EDITORIAL
Obama Has Been Dumped: Restoring Relations with Russia Is Now Key
Nov. 13 (EIRNS)—The opening of negotiation and potential collaboration among Russian President Putin, incoming U.S. President-elect Trump, and China’s President Xi is now the sine qua non to take the world away from the brink of world war, and thus allow economic revival especially in the United States and Europe.
No one—neither Trump, nor any other nation or major party, should be negotiating with Barack Obama. Obama is finished; his TPP and TTIP “trade deals” are finished; his “Assad must go” promotion of jihadis to take over Syria is finished; his attempted “pivot to Asia” to defeat China, is finished. So too, is his long defense of Wall Street from the ire of the American people.
Paradoxically, despite much hysteria among prominent liberals, the hope that Wall Street can be broken up and its power over American political life broken, is stronger now than it has been for many years. Restoring the Glass-Steagall Act is the first instrument and goal of that hope, but the potential is to restore the whole of lost American productivity, lost productive employment and living standard, broken economic infrastructure, and lost hope for the future.
This is the November-December mobilization of LaRouche PAC which is underway, for Lyndon LaRouche’s “Four Laws” to save the United States economy and people.
But the confrontation and war provocation against Russia and China of Barack Obama’s entire presidency must be rejected, in a visible way, for that hope to advance. Russia’s Putin has already made specific proposals and offers of collaboration. Many European political forces which have been opposing the sanctions and war buildup against Russia, are looking for direct “summit” discussions between Putin and Donald Trump.
And China is the only hope for a Trump Administration’s being able to realize its large-scale plans to build new economic infrastructure. Without collaboration with China, the United States will have neither the credit nor the physical-economic means to build that high-speed rail network, those new power grids, ports, airports, etc.
Public events are demonstrating that not just the American electorate, but important sections and leaders of the Democratic Party itself have dumped Barack Obama, the “Wall Street and war” policies of his administration, and along with Obama, have dumped his would-have-been successor Hillary Clinton. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ statement today, “If Mr. Trump has the courage to take on Wall Street, we will work with him, issue by issue,” expresses the thrust of progressive Democrats’ intention to take over the party from Obama’s political corpse.
We do not know what Trump’s team will do. We know what American citizens, taking the Congress to task, have to do. Wall Street must pay for the economic wreckage it has caused for a decade. It must be broken up and its financial casinos shut down—Glass-Steagall. New credit for productive employment and productivity must be created.
The United States has to join the New Silk Road of the Eurasian powers, if it is to recover. The attempt to provoke war with those powers—Obama’s “legacy”—must be ended.
NEW WORLD ECONOMIC ORDER
After U.S. Elections, Germany Must Embrace the New Silk Road Policy
WIESBADEN, Nov. 13 (EIRNS)—In a Nov. 13 article for the weekly German newspaper Neue Solidarität, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who heads the Civil Rights Solidarity party (BüSo) in Germany, draws the consequences of the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. The reason why the forecasts of the establishment media and the politicians were so far off the mark, she writes, is that they have long since “lost contact” with the actual population, and have “totally lost any empathy for the victims of their neo-liberal policy.”
Trump’s focus in the end phase of the campaign on the war danger and on Glass-Steagall resonated with the population, Zepp-LaRouche underscores, in particular in the “rust belt” where people have been robbed of any hope in the future.
“The extraordinary arrogance with which the incorrigible representatives of neo-liberal globalization—such as our Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, or the Bild Zeitung scribbler Wagner—felt free to condescendingly lecture the person who had, after all, been elected President of the United States of America, reflects an unhealthy mixture of chutzpah and being out of touch with reality. The defeat of Hillary Clinton, her just deserts for her clear intention to pursue Bush’s, Cheney’s and Obama’s policy, is the reflection of a global process. In a way, it is like the appearance of the chorus in Friedrich Schiller’s poem The Cranes of Ibykus: the voters were reminded of that higher power that ‘judging watches hid from sight.’
“It is a clear rejection of the Anglo-American imperial policy that has brought the world to the brink of thermonuclear extinction, and the tearing apart of the EU, not least because of the refugee catastrophe and the imminent outbreak of financial chaos, once again.”
Trump’s victory postponed the danger of world war for a short time, according to Zepp-LaRouche, during which time, fundamental political changes need to be introduced to prevent new instabilities that threaten world peace. The very first one is to re-establish relations between the United States and Russia on a reliable basis.
