EDITORIAL

Americans Must Counter Their Fear—The Pending Disaster Can Be Overcome

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—The recognition that the world is on the brink of world war is now expressing itself openly within the American and European populations. Letters to Editors are screaming that Obama’s scheming to escalate the war in Syria will bring us into conflict with Russia. LaRouche PAC organizers on college campuses report that students are suddenly bristling with fearful discussions on the threat of war. Even Donald Trump, who will use any sane or insane populist idea to further his campaign, has now warned that the election of Hillary Clinton, with her threats of war on the Syrian government, will spark “World War III.”

The citizenry is justifiably fearful. Obama continues in office, despite the collapse of everything he has touched. Obamacare has collapsed as insurers drop out and premiums skyrocket, in some states by nearly 100%; Deutsche Bank and Italy’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena are collapsing in Europe, with the contagion ready to strike Wall Street, where Obama’s obstruction of Glass-Steagall has created a far bigger bubble than in the 2008 crash. Drugs are now threatening the destruction of a generation of youth as the President preaches legalization and “no prosecution” of banks caught laundering drug money. And the “permanent warfare” of Bush and Obama now threatens to go nuclear.

There is reason to be fearful. Both candidates have already proven to be utter failures, a fact which is recognized by nearly all Americans and most of the world. But the disaster can be overturned, precisely through the removal of Obama from office—now, before he can push the button; and through the implementation of Glass-Steagall and a Hamiltonian credit system for development—now, before the crash of the financial system leads to chaos. Both the Republican and Democratic Parties adopted Glass-Steagall in their platforms—not because the candidates were supporting it, but to appease the huge groundswell in the population enraged by the bailout of Wall Street, demanding that the speculators be shut down. Today, Trump again responded to popular rage and called for implementing a “21st century” version of Glass-Steagall.

In September, the American people were not afraid. Despite fear mongering from Obama and Wall Street and the Saudis, the American people set fire to their Congressional representatives to override Obama’s veto of the JASTA bill, which allows victims of the Saudi-directed 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States to bring suits against the those responsible in the Saudi government and Royal Family.

Now, both candidates are so hated by the population—in most cases, hating both candidates equally—and their policies so vile and murderous, that the day after the election will be one of rage, perhaps even chaos. Even more than before the election, the reality of the danger facing America and the world will be prescient to most Americans. The reality that there is only one solution—removing Obama and implementing Lyndon LaRouche’s proposed emergency laws on economy and science—will not change, but will be even more obvious and necessary.

Throughout the nearly two-year election process, there has been essentially zero coverage of the fact that the world outside of the trans-Atlantic has been transformed, a subject now being actively discussed at the 13th annual conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia. The BRICS, the New Silk Road process, the new international financial institutions established by China, Russia and their partners on all continents, have brought the rest of the world together around a new paradigm of harmony, infrastructure development, cooperation in space, and a united front against the terrorist scourge created by U.S. and British illegal wars in Southwest Asia. Knowledge of that new paradigm, as captured in the EIR Special Report The New Silk Road Becomes the World Land-Bridge, is the spark needed to turn fear and rage into optimism and creative thinking to build a future for mankind.

There is no option.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Defense Secretary Carter Intends To Take Raqqa without Russia and the Syrian Government

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, in Paris for a ministerial meeting of the members of the anti-ISIS coalition, vowed that the next target for the coalition after, or even before, Mosul is freed from ISIS in Iraq, will be Raqqa, Syria, Islamic State’s de facto capital, and there is no room in Carter’s plans for the Russians or, by extension, Russia.

“[T]oday, we as members of the coalition resolved to follow through with that same sense of urgency and focus on enveloping and collapsing ISIL’s control over Raqqa as well,” Carter said, during a joint press conference with French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. “In fact, we’ve already begun laying the groundwork with our partners to commence the isolation of Raqqa. As we meet here, we’re helping to generate the local forces that will do so.” As for who will take Raqqa, Carter insisted that they will be Syrians, “enabled by us.” The other piece of that is what follows. “[W]e’re working on, in every one of these cities, the governance and the policing that must occur to make sure that the peace is kept,” he said.

