EIR Daily Alert Service
|
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2017 Volume 4, Number 67 EIR Daily Alert Service P.O. Box 17390, Washington, DC 20041-0390
EDITORIALWill President Trump Join the New Silk Road?April 4 (EIRNS)—The fate of civilization could well be determined this week, as President Donald Trump is standing firm against the “color revolution” being waged against the United States by the British Empire and their stooges in the failed Obama Administration, and, at the same time, is preparing an historic summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where he could, and must, officially join the New Silk Road. The British imperial division of the world into warring blocs—none more important for the survival of their vile Empire than “East vs. West”—would collapse under a Trump partnership with China to cooperate on the development of the nations of the world through China’s One Belt, One Road, and a partnership with Russia to defeat the terrorist scourge, a creation of London and their Saudi monarchical allies. Following the terrorist bombing of a St. Petersburg subway Monday, Trump called President Vladimir Putin, offering “the full support of the United States Government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice,” according to the White House. “Both President Trump and President Putin agreed that terrorism must be decisively and quickly defeated,” the read-out said. Thursday and Friday, the President will meet with Xi Jinping in his Florida residence. Both sides are reported to have carefully planned the summit; both sides want a successful meeting, and both sides intend to end the geopolitical “zero-sum” approach to global diplomacy, replacing it with win-win cooperation to address the common aims of mankind. As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the Chinese during his visit last month to arrange this week’s summit, the U.S.-China relationship in the Trump Administration would be “a very positive relationship built on no confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect, and always searching for win-win solutions.” Tillerson’s statement was a direct reflection of Xi Jinping’s 2012 call for building a “new type of major country relationship” between China and the U.S., based on “no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” a proposal totally rejected by President Obama, who proceeded instead to prepare for a military confrontation with China. The British/Obama/media effort to blame Russia for the failure of the Hillary Clinton campaign, and to accuse Trump of being a Russian patsy, is increasingly being ridiculed, while the crimes of Obama and his corrupt intelligence team can no longer be concealed. The former Deputy Director for Intelligence for U.S. Central Command, Col. James Waurishuk, responding to the exposure of Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice’s role in using the intelligence community to spy on the Trump campaign, said: “We’re looking at a potential constitutional crisis from the standpoint that we used an extremely strong capability that’s supposed to be used to safeguard and protect the country, and we used it for political purposes by a sitting president. That takes on a new precedent.” Trump also addressed the Building Trades Unions National Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. today, inspiring them to take responsibility for the “once thriving cities marred by empty lots and once booming industrial towns that have become rusted and are in total disrepair.” He continued, “Standing before me today, in this very hall are the men and women who, if given the chance, can transform these communities. You are the citizens who can rebuild our cities, revive our industries and renew our beloved country, and I know you will stop at nothing to get the job done.” The British Empire is crumbling, but they are deploying their forces, with a sense of total desperation, to bring down the United States of America, to preserve their “divide and conquer” control of the world on behalf of their bankrupt financial empire. For the United States, China and Russia to join together on behalf of all mankind would mean the end of Empire, perhaps forever. The ideas introduced and disseminated over the past 50 years by the movement founded by Lyndon LaRouche—for peace through development, for restoring the American System of Hamiltonian credit-based economics, for ending the cultural swamp of “sex, drugs and rock and roll” in favor of a new renaissance of classical culture and science—these ideas are now close to realization. We cannot fail history at this great moment. U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMICCrime of Surveillance of Trump Closes Around ‘Team Obama’April 4 (EIRNS)—Caught in the act, former Obama National Security Director Susan “I never leaked nothing to nobody” Rice and her Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes have spent today protesting that Rice did nothing illegal