TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2019

Volume 6, Number 164

EIR Daily Alert Service

P.O. Box 17390, Washington, DC 20041-0390

• The Optimism of LaRouche’s Four Laws and Trump’s Moon-Mars Mission
• Washington Post Compelled To Admit Christchurch and El Paso Mass Killers Are ‘Ecofascists’
• Minor Concessions Made to Huawei and U.S. Firms That Need It
• Trump Talks of Limiting U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan
• Argentine Crisis Deepens; Primary Election Victor Alberto Fernandez Announces ‘We Can’t Pay’ IMF
• Syrian Army On the Outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun
• Afghan Terror Bombing Kills 62, Claimed by ISIS
• Global Times; India Needs To Provide Economic Support To Resolve Crisis Over Jammu and Kashmir
• Bill Jones’ Analysis, ‘Beware the Policy of Strategic Tension,’ Published in CGTN Website

EDITORIAL

The Optimism of LaRouche’s Four Laws and Trump’s Moon-Mars Mission

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—One of the nation’s dominant news sources was provoked to examine the identity between the ideology of the “climate emergency” greenies who claim human beings are destroying the Earth, and the mass shooters who believe that “emergency” calls on them to kill those human beings. The Washington Post confirmed our description of those killers as “ecofascists”; and observed that these drastic climate-emergency scenarios can induce some people to take “dire measures.”

The LaRouche Political Action Committee has explained this reality in mass leaflets to save the country from the calamities that deep cultural pessimism causes.

This ideology that induces cultural pessimism, especially among young people, is not only deadly but wrong. Humankind improves the condition of its physical environment. We do so by transforming it, with scientific breakthroughs to new technologies with higher energy densities and greater productivity. We also can give that environment a vastly greater scope: We can go into space, explore and develop it. These transformations require more people, and support a larger human population.

The great economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche developed four cardinal laws in 2014, from his lifetime of working for a culture of scientific breakthroughs and great human infrastructure missions. They begin with the Glass-Steagall principle of banking regulation and the Hamiltonian method of creating national credit institutions for industry and infrastructure development. But more important, LaRouche’s laws specify the use of that credit to foster the most advanced technologies which convey the greatest leaps in energy flux-density and powers of labor. This means a crash program to develop fusion power and plasma technologies, and a crash program in space exploration like the Apollo Project launched by President Kennedy.

These crash programs, LaRouche specified, must be done in cooperation with other great powers, particularly China, India, and Russia. He called on those nations to take the lead in forming a New Bretton Woods credit and monetary system to carry them out.

Right now, those great actions can pull the United States and Europe out of the jaws of another “great recession” and out of the path of another oncoming financial crash. Starting from the “Project Artemis” Moon and Mars mission announced by President Donald Trump, LaRouche’s approach will create breakthroughs that transform the boundaries of human activities and economic productivity.

And no need to jawbone the Federal Reserve Bank and other central banks to take us all down to the dark shadow-land of negative interest rates. LaRouche’s approach, by creating rising human productivity, actually creates new real wealth and profits of labor!

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Washington Post Compelled To Admit Christchurch and El Paso Mass Killers Are ‘Ecofascists’

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—The Washington Post newspaper, which dominates the capital area, commented in a front-page article yesterday on the environmentalist ideology of the mass killers in Christchurch, New Zealand and El Paso, Texas. The article, “Two Mass Killings a World Apart Share a Common Theme: ‘Ecofascism,’ ” must be assumed to be reacting to the exposure of precisely that reality, by Lyndon LaRouche’s movement’s website and publications in past weeks. Using the killers’ ”manifestos,” those publications have shown that the murderers were driven by the ideology of radical environmentalist groups which torment young people with frightening cries that the human population is ruining the Earth, and that the planet can bear only 500 million to 1 billion people, not the current 7.5 billion. The LaRouche movement has publicly branded this movement “ecofascism.”

An article similar to the Post’s, “The Environmentalist Roots of Anti-Immigrant Bigotry,” had been published days before in Britain’sGuardian of Aug. 16.

The Post article, continued on a full inside page, allows leaders of various environmentalist groups like Friends of the Earth to disavow the mass killers, claiming their beliefs are more white supremacist than environmentalist. One of these acknowledges that dystopian climate-change scenarios bring “a danger of people taking dire measures when they feel there’s no way out of it”; in other words, radical pessimism breeds violence.

