EIR Daily Alert Service, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019
Volume 6, Number 11
EIR Daily Alert Service
P.O. Box 17390, Washington, DC 20041-0390
FBI Targeting of Trump Comes Under Growing Attack
First ‘Integrity Initiative’ Event in U.S. Points to Cyber War
Trump on U.S. Military Withdrawal: Stop the Endless Wars!
‘Yellow Vests’ Movement Coming Back, Not Ebbing as Macron Hoped
‘The Future of Volkswagen Lies in China’
China’s Space Agency Briefs Media on Chang’e-4 and Future Lunar Missions
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EDITORIAL
Plant Life on the Moon—Now for a Breakthrough on Earth!
| Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—On the dark side of the Moon, a cotton plant has not only sprouted, but its stem has formed a bud. Plant life on the Moon! Chongqing University has sent out dozens of beautiful photos. This success of mankind-created biological life on the Moon signifies two things: First, a step in its own right toward more advancement in space; and second, the vantage point from which to see and intervene in the turmoil and potential on Planet Earth.Today, the China National Space Administration made the announcement about the cotton seedlings, and experts the world over stress the significance of the ability to grow plants on the Moon, which is critical for long-term space activity.Down on Earth, there is a battle royal raging in the United States. Look at the sequence of attempted manipulation of mass opinion and action against President Donald Trump, conducted over the last few days, by the Anglo-American imperial crowd, intervening for a coup. On Jan. 11, the New York Times ran an article declaring that after Trump fired James Comey in May 2017, the FBI launched an investigation of Trump for serving Russian interests. Their intended American response? “Geez, there must be something to it, for the FBI to take action…” But then came the healthy American reaction: “Whoa! What’s the FBI, to be going after a President? J. Edgar Hoover again?”President Donald Trump himself gave his own fighting response yesterday, speaking to reporters on the airfield before departing for New Orleans. In reply to a question about the Jan. 11 New York Timesarticle, Trump said that, the FBI has been headed by “known scoundrels.” At least 12—who were in charge then—are gone. And more may go. They are “dirty cops.” The Russian collusion accusation is “a big hoax.”We are at a critical opportunity to blow open the pedigree and scale of the whole rotten assault operation. The timing is perfect. Today, a lead article posted on LaRouche PAC’s website is “A British Intelligence Fraud Creates the Coup Against Donald Trump,” by Barbara Boyd. This is Part III, of the new three-part report by Boyd, which now is available in full. A press release is forthcoming, for the widest possible impact, especially to Congress.The scandal of the foreign interference in the U.S. elections and at large, being British—not Russian—has so far been contained, appearing only in the “alternate” media. But this containment can’t last. It is blatant that key enemy agencies, such as the Institute for Statecraft and its Integrity Initiative, are funded outright by the British government, military, NATO, and private financial interests, to intervene against targetted Western nations, and Russia. Not merely “subversive,” these networks are warmongers, stoking conflict that can lead to nuclear obliteration.Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute Chairwoman, today stressed the international importance of the widest possible circulation of the new three-part Boyd report; and also for the White House to declassify all documents relating to the operations against President Trump and the United States. This will put the whole British operation into the limelight, for people to draw their conclusions.If these subversive operations are broken, the world is free for peace and development. There are many positive diplomatic signs. Regarding Syria, a trilateral heads of state meeting among Russia, Turkey and Iran is set for Jan. 23. Yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Trump on the phone, conferring on both specifics in Syria, and Turkish-U.S. economic collaboration.On Jan. 22, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will confer in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin, on ways to make progress solving the longstanding island disputes between the two nations, to bring about, at last, a peace treaty, and joint development policies.The prospects for a meeting between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un and Trump are increasing, according to reports of upcoming meetings between D.P.R.K. and U.S. envoys.In Geneva, very important talks have started between Russian and U.S. delegations over questions concerning the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.“The potential is unbelievable,” was Zepp-LaRouche’s evaluation of what lies ahead. She otherwise cautioned about the urgency involved, of the necessity of putting out front the needed economic measures. She identified the need for a New Bretton Woods system, through the process of conferring among the “Four Powers” (China, Russia, the U.S.A., and India) and acting on the principles embodied in the LaRouche Four Laws. She stressed the imminence of what can be terminal shocks to the failing Western monetarist system, such as the way the European Central Bank and EU are now going after Italian community banks.This evening in London, came the big shock, though anticipated, of the House of Commons voting down the Theresa May Brexit plan, by a whopping 432 to 202. This is described as the largest defeat ever for a prime minister in the Commons. