FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 Volume 7, Number 37 EIR Daily Alert Service P.O. Box 17390, Washington, DC 20041-0390

• Poof! Bloomberg Disintegrates
• Mike Bloomberg’s Debate–‘Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain’
• Roger Stone Sentenced to 40 Months, as Barr Puts Spotlight on the Swamp Now
• Does Trump Want To Get Rid of Post for Director of National Intelligence?
• Number Three Pentagon Official To Leave at Trump’s Behest
• Russia Challenges U.S.-British Hypocrisy on Syria in UN Security Council
• IMF Finds Argentine Debt ‘Unsustainable,’ But Insists Bondholders Should Take a Haircut
• EU Budget Plans Increase for Climate and Defense, Cuts in Vital Common Agricultural Policy
• Mexican Students Send Their Satellite Into Orbit
• Dangerous Coronavirus Outbreak in South Korea

EDITORIAL

Poof! Bloomberg Disintegrates

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—After spending well over $300 million on ads for his delayed launch in the Democrat presidential campaign, Mike Bloomberg went up in smoke on Wednesday night in Nevada, as he appeared on his first TV debate. He bought 2 billion (with a “b”) ads on Facebook and Google alone over the past weeks—about 30,000 ads per minute. This contrived portrait of Mussolini Mike, with a few nice phrases, lifted his poll numbers from 4% to 19% virtually overnight, putting him neck and neck with Bernie Sanders—until the nation saw him in “in action” on the stage last night.

The bigger problem is that the other candidates—although they seemed to have temporarily forgotten about Donald Trump in their frantic effort to attack Bloomberg—refused to attack the core of evil represented by the real Mike Bloomberg. Only where it fit into their “identity politics” ideologydid they challenge him—his being a billionaire, his misogyny, his racism. But not a word was said about his degradation of farmers and machinists as mindless idiots, who could only stick a seed in the ground or turn a wrench. Could it be that they all fundamentally agree with Bloomberg on that? After all, they all seem to share Hillary Clinton’s view that the Trump base is nothing but dumb workers, the “basket of deplorables.” Nor did they challenge his call for euthanasia, that we must save money by refusing to medically treat people over a certain age. Is it possible they agree with him on that as well?

On one issue there is no question but that the entire stable of Democrat candidates are in full agreement—that the world will soon burn up from global warming if we don’t shut down industrial development at home and abroad, stop all nations from producing energy with fossil fuels, and in the process reduce the world’s population to a level considered acceptable by Prince Charles and Prince Philip—something under 1 billion. Here is where one finds Bloomberg’s actual credentials as a genocidalist, committed to forcing the entire Western financial system to cut off credit to anything with a “carbon footprint.”

Trump has correctly ridiculed the climate cult—yesterday he lifted the insane greenie policy of denying water to farmers while fresh water is wasted, drained into the ocean.

And then there is China. While Trump makes trade deals with China and praises both their truly incredible progress, and their leader Xi Jinping, both the Democrats and the Republicans are in lock-step in driving for confrontation with China, knowing full well that it could lead rapidly to war. At the Munich Security Conference, there was no space between Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pompeo in denouncing China for virtually every ill in the world.

The leaflet now being circulated internationally by EIR, titled, “Is Mike Pompeo Morally Fit To Be Secretary of State?” asks: “is Mike Pompeo playing a London-inspired Great Game of war and division, acting against the national interests of the United States?”

President Trump observed that if he had listened to his former National Security Adviser John Bolton, “we would be in World War Six by now.” This is equally true of Mike Pompeo—his daily lies and threats regarding China, the Belt and Road, their scientific capacities and intentions, demonstrate that he believes in the British geopolitical mindset—either regime change or war. Trump correctly identified this mental disease by declaring the Iraq War as the greatest mistake in history, swearing to get the country out of these endless wars and to establish friendly relations with Russia and China.

For Trump to use his substantial negotiation skills, he must be allowed to call an emergency summit with his friends Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, to put an end to the “endless wars,” and to cooperate in ending the multiple scourges facing mankind in this moment of crisis: terrorism, coronavirus, and locusts threatening millions in Africa and Asia. By coming together to combat these threats to humanity, these great leaders can also launch the required emergency policies to build the world economy, to venture together into space, and to unleash a cultural renaissance drawing on the great eras of history, in China, India, the Arab world, Africa, and the Europe.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Mike Bloomberg’s Debate—’Pay No Attention to the Man behind the Curtain’

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—Bathed in the glow of the hologram he created in a barrage of ads costing well over $350 million in Super Tuesday states, Sir Mike Bloomberg made his debate premiere yesterday after the Democratic National Committee changed the rules for him. In the hologram, Mike is in a plaid shirt, working man’s khakis, involved in the most warm fuzziness possible. Wednesday night, as in the climactic moment in the “Wizard of Oz” movie, the curtain was pulled back, the spell was broken, revealing a snarling, arrogant, toad of a man, imperiously trying to simply stare down the multiple attacks against him, making responses best described as wooden.