But then the piece confirms:

• that ecofascism mirrors Nazi “blood and soil”;

• that the environmentalist movement has a racist, anti-immigration, eugenical and social Darwinist past; it claims “leaders of mainstream environmentalist groups are quick to acknowledge” this;

• that “conservationists” developed the idea that population growth produces environmental crisis, and that this idea has been adopted by extreme racists. Alleged Christchurch killer Brenton Harrison Tarrant’s manifesto is quoted: “It’s the birthrates. It’s the birthrates. It’s the birthrates”;

• that white supremacists frequently quote Paul Ehrlich’s (wildly false and discredited) 1972 book The Population Bomb—which Ehrlich is cited as protesting.

This lengthy admission is crucial, coming from the flagship liberal publication which has consistently blamed President Donald Trump for “white supremacist” violence and the mass

Minor Concessions Made to Huawei and U.S. Firms That Need It

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—The Commerce Department on Aug. 16 said it would extend by 90 days the “waiver” period for Huawei in which it can continue buying computer chips from American Silicon Valley firms. And on Aug. 19 in an interview on Fox News, Secretary Wilbur Ross confirmed that Huawei would be permitted to do business with U.S. entities, including selling equipment to them, until Nov. 19 (90 days). Thus, another in a series of minor “concessions” on trade matters with China was made by the Trump Administration. But it had also been importuned by American municipalities and firms whose communications networks require Huawei equipment.

President Donald Trump made comments on a related issue to reporters prior to boarding Air Force One in New Jersey on Sunday. He said he had discussed the impact of tariffs against China with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who “made a good case” that tariffs could hurt Apple, given that the products of its Korean competitor Samsung would not be subject to those same tariffs. “I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I’m thinking about it,” Trump said.

Trump Talks of Limiting U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—Speaking to journalists on Aug. 18 about the situation in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump described ongoing talks by U.S. representatives with the Taliban as “very good”; but also appeared to limit the scope of American troop withdrawals.

“We’re having very good discussions with the Taliban,” the President said. “We’re having very good discussions with the Afghan government…. We’ve really got [troops] down to probably 13,000 people and we’ll be bringing it down a little bit more, and then we’ll decide whether or not we’ll be staying longer or not…. We have things under control very well with the small force. We can probably make it a little bit smaller and then we’ll decide…. It’ll depend on the Taliban, it’ll depend on the Afghan government,” Trump said. “I think it’s very important that we continue intelligence there in all cases, because it is somewhat of a nest for hitting us.”

Descriptions several weeks ago by U.S. representative Zalmay Khalilzad’s team, which suggested an almost imminent U.S.-Taliban deal and beginning of American withdrawal, may have influenced India’s Aug. 5 decision to alter the state status of the India-administered part of Jammu and Kashmir to two federally administered territories. And in turn, India’s action has led to statements by Pakistani officials attempting to “link” Kashmir to peace negotiations in Afghanistan, to the dismay of Kabul’s President Ashraf Ghani government. So it may have struck President Trump—who has been consulted by both India and Pakistan since the move in Jammu and Kashmir—that a pause in U.S. troop withdrawal plans would be wise.

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Argentine Crisis Deepens; Primary Election Victor Alberto Fernández Announces ‘We Can’t Pay’ IMF

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—The financial chaos that followed neoliberal President Mauricio Macri’s stunning defeat in the Aug. 11 primary election, continued today. Although the Argentine markets were closed today for a holiday, on Wall Street, stocks of major Argentine companies plummeted by 12% or more, and the country risk rate shot up by 14% to 1,900. IHS Markit reported that this morning, the cost of insuring Argentine debt via a five-year Credit Default Swap had shot up by 319 basis points, reflecting fears of default.

Uncertainty is widespread. In an interview with the daily Clarínover the weekend, primary winner Alberto Fernández of the Front for All coalition, said there is only “one incontrovertible reality, and that is that Argentina under these conditions cannot repay the debts it’s taken on.” On Aug. 16 Fitch Ratings and S&P Global downgraded Argentina’s sovereign debt, with Fitch dropping it deep into junk territory from B to CCC, and S&P from B to B− with a negative outlook. Both say “default is a real possibility.” The Aug. 17 resignation of Macri’s Finance Minister Nicolas Dujovne has added to the uncertainty, and for most of today the President huddled in emergency session with his cabinet and Dujovne’s replacement, Hernan Lacunze, former Finance Minister for the Buenos Aires provincial government.