Beyond that, “Russia is not a participant in our Raqqa plan,” Carter said, and by extension, therefore, the Syrian government won’t be either. Carter is deliberately ignoring the reality that Raqqa, even though it’s currently occupied by the terrorist armies of ISIS, is part of the sovereign territory of Syria.

Rudskoy: ISIS Militants Moving from Mosul to Eastern Syria

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, the chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff, delivered a briefing yesterday, in which he reported that Russian warplanes are ready at any moment to deliver strikes against ISIS militants moving into Syria from Iraq.

“The Russian Aerospace Force is monitoring the situation in the area of the Syrian-Iraqi border day and night with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles and other reconnaissance means. Russian planes are on patrol missions in the airspace and are ready to immediately deliver strikes against terrorists,” the general said. According to Rudskoy, the members of the Islamic State terrorist group continue moving from Iraq to Syria, while around 300 terrorists have already arrived in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor from Iraq’s Mosul.

With respect to Aleppo, Rudskoy said that Russia is ready to re-introduce humanitarian pauses on short notice, “but only if there is reliable information the sick, the injured, and civilians are ready for evacuation,” he said. “The terrorists have been doing their utmost to prevent civilians and militants to leave eastern Aleppo. Humanitarian corridors that civilians might use remain blocked and all those who try to leave Aleppo come under sniper fire,” Rudskoy said.

He said that Russian and Syrian planes have not flown over Aleppo since Oct. 18 and are keeping out of a 10-km zone around the city. Over the three days that humanitarian pauses were effective (last week), militants bombarded residential areas in the western part of Aleppo (held by the government army) 52 times, killing 14 civilians and injuring 50 others. In 15 cases fire was opened against the humanitarian corridors, Russian military sources said.

Russia Test Fires Another ICBM

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—Yesterday, Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces successfully test-launched an RS-18 ICBM from a silo in the Orenburg region, with the dummy warhead hitting the target in the Kura test range on Kamchatka. The launch was aimed at confirming the stability of the flight and technical characteristics of these missiles, the Defense Ministry said.

Russian nuclear weapons expert Pavel Podvig, writing on his blog yesterday, initially thought that it was a test of the Project 4202 hypersonic glide vehicle. After the Russian Defense Ministry statement, he partially changed his mind, but didn’t rule out that the statement might have been a cover story, or even that the flight accomplished both. This was the case, he writes, of the previous test of the RS-18 (also called the UR-100NUTTH) in December 2011.

The project 4202 hypersonic glide vehicle, also called the Yu-71, is expected to arm the Sarmat liquid fuel heavy ICBM, now under development and planned for deployment in 2018.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Letters to Washington Post Reflect Debate on Obama’s Syria Policy

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—Two Letters to the Editor published in the Washington Post Oct. 25 reflect the debate taking place in and around Washington on the Obama Administration’s insane policy toward Syria.

In his letter, Robert E. Hunter, a former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and former National Security Council official for the Mideast and Europe, responded to the Oct. 23 opinion piece in the Post by John Allen and Charles R. Lister, in which they call for vastly increasing the U.S. role in Syria, including carrying out targeted strikes against Syrian military facilities, imposing more sanctions on Syria and Russia, and intensifying vetting of opposition units, among other things.

Hunter warns that the two authors “make the same critical mistake that the Obama administration has: They offered no realistic plan for what would happen in Syria after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad.” He points out that neither the U.S. nor others “propose any means to protect all the confessional groups in Syria, including the Alawites.” Without that, “Mr. Assad and his people will fight on.” Moreover, he writes, the simple “Assad must go” stance would align the U.S. “with Sunni states’ geopolitical objectives and keep it enmeshed in the Sunni-Shi’ite regional civil war….”

In a similar vein, Daniel R. DePetris of the Defense Priorities organization, warns that Allen and Lister should be reminded that in Syria, Russia has established a tripwire “that if crossed, leads automatically to war, and in the nuclear age with possible terminal consequences. The authors’ measures cannot avoid tripping the Russian wire,” he warns.

Defense Priorities’ mission statement says that its priority is to inform “citizens, thought leaders, and policymakers of the importance of a strong, dynamic military—used more judiciously to protect America’s narrowly defined national interests—and promote a realistic grand strategy prioritizing restraint, diplomacy, and free trade to ensure American security.”

