TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2020

Volume 7, Number 29

EIR Daily Alert Service

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

• The Door Is Open for the Crucial Trump-Putin-Xi Summit
• Xi Jinping To Visit Russia for May 9 Victory Day Celebrations
• Lavrov Describes, Obama Bequeathed a ‘Horrible Legacy’ in Relations to Trump
• National Review Editor Exposes Bloomberg’s Aggressive Operation To Buy Presidency
• Huawei Hits FCC ‘Security Risk’ Classification as ‘Government Harassment Campaign’
• White House NASA Budget Request Would Fully Fund Artemis and Moon-Mars Mission
• Lavrov Expresses Russia’s ‘Alarm’ That Minsk Agreements on Ukraine Could Be Changed
• Turkey Claims New Syrian Army Attack on Its Forces in Idlib, but Turkey-Russia Meetings Continue
• Turkey’s Erdogan Creates Another Potential Crisis Over Cyprus
• Another Round of Libya’s Joint Military Commission Will Meet on Feb. 18
• Boris Johnson Has Free Ports Plan for a New ‘Caribbean’ Tax Haven on the English Channel

EDITORIAL

The Door Is Open for the Crucial Trump-Putin-Xi Summit

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—The huge disparity between President Donald Trump’s view of China and that of his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, can only remind one of what President Trump said about his former National Security Adviser John Bolton—if he hadn’t fired him, Trump said, we’d be in World War Six by now. Pompeo has been touring Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Ibero-America, ranting that these nations must not allow China’s Belt and Road development projects into their nations—clearly implying that the U.S. will punish them if they do—as the U.S. is threatening sanctions against even our closest allies in Europe if they proceed with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to bring Russian gas to a gas-hungry Europe. Pompeo even threatened the National Governors Association this past weekend “not to make separate individual deals with China that could undermine national policy,” and to beware of the supposedly sinister Chinese scientists and educational institutions in the U.S.

But what did President Trump say to the same National Governors Association today?

“I have great respect for President Xi and great respect for China.” He also called President Xi Jinping last week to praise his all-forces effort to counter the novel coronavirus, while the whorish U.S. and European press are full of insane diatribes about China failing to deal with this global threat, or even accusing it of intentionally unleashing it. In fact, Trump repeatedly tells the throngs attending his rallies, as he does with his tweets to the American people, that he respects President Xi Jinping as a great leader of a great nation.

It is time that Pompeo got the Bolton treatment.

So it is, also, with Russia. There is no American who has not heard President Trump say, over and over, that “being friends with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing.” And yet the press, and the Congress, and even Trump’s Cabinet members, pump out daily diatribes against Russia and the allegedly “evil dictator” Vladimir Putin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today opened the door to a Putin-Xi-Trump summit—an urgent necessity, as Helga Zepp-LaRouche has asserted—to address the growing danger of war, of financial disintegration, of the coronavirus breaking out as a global pandemic, and more. Lavrov pointed to the actual cause of the current state of tension and potential for war between these two great powers: President Barack Obama, Lavrov said, “had this quirk of putting personal before state. He also displayed it in December 2016, when he, already an outgoing President, ‘slammed the door’ by seizing Russian diplomatic properties and by forcing the diplomats out. By doing so, he left Trump with a horrible legacy in relations with Russia, which still has a certain effect.”

Just as the “Russiagate” hoax was in fact a coup attempt against the elected President of the United States by British intelligence, working with the corrupted Obama intelligence team, so also the British and their Obama Administration assets acted to provoke an existential crisis between the world’s two leading nuclear powers, willing even to risk thermonuclear war in order to maintain the British Empire division of the world into warring blocs.

We call on President Trump to respond to this opening, by accepting the invitation offered by President Putin for President Trump to attend the 75th Anniversary of the defeat of fascism in May, in Moscow, where President Xi Jinping will also be in attendance, and to also accept Putin’s appeal for a summit of the leaders of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, bringing Putin, Xi, and Trump together, albeit with Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson.

The world sits on a precipice, threatened with a financial explosion and with global war, or, to the contrary, rescued with a final defeat of the British Empire’s geopolitics, and a true Renaissance which unites the great cultures of the world in a truly universal Renaissance. To this, Lyndon LaRouche devoted his life’s work. On Wednesday, it will be one year since the death of this universal genius. Let us act upon this pregnant moment to realize his great mission.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Xi Jinping To Visit Russia for May 9 Victory Day Celebrations

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping has accepted an invitation to attend the 75th anniversary celebration of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War in May taking place in Moscow.

