EDITORIAL
‘Trump and Putin Pursue a Peace Policy! Lessons for the World!’
July 22 (EIRNS)—The following excerpts are translated from the lead article in the German weekly Neue Solidarität by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, written on July 21, 2018. The article also appeared on the homepage of Zepp-LaRouche’s political party, Civil Rights Solidarity Movement, or BüSo.
“It really should be obvious to every thinking person that an improvement in U.S.-Russian relations—that is between the two nations that possess over 90% of the nuclear weapons in the world which, if deployed, would exterminate mankind—is a good thing. Therefore, Presidents Trump and Putin deserve absolute credit for showing, with the Helsinki summit, the way in which the current crisis between the two countries can be overcome through dialogue and cooperation. However, the unprecedented hysteria of the neo-liberal establishment in the U.S. and the mainstream media on both sides of the Atlantic in response to this summit has made it very clear that this power elite is ready to accept the destruction of human civilization rather than agree to cooperation with Russia.
“And that fact requires an urgent reassessment of the strategic situation, not only, but especially, in European nations such as Germany, where the image the population has of Donald Trump has been shaped by the negative reportage about him in the media (up to 98% of the reports in ARD Television, for example), and where the demonization of Putin now belongs to the local establishment’s ‘group think.’
“The fact is that about half the American electorate voted for Trump to be President because he promised during the campaign that he would rebuild relations between the U.S. and Russia on a good basis, after they had sunk to an absolute historical low under the Administrations of George W. Bush and especially of Barack Obama. Trump commented on this situation, stating that it was primarily due to American foolishness, for which the author writing under the pseudonym Publius Tacitus gave detailed arguments on the ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis’ blog of well-known security analyst Pat Lang.”
One highly interesting effect of the hysteria spawned by Trump’s attempt to normalize relations with Russia, she noted, is that it has laid bare the structures of the so-called “deep state.” When the Obama Administration’s former CIA Director John Brennan accuses Trump of high treason, “one has to ask, treason against whom or what? Against the American people? Against the American Constitution? Since when is it high treason for the President to attempt to protect the physical survival of his own people through a policy of diplomacy and dialogue?” Zepp-LaRouche demanded to know.
The reality, she pointed out, is that Trump threatens the entire neo-liberal Anglo-American empire. The Chinese have welcomed the Helsinki summit, as have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as the new Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
But whether it will actually prove possible to overcome the Cold War mentality and to establish a new and better world order, very much depends on how the war between the U.S. establishment and Trump will play out, she wrote. And the “domestic” battle in the United States has direct implications for the entire world. If Trump does manage to impose his policy, then “there is a chance, despite the current tension with China over the U.S. trade deficit, for an entirely new international policy among nations of the world based on sovereignty, non-intervention into internal affairs, dialogue, and mutual benefit. If Trump’s opponents prevail, we are probably not far from World War III.
“Therefore, it is high time for those who support ‘progressive,’ ‘left,’ ‘liberal’ policies, who have been in the same boat with the CIA, FBI and MI6 since Trump’s election, to reflect on whether the mainstream media have not ‘nudged’ them into the wrong corner.”
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Thai Rail Project Chosen for Japan-China Cooperation on New Silk Road
July 22 (EIRNS)—The Tokyo daily Asahi Shimbun reported July 20, “Japan, China Set To Work Out Joint Development Projects.” The paper reported that a committee Japan and China created in May to coordinate their investments along the “Belt and Road Initiative” launched by China in 2013, will hold its first meeting in Beijing in September. The meeting “will discuss economic cooperation projects in third countries related to China’s One Belt, One Road Initiative,” Asahi Shimbun said.
And its sources in Japan indicated that railroad construction in Thailand is the leading first candidate project to be tackled jointly by Japanese and Chinese companies, with credit aid from both governments.
As EIR has reported, high-speed rail lines both north-south within Thailand and east-west connecting it to other Southeast Asian nations, have already been projected with Chinese aid. One project involves extending the Bangkok Mass Transit System line currently from Phaya Thai Station in central Bangkok with Suvarnabhumi Airport to a suburban airport 50 km away; and a high-speed railway between Suvarnabhumi Airport and a city in central Thailand is another project being considered.