Hammer and tongs, the extant candidates attacked Bloomberg on identity politics issues, his obvious racism (stop and frisk, the 2008 crash resulting from the demise of red-lining), and his feral sexism (the non-disclosure agreements lurking out there from female employees abused at Bloomberg LLP, including the expectant mother, of whom Bloomberg demanded to know whether she was going to “kill it.”) Bloomberg really had no answers and refused to release anyone from the NDAs.

Tellingly, however, Bloomberg’s attacks on coal miners, his attacks on farmers and machinists, were not raised, since all of these mini-Obamas agree with the Green New Deal and the deindustrialization of the economy. Nor did they raise Bloomberg’s euthanasia comments about healthcare (95-year-old prostate cancer patients shouldn’t be treated), since none of their remedies involve the medical and scientific infrastructure necessary to expand the population and lifespans, or the complete “de-financialization” of medical care.

Over at the American Conservative, Matt Purple has written a great takedown of the would-be American Bonaparte, calling him “the smirking id of America’s elites.”

“Now Bloomberg is running for President, and his years of behaving like a crossing guard drunk on the power of his reversible stop sign have come back to haunt him,” Purple writes. He lampoons Bloomberg’s numerous harassments of the common folk of New York City, parading under the rubric of public health measures. “Bloomberg effectively turned the police into a task force on petty vice, sending them to write up people for harmless offenses (a move their union loudly protested). In a 2004 piece for Vanity Fair, Christopher Hitchens set out on a crime spree across New York where he tried to break as many of these enforced regulations as possible. This meant not just lighting up in a bar, but sitting on a milk crate ($105 fine for a Bronx man), feeding pigeons (summons for an 86-year-old), and riding a bike without both feet on the pedals. Strangely, though considered crimes against humanity in Bloombergistan, these particular infractions had nothing to do with public health. What they did have to do with was fines, which were then used to fill city coffers, authoritarianism in the service of deficit cutting. This enabled Bloomberg to boast about his fiscal responsibility even as he presided over a hefty expansion of the city’s budget.”

Referring to Bloomberg’s target to completely shut down the coal industry, Purple, writes: “Most progressives who rail against fossil fuels at least make some attempt to empathize with the laborers their schemes would displace (think the Obama-era attempt at a ‘blue-green alliance,’ for example). Not Bloomberg. It’s that callous indifference that makes him truly unique. I’d sooner vote for a stalk of celery with googly-eyes attached (not that one would be able to tell the difference).”

This was the reality of last night’s performance. But, we are not in reality, and it will not end there. Stay tuned folks, as we now have the right tone for taking this on.

Roger Stone Sentenced to 40 Months, as Barr Puts Spotlight on the Swamp Now

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—Roger Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison by Judge Amy Berman Jackson today, in a case in which Attorney General William Barr became the primary target over the past two weeks. Barr is investigating the origins of the coup against Donald Trump, which involves all three branches of the U.S. government, and a desperate effort is underway to get him to resign or limit his investigation. The effort has centered on faux outrage over Barr’s revision of the original Justice Department sentencing recommendation in the Stone case, which was far outside the bounds of applicable precedent.

President Donald Trump delivered remarks on the sentence from Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was attending a Hope for Prisoners Conference as part of the administration’s Next Step Initiative. He commented that those assembled knew all about bad juries and unjust prosecutions and said that Roger Stone had been treated very unfairly. He singled out the allegations of misconduct by the jury forewoman in Stone’s case as part of his belief that Stone would be exonerated.

Judge Jackson has before her a motion for a new trial, based on the recently disclosed Twitter feed comments of jury forewoman Tomeka Hart. After a stunt in which the four original Mueller probe prosecutors resigned from the case last week, when Attorney General Barr overruled their original sentencing recommendation for 7-9 years, Hart came forward to defend the prosecutors and revealed that she had an extraordinary and undisclosed bias against Donald Trump and had been texting for impeachment during the Stone trial. Confronted with this motion, Judge Jackson reversed what would be the normal process, namely, hearing the new trial motion first and then sentencing Stone. Instead, as one wag commented, it was execution first, trial later.

Stone remains free on bond until that motion is litigated, but the obnoxious gag order Judge Jackson has imposed on Stone and those close to him remains in place.

