EDITORIAL

Choose Principle

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—The United States continues to devolve into fear and disillusionment at a truly frightening pace, while the rest of the world is watching in shock. The President is spending his remaining days in office bragging about his legacy, while his Defense Department wages multiple wars and drone killings worldwide and prepares for war on Russia and China; as his Obamacare plan collapses across the country leaving millions unable to obtain any health care at all; as his multitrillion-dollar bail-out of Wall Street has created a far larger derivatives bubble than existed before the 2008 crash; as real unemployment and underemployment remain greater than before the crash and are increasing at an alarming rate.

It is clear to the vast majority of the population that the election is not providing answers to the existential crisis facing the nation and the world. Although the leaders of China and Russia are providing leadership to the world through the New Silk Road development process, and through a serious war on terrorism and drug trafficking, the U.S., EIR Founding Editor Lyndon LaRouche said on Monday, needs some direction on law and principle.

The issue of an election, he said, is not the person named on the ballot, but the principle carried by the candidates in the election process. “What you have to do, is you have to use the principle as such, and this is often not done, or it’s done badly, in election campaigns. The point here is to get the election of the principle, and let the principle define what the action is…. It’s not the person; it’s the principle, and the principle is carried by the person. If the thing is done competently, that is what works.”

Never in the nation’s history has it been more urgent that the founding principles of the nation, as discovered by Alexander Hamilton, be restored. “Hamilton’s tradition and his policies, are policies that should be the Presidential policies of the United States,” LaRouche said. “I am now saying that the Alexander Hamilton law, as expressed in my Four Laws, is what has to be done for the nation.”

Those Four Laws, formulated by LaRouche in 2014, call for the immediate restoration of Glass-Steagall, reestablishment of a National Bank of the United States, implementation of directed credit mechanisms through the National Bank, and the use of such credit mechanisms to create infrastructure and basic scientific research and development, centered on rapid development of fusion power and expanded space exploration.

These policies, based on “Hamilton’s tradition and his policies, are policies that should be the Presidential policies of the United States,” LaRouche concluded.

Clearly, these policies do not exist in any form in the candidates now being presented to the American citizenry and the citizens of the world. The crisis facing the nation and the world will not be diminished in any way, regardless of the results of the election as it now stands.

The test for Americans, and for the citizens of all nations, remains the failed President still occupying the White House. Actions such as those taken by President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, who is now in China, disposing of the mythical “China threat” and exposing the imperial presidency in Washington, will not only contribute to peace and development in Asia, but also to inspire Americans to act on principle, not on the “popular opinion” created by the degraded American media.

Choose principle.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Putin and Erdogan Discuss Syria and Iraq; U.S. Defense Secretary Carter Runs Interference

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—In a telephone call initiated by the Turks, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan exchanged views on the Syrian settlement and discussed the operations to capture Mosul, Iraq from the terrorists.

“The Russian side stressed the importance of efficient separation of ‘moderate’ opposition groups from militants of Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups affiliated with it,” the Kremlin said, according to TASS. “It was agreed to continue contacts on bilateral and regional problems at various levels.”

Speaking to a group of Ankara neighborhood chiefs on Oct. 19, Erdogan said of his phone discussion with Putin that, “We talked about Aleppo in the [phone] conversation. They expressed that they halted air strikes there as of 10 p.m. They requested the exclusion of al-Nusra from there.  We have given the necessary instructions to our friends on the issue. We discussed such a consensus in an effort to exclude al-Nusra from Aleppo and provide peace to the Aleppo people.”

Citing a Turkish presidential source late Tuesday, the Turkish daily Yeni Safak added that Putin also congratulated Turkey for its success against Daesh in Syria. Erdogan thanked Putin for his presence at the Oct. 10 Istanbul energy conference, the source said. They also discussed Syria, ending the conflict in Aleppo and delivering humanitarian aid to the northern city.

In a commentary in Hurriyet, columnist Serkan Demirtas wrote that the recent reconciliation with Russia paved the way for Ankara to return to the Syrian theater, both politically and militarily. In return, Turkey has been doing two things since mending ties with Russia. “First, it’s no longer vocal against the continuation of the Bashar al-Assad regime and no longer the champion in bringing up the brutal attacks of the regime against civilian targets in and around Aleppo. Second, Turkey seems ready to ignore the Russia-Syria duo’s attacks to break the resistance of the moderate rebels in eastern Aleppo which would eventually lead to Damascus gaining control of one of the country’s largest cities.”

