THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020

Volume 7, Number 46

EIR Daily Alert Service

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

• Wall Street Wins the Democratic Primaries
• Lavrov Confirms Trump’s Backing for Russia’s Proposed Summit of UN Security Council P5
• U.S. Congress Votes Up $8.3 Billion for Coronavirus Fight, as Cases Spread in U.S.
• Hillary Clinton To Release ‘Hillary,’ the Documentary
• U.S. Commander Insists Russia and China Interests in the Arctic Are Threat to America
• Alvrov Regrets That EU Supported the Coup in Ukraine, and Then Hit Russia With Sanctions
• Erdogan Openly Using Refugees To Blackmail Europe for Support
• Remedy for Viral Economic Plunge Has To Come From the Citizens
• European Healthcare Workers Denounce Budget Cuts
• China Foreign Ministry Reveals U.S. Is Real ‘Empire of Hackers,’ CIA Ran 11 Years of Cyberattacks
• WHO’s Dr. Tedros Informs Coronavirus Requires Comprehensive Approach, Not ‘One Size Fits All’

EDITORIAL

Wall Street Wins the Democratic Primaries

March 4 (EIRNS)—The “Super Tuesday” primary elections were won by Wall Street—and Wall Street was proud to take credit. Reuters published a report on Monday regarding their interviews with 14 “bankers, hedge-fund managers, private-equity bigwigs and prominent investors” on Wall Street, who all reported that they were dedicated to “making sure Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders does not get the nomination,” and were “primarily supporting former Vice President Joe Biden,” although they also were willing to support their Wall Street cohortMike Bloomberg.

Their plan worked. On Monday, a day before the primary elections in 14 states, candidates Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, who had obviously been read the riot act by their Wall Street backers, dropped out of the race, holding a press conference with Biden, pledging full support for the bumbling fellow. Biden is not only struggling with mental stability, but is also likely to face criminal charges for his massive corruption in league with the neo-Nazi former regime in Ukraine. Beto O’Rourke, the darling of the Texas liberals, also endorsed Biden, helping to throw the state to Biden.

Sir Michael Bloomberg, the spokesman for the City of London’s Green Fascism agenda—to cut off credit from the western world’s financial system to any industry which produces carbon—came in far behind in all the primaries. He dropped out of the race this morning, while, of course, pledging his billions to support Biden and run attack ads against President Donald Trump.

Only Elizabeth Warren has not dropped out of the race, despite her horrible results in every primary. Why didn’t Wall Street tell her to get out? Trump explained in a tweet: “Wow! If Elizabeth Warren wasn’t in the race, Bernie Sanders would have EASILY won Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas, not to mention various other states. Our modern day Pocahontas won’t go down in history as a winner, but she may very well go down as the all time great SPOILER!”

Tulsi Gabbard, the only Democratic candidate with any moral fortitude, won only one delegate, in the American Samoa primary. That has significance, however, since the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules for the debates are that anyone with a delegate can participate in the debates. But—this is the DNC, for whom rules are meaningless. The DNC spokesman immediately announced that “the threshold will go up.”

The character of the Democratic Party debates has been nothing but monetarism, war-mongering, hysteria against Russia and China, and Green ideology. Unfortunately, this is also true of the U.S. Congress—both parties—and most of the leadership in Europe. Helga Zepp-LaRouche today issued a sweeping review of the confluence of crises confronting humanity, concluding that what is required, instead of panic and despair, is a calm assessment of actions which can lift mankind out of the neo-liberal, geopolitical mindset, into the creative state of mind which enabled mankind to climb out of the Dark Age of the 14th century. She emphasized that the crises threatening us today have resulted from the failure to listen to Lyndon LaRouche since his forecast of August 15, 1971, warning that Nixon’s shutting down of the Bretton Woods structure, unleashing currency speculation and radical free-trade doctrines, would lead eventually to both global financial disintegration and global war. Those dangers now confront us.

President Donald Trump has rejected the green fascist policies, the “endless war” doctrine, and insists on friendly relations with Russia and China—but has been held back by the Congress and the neo-cons, both in the Republican Party and in the military-industrial complex. The President has now agreed to President Putin’s proposal for a summit of Russia, China, the U.S., France and the U.K.—the permanent five at the UN Security Council. While some are proposing the summit wait until the UN General Assembly meetings in September, it is urgent that it be convened as soon as possible. It is only such a summit in which Putin, Xi and Trump can take steps to break the British geopolitical divisions in the world, and to adopt the policies Helga Zepp-LaRouche identified in her Feb. 30 statement, “Urgent Appeal to President Trump, President Xi, President Putin, Prime Minister Modi and Leaders of Other Countries for the Emergency Implementation of the Four Laws of Lyndon LaRouche.”