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Philippines President Duterte in Tokyo—Economic Cooperation with China and Japan

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte met with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today in Tokyo, assuring him that he is not forming a military alliance with China, and is seeking close cooperation with both China and Japan, primarily in economic issues. He also met with Filipino and Japanese business leaders, repeating his recent announcement that he will rescind the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) of 2014 which allowed U.S. military forces to set up shop in five bases across the country. That is, he doesn’t want foreign military forces from any country on Philippine soil. He added that he expects to have ended such foreign military presence within two years.

Showing Abe’s openness to Duterte’s blunt and courageous leadership, Abe posed with Duterte, with Filipino and Japanese officials behind them, all giving the “fist salute”—one fist thrust forward toward the camera—which Duterte has made famous whenever he takes a photo with others.

Abe had strongly backed former Philippine President Aquino’s (i.e., Obama’s) confrontation with China by taking the issue of China’s sovereignty over the South China Sea to the phony Arbitration Court in The Hague. Abe “saved face” on that issue by renewing his offer of providing ships for the defense of Philippine territorial waters, but not pushing the issue. Duterte, for his part, told Abe that he “hopes to resolve issues related to the South China Sea peacefully under the rule of law and based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” rather than through confrontation.

Abe also told Duterte: “I hope to make Japan-Philippine relations even more solid and develop them significantly.”

As in his China trip, Duterte is accompanied by his finance, trade and other economy-related ministers, and about 200 business people. Japan has shown interest in infrastructure development including railroads, especially in Mindanao.

The Japanese and Western press all say that Abe will try to convince Duterte to stick with the U.S. alliance, but it is far from certain he will do so. Rather, his concern, like that of Duterte’s, is in economic cooperation. It is that primary concern with Japan’s economic future which led Abe to ignore Obama’s sanctions and war threats with Russia. Abe has met Putin twice this year and Putin will visit Japan in December.

These close relations between Abe and Putin, and Duterte’s new ties with China, would indicate that the Philippine-Japan relationship will further draw Japan into the New Silk Road perspective rather than confrontation with China.

South Africa’s State-Owned Utility Continues Nuclear Power Fight

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—“We are all afraid of things which we do not understand,” says a statement released by South Africa’s government electric utility, Eskom. The government of Jacob Zuma has been under unrelenting attack for its determination to go ahead with a plan to built 9,600 MW of new nuclear power plants. The attacks have come from within the government, such as Treasury’s opposition due to the “cost,” and from without through an intense campaign by the same British Royal forces and funding mechanisms that have killed nuclear power in most developing countries in the world. South Africa’s government has refused to bend to the pressure.

As reported in World Nuclear News, on Oct. 23, an Eskom statement reviewed the safe, 32-year performance of South Africa’s, and Africa’s, only electricity-producing nuclear plant, Koeberg. Although the public is bombarded with propaganda about atom bombs and Fukushima, Eskom explains that “some two-thirds of the world’s population live in nations where nuclear power plants are an integral part of electricity production and industrial infrastructure.”

“Around the world, scientists in more than 50 countries use nearly 300 research reactors to investigate nuclear technologies, or to produce radioisotopes for medical diagnosis, cancer therapy, insect eradication … and x-rays for preserving fresh produce.”

The importance of South Africa’s nuclear building plan is that it is not only a domestic issue. Eskom, while generating about 95% of South Africa’s electricity, also produces about 45% of all of the electricity used in Africa.

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

European Panic on Deutsche Bank and Monte dei Paschi ‘Contagion’

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—Panic has set in over the reality that the Deutsche Bank and Monte dei Paschi crises auger disaster for the rest of the European, and by extension, the U.S. banking systems. “Contagion” is the watchword.

Tomorrow Deutsche Bank is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings report—good news not expected—while Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena shares suspended trading altogether today, after its share price plummeted from 0.0295 to 0.0276 at the end of trading Tuesday, following the announcement of yet another “rescue” plan. The fantasy-ridden hope is that cutting 2,300 jobs, closing 500 branches, and selling off bad loans will allow it to raise the €5 billion it needs by the end of November. But, as Bloomberg analyst Simone Meier commented this afternoon, Monte dei Paschi has been bailed out twice and has no investor support. “If Monte dei Paschi doesn’t pull this off, I don’t know what it means for the rest of the Italian financial consolidation that is under way,” she remarked.

