EDITORIAL
Obama’s America Has Lost; China and Russia Are Winning
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—Is it any wonder that Obama and the British are visibly apoplectic over the growing influence across the planet of Lyndon LaRouche’s ideas and policies? Despite the dangerous circus of the U.S. presidential election, half the planet—and more—is now moving out of the British Empire’s orbit, and towards economic policies governed by LaRouche’s Hamiltonian ideas, as expressed succinctly in his 2014 Four Laws. This approach is now spreading rapidly beyond the BRICS nations per se, and could become policy in the United States itself—which is London’s worst nightmare.
Take the case of the Philippines, under President Rodrigo Duterte, who announced today in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, for the entire world to hear, that “America has lost,” and “I announce my separation from them.” He elaborated that America has lost both militarily and economically, and he told his Chinese hosts: “I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world—China, Philippines, and Russia.” Duterte’s words are matched by numerous concrete economic deals between the two countries, which bring the Philippines solidly onboard China’s One Belt, One Road policy.
Put these developments together with Obama’s slamming defeat in the JASTA veto override, the forced release of the 28 pages, the “surprise” adoption of Glass-Steagall in both the Republican and Democratic Party platforms—all shaped by LaRouche’s leadership role over decades, and all in the face of the glaring bankruptcy of the entire trans-Atlantic financial system—and you can see why Obama has gone off the rails. His administration has drastically escalated its confrontation with Russia, as reflected in Vice President Biden’s recent overt threat to launch cyber warfare against Russia, as well as the insanity in Syria. And Obama is now using the orchestrated Korean crisis to not only deploy the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, but also threaten North Korea with nuclear annihilation, while preparing to permanently base B-1B and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighters, and nuclear-powered submarines in South Korea. This has only one purpose: to tighten the nuclear ring around China and the Russian Far East.
It is under conditions of crisis, such as these, that LaRouche’s ideas and principles can grip the nation and the world.
Earlier this week, an article appearing in the Chicago Tribune, which noted the passing of pollster Mike McKeon, praised him as someone “who told it like it is,” and who showed “prescience when it came to spotting political trends.” The main example the article cited was McKeon’s famous 1986 identification of Lyndon LaRouche’s decisive political influence in Illinois before the 1986 victories there, “well before many others in the political establishment.” The article noted that his comment about the LaRouche movement at the time was: “These people are for real.” Indeed.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
‘Nuclear Ash’ Carter Has Dramatically Expanded Obama’s Nuclear War Threat in Asia
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—In a “2+2” meeting of U.S. and South Korean Defense and Foreign Ministers Wednesday in Washington, the Obama administration announced a major escalation in the nuclear war threat against China and Russia in Asia, under the cover of enormous over-kill preparations against North Korea. According to Voice of America on Oct. 19, quoting defense and diplomatic sources, the two nations announced the launch of talks on “extended deterrence” against North Korea.
“The U.S. is considering the permanent deployment at its bases in South Korea of B-1B and nuclear-capable B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighter jets, and nuclear-powered submarines,” Voice of America said.
The meeting established a high-level “Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group,” accompanied by “unusually blunt public comments from the U.S. secretaries of defense and state about the possibility of nuclear war initiated by Pyongyang on the Korean peninsula,” said VOA.
This must be read as a transparent excuse for tightening the nuclear ring around China and the Russian Far East, since an overwhelming response to a North Korean attack would not require such deployments, just as the THAAD deployment is aimed not at North Korea, but at China and Russia.
“Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with an overwhelming and effective response,” blustered Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, adding that South Korea’s security is guaranteed by the “full spectrum of U.S. defense capabilities,” meaning nuclear weapons.
South Korea was represented at the meeting by Defense Minister Han Min-koo and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se. Yun said Pyongyang is nearing the “final stage of nuclear weaponization,” compelling the United States and South Korea to utilize “all tools in the toolkit” to defend themselves and make the North Koreans “feel the panic under their skins.” Han then said that North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles are akin to “a dagger against our throats.”
Left out of the discussions was the fact, acknowledged by nearly everyone, that Obama’s Korea policy, known as “strategic patience,” has entirely failed to end the North Korean nuclear program—which was, in fact, the intention. By allowing their development of nuclear weapons, through a refusal to talk to the North, Obama now has his excuse for preparing for war with China.