EIR Founding Editor Lyndon LaRouche commented today that this is very important, as it demonstrates that Russia and Turkey are coordinating their operations in Syria.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama deployed his Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to Turkey on Oct. 19. This follows talks in Washington between Turkey’s military commanders and the U.S. Defense Department on operations in Syria and Iraq. Turkey has expressed concern that the U.S.-led operation to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul from Daesh could lead to sectarian warfare and create huge refugee flows that would head to Turkey.

While Carter will be meeting Turkish leaders, he will only be staying a few hours after which he will head to the United Arab Emirates and Europe for counter-ISIS coalition meetings with U.S.-led coalition defense ministers in Paris on Oct. 25.

The British Try, Try Again To Get War on Russia

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson can’t find any support anywhere outside of London for starting a war against Russia in Syria, but that doesn’t keep him from trying, as he did again, yesterday, during an appearance before the House of Commons, where he found backing from at least some Labour Party MPs. According to the Independent, Labour MP John Woodcock told Johnson: “In response to this and other atrocities, last week in the Commons you said that more kinetic options should be considered, but then only yesterday—or the day before—emerging from your talks you said there was little interest, to say the least. Please reassure the House that the U.K. will play its full role in urging other nations that this may be the only way to make Russia back down.”

“I think the mood is certainly changing in this country,” Johnson replied. “I do not yet detect a sufficient appetite in the capitals of the West and certainly not yet in the White House for the kind of action I think could be useful. But as [U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry] said, nothing is off the table.”

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Wells Fargo Crime Looks Like Discrimination as Well

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—The Wells Fargo fraudulent-accounts scandal is becoming worse. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office is now preparing charges that Wells Fargo bankers selectively targeted the retail accounts of Hispanic customers, when fraudulently “selling” financial products the customers were unaware they were “buying.” Wells Fargo is denying the additional crime of discriminatory fraud, but there are at least four whistleblowers—two still working within the bank—who confirm the practice. Jim Clark, chief deputy to City Attorney Mike Feuer, said “We based our allegations on 16 months’ worth of investigative work.”

These charges will widen the impact of Wells Fargo’s crimes, which have already cost it the investment accounts of three major states and half a dozen large cities. Brent Wilkes, national Executive Director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), told Bloomberg, “This is just unbelievable. It’s really upsetting to find out this is happening to the Latino population specifically.”

Whistleblower Armando Rosales, a district manager in Los Angeles who told Bloomberg he is now ostracized within the bank, ironically may have gotten another of the whistleblowers fired for opening six fraudulent credit cards for one customer in one day. According to Bloomberg’s Oct. 19 article, “Rosales said he was promoted to maintain a pattern of illegal practices and was later criticized for reporting questionable behavior and failing to increase the branch’s Spanish-speaking clientele. His complaint goes on to say: ‘All too often, customers who were recent immigrants to the United States told Rosales of consumer fraud being perpetrated on them by Wells Fargo’s branch employees.’ ”

The whistleblowers identify both limited English proficiency, and in some cases lack of Social Security numbers, as having made Hispanic immigrants particularly vulnerable targets for the criminal activity of the banksters.

It is notable in this connection that all of the biggest U.S.-based banks have just reported their third-quarter results, and across the board, their earnings are reported coming from “trading”—i.e., casino speculations—and none from the commercial banking business of loans and leases. This trend, now extreme, is a product of both the destructive Federal Reserve zero-interest rate policy and their own use of their deposit bases to support speculation and derivatives post-Glass-Steagall. Restoring Glass-Steagall regulation will end the latter; a Hamiltonian credit policy will do away with the zero-interest-rate insanity.

U.S. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL

Clintonites Discussed LaRouche’s Severe ‘Damaging’ of Obama

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—The WikiLeaks issue of nearly 15,000 e-mails to and from top Clinton lieutenant John Podesta, include some which show the impact of exposures of President Obama and Hillary Clinton by the movement of Lyndon LaRouche. These feature the two critical matters of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), and the need to restore the Glass-Steagall Act.

In one e-mail from Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal to Podesta, dated Jan. 1, 2010, Blumenthal includes a long (not very favorable) review of Obama’s personality and prospects by Blumenthal’s son, author Max Blumenthal—particularly dealing with the attacks on the Obamacare law.

