EDITORIAL
Trump, and the LaRouche Movement, Inspire a Return to Mankind’s Mission to Space
March 26 (EIRNS)—On Saturday, March 25, President Donald Trump issued a powerful and inspiring five minute video as his Weekly Address, announcing his intention to lead the nation back into space following seven years of Obama’s destruction of NASA and the nation’s space program. Trump drew inspiration from the Hubble Telescope peering into the void in 1995, only to discover there are yet thousands, or millions—or more—new galaxies yet to be discovered. As Trump said: “The discovery was absolutely incredible. But the unforgettable image did not satisfy our deep hunger for knowledge. It increased evermore, and even more, and reminded us how much we do not know about space; frankly, how much we do not know about life.”
Every citizen on Earth must be given the opportunity to watch this video. It has also been posted to LaRouche PAC’s homepage.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the Schiller Institute and Fusion Energy Forum, founded by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche, were simultaneously holding conferences in Munich and in Houston to honor the great German-American space scientist and visionary, Krafft Ehricke, who was born 100 years ago, on March 24, 1917. While several presentations in Munich discussed Ehricke’s extraordinary life and character, and his close relationship with the LaRouches, one presentation by a Swiss astronaut, Prof. Claude Nicollier, who had visited the Hubble Telescope during his four missions to space, showed a number of spectacular Hubble photographs of galaxies which the telescope had discovered.
Only minutes later, when the Trump video was sent to the conference, immediately following its release by the White House, the audience was stunned and inspired to see many of the same beautiful pictures of our universe which they had just viewed during the Swiss astronaut’s presentation.
With few exceptions, the mainstream American media, fixated on destroying the American President based on British imperial lies about the danger of Russia to the world, have totally ignored this historic video presentation. Not since JFK’s call to go to the Moon, and Ronald Reagan’s call for the U.S. and Russia to cooperate in creating a strategic defense in space against nuclear weapons, has a President so inspired the nation—and yet, most people will not even hear it, if we do not take that responsibility upon ourselves.
Just as Reagan’s SDI was directly inspired by Lyndon LaRouche, we are seeing President Trump moving to adopt policies which have been initiated and championed by LaRouche—and in most cases only by LaRouche—over these past 50 years. Consider LaRouche’s “Woman on Mars” video of 1987-88; his War on Drugs magazine of the 1980s; his American System program for restoring Alexander Hamilton’s discoveries; his Great Projects approach to world development; his Four Powers approach to uniting the U.S., China, Russia and India; his book There Are No Limits to Growth of 1983—all these are increasingly reflected in the policies being adopted by Donald Trump.
Will they succeed?
This will depend on the global capacity of mankind—not only Americans—to lift themselves to a higher state of being, to what Helga Zepp-LaRouche calls the “adulthood” of mankind, based on the harmony of the human race through creative cooperation in advancing our state of knowledge and culture. This harmony is the root of the European Renaissance, as inspired by Nicholas of Cusa, Filippo Brunelleschi and others; and also the root of the Confucian Renaissance of the Song Dynasty inspired by Zhu Xi, as well as the new Confucian Renaissance today inspired by Xi Jinping.
We are experiencing a revolution in civilization. As Lyndon LaRouche has always insisted, when this moment arrives, it will be no time for cheerleading or following the crowd. It is a time for leadership and personal responsibility for mankind as a whole. That time is now.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
President Trump’s Address to the Nation
March 25 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump on Saturday delivered an historic call on America to restore its space program. We encourage every one to watch the five minute video, to see the dramatic pictures from the Hubble Telescope. The full text follows below, but, again, we encourage you to watch the video.
“My fellow Americans,
“This week, in the company of astronauts, I was honored to sign the NASA Transition Authorization Act right into law. With this legislation, we renew our national commitment to NASA’s mission of exploration and discovery. And we continue a tradition that is as old as mankind. We look to the heavens with wonder and curiosity. More than two decades ago, one scientist followed his curiosity and dramatically changed our understanding of the universe. The year was 1995. Taxpayers were spending billions and billions of dollars on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The astronomer in charge had a novel idea. He wanted to use the expensive telescope in a totally unconventional way.
“Instead of pointing Hubble’s eye at nearby stars or distant formations, Robert Williams wanted to peer into the void. He aimed the massive telescope at one of the emptiest regions of the night sky. For ten days during Christmas of 1995, Hubble stared into the abyss seeking whatever light it could glean from the darkness. And it was total darkness.