The committee is expected to be headed by Hiroto Izumi, a special advisor to the prime minister, on the Japanese side, and by Ning Jizhe, vice chairman of the pre-eminent National Development and Reform Commission, on the Chinese side. It said the two countries “are aiming to decide on joint projects through the committee and announce them in conjunction with the Japan-China summit to be held later this year when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits the country, sources said.” China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited Abe in Tokyo in May.
Xi Jinping Previews Senegal Visit with Projects and Proverbs
July 20 (EIRNS)—Chinese President Xi Jinping will be in Senegal July 21-22, as the start of his multi-nation African visit, and attendance in South Africa at the July 25-27 BRICS Summit. As is his custom when making a visit, Xi wrote a signed article about his destination nation, in a major Dakar newspaper, Le Soleil. Published today, it is titled, “Su Nu Jappo (China and Senegal Are United as One)!” He takes note that Senegal is “a country with a time-honored and rich culture and home to many famous names,” and continues with the economic ties between China and Senegal.
“Today, China is Senegal’s second largest trading partner and top importer of Senegalese peanuts. Our trade volume has grown by 16 times in just over a decade. China is also Senegal’s major source of financing. The many China-funded projects, including the Foundiougne bridge and the Thies-Touba highway, will strongly boost Senegal’s economic growth. The rural water supply project that includes 251 wells and 1800 km pipelines funded by China, will benefit one-seventh of Senegal’s population.” Plus, China has assisted financing the National Grand Theater and the Museum of Black Civilization, and other cultural and sports assets.
Xi recounts instances of Senegalese and Chinese cooperation in farming and other activities. He does not need to recount the fact that in the 47 years of relations between the two nations, Senegal twice recognized Taiwan, not China, and twice switched back to China (most recently in 2005). But Xi stated eloquently, “A Chinese proverb has it that, ‘Just as distance tests a horse’s strength, time will reveal a person’s sincerity.’ ”
Xi also quoted a Wolof proverb, “Man is the remedy of man (Nit, nit ay garabam),” and likened it to the Chinese saying, “One for all, and all for one.” He pledged China’s support for building “a stronger African community.”
Further, Xi stresses the importance of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in September, which he says, will “break new ground for China-Africa cooperation.”
Senegal is part of projects in West Africa for growing connectivity and productive potential throughout the immediate region and across the Sahel, backed by China: These include the Dakar-Djibouti Highway, and also the Dakar-Bamako railway improvements, an $8 billion project to rehabilitate a regional rail system, including modern connections to the Atlantic port of Conakry in Guinea. Dam projects totalling $7.5 billion are underway in Ivory Coast and Guinea.
Bolivia’s Future in Belt and Road Goes Beyond Bioceanic Railroad
July 20 (EIRNS)—In a wide-ranging interview with the Bolivian daily La Razon, published July 18, Chinese Ambassador Liang Yu emphasized that now that Bolivia and China are “strategic partners,” an association consolidated during President Evo Morales’s June 18-19 trip to China, there is no limit to the potential for their cooperation.
Moreover, Bolivia’s now official participation in the Belt and Road Initiative “includes everything,” he stressed, and reported that during Morales’ visit, “China also demonstrated its interest and willingness to cooperate in [building] the bioceanic rail corridor” which Bolivia has been organizing for over the past several years. Although Morales has emphasized that financing for the project would be private—public-private partnerships, or PPPs—and that a consortium of European companies would provide funds, Liang’s remarks add a new dimension to the project.
The ambassador stated that when Morales was in China, he took the high-speed train from Beijing to Tianjin, and was so impressed by his ride that he said he wanted the bioceanic railroad to run at the same speed. Of course, Liang continued, China has the largest network of high-speed trains in the world, and the most advanced technology for building them. Look at Tibet, he pointed out, where China has built high-speed trains, and whose alpine topography is very similar to that of Bolivia’s.
