EDITORIAL
Don’t Swallow the Induced Pessimism—The New World Economic Order Is Already in Place
June 6 (EIRNS)—To Americans (and Europeans) who are subjected to a 24/7 barrage of reports on worldwide disasters, on Trump facing impeachment, on the world about to burn up from global warming, and more and more fake news, fake science, and induced pessimism—get over it! The world has changed.
The momentum of history today is defined by the tremendous victory for Mankind consolidated at the May 14-15 Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in China, followed by the June 1-3 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia. These forums went far beyond presenting hopeful visions of a distant future, but presented a mapping of the transformation of the entire globe which has taken place over the past few years through the New Silk Road process, while achieving a commitment on behalf of the vast majority of the human race to continue that process at an accelerated rate.
And the United States was a participant in that process, as President Trump sent a senior delegate to Beijing, and 300 leading U.S. industrialists attended St. Petersburg. The participation of Helga Zepp-LaRouche at the Belt and Road Forum, and in forums and press interviews across China for two weeks following that event, demonstrated the recognition in China that she and her husband Lyndon LaRouche had initiated the process, back in the 1990s, to replace the Cold War with development projects connecting nations physically and culturally, as the original Silk Road had done in the past.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche today addressed the U.S. members of the LaRouche organization on the urgency of lifting the population out of the controlled environment created by the disintegrating political parties, the neocons, and the failing mass media. Is the infrastructure in your city crumbling, as it is in New York City? Ask yourself, what would China do? Within a year or two, China would replace the rot with new high-speed rail, maglev subways, nuclear powered energy generation, new education and health facilities. And, with the Belt and Road Initiative, together with the development banks they have created, China is taking that process to the rest of the world—including (if we accept) to the United States.
This is what Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy would have done. This is what LaRouche proposed, in great detail, over the past 50 years, since Kennedy was killed by those who despised his vision and scientific optimism. Zepp-LaRouche reviewed today how this organization prepared extensive development proposals for Africa, for Ibero-America, for the Indian-Pacific Ocean Basin, and for North America, together with the return to the creditary policies of Hamilton, Lincoln and Roosevelt which would facilitate such great projects. But these are precisely the proposals being implemented today, under the leadership of China and Russia!
There is no time to lose in awakening the American and European people to the new paradigm which is standing directly in front of them, but obscured by the lying press and by their own fears and pessimism. Thus far, President Trump has refused to back down to the new McCarthyism orchestrated by the British and their assets in the U.S., who believe that the population has been so “dumbed-down” that they will accept the absurdity that being friends with Russia and China is a crime against American freedom and democracy.
It will not work. The LaRouche organization is strategically situated, with the solutions in hand, to break through the morass, to bring the United States and Europe fully into the New Silk Road, to restore the Glass-Steagall legislation and Hamiltonian national banking, and to join with the rest of the world in pushing forward the frontiers of human knowledge, creating a future worthy of the dignity of mankind, here on Earth and in our future colonies in space.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Trump Tweets on Qatar
June 6 (EIRNS)—President Trump issued two tweets this morning on the breaking of relations with Qatar by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, U.A.E. and others:
“During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar—look!
“So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”
Tillerson: Trump Is Clear—Continue Improving Russia Relations
June 6 (EIRNS)—Speaking in New Zealand after meeting with Prime Minister Bill English, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was asked about the accusation that Russia interfered in the U.S. election, and whether it would bring down the Trump administration.
“I can’t really comment on any of that because I don’t have any direct knowledge,” Tillerson said. “The President’s been clear to me: Do not let what’s happened over here in the political realm prevent you from the work that you need to do on this relationship [with Russia], and he’s been quite clear with me … that we might make progress. I’m really not involved in any of these other issues.”
Federal Contractor Arrested for Leaking NSA Fake News on Russia
June 6 (EIRNS)—Reality Winner, a 25-year-old federal contractor, has been arrested for leaking an NSA document to The Intercept. The document claims that Russia’s military intelligence, GRU, attempted to hack U.S. companies that provide election software. The NSA document, leaked to coincide with the upcoming Senate Intelligence Committee testimony of former FBI Director James Comey, purports to show GRU attempts to disrupt the U.S. election. Like all the leaks on this subject, no evidence is presented, just intelligence assessments of the alleged leak.