Sources in Seoul told EIR that the country was rife with rumors, based on the current intense round of discussions about a U.S. military build-up in the region, that Obama wants to “decapitate” North Korea before the end of his term.
Russian Officials Blast Obama and British for Fanning the Flames of War Worldwide
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin responded with a sharp counterattack, yesterday, to accusations that Russia was responsible for hampering humanitarian aid getting into Aleppo, mouthed by U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the UN David Pressman, reported TASS.
“That’s not true,” Churkin stated. “Why did the U.S. military refuse to stand along Castello Road together with the Russian military to ensure the non-stop operation of this vital artery? What is it? Cowardice, or a desire to inflame passions around Aleppo at whatever cost?” Churkin charged that the flames of conflict are being “artificially fanned from the outside. There is an answer to a question asked today, who bears responsibility, and it is known to the whole world: the United States of America and the United Kingdom, which carried out an invasion of Iraq and launched, together with some other activists, an adventurist campaign to seek a regime change in Syria. To achieve that goal, they do not shun the support of openly terrorist groups.”
Also speaking yesterday before the State Duma (the lower house of Russia’s legislature), Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkovmooted “asymmetrical” responses, should hostile actions continue, according to RT broadcaster. “If the U.S. opts to further toughen sanctions [against Russia] in defiance of common sense and in disregard of its experience that has already been quite painful for them, then we will find measures in our toolbox that will have a painful impact, particularly in terms of America’s positioning in the world.” Russia’s response so far has been “strictly proportionate and adequate,” and “not guided by emotions,” but that it could always shift to “asymmetrical” measures if needed, he warned.
Ryabkov then slammed the Obama administration for provoking war: “Under the current administration, [U.S. foreign policy] became even more arrogant, forceful and focused on the attempts to impose its will on other countries…. The White House has only itself to blame for the problems in many parts of the world, as well as for the difficulties in relations with Russia.”
Putin Calm but Tough at Berlin Meetings
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—“These were frank and tough talks,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the media after she and French President François Hollande’s Berlin meeting yesterday evening with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Syria. No agreement was reached, apparently, except that notice was taken of the Russian offer to extend the Aleppo ceasefire from 8 to 11 hours today. (It was subsequently extended to 24 hours.) No concession going beyond that was made by Putin, who left no doubt about the West’s obligation to now deliver. Merkel said that there will be no EU decision on new Russia sanctions now, but that the option will stay on the table for the time being. The three foreign ministers will continue to meet on Syria.
On Ukraine, the three agreed with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko on a new road map for the Minsk II process: Merkel insists that the OSCE observers’ mission be permitted to move up to the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Interesting to note: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has published an assessment, based on a report by the OSCE’s observer mission onsite, documenting that since September, Kiev forces have committed more violations of the ceasefire than the Donbass forces. Exposed this way, Kiev claims that Donbass had 875 violations instead of the OSCE’s recorded 79.
The EU sanctions against Russia and Donbass will stay in place, unchanged, until January 2017 when a review is scheduled.
The following assessment by Gen. Harald Kujat (ret.), former Bundeswehr Chief of Staff (2000-02) and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee (2002-05), appeared in an article in the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel: “It is always better to talk to each other than against each other. Hats off to Mrs. Merkel, because she seeks dialogue in this difficult situation. After the end of the Cold War the global security situation has fundamentally changed—now we experience how Russia tries to make out of a unipolar world with only the United States superpower, a multipolar world with at least two world powers including Russia. This is one element. The other element is that the threat from terrorism, for instance, produces ever newer conflicts. This mixed situation must be seen as a whole. Then, maybe there is a chance to see that it is in the interest of everyone for stable international relations, that the many local and regional conflicts be solved and we come to a balance of interests especially between the U.S.A. and Russia.”
Russia Extends Bombing Pause in Aleppo by 24 Hours
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—The pause in air strikes on eastern Aleppo that the Russian Defense Ministry announced yesterday, originally announced to last 8 hours, and then 11 hours, has been extended by 24 hours. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the extension today. Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, the chief of the Main Operation Directorate of the Russian General Staff, said yesterday “that will make it possible for representatives of the UN and the Syrian Red Crescent Society to implement all measures to let the sick and injured and the persons accompanying them, as well as the civilian population, leave the city,” he said. Eight corridors, six for civilians and two for militants who wish to leave the city, are now open. “The course of the evacuation will be tracked in real time with the help of web cameras mounted near humanitarian corridors, and unmanned aerial vehicles, with images transported to the Russian Defense Ministry’s website,” he said.
