EDITORIAL
What’s the News?
Dec. 10 (EIRNS)—What’s the news that the lying press is blacking out and denying you? It’s hope. The contagion of hope. The lying press is refusing to report that U.S. President Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping witnessed a Memorandum of Understanding, during President Trump’s Nov. 8-10 state visit to China, in which a giant Chinese firm agreed to invest $83.7 billion in petrochemical manufacturing in West Virginia, one of the poorest of the U.S. states, and the most victimized by the killer opioid epidemic. There is hope in West Virginia today—and it won’t stop there!
As West Virginia’s Governor Jim Justice said at a Dec. 4 press conference, “There’s one word ringing across the valleys and the mountains, and that’s hope!”
Helga Zepp-LaRouche noted in a conversation today that once you have hope, you see everything in a totally different way. Our great strength today stems from the fact that this is a time of hope—a season of hope. The best thing about the winter is that spring is coming. The bad dream, the nightmare that descended on America and the world with the death of Franklin Roosevelt, and then John and Robert Kennedy, is finally over.
How could an entire state of the United States, like West Virginia for example, walk into the dead end of depopulation, of extinction, as West Virginia was walking into it until recently? There is idle labor, even skilled labor. There are resources. What is needed is the credit to set them into action, as Franklin Roosevelt provided it, for example, in his recovery and mobilization programs. A credit system, not a money system. The lesson of the hope that is springing up in West Virginia, the hope they don’t want you to know about, is that the United States must implement the Hamiltonian credit system of Lyndon LaRouche’s “Four New Laws,” while joining fully in the World Land-Bridge system pioneered by China—and fought for for decades by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche.
Events began moving in West Virginia—one of the so-called “flyover states” despised by Hillary Clinton—a little before President Trump’s early-November trip to China. A terrible fire began in West Virginia’s Wood County on Oct. 21 of this year and burned for over a week, shutting down the town of Parkersburg. The county ran out of money to pay the contractors who were shooting water to try to contain the toxic flames and smoke. When Governor Justice’s Chief of Staff telephoned him from Wood County, and asked what to do, the Governor ordered money taken out of the governor’s contingency fund, responding, “You cannot put a price on a West Virginian. Do whatever it takes to make this happen.”
This was also celebrated last Monday when the Governor presented a check to the county to cover the emergency expenses, and the Governor concluded the meeting by saying, “One thing is moving across the land, and the average everyday guy gets it. That is hope.”
NEW WORLD ECONOMIC ORDER
First Reports from Houston Business Delegation to China
Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is now leading a delegation to China of 80 businessmen, plus local elected officials, and community and educational leaders. The eight-day visit began in Shenzhen, Houston’s sister city, then continued to Shanghai, and is wrapping up in Beijing. The group returned to Houston this weekend. The preliminary results:
First, in Shanghai Dec. 8, the Wison Group welcomed the trade and investment mission at the company’s headquarters in Zhangjiang of Shanghai. Wison’s President greeted the delegation, and Mr. Qingguo Jiang, its vice-president, briefed the group, led by Bob Harvey of the Greater Houston Partnership, on the company. Wison is an engineering, procurement and construction company (EPC), currently contracted with Taiwan’s Formosa Plastic in building chemical plants in Comfort, Texas. In July, “Wison Engineering was awarded an EPC and fabrication contract for Formosa Plastics U.S.A.’s new-built Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Texas, while Wison Offshore & Marine has taken on the module fabrication work. This project signified, “Wison is gaining market recognition in U.S. market, which paved the way for its growth in North America,” according to a Wison press release. Wison attracted significant international coverage in the first half of 2012 by winning a contract to “engineer, procure, construct, install, and commission” the world’s first “floating LNG liquefaction, re-gasification, and storage unit” off the coast of Colombia.
On the first leg of the delegation’s visit, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Houston Airport System and the Chinese company CIMC. “Houston and our airport system have the infrastructure to accommodate CIMC-TianDa as it seeks a platform to compete for business across the Americas,” Mayor Turner said in a statement. CIMC-TianDa, which specializes in airport and seaport equipment design, development, manufacturing and maintenance, is seeking a facility to support operations in the Western Hemisphere, and the MOU involves a real estate lease or purchase options at or near George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The Chinese Consulate in Houston estimates that Chinese companies have invested some $10 billion in Texas cumulatively, mostly related to oil and gas. Business relations go back to 2014. In that year, a high-profile Chinese delegation of more than 20 was led by Diao Chunhe, chairman of China International Contractors Association under then-Gov. Rick Perry. Unlike Perry, current Gov. Greg Abbott has not visited China.