in requesting the unmasking of U.S. citizens associated with Donald Trump, whose names appeared in foreign surveillance reports. The National Security Advisor has the right to make such requests, but only if there are grounds involving national security or criminal actions. The sheer scope of the “unmasking” operation reported, reduces the protestations of Rice and Rhodes to actionable jokes. To review: After Bloomberg’s Eli Lake named Rice (identified as a British agent years ago by EIR) as the unmasker yesterday, Fox News revealed that multiple sources had reported that the identities received by Rice were “sent to all those at the National Security Council, some at the Defense Department, then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan—essentially, the officials at the top, including former Rice deputy Ben Rhodes.” Not just a few identities, either. According to former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova, U.S. intelligence turned over to Rice “detailed spreadsheets” of intercepted calls which contained no criminal or national security information. This accords exactly with what House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) had reported after reading “dozens” of the reports made available to him by an intelligence community whistleblower two weeks ago. In an explosive article posted late on Monday night, tweeted today by President Trump, the Daily Caller quoted diGenova: “What was produced by the intelligence community at the request of Ms. Rice were detailed spreadsheets of intercepted phone calls with unmasked Trump associates in perfectly legal conversations with individuals…. The overheard conversations involved no illegal activity by anybody of the Trump associates, or anyone they were speaking with. In short, the only apparent illegal activity was the unmasking of the people in the calls.” Col. James Waurishuk (ret.), a former NSC staffer and former Deputy Director for Intelligence at the U.S. Central Command, called the Daily Caller’s attention to the implications of the sheer scope of the operation. To carry out such unmasking requests as Rice now admits she made, “the lawyers and counsel at the NSA surely would be talking to the lawyers and members of counsel at CIA, or at the National Security Council or at the Director of National Intelligence or at the FBI.” This is, as Colonel Waurishuk noted, “really, really serious stuff…. We’re looking at a potential constitutional crisis from the standpoint that we used an extremely strong capability that’s supposed to be used to safeguard and protect the country. And we used it for political purposes by a sitting president. That takes on a new precedent.” At the White House press briefing today, spokesman Sean Spicer raised some pertinent questions: “Why was somebody unmasked; if that was the case, what was the purpose of requesting it; and the extent of which it occurred. If there is no intelligence or criminal value in it, why was somebody requesting it? How far did they do it? Who did they share it with? But I believe that there are more questions than answers at this point.” EIR asks, also: Is it conceivable, given the scope of the operation, that Rice’s “boss,” President Barack Obama did not know? Media Don’t ‘Back’ the Obama Administration: They Are the Obama AdministrationApril 4 (EIRNS)—Breitbart today takes note of the fact that it is no coincidence that the mainstream media sponsor the lies and the crimes of the Obama Administration. Consider:
President Trump Promises U.S. Building Trades Unions Will Rebuild the NationApril 4 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump addressed the annual North America’s Building Trade Unions National Legislative Conference today in Washington, D.C., as a “builder-President who knows how much concrete and re-bar you can lay down in a day,” speaking “to the workers whose hands, skills, and dreams will build the great landmarks of our future.” Trump continued here the theme he has set, of rebuilding our industrial cities and infrastructure, and the harmony of interest among the skilled workers, industrialists and the urban poor. Again, however, he spoke without much detail, besides a reference to the plan to build $1 trillion in new infrastructure and get rid of a lot of the burdensome permitting process. America’s labor leaders will always find an open door with Donald Trump, he promised, as he demonstrated that he knows his unions with a shout-out, one by one, of all the constituent trade groups of the building trades. “Washington and Wall Street have done very, very well for themselves. Now it’s your turn,” he told them. Trump expressed his pride at the building trades workers rebuilding New York City after 9/11. “A lot of people don’t understand, you’re very talented people—enriching our cities and landscapes with works of great beauty,” he said. In closing, the President described the erecting of the Empire State Building in 13 months during the Great Depression by the building