EDITORIAL

The New Bretton Woods System: Lyndon LaRouche’s Moment in History

Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—The stakes are very high in the fight to move from the Dec. 1 Trump-Xi summit and the resulting U.S.-China trade truce, and from the next (still unscheduled) Trump-Putin summit, directly into the first Four-Power discussions between the U.S., China, Russia and India towards a New Bretton Woods international fixed exchange-rate credit system—as designed by Lyndon LaRouche.

Now we see that alien elements in the U.S. Department of Justice are using provocative arrests and prosecutions, to try to shut down Washington-Beijing relations, just as they or others in the DOJ have been attacking Washington’s relations with Moscow for years, and are trying to cripple and eventually remove the elected U.S. President.

Yet whatever the appearance to the contrary, those of us who are fighting to realize LaRouche’s conceptions, do in fact have the means, if we use them, to overcome all the mannikins which the British empire can throw at us.

This was addressed by long-time LaRouche co-thinker in France, Jacques Cheminade, a senior political figure in his nation, in a Dec. 7 interview on LaRouchePAC’s Friday webcast which he briefed on the mass protest wave in France. Cheminade told LaRouchePAC host Matthew Ogden, speaking of our impact in imparting ideas throughout the Yellow Vest movement:

“So, our advantage, compared to all these people [of the political parties], is the way I was mistreated in French politics, and when they learn about what they’ve done to Lyndon LaRouche…in the United States. Then, they have a certain sense of what was done to me, because of the three Presidential elections [Cheminade ran in]. They say, ‘they have mocked you, they have attacked you, they have done to you exactly what’s was done to us.’  So, they have an understanding from this immediate standpoint, but I tell them, ‘you have to go deeper into the understanding.’

“What we are trying to do—it’s very interesting—in various layers, is to give them what they need: To give them the food to feed them, which is what they need to develop their thinking and go further than what they themselves expected.

“I was invited to three universities in Lille, in northern France, near the Belgian border. It’s a city of about 1 million people—a big city. There, I told all the students, ‘I got only 0.18% in the Presidential election. It’s very little.’  But they said, ‘It’s precisely for that [reason] that we want you. Because we know that if they did that to you, it’s [because] you are different. We want to know why you are different, and as they say, what you have in the stomach. Please tell us.’  So, we had very interesting meetings with them.”

Study and master LaRouche’s ideas. But be aware at the same time that the ideas cannot be separated from the person—his, but equally your own. If Socrates had listened to his friend Crito’s well-meant advice to flee Athens and his imminent execution, then no one would be talking about Socratic or Platonic ideas today. If Einstein had heeded three decades of advice by virtually every one of his “colleagues” that he confess his purported errors and join the “Copenhagen School”—all his theories would have died at that instant. Lyndon LaRouche has more than earned his immortality as a “folk hero,” as it has been said, both by his public actions, and by innumerable sorts of actions which will never be known to the public. This is our weapon, too—as it is Cheminade’s in France—once we seize the chalice.

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

French ‘Yellow Vest’ Protests Continue; Cheminade Assesses Mass Strike a ‘Winter of Our Discontent’

Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—Paris was virtually shut down Saturday—the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, etc.—in anticipation of continuing actions by the “Gilets Jaunes,” or the Yellow Vests. Rough reports indicated that over 30,000 people were out in the morning around the country, with about 8,000 in Paris. Some 30 people were injured (3 police) and there were dozens of arrests, bringing the number of detentions to over 600.

Trump posted two tweets on the Yellow Vests on Saturday: “Very sad day & night in Paris. Maybe it’s time to end the ridiculous and extremely expensive Paris Agreement and return money back to the people in the form of lower taxes? The U.S. was way ahead of the curve on that and the only major country where emissions went down last year!” In an earlier tweet, he said that demonstrators were “Chanting ‘We Want Trump!’ ” and closed with “Love France.”

Jacques Cheminade, the head of the Solidarité et Progrès party in France and an associate of Lyndon LaRouche, was interviewed on the LaRouchePAC Friday Webcast on the implication of the mass demonstrations for France, Europe and the world. (The LaRouche PAC webcast is posted as “The Yellow Vests—A Mass Strike in France: Interview with Jacques Cheminade”; and see EIR Daily Alert, Dec. 5: “French Government Offers Crumbs in Concessions To Contain Wrath of ‘Yellow Vests’ ”)

French Farmers Protest Macron’s Reneging on Raising Crop Prices; U.S. Farm Bankruptcies Rise

Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—France’s largest farm organization, FNSEA, plans to conduct demonstrations all this week, protesting not only against the excessive green fuel taxes, but also the fact that last week, President Emmanuel Macron’s government announced it was postponing what was to have been a slight raising of the floor prices to farmers. Farmers on both sides of the Atlantic are facing impossibly low prices for their output. In France, under what was called a “field-to-fork” law passed in early November, a 10% increase in the floor price for farmers’ food commodities was to be adopted at a Dec. 5 Cabinet meeting. But it did not happen. Government spokesmen said the measure will be on the Cabinet’s agenda later this month, or early next year, but FNSEA decided to stage protests now, in the midst of the Yellow Vest groundswell.