“Fellow astronomers didn’t know if he’d see much of anything. But Williams was rewarded and the entire world was struck by the awesome images our satellite returned. In that tiny patch of sky, the Hubble Deep Field showed thousands of lights. Each brilliant spot represented not a single star but an entire galaxy.
“The discovery was absolutely incredible. But the unforgettable image did not satisfy our deep hunger for knowledge. It increased evermore and even more and reminded us how much we do not know about space; frankly, how much we do not know about life.
“With this week’s NASA reauthorization, we continue [to make] progress on Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. It is amazing. The Webb Telescope is set to launch next year. It will gaze back through time and space to the very first stars and the earliest galaxies in the universe. We can only imagine what incredible visions it will bring.
“At a time when Washington is consumed with the daily debates of our Nation, I was proud that Congress came together overwhelmingly to reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to expanding the frontiers of knowledge.
“NASA’s greatest discoveries teach us many, many things. One lesson is the need to view old questions with fresh eyes. To have the courage to look for answers in places we have never looked before. To think in new ways because we have new information. Most of all, new discoveries remind us that, in America, anything is possible if we have the courage and wisdom to learn.
“In the span of one lifetime, our Nation went from black and white pictures of the first airplanes to beautiful images of the oldest galaxies, captured by a camera in outer space. I am confident that if Americans can achieve these things, there is no problem we cannot solve. There is no challenge we cannot meet. There is no aim that is too high. Whatever it takes and however long it will be, we are a Nation of problem solvers and the future belongs to us.
“We are truly a great place to be. I love America.”
Nunes Recalls Comey and Rogers, Hints at ‘Smoking Gun’ on Color Revolution vs Trump
March 24 (EIRNS)—House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) held a press conference Saturday in the Capitol, announcing that the committee would hold a closed-door session, recalling both FBI chief James Comey and NSA chief Adm. Mike Rogers. He said it was not in regard to the new evidence which Nunes revealed March 22 proving that several of the Trump team, and perhaps Trump himself, were exposed “incidentally” to surveillance by foreign taps, but on issues that can only be discussed in close session.
He also said that the open hearing planned next week with former DNI James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan and former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates would be postponed.
Recall that Nunes has been clear that NSA’s Rogers has been fully cooperative, unlike FBI’s Comey. Nunes expects that the full files of the intercepts he was shown by an unidentified source would be turned over by the NSA, perhaps Saturday, but by the beginning of next week at the latest.
On Fox News last night, Nunes said, “We need to make sure that these leaks are being tracked down, and it’s part of our investigation … to make sure that we do try to find who was at least knowledgeable of the information that eventually got leaked.”
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, on Fox last night, said, “I hope the House and Senate Intelligence committee digs into this and rips apart the bureaucracies and find out who did it. Who authorized it and how the Obama Presidency made it easier to leak it. This is very, very sobering…. This is one of the most incredible breaches of law since World War II. A newly elected President is being spied upon by his own government!”
Pat Buchanan posted an article to his blog titled: “An Obama Plot To Sabotage Trump?” He wrote: “Two days after FBI Director James Comey assured us there was no truth to President Trump’s tweet about being wiretapped by Barack Obama, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Trump may have had more than just a small point. The U.S. intelligence community, says Nunes, during surveillance of legitimate targets, picked up the names of Trump transition officials during surveillance of targets, ‘unmasked’ their identity, and spread their names around, virtually assuring they would be leaked. If true, this has the look and smell of a conspiracy to sabotage the Trump presidency, before it began.”
It appears clear, he says, that “a Deep State conspiracy to bring down [Trump’s] presidency seems to have been put in place by Obamaites, and perhaps approved by Obama himself.” He takes note of both the Flynn case and the Wall Street Journal piece March 1 exposing Obama’s order to lower classification and widely disseminate “raw data,” to target Trump.
Buchanan’s conclusion: “For what benign purpose would U.S. intelligence agents spread secrets damaging to their own President to foreign regimes? Is this not disloyalty? Is this not sedition?”
Will Puerto Rico Become a Giant Refugee Camp?
March 24 (EIRNS)—In an opinion piece published March 13 in The Hill, Carlos Méndez-Núñez, Speaker of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, warned that Puerto Rico would end up like a refugee camp if the Financial Control Board created by Congress in last year’s PROMESA bill insists on imposing vicious austerity.
The board’s austerity plan is presented as a “debt-restructuring” plan, to help the government pay off its $70 billion in debt to predatory lenders. The ReFund America Project reports that a large portion of that debt is illegitimate.