In the context of the looming global crash, it’s not impossible that the Argentine crisis could spread to other emerging markets. The key issue is the “sustainability” of Argentina’s $334 billion in foreign debt—now more than $100 billion higher than when then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner left office in December of 2015, and representing more than 100% of Gross Domestic Product.

Continuation of the IMF’s $57 billion standby agreement is therefore in doubt. The Fund is scheduled to disburse $5.5 billion on Sept. 15, but that is premised on future compliance with its austerity conditionalities, which is impossible. If the September disbursement, or those scheduled for December and into 2020 don’t materialize, Argentina will have to use its foreign reserves, to pay the $12 billion interest on treasury bonds due in December. Last week, reserves plummeted by $4 billion out of a total of $15 billion, while the peso plunged by 25%.

As Argentine economist Alfredo Ziait wrote in an Aug. 19 article for Página 12, the only option now is an “orderly restructuring” of the debt, starting with refinancing the stock of very short-term debt (Letes, Lecap and Lecer peso-denominated Treasury bonds), in the amount of $20 billion. Anything else would ensure continued financial chaos, and further destruction of the economy and living standards, he warned.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Syrian Army on the Outskirts of Khan Sheikhoun

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—According to breaking reports from Al Masdar News, units of the Syrian army have begun assaulting jihadi positions inside Khan Sheikhoun itself after making advances over the past several days into farm fields to the west and north of that city. According to earlier reports, jihadis of Hayat Tahrir as Sham (HTS), the main jihadi group controlling Khan Sheikhoun, had launched a counterattack to retake a key hilltop near the city but were beaten back by the Syrian Arab Army with heavy casualties.

Turkey so far has refrained from criticism of the Syrian offensive—perhaps, as some pundits suggest—to avoid offending Russia; but nonetheless, Turkey appears to be in a state of near panic about it. According to the Syrian Foreign Ministry, a Turkish military convoy is carrying ammunition, weapons and matériel to the jihadis defending Khan Sheikhoun. “The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns this flagrant Turkish violation and it holds the Turkish Regime fully responsible for the consequences of this stark violation of the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic which constitutes an outrageous breach of the international law’s provisions,” a source in the ministry told SANA.

Al Masdar also reports that a convoy from the National Liberation Front, a Turkish-backed opposition militia, is also on its way to southern Idlib to reinforce the jihadis.

Afghan Terror Bombing Kills 62, Claimed by ISIS

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—Terrorists attacked a wedding in Kabul, killing 62 people on Aug. 18. Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack. He also said, “The Taliban cannot absolve themselves of the blame for they provide platform for terrorists. Today is the day of mourning.” The bombing occurs in the midst of ongoing talks between the U.S. and the Taliban.

Meanwhile Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed Khan has made a statement that the ongoing tensions in Kashmir could potentially affect the peace process in Afghanistan.

In response Afghanistan condemned Khan’s statement as “reckless, unwarranted, and irresponsible.” Afghan envoy to the United States Roya Rahmani slammed Khan, stating “Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan. We believe Pakistan’s motive and insistence to purposely tie Afghanistan to the Kashmir issue is a deliberate attempt to prolong the violence happening on Afghan soil.” He further said, “Afghanistan’s stability is frequently threatened by Pakistan-based, sanctioned and supported militant and terrorist groups.” He also charged that the terror groups in Afghanistan are supported by Pakistan.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Global Times: India Needs To Provide Economic Support To Resolve Crisis over Jammu and Kashmir

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—India cannot solve its problem in India-controlled Kashmir without new economic policies for Kashmir, Global Timesreporter Hu Weijia insists an article in that newspaper today. Without commenting on India’s strategic reasons for taking over direct administration of the Indian-controlled part of Jammu and Kashmir, Hu focuses on what more is needed.

She writes, “India has been following the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, but its Defense Minister Rajnath Singh hinted on Friday [Aug. 16] that the doctrine may be open to change.” Pakistan responded Saturday that its army was “fully prepared” to face any challenge India might present, according to Press Trust of India (PTI). Officials cited security concerns, Hu reported, when India revoked Kashmir’s Muslim majority state’s autonomy. “It is understandable that Indian officials highlight security concerns,” but, Hu states, “New Delhi focuses too much on security and military measures to resolve Kashmir-related issues,” and relying “solely on military and security tactics will change the status quo in Kashmir and escalate tensions in the disputed region,” she writes.