“We hope that the situation will improve in the Spring and our major events, which will start with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow for the 75th anniversary celebrations of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, as well as other events, will go as planned,” he said. “Our Chinese friends have confirmed that Xi Jinping plans [to visit Russia],” Denisov pointed out, according to TASS.

The Russian ambassador also confirmed the China is prepared to take part in a summit of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (Russia, France, the United States, the United Kingdom and China), proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We can see what is going on in the world. In such a situation, relationship between our countries, which definitely are among the global leaders, based on their size and role in global politics, is becoming clearer amid the imbalanced global situation. It is no coincidence that China was the first to support the initiative to hold a summit of the permanent members of the UN Security Council that our President put forward during a visit to Israel,” Denisov remarked.

“Our Chinese friends not only expressed their support but also told us that they were ready to actively participate in preparations for the event if other countries agreed to the proposal,” the Russian envoy said. “I am confident that it will benefit us all if we succeed in holding such an event,” he said.

“We will work on that. We haven’t received an answer only from our American partners. We’ll wait.”

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Lavrov Describes, Obama Bequeathed a ‘Horrible Legacy’ in Relations to Trump

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that U.S. Barack Obama left a “horrible legacy” in U.S.-Russia relations for President Donald Trump, according to TASS today. TASS did not say where or to whom the minister made his remarks. Lavrov said that Obama had cancelled going to St. Petersburg for the 2013 G20 summit, because he was “resentful for Edward Snowden’s asylum,” at a time “a very interesting document on strategic stability was being prepared for signing.”  Lavrov continued: “He had this quirk of putting personal before state. He also displayed it in December 2016, when he, already an outgoing President, ‘slammed the door’ by seizing Russian diplomatic properties and by forcing the diplomats out. By doing so, he left Trump with a horrible legacy in relations with Russia, which still has a certain effect.”

In an extensive “business breakfast” discussion today with the editorial staff of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Lavrov spoke of efforts to get talks going on a New START treaty, in which he mentioned that Washington is “keen to know more about our new weapons.”

“We have already mentioned the fact that the Russian military are prepared to consider some of these new weapons, at least Avangard and Sarmat, in the context of the Treaty’s criteria. The rest is not subject to limitations under the 2010 treaty, but we are ready to discuss this topic as well,” he said.

He expressed concerns regarding the U.S.’s so-called Prompt Global Strike doctrine, which involves use of non-nuclear strategic weapons, and which has gained traction recently. “It aims to reach any point of the Earth within one hour at most. Of course, it is a new destabilizing factor,” Lavrov explained. “Other factors are Washington’s now-official refusal to join the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and its plans to bring weapons into space.”

“Of course, we are ready to discuss our new weapons and new weapons of other nations, and do it in consideration of all factors that influence the global stability,” the minister said. “If we are offered to limit our weapons while those who make this offer continue developing their own weapons without limitations, of course, this discussion would lead us nowhere.”

Lavrov urged extending New START as it is, before trying to negotiate any multilateral arrangements. “The Americans are constantly trying to impose on us an option involving China’s

accession to the debate on the medium- and shorter-range missiles as well as the New START Treaty. But China has repeatedly stated in public that it will not join these talks, because the structure of its nuclear forces is radically different from that of Russia and the United States. If China suddenly changes its mind, we will be pleased to participate in multilateral talks. But we will not try to convince China,” Lavrov declared.

“We believe that there is sense in extending New START, which will expire in a year. After February 5, 2021, the treaty will be no more if it is not extended. Even if a multilateral process is launched, it will take a long time, because talks on such a serious issue never conclude in a couple of months,” Lavrov continued. “This is why there is a need to ensure a safety net by extending New START so that, as far as the political standing of Russia and the U.S. is concerned, no one can accuse us of destroying a legally binding strategic stability tool.”

On deploying missiles in Asia and the Pacific, he said: “The Americans have plans to deploy intermediate- and shorter-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan and South Korea are mentioned in this context. Both countries, however, said they have no plans to deploy such missiles. But if the Americans really want to deploy their missiles there, I don’t think it is impossible,” he said, and that such missiles could be deployed on “exotic islands” in the central part of the Pacific. He commented that, although these are geared to contain China, they nonetheless would be deployed in areas where a large part of Russia will be exposed.