In the U.S., the trend is becoming worse with family-scale farmers selling out, declaring Chapter 12 bankruptcy, or otherwise reacting to impossible financial conditions. Price levels for corn, soybeans, beef, and milk are far below what is necessary to continue farm operations, with milk being the most acute. Prices have been below costs of production now for four years.

For example, in the Upper Midwest, the number of farms filing for bankruptcy over June 2017-June 2018 doubled in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, going up to 84, from 42, compared to the same period for 2013 to 2014. A spokesman for the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, which released the statistics last month, also reported that the farm bankruptcy and troubled-loan trends have not peaked, but continue to get worse. The Chapter 12 bankruptcy procedure taken by these farms allows for stretching out debt repayment over three years, but there is no guarantee that repayment can be achieved.

In Wisconsin, for example, there is currently around 7,600 total number of dairy herds, after 500 dairy farms were lost in 2017; some 150 of those farms are shut entirely, and the other herds are amalgamated. Wisconsin has lost about half its dairy farms over the past 15 years. The number of cows has remained about the same, with larger operations becoming the norm.

Throughout the farm regions, country towns are now nearly ghost-towns, with shops boarded up, schools and churches closed, and government functions shut down.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

China Calls in Canadian Ambassador re Huawei CFO Arrest on Behalf of U.S. Justice Department

Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—The Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned in Canadian Ambassador to China John McCallum today, in order to issue a “strong protest” over the Dec. 1 arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, for extradition to the U.S. Her detention was described as “extremely nasty,” and China warned that there would be “consequences” if Canada refused to release her immediately, according to Xinhua.

Meng’s hearing was held in Vancouver on Dec. 7, and the magistrate’s decision was held over until Dec. 10. In the Dec. 7 proceedings, it was revealed that Meng is charged with fraud for allegedly lying to banks about Huawei’s relationship with Skycom, a company which did business in Iran, thus breaking U.S. sanctions when those banks processed Huawei funds, according to the Wall Street Journal. The acts in question took place in 2013-14, but Meng’s lawyer told the court that Huawei had owned stock in Skycom, and Meng had been on its board only in 2008-2009.

The Journal reports that some Huawei executives began avoiding visits to the U.S. after April 2018, when the Justice Department began its criminal investigation. Meng was passing through Canada on her way to Mexico when she was arrested on Dec. 1.

The U.S. court action against Meng originates with the Southern District of New York. It has been reported that President Donald Trump himself was not informed in advance of the arrest of Meng. An article by Mei Xinyu, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, in the Global Times Dec. 7 points out: “There are those who claim that the Trump Administration didn’t plan the Meng arrest—instead, it was a deliberate move by the Democrat-controlled New York judiciary authorities to create an obstacle for China-U.S. relations….”

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was interviewed on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” today, which asked him about the U.S. request for Canada to detain Ms. Meng. Lighthizer asserted that the arrest was totally independent of trade talks and the request was solely the decision of the U.S. Department of Justice. In fact, this means the same cast of characters who are involved in the witch hunt President Donald Trump on Russiagate. Lighthizer declared his view that action against Meng should not affect the trade talks, unless, he said, China makes it into an issue.

Sen. Rand Paul Denounces Special Counsels, for Investigating ‘People, not Crimes’

Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) today called for an end to “special counsel” investigations of U.S. elected officials and candidates for elected office in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Paul said there should not be any special counsels, because they don’t investigate a crime; they investigate people, and look for a crime, and for conspiracies they can add on.

Paul told host Chuck Todd: “If a special prosecutor went after your life for the last 40 years, not you in particular, but anybody—I think they could dredge up accusations. So I’m absolutely against it, and I think it’s a miscarriage of justice and we should not be going after one person. And if we get this way, and if we’re going to prosecute people and put them in jail for campaign finance violations, we’re going to become a banana republic, where every President gets prosecuted, and everybody gets thrown in jail when they’re done with office.”