At the same time, the emergency measures laid out by her husband, Lyndon LaRouche, as his “Four Laws” must be enacted, which she proceeds to outline.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche concludes her article noting that the urgently needed new paradigm which nations of the world must agree on, must include “prioritizing the common aims of mankind over any national interests, as well as the dialogue of cultures from the standpoint of the best of what each culture has created. It is only if we can define and live by the principles flowing from such a Renaissance, that are consistent with the identity of mankind as a creative species, that we will overcome the existential danger with which we are now faced.”
Austria Freedom Party Head Invites Putin-Trump Meeting
Nov. 13 (EIRNS)—In the more serious of several European proposals hopeful of organizing an early Putin-Trump summit, the head of Austria’s Freedom Party has offered to invite Putin and Trump to meet in Vienna. Norbert Hofer, who is in a run-off election for President of Austria Dec. 4, said in a Nov. 12 press conference in Innsbruck that he and current Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz want to organize for such a Vienna meeting. Die Presse reported Hofer’s statement.
A delegation from Hofer’s party was at the Trump Tower election night events, and he noted that Rep. Steve King (R-NY) has invited him to meet with Trump after the Austrian election.
The Austrian Freedom Party is a nationalist euro-skeptic party, and Hofer has also opposed the EU sanctions against Russia.
In Switzerland, Tages Anzeiger in Geneva and Schweiz am Sonntagreported another offer to host an early Putin-Trump meeting, by former Swiss Federal Council member Adolf Ogi, along with the mayor of Geneva. The seven-member Federal Council is the executive of the country.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Trump Argues, U.S. Should Fight ISIS in Syria, not Assad
Nov. 12 (EIRNS)—In an interview otherwise largely devoted to domestic issues, President-elect Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal Saturday, that he may shift away from President Obama’s Syria policy of supporting the anti-government armed opposition. “I’ve had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria,” he said. According to the Journal, Trump suggested a sharper focus on fighting the Islamic State, or ISIS, in Syria, rather than on ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “My attitude was you’re fighting Syria; Syria is fighting ISIS, and you have to get rid of ISIS. Russia is now totally aligned with Syria, and now you have Iran—which is becoming powerful, because of us—is aligned with Syria. Now we’re backing rebels against Syria, and we have no idea who these people are.”
If the U.S. attacks Assad, Trump said, “we end up fighting Russia, fighting Syria.”
German Politicians Respond to U.S. Election—Trump’s Victory Prevented Immediate World War III
Nov. 12 (EIRNS)—In comments published in Sputnik on Nov. 10, former German CDU State Secretary in the Defense Ministry, Willy Wimmer expressed relief that the defeat of Hillary Clinton stopped (at least for now) the drive towards World War III. Wimmer said “I was so relieved, as never before, for I had a feeling this morning that this decision saved us from a great war.” He continued, “I believe that the new American President, unlike his opponent, is ready for a reasonable, practicable, and trustworthy collaboration with other countries in the world—and that gives me hope.”
He was highly critical of the German government leaders. “I think that the President of the Federal Republic, the Federal Chancellor, and, above all, the Foreign Minister, have not taken into account the interests of the German people. By [offering] one-sided support for one candidate and partially offensive comments about the other, they have done the German people a lot of harm. This is an unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of another country, and after the election campaign ended, it may backfire against their own people,” he pointed out. He attacked German President Joachim Gauck for what he called “intolerable” rhetoric. “I think it would be a good thing for him to resign soon.”
“Since the times of the Second World War, we know who the so-called ‘quislings’ are—they are those who always follow a leader, even if he doesn’t belong to their own country. Obviously, these kinds of people are widespread in Germany—in the political sphere, in the media, and elsewhere.”
Wimmer also said that NATO has become a threat to world peace since it went from being a defensive alliance to “the assault machine.” “If the new American President realizes this, I would feel more comfortable than I do today when thinking about NATO.”
Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the Die Linke party, made a similar comment, saying “The politicians who now stand with sad expressions and who are in shock about what has happened [in the U.S.], don’t really understand anything. The U.S. public first and foremost voted for change, rather than specifically for Donald Trump.” Not as optimistic as Wimmer, she warned that it remains to be seen whether he will or can change policy.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Hillary Clinton Lost Big, Ignoring Collapse of Middle Class
Nov. 13 (EIRNS)—While Hillary Clinton now blames FBI Director James Comey’s investigation of her emails for her loss, sane Democrats realize that it was her refusal to fight Wall Street to improve the living standards of workers, unemployed, minorities, and rural voters, all with plummeting life expectancies, that explains it.