National Review Editor Exposes Bloomberg’s Aggressive Operation To Buy Presidency

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—Mike Bloomberg has “elbowed” himself into the Democratic nomination race solely on the basis of his huge fortune, warned Rich Lowry, the editor of the conservative National Review, in a Feb. 6 syndicated op-ed, which was reprinted from the National Review by the New York Post. “His campaign is high-handed as only a billionaire many times over could be: He skipped the early contests, and has skipped all the debates to date”—though Lowry points out that this may change soon, as the Democratic National Committee “retrofits” its rules to suit Bloomberg.

Bloomberg has always believed that nothingsucceeds like excess, says Lowry. For the March 3 Democratic “Super Tuesday” primaries, Bloomberg has spent more than $300 million, “carpet bombing the airwaves every single day.” He spent $10 million on a single “Super Bowl” TV advertisement.

Bloomberg spent $250 million to be elected and remain mayor of New York City for three four-year terms (he was eligible for a third term, because he got the law changed). He is repeating his approach in the Presidential race.

Lowry argues that “grass roots politics” force candidates to meet and take account of “what voters believe and want.” He describes that President Abraham Lincoln devoted a serious amount of time to meeting with random people who showed up to see him, which Lincoln called “public opinion baths.”

In contrast, Bloomberg is a “Wizard of Oz” candidate, who is “shielded and inflated by his TV ads.”

Lowry concludes, “This style of campaigning shouldn’t be the norm. If Bloomberg succeeds, he will enrich many TV stations and consultants, but impoverish American politics.”

Huawei Hits FCC ‘Security Risk’ Classification as ‘Government Harassment Campaign’

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—In a nearly 200-page document filed submitted Feb. 3 with the Federal Communications Commission, Huawei has strongly contested the FCC’s classification of them (and fellow Chinese communications company ZTE) as “security risks,” a unanimous declaration made by the FCC back in November 2019. The filing makes clear reference to the campaign led by anti-China, anti-Trump Republican Senators Tom Cotton (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Ted Cruz (R-TX), in order to drive a wedge between the two major nations.

In its filing, submitted as part of the mandated 30-day “comment” period required by U.S. law, Huawei said, “The designation [of Huawei as a security risk] was not based on a sober, objective assessment of reliable evidence developed and considered through a fair and lawful process, but rather a gerrymandered recitation of ad hoc, Huawei-specific conclusions designed to implement a campaign by certain government officials, including members of Congress, to single out Huawei for burdensome and stigmatizing restrictions; put it out of business in the United States; and impugn its reputation around the world.”

Calling the FCC declaration “unlawful and misguided,” Huawei contends that the government regulator “exceeded its authority,” failed to treat other providers in a similar fashion, and “relied on half-truths and unsupported claims” for its decision.

Immediately after the FCC had announced its designating Huawei as a “security risk,” Huawei filed suit in U.S. Court, alleging that the FCC did not have this authority, and that only the Department of Homeland Security could make that determination. Filed in December 2018, that suit before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana is still pending.

Specifically calling the FCC’s November decision “adjudication disguised as rulemaking,” Huawei states that the charges against it “have their origins in a December 20, 2017, letter that Senator Tom Cotton and 17 other members of Congress sent to [FCC] Chairman Pai, expressing their ‘concern about Chinese espionage in general, and Huawei’s role in that espionage in particular.’ The members’ ‘concern’ was based on a 2012 Report prepared by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which, more than eight years earlier, had purported to conduct an investigation ‘into the counterintelligence and security threat posed by Chinese telecommunications companies doing business in the United States.’ Based on this Report, these members of Congress told Chairman Pai that ‘Huawei … cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence and thus poses a security threat to the United States and to our systems.’ ”

In a much shorter filing with the FCC, ZTE was more conciliatory, contending that it had spent “hundreds of millions of dollars” to address FCC “compliance” concerns, and “respectfully requesting” that the FCC find in its favor.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

White House NASA Budget Request Would Fully Fund Artemis and Moon-Mars Mission

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—Describing NASA’s return to the Moon as creating a “civilizational change in the era of human spaceflight,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine presented a “State of NASA” briefing from the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

“History is being made,” he said.