Todd began the interview asking, “Based on these federal documents that you’ve seen from [former Trump attorney] Michael Cohen at this point, if he wasn’t President, do you think ‘Individual-1’ would have also been indicted along with Michael Cohen?” Paul replied, by citing the Federal Election Commission’s ruling that former Presidential candidate John Edwards had not violated campaign finance laws by paying off his mistress. He continued: “But I think it’s bigger than this. … We have to decide whether or not really criminal penalties are the way we should approach campaign finance. We’ve over criminalized campaign finance.”

Paul later condemned the current use of conspiracy laws to bump up sentences. He offered the example of a drug dealer who asks his naive girlfriend to wire money for him. Prosecutors add “conspiracy” to her indictment, which adds 15-20 years to her sentence—“And now this woman’s in jail for life,” explained Paul.

Todd raised the question of Trump’s building a hotel in Moscow, to which Paul responded: “I don’t know what’s illegal about trying to build a hotel in Russia,” referring to the plans for Trump Tower Moscow in 2015. “The President was talking to the media openly about the deal in Russia in 2015….”  But the special council is threatening Cohen with 20 years unless he “gives” them something on the President—“this is prosecutorial abuse I think. And that’s why his [Cohen’s] story keeps shifting…. So really I think we’re trying to make and find a crime. This has been my overall complaint about having the special prosecutors, is that really they find a person, and they look for a crime.”

Asked if he would support William Barr for Attorney General, Paul said he objected to Barr’s support for total surveillance and expansion of the Patriot Act, but had not determined how he would vote.

William Barr as Attorney General? Either a Guy To Take Down Mueller, or a Bush Plant? Time Will Tell

Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—In his very young, prior life, under the tutelage of George H.W. Bush, Bill Barr was not a good guy. From high school on, he planned to be in the CIA, got there and was noticed by George H.W. Bush when he was Director of the CIA, and then was brought into the heart of Bush’s secret government operations, particularly those involving Ollie North and Iran-Contra. Then, in the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel, he wrote opinions authorizing kidnapping and rendition. As Deputy Attorney General and then Attorney General from 1991-1993, he supervised the invasion of Panama, and the very ugly and illegal trial of Manuel Noriega. He also supervised the coverups of BNL (Banca Nazionale del Lavoro), otherwise known as Iraqgate (George H.W. Bush’s supplying weapons to Iraq which we later encountered in Margaret Thatcher’s war to “liberate” Kuwait), and BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the British-spawned bank of crooks and criminals which was the moneybags for numerous intelligence operations worldwide, the center of much drug money-laundering and terrorist financing worldwide, and the honeypot for corrupting Third World leaders and numerous politicians on both sides of the aisle in the United States.)

Robert Mueller was the line DOJ prosecutor on all of these operations, reporting to Barr. Barr was a complete Neanderthal on criminal justice policy, going after low-level drug gangs and dealers for maximum jail sentences, and, as an advisor to the government of Virginia, recommending the abolition of parole. These are all the traditions, of course, of the Washington intelligence establishment and the Republican Party.

But, as many point out, that was years and years ago and Barr has had a substantive life since then, mostly as a corporate lawyer. He has criticized Mueller’s witch hunt of President Donald Trump. He is a firm believer in the Executive powers of the President under Article II. Attorney Joseph diGenova and his wife both write that he is possibly the best thing since sliced bread. There is reason to believe, based on their prior roles together in the Bush Justice Department, that he knows the backstory on Robert Mueller in more detail than anyone and that the two didn’t exactly get along. Time will tell.

Trump Administration Promotes Advanced Energy Sources at COP24

Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—Under the direction of Wells Griffith III, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs, the Trump Administration is sponsoring its second annual conference on fossil energy and nuclear power at the COP24 in Katowice, Poland. The U.S. Energy Association’s Director of Communications Dipka Bhambhani reports on the U.S. initiative in the Dec. 3 Forbes magazine, quoting from President Trump’s former energy policy and climate advisor, George David Banks. Banks stressed the importance of fossil fuels, including coal, and nuclear energy in providing “energy access and poverty eradication,” saying, “We don’t address them enough in climate negotiations.” They are 2 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Bhambhani contrasted Trump’s consistent support for fossil fuels to Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel who promised she was leading a change to green by eliminating nuclear energy and coal, but now imports 90% of its coal from abroad, including 17% from the United States.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Yemen UN Envoy Griffiths Expresses Hope De-Escalation in Conflict Will Stick

Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths expressed hope yesterday that the de-escalation on the ground would be maintained in Yemen “to give a chance” for the crisis settlement talks there to succeed, Sputnik reported Dec. 8.

UN-mediated talks between the Yemeni government and the Houthis started in Sweden Dec. 6, which are discussing prisoner exchange, confidence-building measures and humanitarian issues.

