EDITORIAL
The U.S. Constitution Is at Stake Now, and So Is World War III
April 10 (EIRNS)—It does not matter whether 10 Rod Rosensteins at the Department of Justice “signed off” on the sweeping FBI raids against President Trump’s personal attorney; the protections of the Fourth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution are being taken away from the American President. The goal is to remove the President from office; and the immediate aim, and extreme danger, is war with Syria and Russia.
The United States Constitution is being set aside in order to seize foreign policy, and the Oval Office itself, from President Trump, and put the United States back on the “permanent war,”/”regime-change war” status of Bush and Obama. The American voters are being left to watch helplessly—unless they act now, in large numbers.
The entire escalation of this “legal assassination” of President Trump is the work of Special Counsel, and corrupt former FBI Director, Robert Mueller. Mueller has now gone far, far beyond his mandated investigation of the 2016 election, because that “Russiagate” investigation failed. His aim now is to charge the President with anything, to bring him down. Mueller merely referred the task of executing the raids against Trump attorney Michael Cohen, to the New York U.S. Attorney. That U.S. Attorney, a Trump appointee, has already been forced to recuse himself from the case—prosecution of Cohen is turned back over to Mueller, who will try to force the President’s personal attorney of 25 years to turn against him.
If Donald Trump were a Saudi Prince, Robert Mueller would be protecting him. If he were CEO of Wells Fargo bank, Mueller would be negotiating a non-prosecution agreement with him. But he is President of the United States, and opposes the constant war policies of British geopoliticians.
The new attack on the President and Constitution followed his attempt, 10 days ago, to order the National Security Council and Joint Chiefs of Staff to withdraw the United States military from Syria. Mueller’s attack is linked directly to the hoax of a chemical weapons attack in Syria, by the British-run “White Helmets” so-called first responders organization, who collaborate with the jihadi terrorists in Syria.
In March 2017 when President Trump said “regime change in Syria is not our mission,” the staged chemical weapons attack on children in the city of Khan Sheikhoun occurred to change his mind, and the British Defense Secretary convinced Defense Secretary James Mattis to attack Syria with cruise missiles. Mattis admitted recently there was no evidence. Now when President Trump says, “We’re leaving Syria, soon,” the White Helmets stage another chemical attack, and Britain and France demand war on Syria.
Anyone can see this could lead—for no purpose—to a new world war, which will be unsurvivable.
This is the war policy which is the aim for which the “legal assassin” Mueller has been deployed against the President and the Constitution. Congressional leaders like Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell have reacted by defending Mueller’s actions. Any Member of Congress who does this should be thrown out.
The LaRouche Political Action Committee is mobilizing to stop Mueller, and the war drive, with an urgent national broadside, “Enough! Call Congress and Your Senator and Tell Them To Shutdown Robert Mueller, Stop the British Drive to War.” It says, “In 2013, when Obama threatened war with Russia over Syria, the American people intervened, raised the roof of Congress, and stopped it. That is what is needed now…. Stop the drive to war and shut down Robert Mueller now.”
One of those American people who intervened loudly in 2013 to stop war with Russia over Syria, was Donald J. Trump.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Tony Blair Leads British Demands for War against Syria
April 10 (EIRNS)—Appearing on BBC, former British Prime Minister and instigator of President George W. Bush to the Iraq War, Tony Blair, called for Theresa May’s government to “back President Donald Trump” and carry out bombing and missile strikes on Syria. As Blair’s call was reported, London tabloids were confidently forecasting a “missile strike on Syria within hours.” All this when it was clear the Trump Administration had not yet decided on attacks on Syria.
Blair replied to the interviewer’s question about Parliamentary approval of a British strike, by claiming this would not be necessary “just for bombing from the air”; being challenged, he explained this only by adding “people feel there is a difference.”
The April 10 London Times lead made up an even more elaborate “alliance” cover for its call for war. “Theresa May was under pressure from ministers and allies to join a U.S.-led military strike against the Assad regime as France set the pace for retaliation against a suspected chemical attack,” read the lead, placing the center of the drive for war everywhere except where it actually lies, in London. As for May’s “ministers,” one of them, Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, was definitely recommending British strikes on Syria. Johnson reportedly called U.S. Acting Secretary of State John J. Sullivan April 10 to brief him on the need for war.