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Lavrov Confirms Trump’s Backing for Russia’s Proposed Summit of UN Security Council P5

March 4 (EIRNS)—Speaking in Helsinki on Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took note of U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to hold a summit of the UN Security Council’s five permanent members. “The initiative was supported by the French President and the Chinese leader. And quite recently, President Trump confirmed his consent and endorsement of this proposal,” Lavrov told a news conference after talks with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

Lavrov reported that the date and venue for the summit are being discussed currently, and he hopes “that we will come to an agreement in the near future. Then we will announce it.”

Pyotr Ilyichev, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Organizations, had earlier told journalists that such a summit could take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s jubilee session in New York in September, and President Trump suggested the summit might be held in New York, in his Feb. 29 press conference, but there are no specific agreements on that score yet.

U.S. Congress Votes Up $8.3 Billion for Coronavirus Fight, as Cases Spread in U.S.

March 4 (EIRNS)—The House and Senate today reached a bipartisan agreement to allocate $8.3 billion to fund the response to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. The House was expected to approve the bill later today, on a bipartisan basis. This amount is significantly larger than the $2.3 billion the Trump Administration originally asked for.

The $8.3 billion includes $7.8 billion in discretionary appropriations, and $500 million for Medicare telehealth mandatory spending, allowing Medicare providers to provide telehealth services to seniors. Reportedly $2 billion will be allocated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), $3 billion to a public health emergency fund and to the National Institutes of Health for development of vaccines, treatment and testing of the coronavirus, the New York Times reported. A final announcement of the legislation has not yet been released.

Across the United States, confirmed cases amount to 148, with 11 deaths. Today, California reported a death from coronavirus, the first in the U.S. outside of Washington State. Four new cases in New York state are connected to a previously-diagnosed Westchester County man. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced a state of emergency for Los Angeles County after six new cases were confirmed on Tuesday. The declaration will help the county access state and federal funding to assist with preparedness, Garcetti said.

It was announced yesterday that the CDC will lift all restrictions on who can be tested. Dr. Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said on March 2 that by week’s end, close to 1 million tests will be able to be performed, although many public health laboratories say that they can’t process that many tests within a week; 15,000 daily is a more reasonable estimate, as of now.

In comments to reporters yesterday, President Donald Trump saidhe intends to tighten restrictions on foreign travel, but said that at this time didn’t foresee restrictions on domestic travel. He also said he’s not actively considering restrictions on travel to Mexico.

Hillary Clinton To Release ‘Hillary,’ the Documentary

March 4 (EIRNS)—The always modest Hillary Clinton will release a documentary entitled “Hillary” on Friday, on Hulu. A soundbite published on NPR reveals her hatred of the American people, in the same manner in which she declared Trump supporters to be “deplorable.”

Asked about her view of Bernie Sanders, Clinton responded: “Nobody likes him. Nobody wants to work with him. He got nothing done. He was a career politician. He had—he did not work till he was, like, 41, and then he got elected to something. It was all just baloney, and I feel so bad that, you know, people got sucked into it.”

Oh, those dumb Americans who fail to see my great leadership qualities…

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

U.S. Commander Insists Russia and China Interests in the Arctic Are Threat to America

March 4 (EIRNS)—General Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, the commander of U.S. Northern Command, went before the readiness subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday to complain about Russian and Chinese incursion into the Arctic. “The threats facing the United States and Canada are real and significant,” he said, reported the Washington Times. “The Arctic is no longer a fortress wall, and our oceans are no longer protective moats; they are now avenues of approach for advanced conventional weapons and the platforms that carry them.”

O’Shaughnessy said China and Russia are working together in seeking greater access to the Arctic, although Moscow mainly wants military advantage, while Beijing is pursuing economic benefits. China has announced it is planning a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global ambition to expand its power and influence. Militarily, the Russians are building and expanding military facilities in the Arctic, including multiple air bases. In September, Moscow deployed Bastion coastal defense cruise missiles opposite Alaska in the Bering Sea and is also placing long-range cruise missiles in the region. “By fielding advanced, long-range cruise missiles … and expanding its military presence in the region, Russia has left us with no choice but to improve our homeland defense capability and capacity,” Gen. O’Shaughnessy said—ignoring the fact that Russia’s aim is not to attack the U.S., but to defend its own sovereignty.

Lavrov Regrets That EU Supported the Coup in Ukraine, and Then Hit Russia with Sanctions

March 4 (EIRNS)—During a joint press conference in Helsinki yesterday with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lamented the fact that the European Union has supported the government coup in Ukraine. “We favor the normalization of relations between Russia and the European Union,” he said. “We find it regrettable that the EU opted for introducing sanctions against Russia after, in fact, it reconciled itself with and supported the February 2014 government coup in Ukraine,” he stated. Lavrov recalled that “many Western analysts are now publishing facts that explain how the 2014 government coup in Ukraine had been plotted and staged.”