The Syrian Army Command said in a statement, however, that terrorists were preventing civilians from leaving some districts, taking people hostage, and even opening fire on them. Three districts in the city have come under jihadi fire, including with mortars.
To watch: Sputnik reported today that units of Ahrar al-Sham, totalling some 150 militants, left the city through one of the two corridors provided for them. According to some reports, Turkey has influence on Ahrar al-Sham, and their decision to depart Aleppo may reflect agreements reached by Turkish President Erdogan and Russian President Putin, in their recent conversations.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported this morning that a number of gunmen left the city for the northern Aleppo province countryside through one of the corridors, while a number of elderly men, women, and patients were also evacuated to the same place in order to be transported and treated in the hospitals in the western neighborhoods.
NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Duterte in China—A Revolutionary Transformation
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has completed a dramatic revolution in his nation’s role in the world during his current visit to China. In very clear language, he has renounced the Philippines’ previous subservience to Washington, established a new relationship with China and Xi Jinping’s Silk Road process, and put in place extensive cooperation with China, and potentially also Russia, in both economic and strategic matters.
Speaking at the Philippine-China Trade and Investment Forum in the Great Hall of the people in Beijing, Duterte said: “America has lost now. I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow, and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world—China, Philippines, and Russia. It’s the only way.
“With that, in this venue, your honors, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States. Not only military, not in social, but in economics also…. I have separated from them. So I will be dependent on you for a long time. But do not worry. We will also help as you help us.”
Speaking to a Filipino audience in Beijing (there are over 300,000 Filipinos working in China), Duterte said about the U.S.: “Goodbye, my friend. Your stay in my country was for your benefit. We were fed with lies about China. We grew up with the Red Scare. We kept a distance from China. They characterized communism as an oppression of their people. Now I said, this has to stop because you have been abusing the courtesy of my country.”
“I will not go to America anymore,” he said. “I will just be insulted there.” He continued that Americans “enter the Philippines visa free,” while Filipinos have great difficulty getting a visa to the U.S. “Why don’t we make it even? Well, there will always be a time for reckoning,” he added.
China and Philippines Sign 21 Agreements
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—China’s President Xi Jinping, greeting President Duterte in the Great Hall of the People, welcomed the new relationship with the Philippines. “China and the Philippines have had foundations for friendship for generations and no reason for hostility or confrontation. Both sides should spare no efforts to promote neighborly relations,” he said. “As long as both countries adhere to friendly dialogue and consultation, China and the Philippines can have candid exchanges on everything, manage differences well, carry out cooperation and shelve problems that are difficult to agree on, for a while.”
Xi emphasized the importance of the Philippines in the development of the New Maritime Silk Road. China is willing to participate in the Philippines’ ”infrastructure construction, covering railways, urban rail transit, highways, ports and other areas, so as to benefit the Philippine people,” he said.
Not only did Duterte stick to his pledge to not bring up the sovereignty issue over the South China Sea in this trip, but the two sides also signed an agreement for the “establishment of a joint coast guard committee on maritime cooperation.”
Overall, the two governments signed 21 agreements during Duterte’s visit, 13 government-to-government deals, and 8 business deals. China offered $9 billion in soft loans to Philippine industrial groups. Among the government agreements, signed today, are cooperation in the war on drugs, transport, investment, and finance. The agriculture agreement is called the Agricultural Cooperation Action Plan 2017-2019.
The business deals expected to be signed on Oct. 21 include joint fishing agreements in the South China Sea, and support for the Philippine fish processing industries. There will be an agreement on the construction of a railway that will connect Subic Bay Freeport to Clark Freeport, the two former U.S. military bases that have been turned into free ports and business and industry centers. Other deals will include land transportation, industrial zones, IT, infrastructure, tourism, energy, and telecommunications. Globe Telecom, the Philippine internet company, will sign agreements with Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd., and Globe that will add speed to the Philippines’ slow internet service.
Fifth Eurasian Forum Opened in Verona, Italy
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—The Fifth Eurasian Forum in Verona opened today in Italy. This is the main forum for Italian-Eurasian relations, founded by Moscow-based banker Antonio Fallico, chairman of the board of Banca Intesa in Moscow and president of the Association Conoscere Eurasia, which is one of the Forum’s organizers; the other organizer is Roscongress, which is an organizer of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. More than 60 high-level speakers from Italy, Russia, and Eurasia (including China) will give presentations under the theme of “The Art of Innovation.”