The Times went further to disguise its war-cry: “As Britain prepared options including the use of Tomahawk missiles, senior figures warned that it risked losing influence in Washington to France if it turned down a request by President Trump to join a retaliatory strike.”
U.S. Carrier Group, Destroyer Weigh Anchor toward Syria
April 10 (EIRNS)—On Monday, April 9 the guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook, with 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles, anchored off Syrian territorial waters 100 km (60 miles) from Tartus after a port call in Cyprus. The destroyer was reportedly being repeatedly buzzed and “harassed” by Russian warplanes, according to CNN Turk. The Stratfor site reported the Donald Cook was then the only major U.S. Naval ship in the area. Numerous Russian and Syrian military aircraft were reportedly in the air along the coast.
On April 10, however, it was reported the USS Harry Truman had been deployed from Norfolk, Virginia to the Mediterranean to join the Donald Cook off Syria. The former has seven cruise-missile destroyers in its group, which will arrive there approximately April 17.
The Washington Examiner April 9 reported: “U.S. military planners have drawn up more than one option for possible military action against Syria, including a strike similar to last year’s attack in which 59 sea-launched cruise missiles inflicted heavy damage on a Syrian Air Force airfield in Homs.
Russia, China Stop UN Security Council ‘Blame’ Resolution as OPCW Readies Investigation
April 10 (EIRNS)—A United States-sponsored resolution to the United Nations Security Council which would have created a “new investigative mechanism which can affix blame” for chemical weapons attacks, was vetoed by Russia Tuesday, opposed by Bolivia, and abstained on but verbally criticized by China. The other 12 UNSC members voted for the resolution. This occurred even as an investigative team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was on its way to Douma, Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government and with Russia’s support.
The Washington Examiner reported China’s UN Ambassador Wu Haitao emphasizing, “There should be no prejudgment of the outcome” in creating a new Joint Investigative Mechanism. But all the major Western nations stated conclusively that Russia and Syria were to blame for the alleged attack in Douma, before it is investigated. British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce said “Russia’s credibility as a member of the council is now in question.”
A resolution proposed by Russia in Tuesday’s session would have supported an investigation by the OPCW to determine what happened, but would not have created a mechanism to affix blame for an alleged attack. This resolution received six votes in the UNSC, including Russia and China, with two abstentions. It was vetoed by the United States, Britain and France and opposed by four other Security Council members.
In the previous, Monday meeting, the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Syria Staffan de Mistura had said, “The United Nations is unable to independently verify or attribute responsibility for this attack; but we have asked all parties to show utmost restraint and avoid any further escalation or confrontation.” He had warned that “Recent developments carry more than ever before the risks of … fault lines in the Middle East that could have absolutely devastating consequences, which are difficult to even imagine.”
OPCW Deploys Its Fact-Finding Mission to Douma
April 10 (EIRNS)—The Director of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Ahmet Uzumcu, and the OPCW’s Technical Secretariat, today requested the Syrian Arab Republic to make the necessary arrangements to receive a Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) from OPCW to establish facts around the allegations of use of chemical weapons in Douma, Syria. This coincided with a request from the Syrian Arab Republic and the Russian Federation to investigate the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma.
The OPCW team did leave for Syria on Tuesday.
The OPCW Center, located in The Hague, Netherlands, has been monitoring the incident in Douma closely, and made a preliminary analysis of the reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons immediately after they were issued. The FFM is gathering more information from all available sources to establish whether chemical weapons were used, and will then report its findings to the states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Chemical Weapons Convention comprehensively prohibits the use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons.
“The OPCW cannot and will not release information about an ongoing investigation,” its press release today states. “This policy exists to preserve the integrity of the investigatory process and its results as well as to ensure the safety and security of OPCW experts and personnel involved.”
In response to persistent allegations of chemical weapons attacks in Syria, the OPCW’s FFM was set up in 2014 “to establish facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals, reportedly chlorine, in the Syrian Arab Republic.”
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Alan Dershowitz Critical of FBI Raid on Trump’s Attorney
April 10 (EIRNS)—Leading U.S. Constitutional lawyer and Harvard University Professor Alan Dershowitz called the FBI’s raid of the offices, hotel room, and home of President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen in New York “a shocking and disturbing development” in The Hill today.