Putin Advisor Glazyev Says Eurasian Partnership Is a Basis for India-China Cooperation
Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—On the eve of the 15th Russia-India-China foreign ministers meeting Dec. 11 in New Delhi, Russian Presidential Advisor Sergey Glazyev suggested that Russia can play a role in creating the basis for joint economic integration between the three nations, “so that China and India could work together with us to outline common development plans.”
Resolving the legacies of tensions between China and India, and bringing India into active participation with the global Belt and Road Initiative China has set in motion is crucial to secure world peace. As Indian security expert Maj. Gen. P.K. Sehgal (ret.) told Sputnik International today, “Despite all the differences that exist between India, Russia and China, the fact remains that these three countries together comprise almost 60% of humanity and if they collaborate on international platforms then they are a formidable force.”
Glazyev elaborated his thinking on that strong trilateral cooperation to Russian reporters on Dec. 5 in New Delhi, where he was attending a meeting of Indian and Russian think tanks.
Glazyev emphasized, TASS reported:
“All the integration projects, including the Eurasian Economic Union, the One Belt, One Road initiative and our idea of free trade with India, are open for everyone. In my view, Russia’s role may be to create a basis integration for all… We should understand that all our sore spots came to be as a result of someone’s interference. We know that the conflict between India and Pakistan is rooted in their colonial past. Attempts to create a Pacific partnership without Russia and China, as well as issues between Russia and Japan, are a result of interference by some third party—the English or the Americans, who still live in the past. We need to build our future ourselves and I believe that the idea of great Eurasian partnership stipulates that we should all work together, certainly including India and China….”
The presidential advisor said India is interested in participating in the modernization of the trans-European transport infrastructure; in particular construction of pipelines to Central Asia and Russia and rail services to Russia, TASS reported. “If we tried to resolve all these common issues in Asia together without involving other parties, I think they would be resolved in no time. And President Putin’s initiative about the great Eurasian partnership envisages that we should define our future together,” Glazyev said.
Putin Inaugurates First Liquefied Natural Gas Plant in the Arctic
Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the first LNG plant in the Arctic on Dec. 8, and oversaw the first gas shipment being loaded onto an icebreaking tanker. This event took place in weather of −18°F, in the port of Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula, above the Arctic Circle. AFP-Jiji reports Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and other top officials were present for the occasion. Funded by Chinese banks and part-owned by France’s Total, the Yamal LNG project is controlled by Russia’s Novatek. It will produce 16.5 million tons of super-cooled gas per year by 2019, the Financial Times reports.
Referring to the difficulties, Putin said, “When this project began, several people made a list of reasons why it would not work. There were risks. But you can see it has been a success. This is a crucial event, not just for energy but for the whole use of the Arctic … and the Northern Route.”
Yamal LNG is located on the estuary of the Ob River, a remote region that is frozen for seven to nine months a year and where winter temperatures can drop to as low as −58°F. At the start of the project, there were no access routes to the site by land or by sea. In order to bring in equipment and staff, construction began on a large-capacity regional transportation hub in 2011, comprising the port of Sabetta and an international airport. Shipping LNG in such extreme conditions also required Total and its partners to design a new breed of vessel: the LNG icebreaker tanker. This innovative solution allows LNG to be transported all year long without the assistance of separate icebreakers, according to the Total website.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Kesha Rogers Declares Her Independent Bid for the 9th CD of Texas
Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—On Dec. 7, Kesha Rogers announced her candidacy as an Independent for the 9th CD of Texas, the district currently held by Congressman Al Green (D). In a video statement posted by announcing her campaign, Rogers calls out Representative Green’s recent resolution to impeach President Trump as grandstanding, and doing nothing to address the true needs or interests of the people of the 9th District. In an interview with LaRouche PAC yesterday, Rogers sketched the main planks of her campaign:
“There has been no real economic upturn in the lives of many of the people of the 9th District since the 2008 financial collapse…. On the national level, Wall Street has continued the same policies which led to the 2008 collapse, and throughout the world, those in the know whisper behind closed doors that another collapse is imminent. We continue to suffer from the neglect of necessary infrastructure which created the tragedy known as Hurricane Harvey.
“Across the world in China, an entirely different perspective for the future is being brought into being by the great One Belt, One Road project, the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken by mankind. Whole new cities are being engineered and built. High-speed rail takes citizens across great distances in minimal times. Manufacturing is accomplished on modern platforms. Space exploration has been made a priority. Most importantly, the people are optimistic about the future … new ideas are the subject of impassioned debate and discussion. This is a project long envisioned and campaigned for by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche. President Trump, whom Congressman Green wants to impeach, is exploring how the United States can benefit from this great project. West Virginia, for example, has just received a $83.7 billion investment package as the result of President Trump’s negotiations with his friend, President Xi Jinping. Houston’s Mayor has also recently traveled to China seeking similar types of investment.
