EDITORIAL
British Intelligence Now Shown Leading the Coup Against Trump; We Can Defeat Them
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—In six months, the pamphlet from the LaRouche Political Action Committee exposing the history of Robert Mueller, the “amoral legal assassin” deployed to remove Donald Trump from the Presidency, has circulated widely and had an enormous impact.
Now, with parts of the “Get Trump” force thoroughly discredited, it is possible to go for the very head of the beast—British intelligence and the British geopolitics which President Trump threatens to overthrow.
The pamphlet stated boldly from the first, that Mueller and the entire drive to stop Trump, since 2015, was coming from British intelligence and the British “imperial” oligarchy.
The last 48 hours have seen it revealed, by the British Foreign Office in a court case in London and by the Washington Post in a lengthy article, that not just “former” MI6 agent Christopher Steele’s dossier, but multiple British intelligence assets are involved—as is the Foreign Office—and are deployed from the top to get Trump. And deploying them at the top? “Former” chief of MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove. The same Dearlove who commissioned his own infamous “dossier” for Tony Blair, which “proved” Saddam Hussein had nuclear and chemical weapons!
That dossier disgraced Secretary of State Colin Powell and launched the disastrous Cheney-Bush 2003-2011 invasion of Iraq. This British campaign, using the “Steele dossier,” was intended to dictate to the United States that it was not permitted to have a President who wanted cooperative relations with Russia or China.
It was British intelligence services that meddled in our 2016 election. London’s MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, peddled British filth about Trump and Russia through Obama’s intelligence officials and the Clinton campaign, in order to disrupt the Trump campaign and Presidency.
Russia and the United States have been real or potential allies for centuries dating to the League of Armed Neutrality which helped win our Revolutionary War, to the Russian naval intervention against British support for the slave power in our Civil War, to the U.S.-Russian collaboration against Hitler which Sir Winston Churchill worked to destroy.
The same has been true of U.S. relations with China, in World War II and earlier. Now China invites the United States to join in expanding the Belt and Road Initiative, a global economic rebuilding and poverty-eradication project far greater than the Marshall Plan.
We need international agreements to build the most crucial new infrastructure worldwide, accepting China’s leadership in its Belt and Road Initiative. America itself has huge deficits for urgent new economic infrastructure, and needs to form a national credit institution to participate; a new Rooseveltian Reconstruction Finance Corporation, or a Hamiltonian national bank.
We need coordinated reinstatement of Glass-Steagall bank separation across the United States and Europe, before the City of London and Wall Street take our economies into another, worse crash.
The United States would not accomplish these things if it had allowed a President to be removed at will, to comply with the British geopolitical doctrine of regime-change wars and great-power confrontations.
The memos which have now come out from the House Intelligence Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee have blown open the Steele dossier and its use against President Trump. Those exposed by these memos are quite unhappy, will try to recoup the drive to remove the President, unless truly defeated.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Washington Post Digs Up Old British Ordnance; It Explodes
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—In a surprising action Feb. 6, the never-Trump (and always never-LaRouche) Washington Post unearthed a long interview from 17 months ago in its newsroom with Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson, and brought it to the surface in an even longer article about Steele, “Hero or Hired Gun? How a Former British Spy Became a Flash Point in the Russia Investigation.”
The result was to drag into the light the leading role in “Russiagate” of the “venerable” Sir Richard Dearlove, former head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, otherwise known as MI6, and the man whose “dodgy dossier” on Saddam Hussein’s WMD pulled George W. Bush into invading Iraq. No one can now doubt the British guiding hand on the coup against Trump—without even mentioning the GCHQ chief Robert Hannigan’s launching visit to Washington in the summer of 2016 to personally tell U.S. CIA Director John Brennan there was a “Russian problem” in Donald Trump’s candidacy.
Sir Andrew Wood, a stalwart Foreign Office diplomat, told Steele in early Fall 2016 to “ ‘alert the authorities. The right sort of people’ needed to be told.”
Steele and his business partner Christopher Burrows had both left MI6 as experienced agents. But the supposedly retired Dearlove “continued to seek his [Steele’s] expertise,” which Sir Richard found “superb.” Steele by 2016 had fans at the U.S. State Department as well, including Victoria Nuland, for his reports on Ukraine and Russia (where he had not been since 1993).