Max Blumenthal is quoted: “The single most damaging rumor, adopted from the cult of Lyndon LaRouche, refined by former New York State Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey, and mainstreamed by [Sarah] Palin, was that Obama’s health care reform proposal included a plan to implement ‘death panels.’ While the president pleaded for compromise and reason, the right repeated the baseless charge over and over, insisting that the president had a secret plan to pull the plug on grandma, euthanize the severely handicapped, and kill the sick. Though health care reform appears certain to pass, albeit in a severely diluted form, Obama never recovered from the damage the right’s mortality reminders did to his political standing.” (Emphasis added.)

What the Clintonites were discussing out of the public (or Obama’s) eye, was well known to LaRouche PAC and EIR at the time. Congressional sources told EIR that Obama’s then-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had stormed into Congressional offices, fuming at interventions made by LaRouche PAC activists at Obamacare “roll-out” events in 2009. One intervention, by LaRouche associate Anton Chaitkin, completely infuriated Rahm Emanuel’s brother Ezekiel (who got the nickname “EZ-Kill Emanuel” for his clear advocacy of euthanasia of the elderly, as one of the chief Obamacare planners). Congressional sources reported then that EZ-Kill was raving, “He called me a fascist; how can somebody call me a fascist.”

Briefed on the “damage” he had done to Obama as discussed among the Clintonites, LaRouche today said simply, “It’s true. It’s good. I’m proud of it.” And he emphasized how dangerous even the “throw-away” Obama of today remains, threatening world war in provocations against Russia.

Another Podesta e-mail released by WikiLeaks, this one from early 2016, shows that the Clintonistas then were discussing another LaRouche intervention—by LaRouche PAC activist Daniel Burke at a New York speech by Hillary Clinton herself. That intervention made clear to the world, that Clinton was against restoring the Glass-Steagall Act, and drew a clear dividing line for the Democratic primaries.

NEW WORLD ECONOMIC ORDER

German Study Embraces Hamiltonian Understanding of BRICS Infrastructure Investments

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—A 2015 study by the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), “Financing Global Development: The BRICS New Development Bank,” concluded that, “with proper management of its lending, and by partnering with other multi-lateral development funds, NDB alone can provide as much as $34 billion a year in development loans in a short number of years.”

That is a more than tenfold increase over the $2.5 billion in lending that has been announced for 2017 at the just-concluded Eighth BRICS Summit in Goa, India. This would put the NDB on a par with the European Investment Bank, which is otherwise the largest regional development bank in the world, with $32 billion in infrastructure investment in 2012.

The German study contained a number of caveats and guidelines for the NDB to achieve those goals: “The scale of lending of the BRICS bank needs to be large enough to make a meaningful impact, given the significant level of needs identified. The impact of a BRICS bank must also be measured in terms of its capacity to enact leverage through its co-financing of projects in the private and public sectors.”

The study recognized a core Hamiltonian concept: “State credit is the best means of building an infrastructure platform for productive growth: National and regional development banks, as well as the World Bank, will be natural partners. Indeed, the creation of the NDB and the AIIB also reflects a shift toward a greater emphasis on public development banks, regionally as well as nationally. There is a growing consensus that well-run public development banks can play a positive role in funding the real economy, especially in light of the limitations of the private financial system in doing so. This is the case in particular in certain sectors, such as infrastructure, where long-term finance is required before investments become profitable, often beyond the maturity dates that the private banks are willing to lend for, especially in poorer countries.”

Philippine President’s China Trip “Burst the ‘China Threat’ Bubble”

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in Beijing last night for a four-day visit, dramatically reversing years of U.S. puppetry in the Philippines, since the U.S.-run coup against nationalist leader Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. The Chinese party paper Global Times editorialized that “Duterte’s China visit burst the ‘China threat’ bubble which was jointly blown up by [previous Philippines President] Aquino and the U.S.”

Duterte has made very clear that, on the one hand, he will not sacrifice any Philippine territorial claims in the South China Sea, but, on the other hand, the issue of sovereignty will be either ignored altogether or referenced in passing as the two nations agree to cooperate on development, including joint projects in fishing, oil and gas exploration, and in the war on drugs.

Duterte has over 200 business leaders travelling with him, with specific projects in trade and infrastructure development expected to be signed or set in motion. As Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said, “territorial disputes may take a lifetime to resolve, but should not prevent warming ties.”