What the unelected control board proposes for Puerto Rico has already been tried in Greece and Portugal, and failed, wrote Debtwire reporter Javier Balmaceda in a Forbes article published March 22. On an island in which half the 3.5 million population lives below the poverty line, and the official unemployment rate is 12.2%, the board proposes $3 billion in spending cuts over a two-year period, supposedly to deal with a large fiscal deficit. Of the $3 billion in cuts, half are cuts to essential services: $1 billion from healthcare, $300 million from education, and $200 million from the island’s badly underfunded pension system.
Puerto Rico’s Center for a New Economy reports that 46% of the population benefits from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Despite its poverty rate, Puerto Rico is forced to pay a higher percentage to Medicaid than some of the wealthiest states on the mainland.
Absent in the control board’s discussion is any proposal for developing Puerto Rico economically. According to Balmaceda, when Gov. Ricardo Rossello proposed reducing cuts to $2 billion, the board responded by demanding even deeper cuts by fiscal year 2021, including $1.2 billion in personnel-related expenditures and cutting almost half of the University of Puerto Rico’s budget—$450 million!
Over the past decade, Méndez-Núñez reports, Puerto Rico has lost 250,000 private sector jobs, and 500,000 people have left the island. Harsh austerity measures “will force a historic migration to the States, that we estimate will lead to a decline of nearly 1 million people in a ten-year span.” If even half that number leave, he warns, “Puerto Rico will become basically a refugee camp.” Those left behind will be the island’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
Counterattack Escalates against ‘Trumpgate’
March 25 (EIRNS)—Three members of the House Judiciary Committee, including its Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), have just fired a shot across the bow of those in the intelligence community who are scrambling to cover up for “those who feloniously disseminate classified or otherwise legally protected information,” i.e., the individuals and agencies responsible for the orchestrated leaks to try to topple the Trump administration over supposed ties to Russia.
In a March 24 open letter to Attorney General Sessions, Director of National Intelligence Coats, and the heads of the FBI (Comey), NSA (Rogers) and CIA (Pompeo), the three Intelligence Committee congressmen—Goodlatte, Trey Gowdy (R-SC), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX)—demanded that they provide information on “any efforts made by your agencies to identify those who feloniously disseminate classified or otherwise legally protected information and bring them to justice.” The letter stated that the House and Senate Intelligence Committees have oversight over the intelligence community directly, but the Senate and House Judiciary Committees have primary oversight over FISA, whose Section 702 authorizes “surveillance that reportedly encompasses more than a quarter of all NSA surveillance.” But “because of the aforementioned disclosures [surrounding the Trump administration], many Members of Congress are distrustful of these capabilities and fear the consequences if wrongdoers within the government continue to disseminate information feloniously.” Since Section 702 is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, the three congressmen asked that these matters be clarified immediately, including coughing up the specifics of who was involved in the leaks against the Trump team, or Section 702 would probably not be renewed.
This development comes on top of the ongoing hearings held by the House Intelligence Committee chaired by Rep. Devin Nunes, which have put the FBI and others in the Obama administration in the crosshairs for possible criminal leaks against Trump et al. On March 24, three Trump associates who have been attacked in the media and by Obama operatives for their purported ties to Russia, called the bluff by offering to voluntarily testify before the Intelligence Committee. Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Carter Page each sent letters to the House Intelligence Committee on March 24 with their offer. The letter from Stone’s lawyer stated that his client “deeply resents that several members” of the committee “have intimated that he has committed treason in his political press, and social media activities.” He is offering to testify “without the necessity of a subpoena [as he] is anxious to redress the false and misleading way he has been portrayed by some on the Permanent Select Committee.”
Trump Will Look at China as Important Ally, Says Democratic Colorado Governor
March 26 (EIRNS)—In an interview with Xinhua reported today, Colorado’s Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper was asked what he thinks of the future U.S.-China relations under President Donald Trump. Hickenlooper, a former businessman who was considered as a Clinton VP choice last year and is a possible presidential candidate in 2020, shared his optimism about Trump’s future agenda, especially concerning China. “I suspect President Trump will work very hard building a positive relationship and I think he’s going to look at China as an important ally and partner,” Hickenlooper said. “And if that’s the case, I think good things can happen.”
“President Trump wants to rethink our international strategies, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” the Governor said, and that early American pioneers were entrepreneurs, unafraid to take a chance, work hard, and saw into the future, Xinhua wrote.