Griffiths told Sputnik, “We are working to the background of a very fragile situation in Yemen. We hope that the de-escalation will be maintained on different front lines to give a chance for progress to be achieved on political consultations.”

The conflict between government forces led by President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the Houthi rebels has been waged for several years. The Saudis made airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi’s request.

The conflict escalated this summer in the region of Hodeidah, Yemen’s largest port, disrupting supply shipments and putting half of its population at risk of starvation.

North Korean Foreign Minister Met with Xi Jinping in Beijing on Plans for Korean Peninsula

Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.) was in Beijing last week for meetings, including on Dec. 7 with President Xi Jinping, and with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Xinhua’s report included that the Ri conveyed Chairman Kim Jong Un’s greetings to Xi, and in turn, welcomed Xi’s request for taking his greetings back to Kim. Ri said that the D.P.R.K. wants to work with China to celebrate the 70th anniversary of D.P.R.K.-China diplomatic relations in 2019. Ri reiterated that North Korea’s commitment to denuclearization and peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula remain unswerving.

President Xi praised the work that has been done over the past year between North and South Korea to reduce tensions. He said that “Currently, the relations between the two countries have ushered in a new chapter.” He pointed to the positive changes that have come about, especially, that the Korean Peninsula is on the right track of political settlement. Xi expressed support for the D.P.R.K. to pursue its development path successfully.

In particular, Xi spoke of the importance that the leaders of the United States and North Korea meet each other halfway, so there will be continued progress for peace talks on denuclearization and peace on the Peninsula.

U.S., South Korea Cancel Huge ‘Foal Eagle’ Joint Military Exercise

Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—South Korea announced Dec. 7 that the huge annual “Foal Eagle” joint military exercise scheduled for April 2019 has been cancelled. Government sources in Seoul told the daily Chosun Ilbothat South Korean troops will train alone, but with greatly reduced numbers. Last year, around 10,000 U.S. and 290,000 South Korean soldiers took part in the drill. The two sides will hold only computer-simulated exercises this year.

Chosun Ilbo reports that some South Korean military officials are surprised and disappointed that the cuts are so extensive, although Defense Secretary James Mattis announced in November that the joint exercises would be “reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy.”

A second summit between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un is being planned for early 2019.

U.S. Requests South Korea Pay More for U.S. Troops and Bases

Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—The Wall Street Journal reported this weekend that the Trump Administration is asking South Korea to pay more for the U.S. bases in the country. A five-year agreement for Seoul to pay $830 million per year—about half the estimated cost of maintaining the bases—runs out on Dec. 31. Reports differ as to how much the U.S. is asking, either double, at $1.6 billion, or half again the current rate, at $1.2 billion.

The Journal reports that the leading five political parties in South Korea told President Moon Jae-in that the National Assembly “cannot absorb an increase.”

The 2013 negotiations also failed to reach an agreement before the former agreement had run out, but came to terms the following year. So far there has been no discussion of troop reductions.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

China Succeeds in Launching Chang’e-4 Heading to Far Side of the Moon, May Spur U.S. Cooperation

Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—In the early morning hours of Dec. 8, China sent a spacecraft into Earth orbit that will make history early next year when it lands on the far side of the Moon. As spaceweather.com aptly acknowledged, “if the mission succeeds, it will catapult China into the forefront of lunar exploration with a landing that no other nation has even dared to attempt.” If there were ever a reason for the U.S. to change course and re-commit to the exploration of space, this is it.

This must be the “New Sputnik-Chang’e-4 Shock,” for the United States, said LaRouchePAC National Policy Committee leader Kesha Rogers, from Houston where she is an international spokeswoman for advancing space R&D. Rogers called today’s launch, “A wake-up call for the future … it is a unifying mission for the nation.”

Considering that the impetus for President John F. Kennedy’s initiation of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo manned programs were in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik, China’s Chang’e-4 mission has provided U.S. policymakers with a perfect entry-point to put aside failed approaches such as public-private partnerships, and assert federal responsibility for major breakthroughs in science, and the development of revolutionary new technologies for the economy.

Rogers pointed out that it is fortuitous that China’s launch of the Chang’e-4 came when it did. It should remind Americans of the legacy this country has in lunar exploration. On this day, 46 years ago NASA launched the last U.S. manned mission to the Moon, Apollo 17. With sadness, but irrepressible optimism, Commander Gene Cernan remarked, “as I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come—but we believe not too long into the future—I’d like to just [say] what I believe history will record. That America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. …we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind.”