Beyond this, he pointed to several areas in which the two nations will intensify their cooperation—military and defense, satellite building and launching, and coordinating policies at the UN Security Council, among others. Also, he said, by year’s end Bolivia should be ready to become a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which will greatly facilitate financing needed for infrastructure projects in the country.
Merkel Welcomes News of Another Trump-Putin Summit
July 22 (EIRNS)—German Chancellor Angela Merkel has joined several other European leaders including Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, in welcoming and supporting the summit talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Merkel also welcomed the news that the White House has invited President Putin to the United States for a second meeting in September.
“I think it must once again become normal for Russian and American Presidents to meet,” Merkel told reporters at a press conference July 20. She said that “in principle it’s always good for everyone when there are talks, particularly when there are talks between these two countries.”
Russia has meanwhile begun cooperation with France on humanitarian aid to Syria.
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Mediobanca Figures Show European Banks’ Derivatives Risks Remain High
July 21 (EIRNS)—Mediobanca published its semi-annual report on European banks on July 19. As anticipated by EIR, the report contains among others, figures about derivative exposures of major European banks, including hyper-toxic “Level 3” assets. Such figures should be considered as underestimated, as based on “fair value,” book capitalization and other theoretical pricings. Nevertheless, they are indicative of a pathological state of things.
As anticipated, the “Sick Man of Europe,” Deutsche Bank, has reduced its Level 3 derivatives from EU58 billion in 2009, to EU22.3 billion in July 2017. This makes 31.4% of capital as of one year ago, but at the bank’s current market value, it is 73%!
Among the 21 largest European banks surveyed by Mediobanca, the largest German banks (Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank) have the highest ratio of Level 3 on capital (28.8%), followed by Switzerland (Crédit Suisse and UBS) with 20.5%, and France (BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Group, BPCE Group and Société Générale) with 15.5%. Northern Europe as a whole has a 24.3% average.
Italy (Intesa and Unicredit), which is usually blamed for its backlog of nonpaying loans, is quite low, with 7%.
The report points to the fact that in 2017, due to the fall of interest margin, banks have been able to increase income (2.1%) only thanks to trading activities, which represent 33.6% of overall activities.
The total “fair value” of derivative assets has decreased but it still represents 14.8% of assets and three times banks’ capital.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
RIIA Fears Americans Agree with Trump, ‘More Accepting’ of Russia, ‘Skeptical’ of NATO
July 20 (EIRNS)—Her Majesty’s Royal Institute of International Affairs, known as Chatham House, is not pleased with the Helsinki summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Trump and Putin Become Partners in Destruction” moaned the heads of the RIIA’s Russia and Eurasia Program, and U.S. and the Americas Program, James Nixey and Leslie Vinjamuri, in their Expert Opinion of July 17.
The biggest strategic threat which concerns the British Empire “experts,” however, is that the American people don’t give a damn about “existing arrangements” of the old British imperial order, but support President Donald Trump’s efforts to break with their order.
“Regardless of how much bad press Trump receives for his foreign policies, these do not seem to have had any real effect on his popularity. In fact, Trump’s messaging on Russia and on NATO have managed to shift public attitudes. This is a key, not a marginal point,” they warn.
“Trump’s base has become more accepting of Russia.” His supporters “have also grown more skeptical of the value of NATO…. Ultimately his ability to shift public attitudes, if only among a narrow segment of the population, could create a semblance of legitimacy for more consequential shifts in America’s foreign policy commitments,” they conclude.
Trump White House Tells Mexico, No to Drug Legalization
July 21 (EIRNS)—White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders stated the Trump administration’s firm opposition to any schemes for the general legalization of drugs, in a July 18 response to a question about the provocative calls for legalization coming from Olga Sanchez Cordero, the British-trained Soros agent currently designated to be Mexican President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Interior Minister when he takes office on Dec. 1.
“I can say that we would not support the legalization of all drugs anywhere, and certainly wouldn’t want to do anything that would allow more drugs to come into this country,” Sanders stated.