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for a vote of no-confidence, to be debated and voted on tomorrow.“We are at a breaking point,” Zepp-LaRouche said. Correction: The Jan. 15 issue of EIR Daily Alert erred in failing to report that American Anne Applebaum is in fact a prominent and active member of the “U.K. Cluster” of “Integrity Initiative,” the British Empire’s latest grouping created to destroy the nation state. SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE China’s Little Biosphere Grows the First Plant on the Moon Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—Chinese scientists reported today that one of the cotton seeds housed in a container in the Chang’e-4 lander has sprouted. More than 170 photographs have been taken of the activity inside the small tin container, which includes a variety of seeds, fruit flies, and silkworm eggs. Images sent back, says experiment designer Prof. Xie Gengxin from Chongqing University, show one cotton seed has sprouted and started to grow. No other plants were seen growing.Xinhua reports that after Chang’e-4 landed, ground controllers sent commands to the probe to water the plants. A tube on the lander directs the natural sunlight on the Moon into the cannister. Therefore, as the Moon now enters its 14-day night, the mini-biosphere will have no light, and the experiment is over. Until now, Xie says, such growth experiments were only conducted in low Earth orbit. This is the first one on the Moon.Although this experiment had limited success, it sets the stage for larger-scale experiments to bring life to the Moon. Rogozin and Bridenstine Reaffirm Russia-U.S. Space Cooperation; Bridenstine Invited To Visit Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Roscomos Director Dmitry Rogozin spoke by telephone yesterday, Roscosmos said in a statement. The teleconference discussed further cooperation and the possibility of an in-person meeting in the future, SpaceNews weekly reports. It was also undoubtedly to unruffle Russian feathers after Bridenstine cancelled his invitation for Rogozin to visit the U.S., as the result of political pressure from the U.S. Senate.According to Kommersant, which spoke to industry sources, “During the conversation, Rogozin and Bridenstine stressed that Roscosmos and NASA are committed to the goal of space exploration. They agreed to continue cooperating, both on the program of the International Space Station and Moon exploration projects, and on other missions of exploring outer space,” TASS reported today.Rogozin invited NASA’s head to visit Russia, or the Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan, in the next few months, “in order to discuss all relevant issues in person. Jim Bridenstine confirmed his readiness to make a working visit to Russia,” Roscosmos said directly, TASS reported. COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM Theresa May’s Brexit Trounced, as Corbyn Sets No-Confidence Vote for Jan. 16 Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—The U.K. Parliament voted 432-202 against Prime Minister Theresa May’s fake Brexit deal with the Brussels bureaucrats this afternoon—an overwhelming vote which far exceeded the expected margin of defeat of 100 or so. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn immediately tabled a vote of no confidence, which will be debated and voted on tomorrow. The vote is expected at about 7:00 p.m. Jan. 16.The Fixed Term Parliaments Act of 2011 ruled that new elections can be called outside of the fixed term in two ways: a two-thirds vote of the Parliament for a new election, as happened in 2017 when May called for an election, or a no-confidence vote, which only requires a simple majority.Nonetheless, tomorrow’s no-confidence vote is not expected to be passed, as many Tories who voted against May’s Brexit deal will not likely vote for no confidence. The Northern Ireland DUP MPs, who joined in May’s coalition in 2017, also voted against her Brexit deal, but announced that they will not vote no confidence.But things are not going according to expectations these days, either in the U.K. or anywhere else.If the no-confidence vote passes, the law calls for a 14-day period in which the government can try to get a new vote and regain confidence. If that fails, Parliament would be dissolved and elections would be scheduled within 25 working days. Italian Bank Shares Dive after ECB Ultimatum to Monte dei Paschi Bank Jan. 15 (EIRNS)— The letter sent by the ECB to Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank, demanding extra reserves to cover 100% of the nominal value of non-performing loans (NPLs), provoked a collapse of bank stocks in Milan on Monday, Jan. 14, led by MPS, down 10%.It is to be presumed that the ECB is destabilizing the Italian banking system on purpose, for two aims: destroying community banks and to absorb them in the so-called Capital Market