Singapore Channel NewsAsia quoted Duterte from Beijing today on China’s role in Asia, where it has been known as the “Asia Giant.” “It has never invaded a piece of my country all these generations. During the Cold War, China was portrayed as the bad guy. And all of those years, what we have read in our books in school were all propaganda produced by the West.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told the press that China was pleased to resolve disputes “through consultation and dialogue. This is how two friendly neighbors should treat each other. Anyone who truly wishes for peace, stability, development and prosperity in the Asia Pacific” should welcome the new relationship, she said.

In an interview with Phoenix Television from Hong Kong earlier this week, Duterte was asked if he would consider joint military drills with Russia and China. “Yes, I will,” he responded. “I have given enough time for the Americans to play with the Filipino soldiers.”

Duterte has announced that the most recent joint exercise with the U.S. military would be the last.

His meetings with China’s leaders are scheduled for Oct. 20.

Uruguay’s President Tells China: We Want To Be Part of the New Silk Road

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—During a nine-day official visit to China, during which he met with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, among others, Uruguay’s President Tabaré Vázquez stated that his government seeks to participate in China’s 21st century Silk Road development perspective, and help connect it to the rest of Ibero-America and the Caribbean, Sputnik reported Oct. 18. Vázquez concluded his visit today.

The Uruguayan President told Sputnik that his goal is to “establish a real brotherhood among our peoples and thus achieve the dream of President Xi Jinping [to create] a trajectory of a world of peace and brotherhood among all its inhabitants. Uruguay wants, and is prepared to become, part of that 21st Century Silk Road…. We are here,” he said, “because we wish to show that when there are common values and principles, distances disappear.”

Vázquez particularly sought Chinese investment for his $12 billion infrastructure program, which includes plans for building railroads, highways, housing, hospitals, schools, and ports. According to the Uruguayan presidential website, Finance Minister Danilo Astori reported that Chinese businessmen and government officials responded “absolutely affirmatively” to the proposal to invest in Uruguay’s infrastructure, showing special interest in ports and railroads, and added that the China Development Bank will play a key role in financing investments.

The Uruguayans are very enthusiastic about the outcome of President Vázquez’s trip. In their Oct. 18 bilateral meeting, Vázquez and Xi Jinping agreed to elevate their relationship to a “strategic association,” entering what Chinese Foreign Ministry official Zhu Qingqiao called a “new phase of development in their bilateral relationship,” involving an ongoing and closer planning relationship. Zhu, Director General of the Foreign Ministry’s Latin America and Caribbean Department, also announced that the two leaders had agreed to immediately begin talks to establish a free trade agreement by 2018—a specific goal Vázquez had hoped to achieve during the trip.

Vázquez’s delegation of 30 included several cabinet ministers, businessmen, and trade union representatives, among others, who met with government officials, provincial governors, and heads of state-sector companies. Zhu Qingqiao reported that 16 agreements had been signed in the areas of services, education, culture, defense, and communications, among others. Many more agreements are expected to materialize.

SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE

Shenzhou-11 Docks Successfully With Space Lab

Oct. 19 (EIRNS)—The Shenzhou-11 docked successfully today with the Tiangong-2 space lab and the two Chinese taikonauts floated into the lab for a 30-day stay, twice as long as the previous Chinese taikonauts. “During the docking process, a series of crucial events occurred in real time and our system needed to respond and act precisely and rapidly. I am very glad that our system has completed all the tasks perfectly,” said Cui Xiaofeng, assistant chief engineer of Beijing Aerospace Control Center. The taikonauts have with them 14 different payloads, including payloads provided by other countries, on which they will conduct 40 different experiments during their month in space.

The two taikonauts are 49-year-old Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong. This is the first mission for the younger Chen, who is in his early forties, and Jing’s third time in space, a first for a Chinese taikonaut, and his first mission as commander. Jing Haipeng will be celebrating his 50th birthday during his stay on the Tiangong-2. Jing came from a peasant background and failed his first attempt at becoming an taikonaut. When he succeeded the second time, against the recommendations of his impoverished family, the family could only afford to celebrate his achievement with a watermelon.

The Chinese made this mission into a major television event, including a press interview with the taikonauts themselves and ongoing coverage of the preparations, discussion of the nature of the experiments and the characteristics of the launch vehicle, with visual footage of the launch, including cameras in the capsule as the taikonauts made their way into space. This is a real move away from the more restrained arrangements made during previous launches. The China National Space Administration has also announced that it will be conducting space launches several times a year rather than every few years, as has previously been the case, marking a qualitatively new stage in China’s space exploration.