACRA, Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. It greatly increases the documentation burden, among other things. The rules and terrible impact are described today by Dr. John S. O’Shea, in an article, “Risk of ‘Mass Exodus’ of Doctors from Medicare,” posted on the LifeZette website.
O’Shea writes that, under MACRA, there are two payment options: Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), which determines payments based on competitive merit test scores; and Alternative Payment Models (APMs) which give “incentives” to doctors to work together towards eliminating unnecessary spending. But meeting the documentation requirements for MIPS costs a doctor an average of $40,069/year in time away from patients—785.2 hours/year. A recent survey of doctors found that two-thirds did not feel the added documentation improved the medical treatment for patients in any way.
The other option, APMs, is also a nightmare. The Obama administration has set a goal for half of all Medicare payments to be processed through APMs by 2018. This means more and more reliance on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), treatment teams whose purpose is to drive down care and costs. But, so far, ACOs have not reduced costs at the expected rate by the CMS.
In short, a recent survey indicates that 40% of physicians expect a “mass exodus” from Medicare due to MACRA demands.
“If MACRA is implemented according to the arbitrary timeline set by the administration, it could force doctors to abandon private practice for salaried positions or leave practice altogether—neither of which would be good for patient care.”
Kerry and Saudis Discuss ‘Fixing’ JASTA; Saudis Try To Mobilize against 9/11 Families
Oct. 21 (EIRNS)—After a meeting at the State Department in Washington yesterday, John Kerry and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir both denounced the JASTA law (Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act) and told reporters that the law threatens “international law” and puts the United States at risk.
The interests of the United States “are at risk as a result of the law,” Kerry said, adding that he and Al Jubeir “discussed ways to try to fix this in a way that respects and honors the needs and rights of the victims of 9/11” while not exposing American troops, “partners,” and individuals to potential lawsuits. All this, Kerry couched in terms of respect for sovereign immunity.
Al Jubeir, mouthpiece for the Anglo-Saudi royals, was specific in making not-so-veiled threats of retaliation (though he didn’t publicly repeat his empty threat of April to dump U.S. Treasuries).
“The United States … has the most to lose by this, because you have operations all the way from Japan to South America to the Pacific,” Al Jubeir told reporters, “and I think that is why the vast majority of countries have come out vehemently and very strongly against this JASTA bill for its dilution of sovereign immunities. And there have been a number of countries that are looking at reciprocal measures, and if this issue takes hold, we will have chaos in the international order. “
Over the last week, Saudi-backed publications have led a charge against JASTA in both Arabic and English media in the Middle East. Having failed to stop an explosive popular mobilization to pass JASTA and override a Presidential veto, and stop the increased recognition of Saudi backing of jihadi terrorism, the new Saudi battle-cry is that JASTA is against “all Arabs.” Special pressure is being put on Egypt, where both President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Sunni clerics have resisted Saudi pressures in several areas.
A sampling of the dozens of articles: Saudi publication, Al Arabiya English today is titled, “JASTA Is an Insult to All Arabs,” in which Egyptian academic Waheed Abdul Majid argues that it must be forbidden to allow lawsuits to proceed on evidence that plaintiffs gathered outside of state-sponsored commissions. Majid’s article earlier appeared in Arabic media. In Egypt’s AhramOnline, Oct. 20th, the title was “JASTA: We Are All Compromised, States and Individuals.” The Saudi Gazette yesterday published, “JASTA: Seeds of Anarchy in International Relations.”
OTHER
Obama’s ‘Victory’ in Afghanistan: Opium Production Up 43%
Oct. 23 (EIRNS)—The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report today titled “Afghan Opium Production Up 43%” for 2016 over 2015. It reports that the area used to farm poppy increased by 10% to 201,000 hectares over that time, with production hitting 4,800 metric tons. The data came from the Afghanistan Opium Survey figures released today by the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics and the UNODC.
Not only has the area under poppy cultivation increased, but “the most important driver is the higher opium yield per hectare,” the report says. “The largest yield increase occurred in the Western region where the average yield grew by 37% and the Southern region, with a 36% rise.” These two regions account for 84% of the total.
Eradication has decreased by a massive 91%, as the regional governments have lost control of huge areas to the insurgents and terrorists. Last year, there were eradication projects in 12 provinces while this year in only 7.
Helmand, with some 80,273 hectares (40% of the national total), remained the country’s major opium poppy cultivating province, the report says.
Thus one must conclude that Obama has been totally successful in his “good war,” both in killing people and in waging his “opium war” against the world. Obama’s devastation policy includes the U.S., which is now suffering the greatest heroin crisis in its history, touching even the smallest rural communities and the richest urban suburbs, as well as the rotting inner cities, while Obama both legalizes drugs and the drug networks and bankers running the traffic.