trades. He continued: “Our people endured through the hardships of Depression and the battles of World War II, and they emerged from these trials stronger and more united than ever before. Now, we must again summon that same national greatness to meet the challenges of our time. “Only miles from the halls of Congress and the news rooms of Washington, you will find once-thriving cities marred by empty lots, and once-booming industrial towns that have become rusted and are in total disrepair. Standing before me today, in this very hall, are the men and women who, if given the chance, can transform these communities. You are the citizens who can rebuild our cities, revive our industries, and renew our beloved country. And I know you will stop at nothing to get the job done. “For the rest of their lives, everyone who worked on the Empire State Building knew when they looked up at that great New York skyline, that they had lifted the Stars and Stripes atop the tallest flagpole on Earth, and that somewhere high above the city streets, their place in history was carved into beams of steel…. “When we rise above the cynics and critics who live only to defend the status quo, and to defend themselves from failure, then we, too, will construct a lasting monument to national greatness. “In this future, our nation’s workers and craftsmen will look way out at the vast open landscape, and they will build new bridges and new schools and new landmarks, and they will proudly raise up for all to see our bright and beautiful American flag.” STRATEGIC WAR DANGERLavrov Slams Obama Administration, AgainApril 4 (EIRNS)—Speaking at a joint briefing with the Kyrgyzstan Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev in Moscow today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov went after “speculation, reasoning by some media,” that the bombing in the St. Petersburg metro was in revenge for Russia’s policy in Syria. Lavrov called that “cynical, vile,” Sputnik reported. He then launched into a broadside against unnamed “politicians,” referencing the threat of terrorism inside Russia in revenge for Syrian policy made by “figures in the Obama Administration”: “I believe that this is unbecoming of politicians at all. And I hope that in the present situation, when terrorism threatens all countries without exception, such double standards will not exist and that politicians will show responsibility in this regard…. It is sad that this is not just a media invention, but similar thoughts were shared with the world community by figures in the Obama Administration.” Ted Postol, on the Fallacy of ‘Winning’ a Nuclear WarApril 4 (EIRNS)—Emeritus MIT physicist Ted Postol, who has studied, in great detail, both the lies of the Pentagon’s claims that ballistic missile defense (BMD) tests were successful, and exposed that the real target of the U.S. European BMD deployment is Russia, not Iran, was interviewed by Undark online magazine on missile defense, on March 27. Bottom line: “U.S. missile defenses have no chance of working against any adversary who has even a modest understanding of what they are doing.” Asked if the current failed system will be continued under the new administration, Postol says that so far, deployment is continuing, and explains that the “defense system will have little or no capability.” The real danger, Postol says, is not from Iran or North Korea, but the fact that, “the United States is in the process of building a vast nuclear arsenal that appears to be aimed at having the ability to fight and win nuclear wars. The fact that the concept of fighting and winning a nuclear war is completely divorced from the realities of nuclear weapons effects has not deterred the United States from moving forward, as if such an objective is possible.” Postol continues, that “given this [American] behavior, it is to be expected that the Russians would be scared to death, and that the Chinese would also be close behind them. I believe the situation is extremely dangerous, and, in fact, getting more so.” Regarding North Korea, Postol says that the “biggest danger” is “that they could stumble into a nuclear confrontation with the West.” He says, the “North Korean leadership is not crazy.” Instead, it “believes that it should look unpredictable and aggressive in order to keep South Korea and the U.S. off-balance, as part of an overall strategy to avert military action by the South, and U.S.” COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEMEven Manipulated EU Unemployment Statistics Are ShockingApril 4 (EIRNS)—As usual, the mainstream media continue to report that unemployment is decreasing in Europe, claiming that a small upswing is underway already, with the jobless rate down to 9.5% which is the lowest in eight years. Due to various tricks, millions of jobless individuals are no longer counted in the reports, so the true figure of working-age, unemployed citizens is higher than what the official reports are giving. But even the manipulated