Olga Sanchez Cordero, a Mexican Supreme Court justice for two decades, outlined her “transitional justice” security policy under the title “Oblivion, Truth or Justice?” to a packed audience of the Colegio de Mexico. The event and her statements were a bald attempt to ram through this latest British drive to expand its Opium War against the Western Hemisphere, and the United States in particular, before opposition can crush it. Sanchez spoke for a half hour about disappeared people, human rights victims, reparations, truth commissions, institutional restructuring for “transitional justice,” and amnesties for acts that don’t violate the constitution or international human rights laws—without ever mentioning the role of the drug cartels or drug trade in creating a security nightmare in the country. Instead, she stated with dramatic emphasis, that to pacify the country, “we must proceed with the proposal to decriminalize drugs” (emphasis in original). She said further that López Obrador, knowing full well all her speeches and articles on decriminalizing drugs, had told her last Saturday, “and I quote: ‘Carte blanche. Whatever is necessary to restore peace in this country. Let’s open up the debate.’ ”
The President-elect has not publicly addressed the issue. Major U.S. media immediately headlined Sanchez Cordero’s call for drug legalization. It was then parlayed into the White House briefing the next day by an unidentified reporter.
President Trump’s press secretary answered: “Certainly we’re going to continue engaging with our Mexican partners. I don’t have a specific policy announcement on that front. However, I can say that we would not support the legalization of all drugs anywhere, and certainly wouldn’t want to do anything that would allow more drugs to come into this country.”
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein Demands Political Police in U.S.
July 22 (EIRNS)—Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum July 20, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein chose to focus his speech on the expansion of the Justice Department’s power to police political activity in the United States under the guise of stopping “malign foreign influence.” Rosenstein chose this objective to the exclusion of any major area of crime in the United States he might have discussed; and he chose only to focus on Russian foreign influence—not British, or Israeli, or Saudi, or any other foreign power that regularly interferes in U.S. politics on behalf of the London’s financial empire.
Rosenstein’s remarks must be seen in the context of the blowback against Trump’s successful meeting with Putin in Helsinki, which occurred on July 16.
While the Deputy Attorney General made a passing reference in support of “unfettered speech about political issues” and said that partisan political considerations should not play a role in the DOJ’s efforts, he outlined a quite frightening expansion of the DOJ’s power to use criminal prosecutions, surveillance, intimidation, under the guise of “warning the public” and “the need to protect the public from fraud and deception perpetrated by foreign agents.”
Of course, the real danger in Rosenstein’s announcement is seen in what has come to light about the abuses of the intelligence powers of the U.S. government on behalf of the British Empire. Do you really want to trust people like Rosenstein, Mueller, Strzok, Lisa Page, Comey, Brennan, McCabe, et al., with protecting “vulnerable” Americans from being influenced by “foreign agents”?
North Korean Economy Contracting, as U.S. Asks for Complete UN Energy Embargo
July 22 (EIRNS)—At the UN Security Council July 19, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley moved for a complete halt to all energy exports to North Korea, from the current UN-sanctioned level of 4 million barrels of crude oil and 500,000 barrels of petroleum products annually. Russia and China, while not vetoing, “suspended” the resolution for six months, requesting to “study the situation.”
Pompeo then spoke briefly to the press, and claimed that U.S. intelligence means have monitored 83 instances of (ship-to-ship) pirating or smuggling of oil products into North Korea in the first five months of 2018 (prior to the June 12 summit of President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un). Pompeo did not name any countries in this connection. He called for “all countries” to comply with and expand sanctions until the D.P.R.K. takes denuclearization actions. He implied, without criticism, that North Korea has not, so far, acted on its general commitments taken at the Singapore summit.
South Korea’s National Security Office director Chung Eui-yong met with U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton and other U.S. officials in Washington July 21-22, to offer aid in maintaining the current momentum for dialogue with Pyongyang, given what Seoul views as lack of specific progress to date, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The North Korean economy contracted by 3.5% in 2017, according to an estimate published by Bank of Korea, the Republic of Korea’s central bank. This would have been the largest economic shrinkage since 1997, and reversed significant, 3.9% growth in 2016 according to the same source. D.P.R.K. total trade dropped 15% in 2017 to $5.5 billion; exports dropped 37%. Mining production in the D.P.R.K. fell by 11%, the Bank of Korea said, with sanctions on its coal exports.