Union, and creating a crisis for the “populist” government in Rome so hated in Brussels.By setting a deadline for banks to get rid of NPLs by selling them on the market, the ECB had already forced them to depreciate the value of such NPLs, which were purchased by locust funds for a dime. Hedge funds are making up to a 400% profit on such deals, as they seize the collateral (a home, a factory etc.) whose value is much higher.Now the ECB demands that NPLs be valued at zero on the banks’ balance sheets, regardless of the price such NPLs are sold at, even if depreciated. This is a blow to the commercial banking sector, which could barely survive such a squeeze.In the case of Monte dei Paschi, which is now owned by the government, the ECB might have an additional purpose in preventing a merger with the Savings Bank of Genoa (Carige), which might soon be nationalized. Rumors have already circulated that the government would like to have a merger and use the new institution as a development bank. STRATEGIC WAR DANGER Trilateral Turkey-Russia-Iran Summit on Syria on the Agenda Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary caucus today that a three-way summit of him, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani—the three Astana process guarantor countries—to discuss the U.S. military withdrawal from Syria, is on the agenda. “I am highly likely to meet with Putin on Wednesday, Jan. 23,” Erdogan said, adding that “a trilateral meeting with Rouhani and Putin is on the agenda.”Erdogan’s comments followed a phone discussion he had with President Donald Trump yesterday in which they discussed Turkey establishing a safe zone up to 32 km deep inside Syria in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal. According to Turkish media reports, Erdogan reiterated that Turkey has no problem with the Kurdish population in Syria in general. It only has a problem with the PYD/YPG, which Ankara considers an arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group inside Turkey.A statement from the White House indicated that Trump and Erdogan discussed bilateral issues as well as cooperation on the U.S. withdrawal. Trump tweeted after his call, “Spoke w/ President Erdogan of Turkey to advise where we stand on all matters including our last two weeks of success in fighting the remnants of ISIS, and 20 mile safe zone. Also spoke about economic development between the U.S. & Turkey—great potential to substantially expand!”White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said, “The President expressed the desire to work together to address Turkey’s security concerns in northeast Syria while stressing the importance to the United States that Turkey does not mistreat the Kurds and other Syrian Democratic Forces with whom we have fought to defeat ISIS.” U.S. and Russia Discussing Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in Geneva Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—U.S. and Russian representatives are meeting in Geneva for inter-departmental discussions on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, according to TASS today. The Russian delegation is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov; the U.S. delegation is headed by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea L. Thompson. TASS noted that the Geneva meeting will be their first encounter since Thompson was appointed.Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow yesterday, “We are pleased to note that the U.S. side has finally agreed to hold these consultations following our numerous invitations,” TASS reported. At the time the U.S.-Russia meeting was announced, Ryabkov said, “In the conditions in which we are presented with different ultimatums, preconditions, demands, we demonstrate considerable good will…. We have enough good will; we are ready for serious work, and we will see what happens tomorrow.”According to this morning’s TASS press review, Izvestia reports that Russian officials are stressing that Russia will not respond to ultimatums, such as that issued by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Dec. 4, in which he gave Russia 60 days to come back into compliance with the treaty, or else. “We offered the Americans to discuss the problems at the negotiating table. However, giving us ultimatums does not make sense. Judging by their statements, they are doing everything to destroy the system existing within the INF Treaty,” a Russian diplomatic source said. Izvestia also stressed that the treaty issue has to be addressed at the presidential level, but that an opportunity to do so was missed during the G20 in Buenos Aires when the expected Trump-Putin meeting was canceled. “The problem cannot be solved without any discussion, if Washington has any desire to resolve this issue at all,” the source said.Izvestia reported that all of the experts it consulted agreed the problem can be solved, if there’s the will on both sides to do it. High-Level North Korea-U.S. Talks Upcoming, Sources Say Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump has sent a letter to North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un, unnamed diplomatic sources told CNN today. Likewise, South Korean and other media also report today that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “is expected” to meet with