statistics are shocking. In Greece, unemployment is still at 23.1%, in Spain at 18%; and for the young generation it stands at 45.2% in Greece, 41.5% in Spain, and 35.2% in Italy. In Portugal and France, one out of four youth is without a job. Throughout the EU, 17.3% of citizens in the age group 15-24 are without jobs. In Switzerland, not an EU member, the youth jobless rate is at 7.5%. Since the supposed “upswing” does not affect the young generation, and has not done so for years, the young Europeans can be truly termed a “lost generation.” THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDERLeaders in Global Cooperation Extend Condolences to Putin over St. Petersburg AttackApril 4 (EIRNS)—The first to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin to express their support, following the terror bombing in St. Petersburg, were U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. These three, along with Putin, represent an emerging alignment of cooperation. President Trump made a telephone call to Moscow in which he expressed condolences and, “offered the full support of the United States government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice,” a statement from the White House said. “Both President Trump and President Putin agreed that terrorism must be decisively and quickly defeated.” President Xi Jinping sent a telegram extending his condolences. “A powerful explosion has occurred in the St. Petersburg subway leaving many people dead and injured. I am shocked by this tragedy. The Chinese side strongly condemns this major terrorist attack,” he wrote. “On behalf of the Chinese government and people and on behalf of myself, I express deep sorrow and sincere condolences to those injured, relatives and friends of those killed.” Abe told reporters in his office: “We will not tolerate terrorist acts. Russian President (Vladimir) Putin and the people of Russia and Japan stand together.” Ibero-America Recognizes Moreno Victory in Ecuador, as Loser Screams ‘Fraud’April 4 (EIRNS)— In a Feb. 17 article on his blog, Argentine commentator Atilio Boron warned that Ecuador’s April 2 presidential elections would be like the Battle of Stalingrad—a line in the sand, whose results would have implications far beyond Ecuador. Were the ruling party candidate Lenín Moreno, of AlianzaPAIS, to lose, he intoned, it would “give continental right-wing forces free rein to asphyxiate Bolivia and provoke a new version of a ‘color revolution’ in Venezuela, like the bloody episodes unleashed in Libya and Ukraine.” Moreno won, but by a slim margin of 51.16% against the 48.84% of Wall Street’s candidate, banker and speculator Guillermo Lasso, who benefitted handsomely from the 1999 banking crisis which led to the dollarization of the economy and drove 2 million Ecuadoreans out of the country. His name also appeared in the Panama Papers as a major tax evader. Over the past 24 hours, congratulations for Moreno have poured in from heads of state from around Ibero-America and the Caribbean. Even Argentina’s neocon President Mauricio Macri reluctantly tweeted his congratulations, after initially withholding recognition on grounds that the results were “uncertain.” Brazil’s unelected President Michel Temer followed suit. Lasso, however, is still claiming fraud, and vowing to fight against Moreno’s “illegitimate” government. His supporters were out on the streets protesting last night, although in smaller numbers than the previous evening. Revealingly, the NGO called Citizen Participation, waving an “anti-corruption” banner, and wholly funded by the State Department’s USAID, is countering the official results with the claim that the election was a “technical tie,” claiming that Moreno really got 50.8% to Lasso’s 49.2%. Whether the international forces backing Lasso will try to pull off a color revolution remains to be seen. Moreno’s victory, for the moment, puts a crimp in their plans. Speaking last night at the presidential palace next to President Rafael Correa, Moreno announced, “We’re going to continue on the path of favoring the country’s poorest. I will be everyone’s President, but fundamentally, of the poor,” the daily Página 12 reported. Ruling Party Candidate Wins Serbia’s Presidential ElectionsApril 4 (EIRNS)—The candidate of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), Aleksandar Vucic, easily won the presidential elections with some 55% of the vote, far out-distancing his closest rival Sasa Jankovic, who garnered only 16%, despite backing from the opposition Democratic Party. There were five candidates running. Outgoing President Tomislav Nikolic, who did not run for re-election, cofounded the nationalist SNS along with Vucic, and is a strong supporter of ties with Russia and China, enjoying a strong relationship with both President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping. Vucic was considered the pro-European Union face of the SNS. While some pundits say he is committed to leading Serbia into the EU, he has