But this time, the leaker has been caught and arrested. Winner was in the Air Force for the last six years as a linguist specializing in Farsi, Dari and Pashto. She spent six months of her active duty assigned to Ft. Meade, Maryland, the NSA headquarters. In February, she transitioned out of the Air Force to a job at Pluribus International, an Alexandria, Virginia company that provides linguistic and intelligence analysis to the government. According to press accounts, Winner is part of the anti-Trump movement. She was a Bernie Sanders supporter, attended the women’s march, and is an avid greenie, posting attacks on Trump over the pipelines and the Paris climate agreement withdrawal.
Winner supposedly printed out the document on an NSA printer and mailed it to The Intercept. She also supposedly was in email correspondence with The Intercept from her work computer. Five other people are also reported to have printed out the document.
Obviously many questions are raised by this affair.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Qatar Is a Flank of the British Empire
June 6 (EIRNS)—Whereas many in Europe fear that the move against Qatar might lead to a dangerous confrontation with Iran, some anti-neocon circles believe that this is a game-changer. These circles point to the major role played by Qatar not only in backing terrorism, but especially in being a moneybags for the British Empire and their allies.
Qatar has the largest sovereign fund in the world, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), with $335 billion. It has bought into several megabanks, becoming the main shareholder of Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Credit Suisse for instance. And it is the main shareholder of the London Stock Exchange, with 10.31% (second largest is BlackRock with 3.91 %).
It also holds about a 17% stake in the Volkswagen Group, as well as investments in Sainsbury’s. The French government has made Qatar a strategic partner, and the list of partnerships between the two states includes Lagardère, Total, EADS, Technip, Air Liquide, Vinci SA, GDF, Suez, Veolia, Vivendi, Royal Monceau, France Telecom, and Areva. In February 2009, France accorded special investment privileges to Qatar and its state-owned enterprises; one example is capital gains exemptions in France.
In 2010, Qatar Holding, an indirect subsidiary of QIA, purchased the Harrods Group from Mohamed Al-Fayed. In the same year, Qatar Investment Authority was part of an investment group known as Filmyard Holdings, that purchased Miramax from Disney.
Qatar is Al Jazeera, which was morphed from the BBC Arab Bureau, and which played a key role in building the so-called “Arab Spring” regime change narrative.
Qatar has financed Hamas, Al Nusra and the forces opposing General Haftar in Libya. It is the only country to host a diplomatic office of the Afghan Taliban.
An article in scenarieconomici.it emphasizes the connections between the Qatar ruling family, Al Thani, and “the Clintonians”: “The Al Thani family has been the Clintonians’ local ally to destabilize (read: finance) terrorism. This family is closely linked to the Clintons: There have been rumors of a money transfer from the Clinton Foundation just before the lost elections, to the Qatar central bank. Lies? Maybe. But for sure, Clinton and Al Thani have always been one and the same things, and today games are changing.”
Diplomatic Flurry Underway To Try To Cool Down Saudi-Qatar Feud
June 6 (EIRNS)—According to news reports, Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, flew to Riyadh, today, to try to mediate the dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Al Jazeera reported, late yesterday, that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that Al-Sabah had asked Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar’s ruling emir, to hold off on giving a speech about the crisis late on Tuesday night. Sheikh Sabah called on Qatar’s ruler to instead focus on easing tension and advised against making decisions that could escalate the situation, Kuwait state news agency KUNA said.
Iran, one of the actual targets of the Saudi action against Qatar, is also engaged in intense diplomacy. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called a number of his counterparts, including Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Foreign Minister of Kuwait Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah to discuss the Qatar diplomatic row, as well as the foreign ministers of Lebanon, Tunisia, Malaysia, and Algeria. There was also a phone call between Zarif and the Qatari foreign minister. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency provides few details of these phone calls, however, beyond that they spoke about “regional developments.”
Zarif, Reuters reported, today, also spoke to the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Retno Marsudi. Though a majority Sunni country, Indonesia has sometimes tried to play a mediating role when inter-Islamic tensions have flared, particularly between Saudi Arabia and predominantly Shi’ite Iran, reports Reuters. Indonesia is calling for dialogue and reconciliation to resolve this latest clash.