Vice-Chairman Kim Yong Chol, a top aide to Kim Jong Un, in Washington, D.C., possibly later this week, with the agenda said to be further consultations preparatory for a second Trump-Kim summit. On this, diplomatic sources in Seoul, also unnamed, were cited.All a South Korean Foreign Ministry official would say, is that there has been diplomatic contact between Washington and Pyongyang, which it would be inappropriate to comment on, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported today. “When the date and venue for the follow-up negotiations between the North and U.S. are fixed, there will be a public announcement on that,” Ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk told the regular press briefing.Indicative of the continuing efforts between the two Koreas to lay the groundwork for transformed relations, Yonhap reports that South Korea’s 2018 biennial defense White Paper, released today by its Ministry of National Defense, does not name North Korea’s military and government as an “enemy,” unlike those of previous years. It also omits discussion of programs such as “the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR)” and the “Kill Chain” strike platform.A Defense Ministry press release explains that the term “enemy” is used in reference to broader national security threats. Yonhap quotes the release: “The expression, enemy, is described as a concept that encompasses not only North Korean threats but also transnational and non-military threats, as well as increasing potential threats…. [The white paper] also states that [Seoul] will make thorough preparations for all scenarios, including those involving the North’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD), while considering the cross-border ties marked by efforts to reduce tensions and build trust following three inter-Korean summits in 2018.” U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FBI Won’t Keep Trump from Great Meetings with World Leaders! Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump told aggressive reporters yesterday again that his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last year “was a very good meeting … a very successful meeting.” He added that he has had such one-on-one meetings with world leaders “all the time,” with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with China’s President Xi Jinping. Once again, he reiterated his very sane policy, that “it’s good to have relationships with Russia, and China, and Japan, and India. And I have relationships with almost everybody, and that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”The pestering press corps painted that historical American foreign policy as treasonous. Trump was not impressed with the reporters’ fixation on the FBI’s illegal investigation of him. “The people that started that investigation are McCabe, who’s a proven liar and was fired from the FBI; or Lisa Page, who was forced to leave the FBI, and her lover, Peter Stzrok…. And also Comey…. So the people doing that investigation were people that have been caught, that are known scoundrels…. I guess you could say they’re dirty cops,” the President countered. Twelve people have already been terminated from the FBI, and “if you look at what’s happening, others are going to go.”“So when you say, ‘Should I have confidence in the FBI or intelligence agencies?’ When I see Ohr and I see all of these people; when I see Lisa and her lover, and their notes and their texts get captured, and you see what they said about me, having nothing to do with the investigation. Let me tell you something,” the President warned. “When people see that, you have an angry country because the whole thing is a hoax. It’s a big hoax, and it’s very bad for our country.”Trump’s former lawyer John Dowd yesterday called the DOJ/FBI/Special Counsel operation “an attempted coup.” Wall Street Journal Urges Declassification of FBI Documents Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board cut through the latest “bout of feverish media speculation” provoked by the New York Times promotion of the FBI’s 2017 “criminal inquiry” into the President, with a call for President Donald Trump to declassify the DOJ and FBI documents related to their investigations. The Journaltitled its call: “How About Some Russia Facts?”Since the “defining question” of this speculation is “whether Mr. Trump acted as a Russian agent,” and neither Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s operation nor the Senate Intelligence Committee has established any collusion with Russia, the Journal concludes: “The endless investigations are one more reason for Mr. Trump to declassify the DOJ and FBI documents related to 2016.” NEW WORLD ECONOMIC ORDER Japan-Russia Talks at Critical Point, Arrange for Abe To Go To Moscow Next Week Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—Foreign Ministers Taro Kono and Sergey Lavrov met on Jan. 14 in Moscow, explicitly to work on agreement for a peace treaty and development cooperation in preparation for Shinzo Abe’s visit to Moscow on Jan. 22. There is no certainty that the agreement will be reached in that summit, but there is optimism that it can be concluded this year.The roadblocks are important. Two earlier potential agreements between Japan and Russia, in 1956 and again in 1978, failed primarily because