“President Trump keeps giving indications he wants to be more isolated and not be engaged in the world, and I’m not sure if that’s really true,” he said. “I think he’s first and foremost a businessman and deal maker, and I’m cautiously optimistic he will come to recognize that when countries trade with each other, it creates wealth. It’s one of the basic principles of wealth creation,” Hickenlooper told Xinhua.
Hickenlooper concluded saying, “They (China and the United States) have a natural self-interest in maintaining a growing economy worldwide, recognizing each other’s autonomy, and providing motivation and incentive for each side to do well. I think if you look over the last 20 years, the two countries really have benefited—they’ve created a relationship where both sides have benefitted.”
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Will U.S.- and Russian-Backed Forces Cooperate in Syria?
March 26 (EIRNS)—The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the U.S.- armed and -advised force of Kurds and Arab “opposition” in Syria, has announced through its spokesman that it may be possible to cooperate with the Syrian government military forces in the crucial effort to free Raqqa from the ISIS terrorists. In declarations to the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, SDF spokesman Talal Silo claimed the SDF has always stated that the Syrian people have the right to liberate their areas, and that the Syrian Army is an essential part of the Syrian homeland and people, according to Al Masdar News wire service.
The question here, is whether or not the Trump Administration has approved such a statement of cooperation.
Both the SDF and the Syrian Arab Army are moving into positions around the ISIS headquarters in Raqqa. The U.S. flew in a significant force of the SDF to positions near Raqqa, while, according to Assad: “Now we are close to Raqqa. Our troops have reached the Euphrates River, which is very close to Raqqa that remains the stronghold of Daesh. This is why Raqqa will be our priority.”
The recent liberation of Deir Hafer gives the Syrian army a major platform for initiating a major assault on Raqqa, reported Fars News of Iran, yesterday. The Syrian government, of course, has also said repeatedly, that the U.S. involvement in the liberation of Raqqa is illegitimate.
Color Revolution against Russia Renewed
March 26 (EIRNS)—About 8,000 people demonstrated “against corruption” in Moscow’s Pushkin Square today, aimed specifically at Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Similar demonstrations of several hundreds took place in other Russian cities. Some of the demonstrations, including in Moscow, were not sanctioned by the government, and some people were detained and released. Alexei Navalny, the leading color revolution leader, under his Foundation for Fighting Corruption, called for the demonstrations, and was detained in Moscow—it is not clear if he has been released.
The government had offered other spots for the demonstrations, but Navalny told supporters to march on the city center.
AP reports that the protests followed a report by Navalny’s group claiming that Medvedev “has amassed a collection of mansions, yachts and vineyards. The alleged luxuries include a house for raising ducks, so many placards in Sunday’s protests showed mocking images of yellow duck toys.” Perhaps the Soros boys will call this the “yellow duck revolution.”
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
German Foreign Minister Discovers Importance of China
March 24 (EIRNS)—Saying that China and Asia are important for the future, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel announced that his ministry will now launch a special new Asia Department in order to deal with the new challenges and perspectives. Gabriel’s speech tonight, at a key Asia event in Hamburg, may tell more about his plans. “The ways toward reaching our global targets do more and more run through Asia,” Gabriel said, explaining that the changes at his ministry were urgent since “the existing structures still reflect the bi-polar world order of the Cold War era.”
The motive, as officially presented, is doubtful—Gabriel said that Trump’s “protectionist” drive forced Germany to look for free trade partners in Asia—but it may bring something good for German-Chinese relations
Whatever the official motivations, Gabriel’s move, together with the role Germany played in the breakthrough for the “bi-oceanic railway” in South America show that Germany is seizing some opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative. Indeed, among EU-devastated European nations Germany is the only one which has still something to offer.
Summers: Save NAFTA, Stop a ‘Chinese Beachhead’ South of Our Border
March 26 (EIRNS)—Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, responsible for much of the destruction of the U.S. and world economy, told Bloomberg TV we must save NAFTA, or see Mexico taken over by China.
Speaking to Bloomberg at the 80th annual Mexican Banking Association convention in Acapulco, Summers said: “There is no bigger strategic and economic gift we could give China than for the United States to move away from NAFTA…. It would mean less effective production, and less efficient production in North America, which would be a huge windfall to China-led Asia.”
In a reflection of Zbigniew Brzezinski’s warning in 1979 that the U.S. must not allow Mexico to develop, as this would have caused the disaster of a “Japan on our southern border,” Summers said: “Indeed it’s possible to imagine that if the United States were to stay on a hostile path to Mexico, Mexico could find itself with a government in the tradition of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, and China put $65 billion behind that government. We are putting at risk the creation of a major Chinese beachhead in our region on the trajectory we are following if we really were to abrogate NAFTA.”