Britain’s Express tabloid warns that Deutsche Bank’s third-quarter report could bring down the whole shebang, quoting David Hendler of the New York-based Viola Risk Advisors, who warns that contagion from DB could spread “like wildfire” across the European banking system. “It’s high noon for European banking,” he underscored, because European banks are largely incapable of generating economic earnings. The Eurozone economy is dead.

Bloomberg reported today that in its frantic search for cash, Deutsche Bank is considering suspending cash bonuses. Creating more uncertainty, on Oct. 24, Britain’s Sky News reported that a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) on DB’s mortgage fraud may not be forthcoming until after the November Presidential elections, and the final size of any settlement is unknown. There is the added wild card that the DOJ may roll mortgage-fraud cases against Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, and Barclays into one large, multibillion-dollar settlement, CNBC reported today.

According to the Financial Times today, Deutsche Bank’s Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) unit, a currency-hedged operation, has hemorrhaged $8 billion in cash so far this year, in contrast to 2015, when it attracted inflows of $28 billion. Nor is this just a Deutsche Bank problem, as the ETF sector is in crisis across Europe, the City of London daily reports.

Hendler insists that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will have no choice but to step in and rescue Deutsche Bank. “No bank in Europe is going to buy Deutsche Bank,” he warns. As for Monte dei Paschi, since 1472 Europe’s oldest bank, it’s beyond help, he says. Being propped up by the Renzi government “is a disaster waiting to unfold…. [Monte dei Paschi] is a brain-dead bank … don’t waste capital on it.”

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Paying Customers Want To Conduct Space Experiments on China’s Labs

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—The “opening up” of China’s manned space program is creating opportunities for non-government users in the United States and other countries, to take their experiments to space. Until now, that opportunity has existed almost exclusively on the International Space Station (ISS).

The U.S.-based aerospace company, NanoRacks, sells space in the form of modules, or racks, into which experiments can be mounted. These standard research modules provide the power, temperature control, and other resources required by any experiment. For the past 10 years, NanoRacks has provided such facilities for experiments on the ISS for commercial companies, laboratories, and universities. The company reports that it has already “had two customers—non-U.S.—inform us that they are in exploratory talks of using the Chinese platform, Tiangong-2, either in addition to using our facilities on ISS, or instead of using [them],” reports Aviation Week.

Although the Tiangong-2 is mentioned, it is already in orbit. But the Chinese station, which will start assembly in 2018 (or perhaps in 2017, as has been recently suggested), will have two laboratory modules attached.

While NASA says it is banking on private users for the ISS to help keep it in orbit, and that any follow-on station will be the responsibility of the private sector, apparently some companies and institutions are already getting involved in the Chinese program, preparing for the day when China has the only space station in orbit.

OTHER

CDC Director Fears Zika Cannot Be Controlled with Current Technologies

Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—Speaking yesterday from Miami where he was attending The Atlantic magazine’s CityLab 2016 conference, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warned that Zika “and other diseases spread by the Aedes aegypti are really not controllable with current technologies. We will see this become endemic in the hemisphere,” he warned, according to the USA Today.

He also indicated that the Zika virus in Florida is more widespread than health officials have reported. Officially, Florida has 1,064 Zika cases, including 190 mosquito-borne infections, but Frieden said “a rule of thumb is, for every case you diagnose you’ve probably got 10 more,” the Miami Herald reported.

“Zika has surprised us,” Frieden said. “It’s been difficult to predict. It’s had characteristics that we have not seen with other diseases before. What we anticipate will happen is that this season will calm down within the continental United States. We hope that Miami-Dade will stop having cases, but we can’t promise that…. We will see parts of the hemisphere where it will be endemic. It will come back every year.”

Frieden also pointedly addressed the chronic shortage of funding that has stymied financing mosquito-control programs and public health departments. The Federal government, he said, is “hamstrung” when dealing with public health emergencies such as Zika, because it relies on Congress to authorize funding. “We had to take money from every state in the country and give it to the states that needed it more for Zika,” Frieden said. “We do the best we can with the cards we’re dealt. But this shows how really important it is that there is emergency funding.”