She maintains there are “big defects in India’s policy toward Kashmir, which doesn’t include economic support. Coercive policies are doomed to fail if they focus only on military and security controls but neglect the economy.”

The most important aspect of policy for Kashmir should be to bring development opportunities to local areas, especially Muslim communities, instead of squeezing them out of the mainstream social stratum. This would reflect China’s poverty-alleviation policies toward local areas which, in the context of the country’s rapid economic development overall, have enabled it to lift hundreds of millions out of rural poverty.

Hu also criticizes India for imposing a communications blackout on Kashmir, saying India is moving in the wrong direction. She concludes: “Economic and political measures are always two sides of the same coin when it comes to solving social problems, so neither can be neglected. If India offers no economic solution but simply poses a military threat, the Indian government will face resistance from the Muslim community in Kashmir. The situation may continue to deteriorate, but hopefully the two nuclear-armed rivals can remain calm amid escalating tensions.”

OTHER

Bill Jones’ Analysis, ‘Beware the Policy of Strategic Tension,’ Published in CGTN Website

Aug. 19 (EIRNS)—A column by EIR Washington Bureau Chief Bill Jones, entitled “Beware the Policy of Strategic Tension” was run in the Opinion section of the website of China Global Television Network. Jones notes the various “hot spots” that are being created around the world, over Hong Kong, Taiwan, Kashmir, with the background of the ever-growing realization that the present financial system is about to blow. While the U.S.-China “trade dispute” can become a trigger to such a blowout, Jones states, it is not the cause of the problem. “The cause is the policy over the last several decades of simply printing money (primarily U.S. dollars) to subsidize the increasing debt that has been incurred by the system,” Jones writes. “And reform proposals made by leading economists over the last few decades like Lyndon LaRouche with his Triple Curve diagram, or James Tobin, with his proposed tax on derivatives, or Nobel Prize-winner Maurice Allais, had been totally rejected by Western governments. The problems with the exponential growth of debt could have been cleared up in the 1980s, but Federal Reserve chairpersons from Alan Greenspan on have simply chosen to print up enough money to keep the bloated system afloat.”

In addition to this financial policy, there was also a push by the same financial oligarchs to impose massive austerity on the people, leading to a steady decline in most people’s living standards and death and destruction in poorer countries. “To prevent people from rising up against such insane policies, a variety of movements were created by the major London and New York financial institutions and their think-tanks (most prominently supported by the British monarchy), which were most threatened by any reduction of the outstanding debt which they were holding. In the 1970s this was called the Zero-Growth Movement. The Zero Growth-ers tried to convince the population that the problem they were facing with environmental degradation and pollution was not due to the lack of technological development, but rather to a population that was growing too fast. The solution tendered by the ‘movement’ was for people to eat less and have fewer children.”

Jones then warns about the rise of Extinction Rebellion. “We see the same phenomenon now arising and heavily financed by global financial institutions. It is particularly strong in Europe, where young people are being mobilized around the same failed policies as in the 1970s, using their concerns for environmental degradation in order to promote a generation of anti-technology Luddites. Germany, for instance, has already abandoned nuclear power and is now beginning to shut its coal plants. Under such conditions, one cloudy day in Central Europe can lead to blackouts and brownouts throughout the country.”

Jones then contrasts this with China’s game-changing Belt and Road Initiative. He stated that the fact that it was promoted by China, now playing a greater role in world politics, and that is so pro-development had raised opposition among those elements attempting to preserve the failing status quo. The success of the BRI and “the virtual elimination of poverty on the globe, which is clearly foreshadowed in what China has accomplished with its own population alleviation, makes it difficult to convince people of the Malthusian argument that poverty and starvation must always be with us in order to ‘eliminate the excess population,’ ” Jones writes.

“Therefore, the financial elites and their hangers-on would like to create conflicts that can throw a monkey wrench into this perspective.”  Jones then calls for “the major powers” to unite around a concrete program of development “which can send a message of resounding hope to all the countries of the world.”

Reach us at eirdailyalert@larouchepub.com or call 1-571-293-0935