Rep. Debbie Dingell, who ran the Democratic Party in Michigan, heart of the industrial Midwest for years, wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post Nov. 10, where she said “I said Clinton was in trouble with the voters I represent [but] I was the ‘crazy’ one. I predicted that Hillary Clinton was in trouble in Michigan during the Democratic primary. I noted we could see a Trump presidency [but] they said, ‘That’s Debbie. It’s hyperbole. She’s nuts.’ ”
Dingell said, “Michigan voters strongly supported Bernie Sanders in the primary. That result didn’t surprise me, but it did infuriate me that Clinton and her team didn’t show up until the weekend before the primary, when it suddenly became clear they had a problem…. [Bernie] Sanders was in my district 10 times during the primary,” (talking about economic issues and Glass-Steagall, and taking down Wall Street.) “How would any sane person not predict how this one would go? It was fixable for the General Election,” but she went to Arizona, instead of to the Midwest industrial heartland. Bill Clinton reportedly strenuously opposed Hillary’s mistake of not campaigning in the Midwest, and went there alone to campaign several times. No Democratic Presidential candidate had lost Michigan for 28 years.
In a Washington Post op-ed today making frequent reference to Bernie Sanders’ book, Our Revolution, David Weigel writes, “The more important the issue is to large numbers of people, the less interesting it is to corporate media…. Sanders had been saying the same thing about the oligarchy for 30 years, and suddenly found the 14 million voters agreed with him. In his book, Sanders points to his prophetic comment in one of the early debates, where he tried to talk about economics: ‘The middle class of this country is collapsing. Enough about her emails!’ to no avail.” Weigel says for the media, politicians like Sanders were characters in a larger story about how Clinton would take power. Sanders says: “I was gently faulted for having excessive ‘message discipline,’ for spending too much time discussing real issues. Boring.” On CBS News’ ”Face the Nation” today, Sanders said, “If Mr. Trump has the courage to take on Wall Street, I will work with him, issue by issue…. The Democrats have become the party that raises billions of dollars from wealthy people and puts ads on television.”
The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald hits the liberals in an op-ed in today’s Post also. “Trump will have vast powers, thanks to Obama. We have a President-elect with authoritarian tendencies assuming a presidency that has never been more powerful. When liberals opposed all the ‘executive powers’ given to Bush and Obama, the ‘tactic of last resort’ used to be to ask them to think about how one day, these powers could be in the hands of someone other than a benevolent, worthy progressive—rather a right-wing authoritarian. That day has arrived.”
Francis Boyle: Impeach Obama before Inauguration To Prevent Obama from New Last Ditch War
Nov. 12 (EIRNS)—On Nov. 9, Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana, gave an interview by Skype to Pravda TV where he sounded the alarm that Obama can be “existentially dangerous” between now and inauguration day in January 2017. In a private email message after the interview, Professor Boyle warned that Obama could start a war, as George Bush, Sr. had done against Somalia right after he lost the election to Bill Clinton in 1992.
Moving forward with an impeachment campaign now in the lame-duck session of Congress, Boyle explained in the interview, would be a “shot across his bow” to Obama “that we don’t want a war with Russia” over Ukraine or Syria. He emphasized that what the U.S./NATO did last week putting 300,000 troops on high alert, is part of Obama’s war drive.
That NATO order “came out of the Obama White House,” Boyle told Pravda TV.
After expressing his hopes that Donald Trump’s statements against NATO would lead to resolving the tensions with Russia, which would require meeting Putin directly, Boyle concluded:
“Let me say one more thing. Obama is still in power between now and January, and he could decide to continue to escalate a crisis with Russia. So for that reason, we are starting a campaign here to introduce a bill of impeachment into the United States Congress when it reconvenes Nov. 14, to try to get Obama out of there before he starts a war with Russia. We cannot just sit on our heels here in America…. Obama has all this power, and he still has all these anti-Russian war-mongering advisers.
“We in the peace movement are organizing against Obama… we do not want a war with Russia…. But Obama has to be stopped before inauguration day.”
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Glass-Steagall Debate in Italy: The Timing Is Right
MILAN, Nov. 13 (EIRNS)—A local debate in Alba (Piedmont) organized by a Movisol supporter on Saturday, Nov. 12 turned into a national political debate on Glass-Steagall and American statesman Lyndon LaRouche’s “Four Laws,” and on the paradigm shift after the U.S. elections. The main speaker at the conference on Glass-Steagall was Liliana Gorini, Chairwoman of Movisol, LaRouche’s movement in Italy. She explained to the audience, and the many parliamentarians and state legislators attending, that it was thanks to the LaRouche PAC mobilization since 2008 that Glass-Steagall was introduced in many U.S. state legislatures; in the U.S. Congress; included in both the Republican and Democratic Party Election Platforms, and was also endorsed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump, Gorini told the assembled Italian political leaders, was elected for two reasons, expressed in his Charlotte, North Carolina speech Oct. 26. First, because Hillary Clinton would have led to World War III, by imposing a no-fly zone in Syria, and second, because 90% of the U.S. population are sick and tired of Wall Street and the existing establishment, and want Glass-Steagall and a new credit system to revitalize the real economy.