The Trump Administration is requesting $25.246 billion for the space agency, a 12% increase over FY20. Most important, it fully funds the development of a lunar lander, which is the most difficult hardware for the landing. It is funded at more than $3 billion, Bridenstine announced. And as a number of people observed, none has been built since the Apollo program.

Bridenstine stressed that the President is fully supporting the exploration program, as indicated in his State of the Union address.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Lavrov Expresses Russia’s ‘Alarm’ That Minsk Agreements on Ukraine Could Be Changed

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—During his business breakfast discussion with Rossiyskaya Gazeta today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, “We are worried over [Ukraine Foreign Minister Vadym] Prystaiko’s recent statements that in case no positive steps are taken in the near future, by Russia again, Kiev may look at an alternative to the Minsk agreements.” Lavrov demanded, “And what kind of alternatives? The ones our American colleagues, and the Kiev authorities with their backing, have been enthusiastically pushing for: control of the border first, and then everything will be all right.”

The Russian view of the Minsk agreements is that they call for the settling of the special status of Ukraine’s Donbas region, before returning control of the border, which is monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with Russia back to the Kiev authorities. But what Prystaiko has been talking about is reversing that order.

Lavrov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin, in reply to such views, had repeatedly drawn attention to those “who are consolidating under neo-Nazi slogans in Ukraine and how they threaten to use force.”

Lavrov also charged that Kiev, under pressure from the U.S., failed to put together a plan for the disengagement of forces along the entire line of contact because, he said, Kiev doesn’t want to see the Minsk Agreements implemented. Lavrov pointed out that, prior to the Dec. 9 summit among Presidents Putin, Zelensky, French President Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel— the Normandy Four heads of state—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had agreed to disengagement of forces along the entire 410-km line of contact, but at the summit itself he demanded that it be reviewed.

Lavrov said, “Still, we are confident that the Contact Group—which is a platform for resolving all issues concerning prisoner exchanges and the disengagement of forces—will remain focused on ensuring the full implementation of all agreements and paying attention to humanitarian and economic issues, though Kiev keeps ignoring the way they need to be resolved under the Minsk Agreements, as well as the political process.”

Turkey Claims New Syrian Army Attack on Its Forces in Idlib, but Turkey-Russia Meetings Continue

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—The Turkish Defense Ministry charged today, that a Syrian Arab Army (SAA) attack on Turkish troops had killed five and wounded as many more, the second time in a week that such an incident has been claimed. Turkey’s Anadolu news service doesn’t indicate where the attack occurred, but Al Masdar News reports that it was at the Taftanaz Airbase, a few kilometers north of Saraqib, where some of the Turkish reinforcements brought into Idlib have been assembling. In response, Turkish forces reportedly fired on Syrian forces, and claimed to have destroyed 101 out of 115 targets, including three tanks and shooting down a helicopter. However, a Syrian military source told Al Masdar News that the Turkish claims are untrue.

Ankara’s Daily Sabah had reported a few hours earlier that the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army rebels had launched an offensive to retake Saraqib while Turkish military units hit positions of the Syrian army in eastern Idlib and Aleppo countryside with rocket launchers. It would appear, then, that if the SAA did attack Turkish army positions, it was not unprovoked. An SAA source had told Al Masdar even earlier that the SAA has orders to not engage the Turkish Armed Forces unless they carry out hostilities against SAA forces in Idlib and Aleppo. Syrian forces, at their closest approach, are only a few kilometers from Taftanaz.

In Ankara, Turkish and Russian delegations met for the second time today, to discuss the situation in Idlib, but, as with their first meeting on Feb. 8, there seems to have been no agreement. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a press conference today, that there was no consensus between Ankara and Moscow. The Russian delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin and special envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, includes military and intelligence officials, and the Turkish side is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal.

Yesterday, the Syrian General Command reported that the SAA has liberated 600 sq. km. of Idlib and Aleppo provinces over the past few days, and liberated dozens of villages, towns, and strategic hills. The General Command also said that the Syrian forces have achieved significant field advances, as the SAA advancing from Idlib’s eastern countryside have met SAA forces advancing from the direction of southern Aleppo.

The Command underlined that the attempts of the sponsors of terrorism (likely a reference to Turkey) to stop the collapse within the ranks of terror groups operating inside Syria will not succeed, asserting that the Syrian Arab Army will continue to carry out its duties in liberating every inch of the Syrian territories from terrorism.