Dershowitz told Newsmax yesterday that he considers that raid a “very serious escalation” of the special investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, which “should shock everybody, no matter what part of the partisan divide you’re on.” And in a Fox News interview he said, “This is a very dangerous day for lawyer-client relations…. The deafening silence from the ACLU and civil libertarians about the intrusion into lawyer-client confidentiality, is really appalling.”
President Trump himself, on his Twitter feed today, described the raid on his personal attorney’s home, office, phones and client files as “a disgraceful situation, a total witch hunt.” He called it “an attack on our country in a true sense. It’s an attack on what we all stand for.”
Dershowitz explains that a search warrant requires prosecutors to demonstrate to a judge that they have probable cause to believe that the premises they seek to search contain evidence of a crime, and must specify the area to be searched, the items to be seized, and, in searches of computers, the word searches to be used. That is the constitutional requirement in theory, especially where the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is involved, in addition to the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. In practice, says Dershowitz, judges often give the FBI considerable latitude, relying on the “firewalls” and “taint teams” (legal advisors on the search) which they set up to conform to the Constitution. But, he points out, these teams are made up of government agents who may not be entitled to read many of the items seized. “That’s why Justice Department officials must be careful to limit the searching of lawyers’ offices to compelling cases involving serious crimes.”
Fox News’ Carlson Blasts ‘Talk-Show Generals’ Who Want Syria War
April 10 (EIRNS)—A leading news commentator on the network President Trump is known to watch gave the President plenty of encouragement to resist the wild demands for another missile attack on Syria, and stick to his own plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria soon.
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson gave a seven-minute blast at the “talk-show generals,” all think-tanks, both sides of Congress, “who are all saying the same thing: attack Syria now.”
“They have no idea what happened!” in Douma, Syria, Carlson said. “And what motive does Assad have for using chemical weapons in a city he’s just won—he has no motive!”
Moreover, he said, there is a war of genocide against Yemen, and that war is being led by Saudi Arabia: “Are we firing Tomahawk cruise missiles on Saudi Arabia?”
Carlson made the important observation that the worldwide allegations in early April 2017 of a Syrian government chemical weapons bombing of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib Governorate, came just after Trump and then-Secretary of State Tillerson had just pronounced that “regime-change is not our policy in Syria.” The Douma allegations a year later, come less than 10 days after Trump ordered his Joint Chiefs and National Security Council to plan U.S. withdrawal from Syria, “soon.” Both declarations by Trump freaked out all the geopoliticians.
In 2013, Carlson recalled, when Obama was on the verge of bombing Syria, Donald Trump said, “We should stay the hell out of Syria. What will we get for bombing Syria except more debt and a long-term conflict?”
Fox commentators Michael Savage and Sean Hannity were also reported to have opposed the shrill cries for an attack on Syria.
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Xi Jinping Keynotes Boao Forum: ‘We Need To Seek Inclusiveness and Harmony’
April 10 (EIRNS)—Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his keynote to the Boao Forum for Asia this afternoon, in which he warned against “arrogance” but offered an olive branch on the issue of tariffs.
Xi called on other countries to refrain from “seeking dominance” and “reject power politics.”
While not mentioning the tariff dispute with the U.S., he said those who ignored the “trend of the times” toward openness would be “left behind and assigned to the dustbin of history.”
He stressed: “The Cold War and zero-sum mentality looks out of place in today’s world. Arrogance or only focusing one’s own interests will get nowhere. Only peaceful development and cooperation can truly bring win-win or all-win results.” He said: “We need a coordination of policy. Nations should not try to undercut each other, but should stay committed to mutual benefit and to supporting the multilateral trading systems. We need to seek inclusiveness and harmony.”
While reiterating his principled position and his concern for countries taking “unilateral measures” without consideration to the appropriate international institutions, he also offered an olive branch on the issue of the U.S.-China trade dispute. He reiterated the commitments that Premier Li Keqiang made at the National People’s Congress, that China would open up more, would not require technology transfers from firms wishing to invest in China, it would facilitate the procedures for foreign firms investing in China, and would strengthen intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. He also said that China would consider reducing tariffs on automobiles and loosen restrictions on foreign ownership in the auto sector “as soon as possible,” a direct response to President Trump’s tweet on Monday, complaining about the tariffs on autos. President Xi reiterated that China had entered a “new phase of opening up,” and was committed to making China’s financial and manufacturing sectors more open for foreign investments, and he then stated further that China would “significantly lower” tariffs on auto imports this year.