“I happened to be in the U.S., in Boston, when the crisis exploded in 2008, and I saw on the news on TV how many citizens were calling their congressman with this message: ‘If you bail out the speculators, we will not vote for you,’ ” Gorini said, adding that, “It should be no surprise to anybody that Hillary was voted out; she was paid by Wall Street; endorsed Wall Street openly, and vehemently opposed Glass-Steagall.”
Gorini also quoted U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s speech at the AFL-CIO last week, where she rejected very clearly Trump’s racist statements, but also said that she is ready to cooperate with him on Glass-Steagall, and against free market treaties.
“Glass-Steagall is the only way to get that unity of the country everyone calls for, after such a harsh campaign, and the same is true for Italy, where there are eight bills for Glass-Steagall at the Italian Parliament, introduced by all parties, from left to right, including the Italian Democratic Party. It is high time to vote for them,” Gorini said.
All the speakers who followed Gorini responded to this, and were speaking to Gorini’s remarks, starting with a state legislator of the Democratic Party, Paolo Allemano, who said, “I did not know Movisol, but I have learned a lot today, particularly about the U.S. I caught the polemical reference to the many bills on Glass-Steagall and the Parliament, including one by the Democratic Party. I believe the timing is right to discuss them.”
Next to speak was Deputy Laura Castelli of the Five Star Movement party who is a member of the Finance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, and who turned to Gorini and said, “I have good news: the Five Star Party has introduced an amendment on Glass-Steagall to the debate on the Italian budget, and it will be discussed in three days. We worked a lot on derivatives in the Budget Committee, and when we asked for figures about the derivatives exposure in Italy, we were told that we are not allowed to get them. This gives you the clear picture of how the system is collapsing. We not only demand Glass-Steagall, but also a national bank, nationalizing the Banca d’Italia [central bank]. The clause added to the Italian Constitution about a balanced budget (Article 81), imposed on us by Europe, cannot possibly be adhered to, and even the Renzi government had to admit it. We do hope that this debate will go on and lead to change.”
Marta Giovannini, also a member of the national executive committee of the Italian Democratic Party, sent a message from Rome in support of Glass-Steagall. After the conference all politicians, and also the non-elected citizens attending the conference, thanked Gorini for the valuable information on the LaRouchePAC campaign, and said they appreciated very much what she said at the end, calling on each citizen to mobilize for Glass-Steagall, as citizens in the U.S. did also on the JASTA (Justice Against State Terrorism Act) law, and to start kicking butt and calling politicians and mayors instead of complaining about the situation in coffee shops.
As Franklin Roosevelt said in his Fireside Chat, “Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work.” The conference was covered in the glossy weekly IDEA, in the Gazzetta d’Alba and Targato Cuneo, which has a large readership
SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE
Japan-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement Opens Up Nuclear Reactor and Technology Transfer
Nov. 11 (EIRNS)—The visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed the landmark Japan-Indian nuclear cooperation agreement today in Tokyo. The agreement needs to be ratified by the Japanese Diet. “Today’s signing … marks a historic step in our engagement to build a clean energy partnership,” Modi told a joint news conference with his host, Prime Minister Abe.
Once the agreement gets ratified, it would open the door for Tokyo to supply New Delhi with fuel, equipment, and technology for nuclear power production. It was the first time Japan had concluded such a pact with a country that is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The agreement was in the works since 2010 and it is evident that Modi and Abe had played crucial roles in getting it formally signed. The agreement with Japan follows a similar one with the United States in 2008, which gave India access to nuclear technology after decades of isolation.
For India, the agreement with Japan accomplishes more than what its agreement with the United States achieved, since Japan is the largest manufacturer of nuclear reactors and has the updated technology. India is already in advanced negotiations with the U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric, owned by Japan’s Toshiba Corp, to build six nuclear reactors in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. India is also negotiating with GE-Hitachi to supply six more reactors. Without the agreement, these contracts would have fallen through.
The Hindu reported today that “the last stage of negotiations on the deal was keenly watched due to a ‘nullification clause’ which seeks automatic cancellation of the agreement if India resorts to nuclear testing in future.” India maintains a voluntary moratorium on nuclear device testing, but has thus far refused to sign on to the NPT, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), or given any other undertaking outside of its commitments at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The “nullification clause” has been agreed upon in a separate document in which India would assure Japan that its cooperation would be “limited to peaceful purposes.”