If the Bank of Korea does indeed have the capacities to track the North Korean economy, it appears that though the Obama Administration said it had placed very strong sanctions on North Korea, they were not interfering with D.P.R.K.’s economic growth under Kim Jong-un. The Trump Administration sanctions, however, with the cooperation of China and Russia, have had a very large impact.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
U.S. Military in Syria Has No New Orders Yet from Summit
July 20 (EIRNS)—Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, delivered a briefing to media at the Pentagon on July 19 and reported that he has received no specific instructions for cooperating with the Russian military in Syria coming out of the Trump-Putin summit, and that any such cooperation would require either a waiver or Congressional action. He was referring to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act provision prohibiting the expenditure of any funds for any sort of substantive cooperation with the Russian military, until Russia “has ceased its occupation of the Ukrainian territory,” and which has been renewed every year since. The bill does allow the Secretary of Defense to approve a waiver to allow military coordination with Russia, pending the Secretary of State’s approval and notification of Congress.
Votel stressed that the deconfliction line remains the main means of communication and interaction with the Russian military in Syria. “The principal purpose of that is ensuring safety of our forces, safety of flight, safety of our aircraft and our people on the ground and ensuring we are operating in accordance with our international obligations,” Votel said. An exemption to do anything beyond that “would have to be created by Congress or a waiver that they would approve to allow us to do something like that. I have not asked for that, at this point. We’ll see what direction comes down.”
Russian Defense Ministry Gives Updates on New Strategic Weapons
July 20 (EIRNS)—The Russian Defense Ministry issued updates yesterday on all the new strategic weapons that Russian President Vladimir Putin first revealed during his televised Address to the Federal Assembly on March 1. The clear point was to reinforce to the world that these weapons do indeed exist and to provide information as to the status of each system.
The updates, as reported by TASS, are as follows:
MiG-31Ks carrying Kinzhal (“Dagger”) hypersonic missiles participated in an exercise with missile-equipped Tu-22M3 bombers (carrying a different missile) in early July, focused on hitting ground and naval targets. “The drills focused on planning, preparing and jointly employing Kinzhal air-launched missile systems and long-range Tu-22M3 missile-carrying bombers, and also on fighter jets’ operations to provide cover for air strike groups,” Russian Aerospace Forces Deputy Commander in Chief Lt. Gen. Sergei Dronov said.
The Russian Strategic Missile Forces are preparing to accept the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle into service. “The Russian defense industry has completed developing the Avangard missile system with the principally new armament—the gliding cruise warhead. Industrial enterprises have switched to its serial production,” the Defense Ministry said. Deputy Commander of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces for Armament Maj. Gen. Sergei Poroskun has said that the Avangard hypersonic missile system features combat capabilities that “make it possible to reliably breach any anti-missile defenses.”
The Sarmat ICBM, the missile destined to begin replacing the R-36 liquid fuel ICBM in two to three years’ time, will be ready for its first flight tests sometime this year, having just completed pop-up tests.
Trials of the Poseidon nuclear submarine drone (formerly called “Status 6”) are also set to begin. “Trials have been organized at the ranges of the Defense Ministry of Russia to confirm the dynamic characteristics of the apparatus [Poseidon] during launches in a real environment and to check the parameters of the apparatus’s movement along the route in autonomous mode,” the Defense Ministry said.
The Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile is also being prepared for flight testing. According to the Defense Ministry, “work on an unlimited-range missile is going according to plan. In the meantime, launching systems are also being designed, while technological processes to manufacture, assemble and test the missile are being improved. This range of work will make it possible to start designing a totally new sort of weapon—a strategic nuclear complex armed with a nuclear-powered missile.”
The last weapon on the list is the Peresvet laser system, which has been accepted into the Russian Aerospace Forces, but very little detail on this system is otherwise provided. The Peresvets are the first Russian combat complexes based on new physical principles.