China would never seek to “threaten anyone else” or overthrow the international system, he said. Xi said five years ago he launched the Belt and Road Initiative, in which over “80 countries have signed agreements with China” he said: “[It] may be China’s idea, but its ideas will benefit the world. China has no geopolitical calculations, seeks no exclusionary blocs, and imposes no business deals on others.”
Austria’s President Van der Bellen Makes Guest Address at Boao Forum for Asia
April 10 (EIRNS)—Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, presently on a tour of China with a delegation of 230 officials of business, and of scientific and cultural institutions, made a guest address today at the April 8-11 Boao Forum for Asia being held in Boao, Hainan, in which he is expected to present his country as a “first mover” in Europe for cooperation with the New Silk Road. “Trade war is the last thing we need,” Van der Bellen stressed in his English-language remarks at the opening ceremony. His short remarks were filmed by China’s CGTN TV network.
Netherlands Prime Minister Marke Rutte, who is also touring China with a delegation of more than 200 businessmen and experts, is another guest speaker from Europe.
Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl meanwhile had a two-hour meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which also served as preparation for her meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister in Moscow next week. Kneissl, who is an expert on the Middle East, briefed Wang extensively on her assessments of the region, particularly Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Kneissl told Wang that for the time being, Austria will not be a member of the “16+1” mechanism of Eastern and Central European countries plus China, which Beijing has invited it to join, but will remain an attentive observer. Wang told her that China expects Austria to play constructive role as a “bridge” between Europe and China, when Vienna takes over the half-year chairmanship of the EU in July.
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Russia Suffers Financial Crisis Caused by New Sanctions
April 10 (EIRNS)—Simultaneous with British instigation of a military attack on Syrian and Russia forces in Syria, Russia has been hit by a financial crisis triggered by the U.S. Treasury’s April 5 financial sanctions on individual businessmen and large corporations. Worst hit has been Rusal, after China, the world’s second largest supplier of aluminum, which together with its partners like Glencore, supply 10-12% of global aluminum consumption.
The ruble fell by 4% on Monday and a further 8% on Tuesday, according to Reuters. There was a downdraft on the Russian stock market with large drops in the companies just hit with the sanctions, led by Rusal’s losing 50% of market capitalization and EN+—also controlled by Oleg Deripaska—losing 42%. The market price of aluminum internationally has risen by 4% in two days. Russian bank stocks also dropped sharply.
Of Rusal, Bloomberg reported April 9, “Trading houses have been advised by their banks and lawyers that they can’t continue trading with the Russian company, according to executives at five companies that regularly buy from Rusal, who spoke under condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions.” Associated Press quoted a statement from Rusal as saying yesterday: “The company’s initial assessment is that it is highly likely that the impact may be materially adverse to the business and prospects of the group.”
“The company’s primary focus remains continuity of its business and, most importantly, all of its global customers, investors and partners.”
The statement amounts to a warning of possible insolvency in the near- to medium-term.
The Swiss-based Glencore commodities giant, which has had its own major debt-servicing problems since 2014, is a major shareholder in Rusal and lost $282 million in the market drop Tuesday, according to Britain’s Telegraph.
OTHER
Preparations for Macron’s Visit to Russia in May Continue
April 10 (EIRNS)—Preparations for French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Russia planned for May are continuing, despite the crisis being created by the allegations of a Syrian chemical weapons strike in Douma. “The official visit has not been thrown into question so far. There is the need to hold talks if differences arise, which is in line with the principle of multilateralism,” French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told the Europe 1 radio today, reported TASS.
“Isolating one country from another is out of the question. But at the same time, those responsible [for Syrian developments] should be established. As it is known, big regional powers—Turkey, Iran and Russia in particular—have been exerting pressure on the region,” Griveaux said.
He repeated Macron’s statement in which the French President had said that “in case a red line is crossed in Syria, the need will arise to take retaliatory actions.”
“Following the events of the recent days—and you know about the horrifying pictures there are in this connection—Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged information, which confirms the use of chemical weapons. In this regard, they have handed down instructions to continue investigative activities. An important meeting of the United Nations Security Council has also been held in New York,” Griveaux stated.