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi are expected to appear at the Forum on Oct. 21. In his opening speech, Fallico exposed the efforts by some forces to set back the clock of history by re-creating the Cold War, and called for building an “economic and geopolitical space from Lisbon to Shanghai.” He stressed that participants at the Forum are there to promote a new dialogue and a new approach, shifting from the “made in” to the “made with.”
In the first panel, dedicated to “The Changing Geopolitical Map of Eurasia,” Chinese author Song Hongbing (Currency Wars) was asked whether conflicts, such as the ones in Southwest Asia or even the one in Ukraine, are created in order to prevent China from building the New Silk Road.
Song said that China has traditionally kept out of conflicts outside of China, and this not just with the current government but along generations in history. However, the war in Syria has forced them to change their mind. China can no longer stay away from conflicts, and must state what their interests are.
So, our interest, he said, is that we do not want the region to disintegrate. “Our interest is that Syria and Iraq not split into six or seven states. If we want to build the New Silk Road, across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, we want those countries to keep peace.”
In the same panel, Russian expert Edward Lozansky addressed “The Elephant In the Room,” being the United States. We are in Italy, here is the Vatican, and sometimes miracles occur, he said. But if we have no miracles, Hillary Clinton will be the next President of the United States, and she has already announced a policy that leads to war with Russia. Lozansky complained that there is no courageous leader in Europe now.
Lozansky then advised the Moscow-based Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to open an office in the United States, as a move that could help improve relations.
In the afternoon, EIR reporter Flavio Tabanelli intervened in the Q&A in a panel on “Economy, Finance and Global Crisis.” He addressed his question to Massimo Mucchetti, chairman of the Italian Senate Committee on Industry, Commerce and Tourism. Since you have in the past endorsed a Glass-Steagall solution, Tabanelli asked, what do you think about a solution for the “ticking bomb” represented by Deutsche Bank, i.e., a government bailout conditioned on a return to a pro-industrial policy as under the late DB chairman Alfred Herrhausen?
Mucchetti gave a long answer, saying that DB has long ceased to be a commercial bank and instead is a full investment bank, “based in Wall Street and not in Germany.” “Now the rot has come out.” He recalled how in spring 2011, he was the one who revealed that DB had sold Italian sovereign bonds en masse “in an act of overt hostility” against the Italian government, and wished that the DB crisis would induce the EU to change bank resolution rules.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Chas Freeman: Meet ‘President Clump’
Oct. 20 (EIRNS)—In a speech last week before the Middle East Policy Council, former Ambassador Chas Freeman delivered a sobering perspective on what American policy in the Middle East might and should look like in the next administration. Freeman gave his frank assessment of the two rival candidates at the outset of his remarks:
“I have a political confession to make,” he began. “I do not believe that we are about to elect a President able to govern effectively and end dysfunction in Washington. Whoever we choose as our President seems certain to be regarded as illegitimate and opposed by supporters of her or his rival….
“After careful analysis of Mr. Trump’s inconstancy on the Middle East and other matters, I have come to suspect that he is actually five guys sharing a single, oversized orange wig. Meanwhile, Mrs. Clinton presents herself as the pitiless goddess of air strikes, drone warfare, and dead tyrants. But, at heart, the two candidates faithfully reflect the narratives, prejudices, and conventional policy approaches of the nation they propose to lead. This gives them so much in common that it is more efficient to discuss them together than separately. So, I will refer to Candidates Clinton and Trump as one gender-fluid person: Candidate Clump.”
“Candidate Clump is on the payroll of the Israel Lobby’s major donors, wants to isolate Iran, and loves sanctions and other forms of economic warfare more than trade and investment. Clump was for the invasion of Iraq before heshe was against it. Heshe is more interested in poking at the Middle East than in understanding it. Clump thinks terrorism is a function of theology rather than a violent response by misfits to humiliation and social marginalization. Heshe is convinced that bombing is the best antidote to what heshe imagines is a religious onslaught….”
After presenting his prognosis of the choices for Nov. 8, Ambassador Freeman engaged the audience in an exercise in strategic thinking, demanding that they concentrate on what U.S. policy in the Middle East should and could be, rather than the dismal prospects of business as usual under Clump. He argued that that has to start with an entirely different Syria policy.