The sentence Judge Jackson imposed is exactly the sentence Attorney General Barr recommended. Close observers believe that is meant to continue to heighten tensions between Barr and the President, and to make Trump’s inevitable pardon of Stone more politically controversial. Jackson also provided copy for those who assert that Barr is acting as Trump’s henchman, by defending the four resigning prosecutors and claiming that Barr’s lower sentencing recommendation defied current DOJ policy which requires maximum charging and sentencing recommendations for serious crimes.

Judge Jackson also took off on Stone during sentencing, in remarks which underlined her bias on this and other Robert Mueller-directed cases. Conducting a scolding tirade against the 67-year-old grandfather who stood before her for lying to the Congress about an investigation which had no legal or factual basis, she claimed that Stone had been convicted, not for supporting the President but for covering up for the President. There is absolutely no support in the record for this claim.

Stone’s lies to Congress, resulting from a perjury trap, were all about alleged contacts with Julian Assange concerning what the WikiLeaks director had on Hillary Clinton following WikiLeaks’ first release of emails from the Democratic National Committee in June 2016. In reality, Stone had no actual direct contacts of substance with WikiLeaks and, it appears, his claims to the contrary were attempts to impress the Trump Campaign after Trump had publicly distanced himself from Stone.

The United States knew that, yet encouraged press coverage of Stone and investigation of him as the Trump connection to WikiLeaks and Russian interference in the 2016 election. As LaRouche PAC and EIR have repeatedly documented, the Russian interference claim itself is utterly bogus. To bolster the defamatory claim that Stone was a traitor, he was originally arrested before sunrise at his Florida home by a swarm of SWAT teams carrying machine guns, as helicopters flew overhead, all witnessed by a CNN film crew.

Stone was also convicted of tampering with a witness, Randy Credico. Credico testified at trial and in a letter to Judge Jackson concerning sentencing that he didn’t believe he was tampered with at all.

Jackson also made a big point in sentencing about Stone’s disregard for her gag order, imposed after Stone posted a picture of the judge with what appear to be cross-hair symbols in the background, claiming that Stone had sought to disrupt his own trial. Yet, she had already held a full hearing on it, in which Stone apologized and she declined any punishment other than banning him from any use of social media. Most observers believe the gag order is a completely unconstitutional restraint on Stone’s First Amendment rights and his ability to defend himself in a venue, which has been completely poisoned against him.

Does Trump Want To Get Rid of Post for Director of National Intelligence?

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump has named Richard Grenell as Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI), making clear that he is not proposing him for the permanent position, but only Acting. When Dan Coats was fired in August, Trump appointed deputy director Joseph Maguire as Acting DNI, but Maguire is required by law to step down in March.

The question is, does Trump even intend to appoint a permanent DNI? After James Clapper’s treasonous term, perhaps Trump wants to get rid of the position altogether—it was only created by George W. Bush in 2004, to coordinate the 17 intelligence agencies in the government following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Trump is already in the process of cutting the bloated National Security Council back to its original size (Bush doubled it from 100 to 200, and Obama doubled that again to 400).

Grenell, now the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, has no intelligence experience, and has not run a major agency, but he is likely to be very loyal to Trump.  He was U.S. spokesman at the UN from 2001-2008 under four Ambassadors, including John Bolton. In Germany he ruffled feathers by undiplomatically criticizing the German government over immigration, Huawei, funding for NATO, and more.

He will be the first openly gay member of cabinet. Since the Senate approved him as Ambassador, he does not need to be approved again to serve as acting DNI.

Number Three Pentagon Official To Leave at Trump’s Behest

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—Yesterday, the Department of Defense announced that Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood would be leaving his post by the end of the month and that Dr. James Anderson, currently performing the duties of the deputy undersecretary, would become the acting undersecretary until a permanent replacement is nominated and confirmed. News media began speculation about the reasons for Rood’s departure almost immediately, with CNN placing Rood in the middle of the Ukrainian military aid flap that was used as the pretext for Trump’s impeachment. By all accounts, Rood indicated in his resignation letter that he was leaving at the request of President Donald Trump, who, he said, has the right to have his own policy team in place. Since his Senate confirmation in January 2018, Rood had helped oversee implementation of the National Defense Strategy, which formed the basis of the Pentagon orientation against Russia and China as adversaries, and the Nuclear Posture Review, which set the basis for the deployment of low-yield nuclear warheads onboard Trident missile submarines.