“I am announcing my candidacy for the 9th CD of Texas to provide leadership and address needed solutions to the problems faced not just by the citizens of this district but by the nation as a whole. Many of you know that this is the reason for my past campaigns, and why I achieved significant votes in winning two primaries for Congress and forcing a runoff in a U.S. Senate campaign. The time has come for someone to step forward and declare, the U.S.A. must join with the international Belt and Road Initiative led by China, and launch a bold new era of rapid scientific and cultural advance.
House Intelligence Committee Keeps Scoring Against Mueller Witchhunt
Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—With LaRouche PAC and EIR fully mobilized against the British “Russiagate” assault on the Presidency, the House Select Committee on Intelligence is now also mobilized, and forcing revelations that are turning “Russiagate” into “Muellergate.” The LaRouche movement alone, up to now, has identified the witchhunt against the President, fronted by Robert Mueller, as a British intelligence attack on the U.S. Presidency. But Intelligence Committee Republicans are increasingly focusing on the British “phony dossier” of MI6 agent Christopher Steele as an outrage against the United States.
The Chairman of House Intelligence, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, was cleared on Dec. 7 by the House Ethics Committee of accusations that he revealed classified evidence. This removes the reason for Nunes’ earlier forced recusal from the investigation of “Russiagate,” and vindicates his credibility in exposing the Obama Administration officials’ intensive surveillance of Trump’s campaign and his transition team.
On Dec. 7, during FBI Director Christopher Wray’s appearance before Nunes’ committee, at least two members exposed all of Mueller’s investigative team as having shown pro-Obama, pro-Clinton and anti-Trump political bias. Three of Mueller’s inquisitors have flagrantly shown this bias in email communications; all the others, by contributing exclusively to Obama, Clinton, and other Democrats’ campaigns.
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio explicitly tied this bias to Mueller team attorney Peter Strzok’s use of the British dossier to get warrants from the secret FISA court to surveil Trump’s campaign. Wray refused to answer Jordan’s questions on this or related subjects.
The Intelligence Committee has also established that Steele of British MI6, with his dossier, was brought into the Obama Justice Department at a very high level during the 2016 campaign, meeting at least once with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s top assistant, Bruce Ohr. Ohr met during the same period with Glenn Simpson of the Fusion GPS consulting firm that was paying Steele for the dossier with Obama/Clinton campaign funds. Ohr has now lost his position as Assistant Deputy Attorney General, the third high-ranking person associated with Mueller’s investigation to be demoted for manifest bias.
On Dec. 7, the judge overseeing the trial of President Trump’s first National Security Advisor Michael Flynn suddenly recused himself. Judge Rudolph Contreras gave no reason; but he was on the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court from May 2016 to May 2017, the period in which that court authorized surveillance of at least Trump supporter Carter Page, and in which Michael Flynn’s communications were surveilled and “unmasked.” By recusing himself, Judge Contreras may be silently indicating the answer to Rep. Jim Jordan’s question to FBI Director Wray.
Fake News Toilet Overflows
Dec. 10 (EIRNS)—The rapid rate at which “fake news” media are being forced to retract damning anti-Trump stories is stunning.
On Dec. 8, Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel posted a photo of a largely empty arena in Florida, juxtaposed to President Trump’s comment that he was speaking to a “packed house” at a Pensacola rally that evening. Weigel was forced to apologize after the President pointed out Dec. 9 that the photograph had been taken before the rally started, when long lines of people were still waiting to get in.
There were worse lapses earlier on Dec. 8, causing journalist Glenn Greenwald to write yesterday in The Intercept under the title “The U.S. Media Yesterday Suffered Its Most Humiliating Debacle in Ages: Now Refuses All Transparency Over What Happened.”
Greenwald begins, “Friday was one of the most embarrassing days for the U.S. media in quite a long time. The humiliation orgy was kicked off by CNN, with MSNBC and CBS close behind, with countless pundits, commentators and operatives joining the party throughout the day. By the end of the day, it was clear that several of the nation’s largest and most influential news outlets had spread an explosive but completely false news story to millions of people, while refusing to provide any explanation of how it happened.”