Assad: Qatar Came First, with British and French Backing
June 6 (EIRNS)—Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview on India’s WION TV on June 3 (before the Saudi et al. move against Qatar), was asked who is to blame for the terrorist scourge in Syria. He responded:
“Mainly, who started this conflict was Qatar under the supervision and the endorsement of the Western countries, mainly France and U.K., at the very beginning, but when you talk about France and U.K., they wouldn’t do something without the permission of the United States. We all know that the real mentor is the United States, but they allow others to play different roles. So, if you want to blame about who supported the terrorists and who started this blood-letting and blood-shedding in Syria, it was the West and Qatar, and later Saudi Arabia, one year later joined the same effort, and of course Turkey; we wouldn’t forget Turkey which was the main player with the terrorists in Syria from the very, very beginning.”
He also said that there was progress now: “The situation has improved dramatically, let’s say, because the terrorist groups, mainly ISIS and al-Nusra and like-minded groups in Syria who are Wahhabi terrorist extremist groups, are retreating, or let’s say the area under their control has been shrinking. So, the situation on the ground, from a military point of view, is much better than before. But this is not the whole picture; it’s not only about military conflict, it’s about different things, about the ideology that they try to spread in our region, which is the most dangerous challenge that we may face in the near and long term.
“Second, it’s about the support that those terrorist groups have been gaining from regional countries like Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, and European and Western countries like the United States, France, and U.K., mainly, which mark a new era in the world where you can use terrorism, any kind of terrorism, to implement a political agenda. This is something more dangerous than any other danger that we may face in our modern world.”
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Kaptur Calls for Glass-Steagall Debate at Rules Committee, Restore ‘Golden Age’ of American Growth
June 6 (EIRNS)—Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), supported by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), testified this evening to the House Rules Committee and asked it to “set up a fair debate on reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act” in the House, to return a “healthier, more competitive, sounder banking system instead of rampant speculation.” She said, “This rests on separating risky speculation from prudent banking … Glass-Steagall separation.”
Kaptur told the Committee that the decades in which Glass-Steagall was the nation’s primary bank regulation “have been referred to as a golden era” of economic growth, plentiful lending credit, and fair interest paid to consumers on deposits. She said that nearly two-thirds of the community banks which served that era had disappeared since the 1990s when Glass-Steagall was eliminated, and the number of credit unions has been cut in half. Kaptur denounced the six biggest U.S. banks making $141 billion a year in profits while “Grandma Moses earns nothing on her CD.”
“Bernie Sanders campaigned on breaking up these banks,” Kaptur said. “So did Donald Trump. Both parties’ platforms endorsed it, and the RNC wasted fewer words than the Democrats: ‘We support restoring the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act.’ ”
“Our nation has a chance to get this right before another looming financial crisis, perhaps anchored in corporate debt, hits,” Kaptur concluded. “Congress must not wait, the chance to restore Glass-Steagall is now.”
The Rules Committee, on a GOP party-line vote, voted down the Kaptur-Jones amendment as part of the upcoming debate on the Republicans’ H.R.10, “Financial CHOICE Act.” Kaptur will be able to contest this again when the CHOICE Act comes to the House floor, perhaps this week.
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Bernie Sanders In England, Campaigning for Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn
June 6 (EIRNS)—Bernie Sanders has just completed a “whirlwind” three-day tour in England, effectively campaigning for Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party candidate for Prime Minister, in the critical last days before Thursday’s June 8 election. While Sanders did not formally endorse Corbyn, and the two did not appear on stage together at any of Sanders’ appearances, it cannot be lost to some that this has brought two of the leading global advocates for a New Glass-Steagall bank separation together in what is, in reality, a global battle.
Addressing that point—of global income stratification—directly, Sanders told a sold-out crowd at the Brighton Fair that, “what I think Brexit was about was a lot of people who felt left behind by the global economy and their voices and their pain was not being heard. What upset me was the Democratic Party [in the U.S.] more or less ignored that reality. What Democrats have got to do is to have the courage to look at that pain. Trump understood that reality and spoke to that reality. Unfortunately, he lied, but that reality exists. It wasn’t so much that he won the election; it was that the Democrats lost the election.”