Steele, when hired by Glenn Simpson’s Fusion GPS chop-shop, “reached out to Russian contacts and others he referred to as ‘collectors’ who had other sources”—including “a close associate of Trump,” “a senior Russian Foreign Ministry figure,” etc. But these were not his sources; rather, a network of British intelligence assets was gathering dirt on Trump, from sources who did not know where or to whom it was going, or even, in some cases, that it was going anywhere.
After a while, Steele told Simpson he was going to meet with the FBI, “describing it as an obligation rooted in his past work for the British government. ‘I’m a former intelligence officer…. You know, I have obligations, professional obligations.’ ” Presumably, that let Simpson know how low his—for that matter, Hillary Clinton’s—place was in this British counterintelligence operation!
But who really sent Steele to the FBI? Well, when WikiLeaks released the Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails in July 2016, Steele and Burrows had gotten “rattled” by the lack of American seriousness about the threat of Trump. So, “in early Fall, he and Burrows turned to Dearlove, their former MI6 boss, for advice. Sitting in winged chairs at the Garrick Club, one of London’s most venerable private establishments … the two men shared their worries about what was happening in the United States. They asked for guidance about how to handle their obligations to their client and the public.” Which public was that, exactly?
Sir Richard “said he advised Steele and Burrows to work discreetly with a top British government official [the above-named Sir Andrew Wood, perhaps, or then GCHQ chief Hannigan—ed.] to pass along information to the FBI.”
And off the “hero” was sent, to polish up the handles on a big front door which may be proving too big for him.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Russia Asks North Korea and United States To Start Talks
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—Russia’s Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora, currently on an official visit to the United Nations in New York, told Russian journalists that the United States and North Korea should begin negotiations: “The conditions are very good now, pointing to a positive attitude; the Olympic Games [in PyeongChang]; the Olympic ceasefire, and no [military] exercises,” he said. “We call on them: ‘Dear friends, let’s begin!’ ”
Matsegora will attend a session of the UN Security Council Committee on sanctions against Pyongyang, and has already met with officials from the two Koreas, including Pyongyang’s UN envoy Ja Song Nam.
He will be delivering the idea that “the sanctions have run their course and cannot be expanded any further.” He also said the existing sanctions “have a huge negative impact on humanitarian situation” in the country, but do not help to solve the nuclear program. “The time has come to negotiate,” Matsegora said, urging implementation of the Russian-Chinese roadmap that envisages step-by-step settlement of the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. “No one has come up with anything better so far,” he said.
He said Russia has stated it will deport North Korean workers in line with UN Security Council resolution adopted last December. Matsegora said that the Russian authorities do not forcefully deport North Koreans who do not want to return. “We don’t return anyone to North Korea by force. We never did.”
Are Pence and Tillerson ‘Signaling’ about Direct Talks with Pyongyang?
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—Even as Vice President Mike Pence—who is going to the Olympics in South Korea—was reiterating U.S. “preconditions” for direct North Korea talks, and the United States was proposing still tighter sanctions at the United Nations, there was some anonymous “signaling” from the administration. The possibility of direct talks between the United States and North Korea around the Olympics may exist, as Russia is insisting, while pointing to the recent lack of D.P.R.K. provocations or U.S.-South Korea military exercises.
The Wall Street Journal today cited “administration sources,” unnamed, saying that the close similarity of recent remarks (“We’ll see what happens”) about negotiations with North Korea by both Pence and Secretary of State Tillerson was not coincidental—the two have had at least two discussions about this in recent days. “A message was being sent,” the paper quotes one unidentified official. “All it does is indicate that anything is possible.” On Tillerson’s South America trip, Under Secretary of State Steven Goldstein told reporters, “The secretary always believes that if there’s an opportunity for a negotiation … we should try to take that.”
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Shinzo Abe Vows To Resolve Russia-Japan Peace Treaty, Will Visit Russia in May
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—According to TASS, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his commitment to completing a peace treaty with Russia, ending World War II between them. “The situation when Russia and Japan have had no peace treaty for 72 years since the war was over is abnormal. Me and President [Vladimir] Putin will put an end to this problem that persists during the entire post-war period,” he said at a nationwide rally for the return of southern Kuril Islands which became part of the Soviet Union in 1945; Japan refers to them as the Northern Territories.
“If the situation allows, I will visit Russia in May, and during the top-level talks I’m going to raise the peace treaty issue,” he said.
Kenji Kanasugi, Director-General of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau who represents the country at the talks on the Korean Peninsula, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov had discussions on Korea in Tokyo. According to a statement by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the two sides welcomed the dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang aimed at making the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games successful.