The story was that on Sept. 4, 2016, an unknown person had secretly offered the Trump campaign, and even Donald Trump himself, special access to the leaked DNC emails before they were published on the internet. “As CNN sees the world, this would prove collusion between the Trump family and WikiLeaks and, more importantly, between Trump and Russia, since the U.S. intelligence community regards WikiLeaks as an ‘arm of Russian intelligence,’ and therefore, so does the U.S. media.”
Greenwald continues, “It’s impossible to convey with words what a spectacularly devastating scoop CNN believed it had, so it’s necessary to watch it for yourself to see the tone of excitement, breathlessness and gravity the network conveyed as they clearly believed they were delivering a near-fatal blow on the Trump/Russia collusion story.
“There was just one small problem with this story: it was fundamentally false, in the most embarrassing way possible. Hours after CNN broadcast its story—and then hyped it over and over and over—the Washington Post reported that CNN got the key fact of the story wrong. The email was not dated Sept. 4, as CNN claimed, but rather Sept. 14—which means it was sent after WikiLeaks had already published access to the DNC emails online.”
But in the meantime, before it was retracted, California Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu had sent out the original story, to be retweeted at least 7,000 times. Brookings’ Benjamin Wittes had tweeted it to his 200,000 followers, and Josh Marshall of “Talking Points Memo” had tweeted it to his 250,000 followers. Both MSNBC and CBS had claimed to have independently “confirmed” the story from their own sources, and had rebroadcast it themselves as a devastating blow against the President.
Greenwald demands that these networks display the accountability they demand from others. If they were all misled, apparently deliberately, by anonymous sources as they claim, then those lying sources have no right to anonymity. The networks should name them—most probably, although not necessarily, Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee before whom Donald Trump, Jr., had just testified, or their staffers.
Trump White House Again Tells Saudis, Lift Yemen Blockade
Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—The White House today reiterated in a press statement President Donald Trump’s demand of Dec. 7 to Saudi King Salman, that Saudi Arabia lift its inhuman blockade of the ports and airports which is starving Yemen.
“We call on the Saudi-led coalition to facilitate the free flow of humanitarian aid and critical commercial goods, including fuel, through all Yemeni ports, and to restore commercial flights through Sana’a Airport,” the White House statement said. “We urge all parties to immediately cease hostilities, re-energize political talks and end the suffering of the Yemeni people.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, at a press conference with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris, told reporters Dec. 8.: “I think we’ve been clear when it comes to Yemen. We have called for, and President Trump himself called for this week, a complete end to the blockade of Yemen, a reopening of all the ports to, not just humanitarian assistance, but commercial delivery as well, because about 80% of the food comes in on commercial shipments. We are asking that Saudi Arabia allow that access.”
Lavrov and Tillerson Meet in Vienna To Discuss Common Global Concerns
Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Ministerial Council in Vienna. They discussed Syria, North Korea, and Ukraine.
Lavrov informed Tillerson that Russia is ready to help North Korea and the United States establish direct dialogue on security guarantees for Pyongyang. “We know that North Korea wants first of all to speak with the United States about its security guarantees. We are ready to support it. We are ready to help promote such talks,” Lavrov stressed. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, “The Russian and U.S. top diplomats also expressed common opinion that North Korea must strictly abide by the United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
On Syria, the Ministry statement said, “The sides discussed further steps to put an end to the civil conflict in Syria via establishing a sustainable negotiating process involving all Syrian political forces, including within the Geneva process and in the format of the forthcoming National Dialogue Congress in Sochi, with concurrent completion of the defeat of international terrorist groups.”
Tillerson said Ukraine was key obstacle in U.S.-Russia ties but that the U.S. President has always sought to establish good relations with Russia. “We can have differences in other arenas, in Syria. We can have differences in other areas,” Tillerson said. “But the issue that stands in the way is Ukraine.”
In a separate meeting with members of the OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine, Tillerson said the United States is working with Russia on the UN peacekeeping proposal, according to Voice of America. “We are. I’m not going to tell you specifically what we get, but we get progress,” said Tillerson, “We get dialogue, we get cooperation. We don’t have it solved. You don’t solve it in one meeting.” While both sides have called for a UN peacekeeping force in eastern Ukraine, they disagree on the terms of its deployment.
The two top diplomats also discussed Afghanistan.
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
China’s Politburo Meets on Economy, Priority Is Financial Crisis
Dec. 10 (EIRNS)—The newly-elected Politburo of the Communist Party of China, chaired by Xi Jinping, met Friday, Dec. 8 on economic questions. Bloomberg says the meeting was preparatory to the Central Economic Work Conference to be held in late December.
Xinhua says, “China will seek solid progress on preventing major risks, and on targeted poverty alleviation and pollution control in 2018.”