While Sanders naturally brought with him his “bottom up” view of political change, which coheres with Corbyn’s “For the Many, Not the Few” campaign theme, the rousing reception Sanders got at his appearances has given a new jolt of energy to the Corbyn campaign, which was already surging to close the gap behind Theresa May. Reports are that Corbyn has narrowed the gap down “to single figures” (when it had been as high as 20%), with Corbyn taking the offensive against Tory Prime Minister Theresa May, who has a big “Hillary Clinton” problem when it comes to relating to the voters.
Modi Comments at St. Petersburg on India-China Relations
June 6 (EIRNS)—Speaking at a panel discussion at the June 1-3 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the current interconnected and interdependent world, countries—meaning China and India—may have some disputes and some areas of collaboration. The Press Trust of India (PTI) reported his remarks on June 3.
Modi was asked whether India’s opposition to China’s Belt and Road Initiative reflects deep discord in their relationship. Sharing the stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Chancellor of Austria and President of Moldova, the Indian Prime Minister said: “It is true that we have a border dispute with China. But in the last 40 years, not a single bullet has been fired because of border dispute.”
Modi’s statement on the ability of both India and China, the two most populous countries in the world, to keep things in the right perspective, was welcomed in Beijing. “We have noted the positive remark made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the China-India (situation). We welcome that,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying observed during her regular media briefing on June 5, The Hindu reported. “The two major countries China and India maintaining sound and steady bilateral relationship is of great significance.”
The Hindu also reported June 5 that China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai had welcomed the multiple meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi, and said that “healthy relations” between China and India would contribute “to Asian, (as well as) to world peace and stability.”
SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
China, International Space Leadership Express Importance of Global Cooperation
June 6 (EIRNS)—At the opening the three-day Global Space Exploration (GLEX) conference today in Beijing, President Xi Jinping told the more than 1,000 delegates from 51 countries, in a letter read by Vice President Li Yuanchao, that China is willing to enhance cooperation with the international community, as he hailed achievements made in space exploration. He said that progress in space science and technology will benefit people around the world in the future. China attaches great importance to space exploration as well as innovation in space science and technology, said Xi, and that his country wants to use these achievements to create a better future for mankind. He expressed hope that the conference will promote international exchanges and cooperation.
The GLEX conferences are sponsored by the prestigious International Astronautical Federation (IAF), which formed in 1950, and is headquartered in Paris. The “members” of the IAF are space institutions and organizations from almost every nation in the world. The Chinese sentiment for closer international cooperation was enthusiastically echoed by Roberto Battiston, president of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), who praised this dream of a “global space agency,” as quoted by the IAF.
Delegates attended a plenary event organized by the Chinese host, which highlighted the key role played by other nations in China’s Chang’e-4 lunar mission, which include the European Space Agency and Germany.
Senior Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei told the GLEX conference participants that China is planning at least four manned space flights over the next five years, to build its space station. China will orbit the core module and two research laboratories, with docking ports that can accommodate laboratories and astronauts contributed by other countries.
The core module will be launched (unmanned) in 2019, with station’s completion slated for 2022. Yang said that two manned missions will be conducted in 2020, which would be for station assembly. In an interview with Beijing Youth Daily, Yang said that later this year, China will select its next class of astronauts. “The first batch of astronauts were all bachelor’s degree-holders selected from the PLA Air Force. Now, we will give more consideration to aerospace engineers and other experts from broader society. They will more likely be postgraduates,” he said.
Yang predicted that Chinese astronauts would land on the Moon by around 2030, and said, “One day, we may go to Mars, or even farther.”
State Lawmakers Urged To Act To Keep Connecticut Nuclear Plant Open
June 6 (EIRNS)—Describing Connecticut as having the “highest electricity rates in the continental United States,” Dominion Energy spokesman Kevin Hennsey described the companies and jobs that have moved out of the state as a result. Legislation, which has not yet been debated in the State House or Senate, would authorize the nuclear utility to bid for state power contracts on an equal footing with other generators. Millstone nuclear, Dominion says, could reduce its rates, by selling directly to energy retailers rather than on hedge fund markets, which create no value for consumers and instead drive up prices.
The Millstone plant accounts for fully 59% of the power consumed in the state of Connecticut, employs more than 1,000 workers, and generates $1.47 billion in annual economic activity. Yet it may be forced to shut down if the legislation fails.
With the legislature scheduled to end its session on June 7, it is not likely a bill will be passed. But as in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the issue is squarely on the table.