Rogers said that China is carrying out now what Lyndon LaRouche has long proposed, a program for space exploration, as seen in the 1988 video LaRouche commissioned, “The Woman on Mars.” Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute president, joined in Rogers’ call, joined in the call for the U.S. to respond to a second “Sputnik Shock,” which means “not as a competition in space exploration, but for cooperation.” Zepp-LaRouche observed that, a year ago, President Donald Trump issued a video on space exploration.

Christmas Eve, two weeks from now, will mark 51 years since mankind first laid our own eyes on the far side of the Moon, in the first manned lunar orbit mission, Apollo 8. Now, decades later, China is sending a small lander and rover to pick up the baton, and make the first, intensive onsite study of this intriguing hemisphere of the Moon.

The Change’-4 lander and rover are carrying major scientific instruments from Sweden and Germany, indicative of China’s opening-up of its lunar program to international cooperation.

Imagine what could be accomplished if the United States, too, opened up to cooperate in what is a leading international lunar exploration program: Will the U.S. live up to its legacy and join China in exploring the Moon?

Roscosmos Director Rogozin Will Visit U.S. Next Year

Dec. 8 (EIRNS)—Dmitry Rogozin will visit the U.S. in early 2019, the Roscosmos press service told TASS on Dec. 7. “Dmitry Rogozin will visit the United States to hold talks as Roscosmos Director General and Russian Presidential Envoy for International Space Cooperation,” the press service said. Roscosmos’ statement pointed out that U.S. sanctions would not hinder Rogozin’s activities as Presidential Envoy because “for the most part, talks take place either in Russia or in countries that sanctions do not cover.”

Rogozin will also supervise all key international projects, Roscosmos stated: “They include the International Space Station project, the Russian-EU ExoMars mission and the Russian-Kazakh Baiterek complex.”

Rogozin was invited to visit the U.S. by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in October, when Bridenstine was in Russia and Kazakhstan. At that time Bridenstine said that Washington would temporarily lift the sanctions that had prohibited Rogozin from entering the United States.

“I would like to discuss many questions with Dmitry Rogozin,” the NASA administrator said last October. “If we want to establish a good working relationship, then we need to start to fully interact with each other, which in turn, will be good for both countries. We worked in a number of areas, so the Chief Director of Roscosmos was able to visit the United States. Also, we achieved this outcome so he could come here and meet with NASA representatives, as well as with some of our contractors.”

Bridenstine also said that Rogozin may speak at Rice University in Houston.  “I was happy to make a speech at Moscow State University, his alma mater, and I would be happy for him to make a speech in Rice University,” he stated.

OTHER

U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Block IPCC Report at COP24 Climate Conference

Dec. 9 (EIRNS)—There is surprisingly good news out of the long-drawn-out annual UN climate circus (COP24) at Katowice, Poland, over Dec. 2-14. Yesterday, the U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait prevented the adoption of the latest loony report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Climate fanatics were tearing out their hair, clamoring, “How can you oppose science?” and “Why, you yourself voted to commission this report—how can you oppose it now?” This is reported by British Empire media BBC and the Guardian, among others.

The resolution before the body stated that it “welcomed” the Oct. 7 IPCC report, but the motion failed because no consensus could be reached. The alternative resolution of the four named countries stated simply that the conference “took note” of the report. The climate-nuts screamed at the four holdout delegations far into the night, Dec. 8. After the motion failed, most of the Dec. 9 proceedings were cancelled. The lower-level representatives now at Katowice will be joined by ministers from some nations on Dec. 10; perhaps they will try to re-open this issue.

According to Associated Press, the U.S. State Department put out a declaration which straightforwardly said that to “welcome” the report would indicate agreement with its findings, but the U.S. disagrees with the report. AP reports that the resolution “welcoming” the IPCC report would “[make] it the benchmark for future action.”

The IPCC Special Report at issue, “Understanding Global Warming of 1.5°C,” Number 15 of Oct. 6, 2018, claims that in order to avoid supposedly disastrous global warming in excess of 1.5°C, measured from the “beginning of the industrial era”—that global net man-caused CO2 emissions must be reduced to zero by the middle of this century. What does zero net emissions mean?  It means that even in 2050, some few benighted folk will continue to burn fuels and suchlike, but that their CO2 “emissions” will be offset by the activities of more enlightened persons who will contrive to suck CO2 out of the air, and hide it underground or elsewhere. Thus there will be zero “net” man-caused CO2 emissions. (This from the World Resources Institute’s supportive summary of Oct. 7.)

The latter group of CO2-suckers will be located on the famous floating island of Laputa. This is what well over 100 national and other delegations voted to support, with only 4 dissenting.