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Lavrov: The U.S. May Return to the ‘Forgotten Sources’ of Its Founding Fathers
March 25 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivered a lecture to senior officers of the Military Academy of the Russian General Staff on March 23, in which he discussed Russia’s role in ensuring strategic stability, and also referred to potential major changes that could return the U.S. to the approach charted by its Founding Fathers.
Pointing to historical traditions as among the factors that determine a nation’s role in world politics, Lavrov quoted Henry Kissinger as having once said, “History is the memory of states.” Lavrov continued: “By the way, the United States, whose interests Mr. Kissinger has always defended, did not aspire to be the center of the liberal world order for a greater part of its own fairly short history, and did not see that role as its preeminent mission. Its Founding Fathers wanted its leadership and exceptional nature to derive from its own positive example. Ironically, the American elite, which emerged as freedom fighters and separatists anxious to cast off the yoke of the British Crown, had transformed itself and its state by the 20th century into a power thirsting for global imperialist domination. The world is changing, however, and—who knows—America might yet purify itself and return to its own forgotten sources.”
LaRouche Ally Cheminade Campaigns To End Financial, Cultural Occupation of France
March 25 (EIRNS)—The past week has been packed for Jacques Cheminade, since his candidacy for French President was officially validated on March 18, with interviews and events every day. He’s been interviewed on the all-news network LCI, Radio Classique (6 minutes), a talk show on RMC radio (Jean-Jacques Bourdin), and by the Catholic newspaper La Croix, just to name a few.
His busy schedule for the coming week (so far) can be viewed at his official campaign website Cheminade2017. One intervention on March 28th is with French Business Confederation, MEDEF.
On World Water Day (March 22), he gave a seven-minute interview in the studio of France Info TV, in which the interviewer let him elaborate his ideas (difficult for most journalists), in particular on the development of Africa, but also on the cultural importance of space exploration and of exploration of the oceans, to challenge citizens into thinking creatively.
That afternoon, all eleven Presidential candidates were invited by the Association of Mayors of France to present their views and to answer questions over 20 minutes, during which Cheminade focussed on agriculture and rural development.
On March 21, Cheminade gave a presentation on his program at the Higher School of Journalism in Paris, followed by a discussion with the students, for a good hour altogether.
His “profession de foi,” a brochure summarizing the main points of his program, which the government mails to every French voter the week before the first round of voting in the elections, this year on April 23, is now available.
Turkey Will Hold a Referendum on EU Accession Talks, Warns President Erdogan
March 26 (EIRNS)—Angry over EU’s reaction to the April 16 first referendum on constitutional changes, which will shift the presidency to an executive presidential system and abolish the post of prime minister, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at the annual “Turkish-British Tatlidil” forum in Antalya today, said he will hold another referendum on whether to continue with EU accession talks. “You [Britain] have made a decision with Brexit…. We have a referendum on April 16. After this, we may hold a Brexit-like referendum on the [EU] negotiations. No matter what our nation decides, we will obey it,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu Agency.
“Turkey has waited at the door [of the EU] for 54 years,” he said referring to 1963 when Ankara partnered up with what was then the European Economic Community, the Hurriyet Daily News reported. Hurriyet continued that “Turkey’s accession talks with the EU began in 2005 have progressed at a snail’s pace due to concerns over its human rights record, the Cyprus issue, and reluctance among some European countries to admit a largely Muslim nation.”
Erdogan told a rally in Antalya earlier in the day, that the European Union “says it will not take us into the EU if the yes side wins on April 16. If only they would make this decision, it would make our work easier. It would allow us to take swifter decisions. April 16 is a breaking point for us. For that reason, a ‘yes’ vote is very important. We will discuss this in detail because Turkey is not the stooge of anyone. Everyone should know that,” he warned, reported Hurriyet Daily News.
SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Millions Protest Saudi Genocide in Sana’a, Yemen
March 26 (EIRNS)—Massive crowds have hit the streets of Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, today, in protest of the U.S.- and British-backed Saudi bombing campaign against the country’s Shi’a militias. The rally was held on the second anniversary of the start of the intervention and bombing campaign.
According to RT, hundreds of thousands of people took part in the demonstration. Pictures of the huge crowds look more like millions.
Parallel demonstrations took place around the world. A New York City rally of several hundred were delighted to have the LaRouche organization there and copies of The Hamiltonian to distribute.