The Chinese leaders have said the causes of the 2008 financial collapse have not been remedied. The first conclusion of their Friday meeting was that, “China should contain the overall leverage ratio and raise the financial sector’s ability of serving the real economy to prevent and defuse major risks.” They agreed that for targeted poverty relief, the country must provide precise support for special impoverished groups, and intensify efforts in regions of abject poverty.
For pollution control, the country should continue to reduce the emission of major pollutants to improve environment quality.
Kotegawa Stresses Urgent Need for Glass-Steagall Globally
Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—In a lengthy expert comment, “Financial Capitalism and the Future,” for the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, Japan’s former representative to the IMF Daisuke Kotegawa looks at 30 years of global economic destruction caused by the Western globalization system from the Asia crisis and the scrapping of Glass-Steagall on, urging a shift from financial speculation back to a manufacturing economy. Donald Trump’s election victory, the May 2016 presidential elections in the Philippines, and the U.K.’s June 2016 Brexit referendum all were revolts against the expanding gap between the rich and the poor, symbolizing a necessity for the global economy: the need for a transition from financial capitalism to a manufacturing economy, Kotegawa writes. “The reason is very simple: The financial sector widens the gap between rich and poor, whereas manufacturing closes it.”
Western geopolitics, particularly the Blair Doctrine of regime change, after the fall of the Soviet Union has created global instability, whereas the continuous Chinese development from the era of Deng Xiaoping on has created the potential of a return to stability, Kotegawa assesses, adding that the Chinese Way may serve as a model also for developing countries, though not in every detail.
By contrast, the dead-end into which Western financial policies have moved is best shown by “the desperate situation of Deutsche Bank, which became a safe-haven for global derivative transactions before the crash,” Kotegawa writes. “The only option for a soft landing would be nationalization; otherwise, a contagion effect could drive an unprecedented scale of economic crisis, comparable to the Great Depression. In this context, the reintroduction of the Glass-Steagall Act is urgently required, in order to prevent investment banks from further large-scale risks and destroying the world economy:
“In a situation of economic stagnation caused by financial crisis, the government must take the lead in stimulating the national economy because households and the corporate sector have to reduce their assets by repaying debt to banks. Fiscal stimulus, including the construction of economic infrastructure, is essential to stimulating real demand”, Kotegawa writes, such a stimulus occurring in the United States first, with Europe following suit and abandoning inappropriate fiscal austerity policies; also, the end of economic sanctions against Russia, and collaboration between the United States and Russia, furthering peace in the Middle East.
A crash program for education is required as well, Kotegawa writes: “Affordable education for all is the basis for an equal society.” All children should have access to education and equal opportunities exist for higher education.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Iraq Declares the ‘End of the War Against ISIS’
Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—Today, the “end of the war against ISIS,” was declared by Iraq, in the words of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and also in a statement by the Iraqi armed forces, according to multiple media reports. The government announced that Iraq is in control of the entire Iraq-Syria border. Abadi spoke in Baghdad, at the International Media Conference. He said, “I announce the good news: The liberation by Iraqi forces of the whole of the Iraqi-Syrian border.”
The announcement by Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Rasheed Yar Allah said, “All Iraqi lands are liberated from terrorist Daesh [ISIS] gangs and our forces completely control the international Iraqi-Syria borders.”
China Foreign Minister Reiterates ‘Double Suspension’ Proposal for North Korea
Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today, speaking at a Beijing seminar, reiterated the proposal by China for a “double suspension” diplomatic initiative for North Korea, in which the D.P.R.K. would suspend its nuclear activities, and the U.S. and South Korea would suspend their large-scale military exercises. This was reported by today’s Xinhua, which stated, “Wang said that the hope of peace has not yet been destroyed, and the prospect of negotiations to solve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue still exists…. He said that all parties need to make efforts to take steps to ease the situation and bring the situation out of the ‘black hole’ of confrontation.”
SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE
Through Science, Africa’s Challenges Will Be Met
Dec. 10 (EIRNS)—South Africa’s Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor told the third Science Forum in Pretoria on Dec. 7, “It is through science that many of the challenges faced by our communities can be addressed.” A primary objective of the two-day forum, she said, is “To put science in the service of African society.” She stressed the importance of international collaboration, welcoming delegates from around the world to Africa’s largest “open science” event. Pan-African cooperation, in particular, is a hallmark of all of South Africa’s science and technology programs.
One objective of the forum is “to showcase African science and technology to the world,” said Pandor, who is dedicated to promoting African breakthroughs in science that will both change the way Africa has historically been viewed, and help eliminate the “Afro-pessimism” on the continent itself.