quite a few hurdles ahead of him, given the strong support for ties with Russia within the party, not to mention the strong sentiment against NATO, which bombed the country in the 1990s war. Vucic made an official visit to Moscow just days before the elections, where he met President Putin, reaffirming the strong Serbian-Russian ties. He has also showed support for ties with China, which is responsible for several important projects including an agreement to build a high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest. Both Nikolic and Vucic sent strong messages of support to Putin following yesterday’s bombing of the St. Petersburg subway. Putin sent a congratulatory message to Vucic, saying his victory “testifies to the wide support for your efforts aimed at resolving current economic and social problems … and pursuing a constructive, balanced foreign policy,” reported the Kremlin. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYITER Director in Washington, Calls for the U.S. To Move Ahead on Backing FusionApril 4 (EIRNS)—The Director General of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Bernard Bigot was in Washington on March 22, invited to testify before the Energy and Water Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on the status of ITER and U.S. participation in the international tokamak experiment, ITERNewsline reported on April 3, U.S. participation in ITER has been contentious for years, as the U.S. fusion program received so little funding, it could not keep its domestic experiments funded, and support its participation in ITER at the same time. In the 1990s, the Congress forced the U.S. withdrawal from the project. Last year, the Senate tried to zero out ITER funding, due to the delays and cost overruns in the program, and backed by President Obama’s expressed visceral hatred of the advanced science and energy prospects. A compromise was found with the House, but the program is getting about half of the funds it needs. The article reports that there was “broad consensus” during the House hearing that ITER was back on track, with Bigot’s leadership. Bigot stressed the importance of the U.S. contributions to ITER. To put the U.S. funding in perspective, and perhaps also to shame the “richest country in the world,” which somehow cannot find the money for ITER, while India and China somehow can, he compared the U.S. 9% share of the cost to Europe’s 45% share, as the host partner. He explained that the funding does not go to France, where the experiment is based, but to very high-technology U.S. companies which design, engineer, and manufacture the hardware for the groundbreaking machine. While in Washington, Bigot was also able to meet with Secretary of Energy Rick Perry for 40 minutes to brief him on the ITER fusion project. Meanwhile, the annual ITER Business Forum was held in France at the end of March, and drew a stunning 1,005 participants from 25 countries this year. Close to 450 companies, laboratories, and institutions were represented, ITERNewsline reported April 3. Around 200 ITER staff provided presentations on how the project is organized, recent progress, and industrial opportunities. High-technology industry, especially in Europe, see the development of ITER, being built in France, as an important driver for entirely new technological applications in new industries. OTHERBen Franklin: Scholar and Supporter of China and ConfucianismApril 4 (EIRNS)—On the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s birth, Prof. Dave Wang of St. John’s University published a report on Franklin’s extensive study of Chinese philosophy and technology. Wang’s introduction says that, “Franklin’s efforts to draw positive elements from Chinese civilization in the course of building an American civilization, carried much weight in Franklin’s contribution to the formation of American civilization. … His correspondence and miscellaneous papers throughout his life indicate” that he was amazed about Chinese culture. He explored almost every aspect of Chinese civilization, from spiritual to material. He believed that China “was the most ancient, and from long Experience, the wisest of Nations….” Wang’s study quotes Franklin as saying of China: “When he [Confucius] saw his country sunk in vice, and wickedness of all kinds triumphant, he applied himself first to the grandees; and having by his doctrine won them to the cause of virtue, the commons followed in multitudes. The mode has a wonderful influence on mankind.” And, “This is what Confucius proposed to the princes, to instruct them how to rectify and polish first their own reason, and afterwards the reason and person of all their subjects. But to make the greater impression, after having gradually descended from the wise conduct of the whole empire, to the perfection of the understanding, he re-ascends, by the same degrees, from the illuminated understanding to the happy state of the whole empire.” Franklin’s study of Chinese technology included:
|
|
|