the U.S. intervened to sabotage them. Putin has repeatedly pointed to Japan’s lack of true sovereignty in this regard as the primary stumbling block. In particular, if the four disputed Kurile islands are divided two and two, as had been proposed in 1978, will the U.S. be able to force or coerce Japan to allow U.S. military bases to be established on their islands? The Russians could not accept that.Thus, in a press conference yesterday, after the meeting with Kono, Lavrov stated: “One more important aspect that I must mention concerns security cooperation. The 1956 Declaration was signed when Japan did not have a military alliance treaty with the U.S. The [U.S.] treaty was signed in 1960, after which our Japanese colleagues departed from the 1956 Declaration. Now that we are resuming talks on the basis of this declaration, we must consider the drastic change that has taken place in Japan’s military alliances since then. At today’s talks we devoted attention to the U.S. efforts to develop a global missile defense system in Japan with a view to militarizing that part of the world and also to the actions that the U.S. formally justifies by citing the need to neutralize the North Korean nuclear threat. These actions are creating security risks for Russia and China.”At this point, Russia is insisting upon its continuing sovereignty over the four islands, while trying to come to agreement on joint development.Lavrov also expressed concern over a recent statement by Abe that Russian citizens would be allowed to stay when sovereignty transferred to Japan. Russia called in the Japanese Ambassador after that remark to reject absolutely a transfer of sovereignty. Also, an advisor to Abe was quoted as saying that Japan counted on Washington’s support for a peace treaty with Russia, as a means of countering China. Lavrov told the press: “This is an outrageous statement. Today we stated this openly…. We have also inquired more broadly about how independent Japan can be in addressing any issues with such heavy dependence on the United States. We were assured that Japan would make decisions based on its national interests. We would like it to be that way.”Nonetheless, both sides are committed to finally resolving the post-World War II issue and getting to work on joint development and other cooperation. Egypt Constructs Nile-Style ‘Green River’ To Run in New Capital Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—Yesterday, Egyptian government officials were on hand as hundreds of engineers and workers started the construction of what is to be a new river, coursing through sections of the New Administrative Capital, in the same way the Nile River goes through old Cairo. The goal is to complete what is called the “Green River” within 18 months; seven contracting companies are involved, with brigades of laborers. Recycled water will be used. A riverside botanical garden is planned, which is intended to draw a couple million visitors annually.Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli was on hand for the ceremony to mark the construction start-up. The New Administrative Capital was also in headlines Jan. 6 for the simultaneous inauguration of a new mosque and Coptic cathedral.The New Administrative Capital, located some 60 km east of Cairo, is one of Egypt’s mega-infrastructure projects, and poses new features of functionality and beauty for a new city. OTHER ‘The Memo That Helped Kill a Half-Million People in Syria’ under Hillary Clinton’s Tenure Jan. 15 (EIRNS)—Writing in Consortium News Jan. 13, left-wing author Daniel Lazare, no fan of President Donald Trump, defended Trump’s order for the U.S. military to pull out of Syria, by ripping into Obama Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her role in ramming through the regime-change operation now being defeated in Syria.Clinton had tweeted that Trump was empowering ISIS, playing into Russia and Iran’s hands, and “putting our national security at risk” by pulling out. “Actions have consequences,” she wrote.Lazare revisited a 1,200-word memo written for Clinton in 2012 by former State Department official James P. Rubin which WikiLeaks released in 2016. Rubin laid out how and why U.S. intervention to topple Bashar Assad would aid Israel, open the door to coordinated U.S.-Israeli action, military if necessary, against Iran’s nuclear program, and, “a new Syrian regime might well be open to early action on the frozen peace talks with Israel,” enthused Rubin.As Lazare pointed out, these were hardly the consequences of Clinton’s actions:“The cost of the Clinton-backed policy in Syria has been staggering. As many as 560,000 people have died; half the population has been displaced, while the World Bank has estimated total war damage at $226 billion, roughly six years’ income for every Syrian man, woman, and child.“A cockeyed memo thus helped unleash a real-life catastrophe that refuses to go away. It’s a nightmare from which Trump is struggling to escape by trying to withdraw U.S. troops in his confused and deluded way. And it’s a nightmare that warmongers from arch-neo-con John Bolton, Trump’s national security advisor, to ‘liberal’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to Hillary Clinton are determined to keep going,” he concluded. |
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