On Feb. 6 the two diplomats took part in the third round of consultations on bilateral relations and the peace treaty. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the talks focused on issues related to the joint economic activities on the southern Kuril Islands.
Ibero-American Diplomats in China Rebuff Tillerson’s Claim that Beijing Is ‘Imperial Power’
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—Several Ibero-American ambassadors and other diplomats currently posted to China have rejected Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s Feb. 2 geopolitical assertion that Chinese involvement in Ibero-America constitutes a new kind of “imperial power.” The Secretary visited five countries Ibero-America and the Caribbean over Feb. 1-7.
Spain’s EFE news agency today reports remarks by Argentina’s Ambassador to China Diego Guelar, that “the era of imperialisms is dead. There’s a very clear multipolar equation in the world and that’s good … today, China plays a very important role with all Latin American nations, in terms of trade, financing and investment.” Moreover, the fact that Argentina has a very balanced relationship with both Russia and China, “should in no way alter our good relations with the U.S.,” he stated. A variety of Chinese firms are present in Argentina and growing, he reported, and this trend won’t be reversed. “We have nothing to fear, as these are very respectful relations in the field of national sovereignty, with clear advantages for both sides.”
In a similar tone, EFE reported, Colombia’s Ambassador to China Oscar Rueda stated that his government’s relations with Beijing exist “in a framework of friendship and common benefit. Only countries themselves can characterize the relations between two countries.” He pointed out that China is one of Colombia’s main trading partners, and the plan is to continue to open up markets there and export new products, such as avocados and beef.
César Suárez, Chile’s trade director in Shanghai, explained to EFE that when Chile signed its free-trade agreement with China in 2006, critics made warnings similar to Tillerson’s—that local production would be harmed, there would be long-term negative effects, and so on. But instead, what happened is that “we ended up with a surplus,” said Suárez. Trade has quadrupled since 2006, he said. “The lines of trade and integration with China are very strong, and we see them as positive, just as we view relations with the U.S.”
Uruguay’s Consul General in Shanghai Leonardo Olivera similarly pointed out that there’s no contradiction in having good relations with both the U.S. and China, the world’s largest economic powers. China and Uruguay have just celebrated their 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations he said, and that 28% of his country’s exports now go to China.
Vatican Official Praises China Social Policy as ‘Extraordinary’
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—A high official of the Roman Catholic Church has praised China for the best implementation of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, Catholic Herald, a leading independent Roman Catholic newspaper in the United Kingdom, reported yesterday.
Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, praised China as “extraordinary” after his recent visit there. He elaborated, “You do not have shantytowns; you do not have drugs; young people do not take drugs.” Rather, he said, there is a “positive national conscience.”
In China, the Bishop said, “The economy does not dominate politics, as happens in the United States—something Americans themselves would say.”
The Bishop characterized President Trump as being “ ‘manipulated’ by global oil firms,” and said that “as opposed to those who follow ‘liberal thought,’ the Chinese are working for greater good of the planet,” wrote the Herald. He praised China for defending the climate accord.
Bishop Sánchez Sorondo visited the country as part of the Vatican’s diplomacy effort, the Herald reported. The Bishop said, “What I found was an extraordinary China. What people don’t realize is that the central value in China is work, work, work. There’s no other way. Fundamentally, it is like St. Paul said: He who doesn’t work, doesn’t eat.”
The Herald staff writer reported that the Vatican and China have been holding talks in recent years over the status of the “underground” Church and the appointment of bishops (historically, done by the Pope, but in China up to now it has been done by the government).
In November, the Vatican Museums organized joint exhibitions with China in what was called “diplomacy of art.”
The article concludes with Bishop Sánchez Sorondo commenting that China is “developing well” and now has “ ‘many points of agreement’ with the Vatican.” He concluded, “You cannot think that the China of today is the China of [the time of] John Paul II, or Cold War Russia.”
British Companies Take Part in Belt and Road
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—While Her Majesty’s Chatham House puts out anti-Belt and Road propaganda, British companies are happily working with China on Belt and Road projects. The European edition of China Daily gives a few examples:
A $725 million Maputo-Catembe bridge, connecting Mozambique and South Africa, while being mostly funded by the Export Import Bank of China and built by the China Road and Bridge Corp., involves the British engineering company Arup, as one of the consulting companies. The bridge will be the longest suspension bridge in Africa, and the biggest project since 1975 when Angola won its independence from Portugal.