Turkey’s Erdogan Creates Another Potential Crisis over Cyprus

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to be creating another crisis zone in the Eastern Mediterranean, this time over Cyprus, in addition to the high tensions he has created over exploration for hydrocarbons in the maritime exclusive economic zones claimed by both the Republic of Cyprus and Greece. Now there are fears that he might annex the Turkish northern half of the island, which is under the control of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, set up in the first place by Turkey after it invaded the island in the Cypriot crisis of 1974. Nominally claiming “independence,” the Turkish Republic of Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey.

The President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Mustafa Akinci, in an interview with Britain’s Guardian published Feb. 6, warned that if a settlement between the Greek and Turkish zones of Cyprus is not agreed upon, Turkey could annex the northern region, where Ankara maintains up to two army divisions. “If this [settlement] failed to happen, he said, the north [Turkish Cyprus] would grow increasingly dependent on Ankara and could end up being swallowed up, as a de facto Turkish province,” the Guardian reported. Akinci viewed the prospect of an annexation as “horrible.”

Representatives of the Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) denounced Akinci, with Ankara Communications Director Fahrettin Altun saying, “Turkey has no designs on the soil of any country.”

Despite these attacks, Akinci reiterated that he stood behind his remarks in a written statement he made on Feb. 9 recalling that Turkish Cypriots never embraced the possibility of annexation to Turkey. Akinci’s statement repeated the need for a comprehensive federal solution in Cyprus.

In an obvious criticism of the government of Turkish President Erdogan, Akinci said, “As people who are secular and democratic, internalized the culture of tolerance and peace and adhered to Atatürk’s principles, Turkish Cypriots want to continue their struggle for a life in modern European values. This struggle should be respected, not attacked,” he was quoted as saying in Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News.

Akinci is a leader of the Communal Democratic Party, a leftist social democratic party and not in the pocket of the Turkish government. Presidential elections are April 26, in which Akinci’s opponent is the current Prime Minister Ersin Tatar,  and leader of the very pro-Ankara National Unity Party. Tatar is vociferously pro-Erdogan, opposes reconciliation with the Greek side of the island, and advocates a two-state solution which neither the Greek Cypriots nor much of the international community will accept.

Another Round of Libya’s Joint Military Commission Will Meet on Feb. 18

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—The United Nations invited the Libyan 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC), which is made up of five high-ranking officers from the two sides of the conflict, to convene again in Geneva. “As both sides agreed to the need to continue the negotiations in order to reach a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, UNSMIL has proposed 18 February 2020, as the date for a new round of talks of the 5+5 JMC, in Geneva,” stated the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Feb. 9.

The Joint Military Commission held its first talks on Feb. 3 and concluded on Feb. 9 In Geneva, in the presence of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UNSMIL Ghassan Salame.

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Boris Johnson Has Free Ports Plan for a New ‘Caribbean’ Tax Haven on the English Channel

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—It looks like the plan for a post-Brexit Britain may be to turn it into a new Caribbean with no fewer than 10 free port zones. According to the Guardian, the U.K. government has launched a consultation on creating up to 10 free ports with special tariff and duty status. The brainchild of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the ports could open in 2021.

These would be re-export zones, where goods remain duty free until they enter the U.K. market. Raw materials could also be imported into the area, duty free for processing. Businesses would be exempt from filling out full customs declarations on imported goods. Finished products, if imported into the U.K., would be subject to duty. Confirming Labour Party fears, the government said that there could be measures to “reduce the costs of hiring workers working in free-port sites,” not specifying how it could be done. There will be a 10-week consultation, and areas will be invited to bid to become one of the zones.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said: “Free ports represent a fantastic opportunity for our businesses to increase their trade with companies from all over the world. Not only will they help create jobs and level up the U.K., but they underscore our commitment to championing global free trade, unleashing our country’s potential.”

The Guardian points out that the free ports could be used as a base for money-laundering or other organized crime.

The Labour Party’s John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor of the Exchequer (Britain’s treasury minister), called free ports a “revival of a failed Thatcherite plan from the 1980s, designed to cut away at regulation and our tax base. There is very little solid evidence that so-called free ports create jobs or boost economic growth, showing this up as another ideological move from a far-right government. This plan only represents a levelling-up for the super-rich, who will use free ports to hoard assets and avoid taxes while the rest of us feel the effects of underfunded public services.”

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