CNN cited unnamed former officials saying that Rood broke with the Trump Administration on a number of issues, including the matter of military aid to Ukraine, leading to a loss of support from leadership. These officials said that Rood was often perceived as not embracing changes in policy the White House and senior Pentagon officials wanted. Rood’s disagreements included skepticism about negotiations with the Afghan Taliban and the decisions to scale back exercises with South Korea. According to CNN, Rood was the author of the certification to Congress that Ukraine had embarked on significant reforms, thus justifying the release of $250 million in security assistance, which undermined administration concerns about Kiev’s corruption. Shortly after the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the phone call that was paced at the center of the impeachment attempt against President Trump, Rood told Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in an email that “placing a hold on security assistance at this time would jeopardize this unique window of opportunity and undermine our defense priorities with a key partner in the strategic competition with Russia.”

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Russia Challenges U.S.-British Hypocrisy on Syria in UN Security Council

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—The UN Security Council met, yesterday, to discuss the situation in Syria, but, as is often the case, the meeting was also used as a staging ground by the U.S. and British representatives for attacks on Russia for its role in Syria. The original agenda for the session had been to get a political update, but, judging from the remarks of Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock was added at the last minute in order to provide the most dire picture possible of the humanitarian situation in Syria’s Idlib province, which could then be used by the Britain and the U.S. against Russia. Lowcock told the Council that hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the Russian-backed Syrian offensive are being squeezed into ever smaller areas near Turkey’s border “under horrendous conditions” in freezing temperatures that are killing babies and young children, reported Associated Press. He said that “the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe” in northwest Idlib province, which is the last major rebel stronghold, has “overwhelmed” efforts to provide aid. He said nearly 900,000 people have been displaced since Dec. 1, when the government offensive began, more than 500,000 of them children.

Joining the U.S. and U.K. in denouncing Russia was German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who told the Council that the Astana process, comprising Russia, Iran and Turkey as guarantors, is no longer working and that therefore the UN must step in. “We have an immense responsibility that we face here as the United Nations, as the Security Council, to stop what is happening,” he said. “We must spare no effort.” Heusgen also urged Russia to stop supporting Syria. “If you tell the Syrians that there is no longer military support to the Syrian regime, they will have to stop the onslaught on their own population,” he said. Germany is one of the ten non-permanent members of the UNSC; Germany’s two-year term ends in 2020.

Britain’s Ambassador Karen Pierce said Russia and Syria need to stop “indiscriminate and inhumane attacks” in the northwest that are killing and injuring innocent civilians.

Nebenzia responded to these and other accusations, but it’s likely that his words fell on deaf ears. “Many countries give Russia advice on what to do and how to do,” he said. “For our part, we can also give a couple of recommendations.”  The first recommendation that he offered was that support to Hayat Tahrir al Sham, a proscribed terrorist group, should be stopped, including both political cover and weapons.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General released an audit that reported that the Pentagon had lost track of $715 million worth of weapons and other equipment that it had supplied to its “partners” in eastern Syria and can’t account for where it ended up. The IG audit reportedly found that lax standards for gear accountability left “thousands” of weapons and other gear “vulnerable to loss or theft.” The IG is apparently not saying that the missing gear ended up in the hands of terrorists, but this is clearly not to be excluded, as it has been true for many years.

Nebenzia went on to accuse certain other representatives on the Security Council of hypocrisy with regard to humanitarian suffering in Syria. “We have heard all of today’s rhetoric on many occasions this month,” Nebenzia went on. “You are playing the card of civilian suffering and long-term truce every time the terrorists you cherish are in danger.” While Russia is accused of bombing civilians, Nebenzia pointed out, nobody takes note of the destruction caused in Raqqa in Syria or Mosul in Iraq, and other cities “liberated” by the U.S.-led coalition. “Someone has said recently that international humanitarian law applies to all types of conflicts,” he said a bit later. “We therefore ask to put pressure on terrorists in Idlib and make them stop using civilians as human shields, stop the execution and torture of those who go to [the] street to oppose the invasion of terrorists, and give resident[s] access to humanitarian exit corridors.”

Nebenzia also point out that Western sanctions are impeding the reconstruction of Syria and that the U.S. military continues to occupy Syrian oil fields, which could otherwise also contribute to the reconstruction of the war-torn nation. “If some of our colleagues are deeply concerned about protecting oil fields from militants, we could advise them to sign an intergovernmental agreement with Damascus,” he said. “Otherwise, [their] presence in Syria is illegal. As is the case in other areas—‘Al-Tanf,’ where the issue of the Ruqban camp is still pending, and in Hasakah, where refugees are suffering in the Al-Howl camp.”