British law firm Linklaters has provided legal advice to more than 40 Belt and Road deals, while a British international law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills, has advised Belt and Road projects in more than 30 countries, with clients including the Silk Road Fund, Poly-GCL Petroleum Group Holdings, and Beijing Gas Group.
The London-based BMI Research uses its economics data and analysis to advise some of China’s largest infrastructure, power, and manufacturing companies, including the State Grid Corp. China, China International United Petroleum & Chemicals Co. and the telecommunications giant Huawei, to make investment decisions in Belt and Road countries.
The U.K. Export Finance is prepared to invest $34 billion to support British companies involved in such projects.
The engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald, which employs more than 16,000 staff in 50 countries, has advised on hundreds of Belt and Road infrastructure deals. They have worked with the China Petroleum Engineering Co. in gas development projects in Tanzania.
Wang Aijuan, power director at Mott MacDonald, said British companies’ long history of working on infrastructure projects in developing markets gives them an edge. “Chinese and British companies are well suited to work together,” she said. “Chinese companies have a willingness to go abroad and build infrastructure projects. U.K. companies deliver high-quality engineering works and have in-depth understanding of the stringent regulatory regimes in the international markets.”
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Whose Bubble Is Exploding? Fed Takes Urgent Move on Wells Fargo
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—As U.S. interest rates have jumped back up today, again threatening the “everything bubble,” some conservative commentators are saying that Wall Street took down the stock markets to threaten President Trump. They point fingers at the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC), made up of major banks, which meets quarterly with the U.S. Treasury to discuss forecasts. On Jan. 31, TBAC said that after tax “reform,” it was likely that the Treasury would have to borrow well north of $3 trillion over the next three years—compared to just $488 billion in borrowing in 2017, for example. Specifically, the TBAC estimated that the Treasury would be forced to raise $955 billion through the sale of new bonds this year, $1.083 trillion next year, and $1.128 trillion the year after.
When reported in major media on Feb. 1 and 2, this “news” was said to mean inflation, more falling dollar, more rising rates. On Feb. 2 and 5, stock markets flash-crashed.
But the TBAC City of London and Wall Street banks were, as usual, pointing to “government debt” as a bubble threatening to crash (China’s or America’s, they’ll say both), when the “everything bubble” that is about to crash is theirs, created by them with some $14-15 trillion in virtually free liquidity from their big four central banks since the last crash.
The Federal Reserve has just signaled rather strongly that it thinks at least Wells Fargo, following a string of notorious banking crimes, is in some kind of financial trouble. Late on Friday, Feb. 2, after markets closed, the Fed ordered Wells to cap its total assets at their current level indefinitely, and strongly suggested it replace four directors on the board (the bank immediately said it would do this).
This “action went far beyond the fines, legal settlements and other regulatory actions that have hit the bank over the last 18 months,” wrote the Los Angeles Times Feb. 6. “ ‘This is a big deal. If it weren’t, the stock wouldn’t be down almost 10%’ [on Feb. 5], said Scott Siefers, an analyst with Sandler O’Neill. ‘It’s a shocking penalty.’ None of us have ever seen anything like this before.”
A previous such strong intervention, on Citibank in 1992, saw Federal regulatory staff come in and essentially run the bank, because it was seen to be at or near insolvency.
Big U.S. Firms Are ‘Taking Stock’ of Tax Reform
Feb. 7 (EIRNS)—Since the GOP’s tax cut bill was passed in December, they and President Trump have been delighted to report the announcements of bonuses or wage increases coming from companies big and small, totaling some $2.5 billion just in January—as well as domestic capital investments.
Today, however, Democratic Senators Ron Wyden, Sheldon Whitehouse and Bob Casey released a report which documents announcements by major companies of roughly $97 billion in buybacks of their own stock since January 1! Another such report, according to CNBC, by the research firm Birinyi Associates, put the stock buybacks completed in January at about $89 billion. Taking either figure, this January is the second-biggest month—slightly behind only January 2016—of the last eight years’ massive buyback wave with central bank-printed money.
It should be said that major companies have also announced, in January and the first week of February, some $180 billion in new capital investments. But these are actually promised to be made at various paces over the coming several years. The stock buybacks—at least the $89 billion in Birinyi Associates’ list—have all already been done. And the largest of them all, $22 billion, was by the criminally suspect bank Wells Fargo on Jan. 23, shortly before it was put under close supervision by the Federal Reserve.
So the tax reform legislation is, indeed, living up to the name JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon gave it—“QE4.”