ECONOMY

IMF Finds Argentine Debt ‘Unsustainable,’ But Insists Bondholders Should Take a Haircut

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—On Feb. 19, the International Monetary Fund delegation that has been in Argentina for the past week evaluating the state of the economy, issued a statement with its finding that the nation’s debt is “unsustainable”—contrary to the conclusions reached in its July 2019 report. President Alberto Fernández welcomed the statement.

The IMF emphasized that attempting to achieve a primary surplus at this point—usually a tool for ensuring debt payment—is not “economically and politically feasible.” Of course, the Fund never mentioned its own responsibility in creating Argentina’s economic and debt debacle—as Finance Minister Martin Guzman charged in his speech to Congress last week—and went on to detail some of the worst aspects of the crisis caused by the austerity policies attached to its unprecedented $44 billion IMF standby loan, cruelly imposed by neo-liberal President Mauricio Macri.

Nor was there any mention of the IMF accepting a “haircut,” an issue that has become very hot over the past two weeks, after Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and, soon after, President Alberto Fernández agreed that the IMF should accept a haircut, given that its $44 billion loan was used to abet capital flight and currency speculation in violation of its own statutes.

Instead, the IMF asserted that the private bondholders are the ones who are going to have to make a “meaningful contribution”—i.e., get a haircut—“to help restore debt sustainability,” which the big Wall Street bondholders and vulture funds aren’t happy about. In a Feb. 16 interview with Bloomberg, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva insisted that the IMF’s “legal construct is such that we cannot do measures that may be possible for others, [that don’t have] this big global responsibility.”

Late this afternoon, the Argentine dailies El Destape and Ambito Financiero reported that Martin Guzman had already secured an agreement from the IMF that it won’t require the government to make any payments to it until 2024, and that there will be no demands for austerity measures, labor or pension reforms, or privatization of state-sector companies. If true, that may reflect the IMF’s concern that 60% of its loan portfolio consists of Argentine debt, and that in the event of a default, the IMF would be toast. Reportedly, when Guzman meets with Georgieva at the Feb. 22-23 meeting in Riyadh of the G20 Finance Ministers, these details will be completed. Guzman will also meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

EU Budget Plans Increase for Climate and Defense, Cuts in Vital Common Agricultural Policy

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—Under the pretext (among others) that the European Union has to compensate for the loss of the U.K. as contributor of up to €75 billion, EU Council President Charles Michel has presented a scandalous budget plan for the coming seven years, featuring deep cuts in agriculture and cohesion funds, but including steep increases for climate protection and so-called defense.

Thus, the Common Agricultural Policy will receive only €329.2 billion, a cut of 14% from the €382.5 billion in the previous budget; the Cohesion Fund, which is to support the poorer regions of the EU, will be cut from €367.7 to €323.4 billion. The new Climate Protection Fund will be given €260 billion, which is mostly collected from cuts in cohesion and agriculture, as well as other budgets; border patrols against migrants will be doubled to €21.9 billion; and EU common defense expenses will be increased sevenfold, from €2 billion to €14.3 billion. The total draft budget for the 2021-2027 period is €1.09 trillion.

Driven by climate-emergency hysteria, radicals in the European Parliament, which will debate the Michel plan, want an additional €300 billion in the budget for “sustainable” projects.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Mexican Students Send Their Satellite into Orbit

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—AzTechSat-1 was deployed into orbit from the International Space Station yesterday, having been designed, built, and tested by students, led by the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla. The students were mentored by engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. It was the first joint project of Mexican students and NASA engineers. AzTechSat-1 was one of a number of small cubesats brought up to the ISS on a cargo mission on Dec. 5, 2019. It will test a new communication technology that could greatly increase the capability of small satellites.

AzTechSat-1 will demonstrate satellite-to-satellite communications, being able to “talk” to constellations of large communication satellites in orbit, that provide telephone and data service, and are always in contact with ground stations. This would allow any data collected by a satellite, from an Earth remote sensing satellite, for example, to be relayed to Earth 24 hours a day, not just when the satellite is over the country’s ground receiving station. This will greatly increase the amount of data the increasing number of small satellites from developing countries can provide.

Dangerous Coronavirus Outbreak in South Korea

Feb. 20 (EIRNS)—A South Korean woman who had not been in China has infected at least 38 people with COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, in her church in the southern city of Daegu. This brings the total of cases in South Korea to 82; one long-term patient in the hospital in Daegu tested positive for COVID-19 posthumously.

Emergency measures are being imposed, both in the city and in the military base nearby, where both Korean and American soldiers are based. All schools and libraries are closed, and troops have been ordered to remain in barracks. The 2.5 million population have been urged to stay at home.

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