“I believe that in any case the European values the EU professes do not imply connivance with theultra-radicals and neo-Nazis or tacit consent with the reforms that are being implemented in Ukraine in crude violation of the rights of ethnic minorities, first and foremost, those in the language and education spheres,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov also complained that Germany and France, the other two nations in the Normandy Four format in addition to Russia and Ukraine, have done little to motivate Kiev to abide by the Minsk agreements for reconciliation between Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas. “There are no alternatives to the Minsk agreements,” he said. Lavrov stated that Vadym Prystaiko, the Ukrainian foreign minister, has thrown out a lot of ideas that run counter to the agreements, such as dissolving the two breakaway republics in Donetsk and Luhansk, sending in UN peacekeepers and so on. “I have referred several appeals to the foreign ministers of Germany and France, as the members of the Normandy Four format, calling on them not to ignore such provocative statements by Ukrainian officials. But so far, our Normandy format partners are undertaking nothing in that regard,” Lavrov said. “Moreover, our French and German colleagues, as a matter of fact, are doing nothing to prod their Ukrainian partners to implement what was agreed at the Normandy Four summit in December in Paris. Instead, they focus on convening another summit of the Normandy Four as a goal in itself, regardless of whether the previous agreements are fulfilled or not. We don’t need such empty summits. We have told our partners about that.”

Erdogan Openly Using Refugees To Blackmail Europe for Support

March 4 (EIRNS)—Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made it explicit that he is using the refugee crisis to demand support from Europe for his murderous policy in Syria.

Speaking before the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary group meeting on March 4, Erdogan declared that “if European countries want to resolve the [refugee] issue, they must support Turkey’s efforts for political and humanitarian solutions in Syria.”

Erdogan’s “humanitarian solution” in Syria is to support the jihadi terrorists.

In his remarks he particularly attacked Greece. Making it clear that pushing the Syrian and other refugees in Turkey across the border into Greece was a tactic to force Europe to support his policy in Syria, he said the refugee influx will go on until a new Syrian constitution is drafted whereby a new administration takes office in Damascus. Erdogan responded to his domestic opposition’s criticisms of his offensive against the Syrian government, and even as he claimed “support” for Syria’s territorial integrity, he proclaimed that Idlib is the Turkish people’s “homeland,” a reference to the historical lands of the Ottoman Empire.

The European Union countered Erdogan’s outrageous claims with its own hot air. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell could only say was that “pressure and unilateral action are not an answer. We need to work hand in hand to address common challenges, for the benefit of both Turkey and the EU,” after he met with Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu in Ankara today.

Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for creating a “protection zone” in northwest Syria for the Syrian refugees, but of course she did not say who would “protect” them or how.

Such positions are even worse than doing nothing. The true solution is for Europe to back Russia and the Syrian government, and to hold Erdogan to the agreements he made with Russia and Iran in the Astana process.

Writing in today’s Hurriyet Daily News commentator Serkan Demirtas asserts that all of Erdogan’s efforts to mobilize international support, through blackmail via the refugees or otherwise, are failing. “Despite the Turkish efforts to expand the scope of the Idlib-centered developments to a global scale, a resolution to the ongoing conflict in Idlib is still under the domain of Turkey and Russia,” he wrote. He suggests that a deal can be reached when Erdogan goes to Moscow, in which Russian and Syrian control of the M4 and M5 highways would be assured, while the elimination of jihadist terror organizations can finally take place and they can perhaps deploy joint patrols along these two highways and relocating Turkey’s observation posts.

ECONOMY

Remedy for Viral Economic Plunge Has To Come from the Citizens

March 4 (EIRNS)—When we finished off the British at Yorktown in 1781, their army musicians, marching out in surrender, played a tune called “The World Turned Upside Down.” In this growing economic crisis, citizens must organize themselves and turn the world of economics upside down: Seize economic policy away from the City of London and Wall Street bankers and economists. Do that, or the financial system and economy will be triggered—maybe by globally spreading quarantines—to collapse once again, as deep as 2008 or worse. Lyndon LaRouche showed how the citizenry can seize economic policy and make it work in a crisis, back on June 8, 2014 in his “Four New Laws To Save the Nation.”

What the “top people,” the financial oligarchs, are selling in this crisis is their usual. Repeat 2009-12; do a “Barack Obama stimulus,” not too much, very “targeted”—that’s the viral word. Take care of Wall Street and the City of London by having the Federal Reserve print a great deal of money for them and let them borrow at zero interest for their speculations. The Fed, Bank of Canada, Bank of Japan, etc. have jumped into action. Cut the payroll tax to get the citizens to spend more money and collaborate in cutting their own Social Security benefits. Cut corporate taxes again. Barack Obama and Joe Biden did it all; it produced a decade of 1-2% economic growth a year, zero productivity growth, declining real wages, another financial meltdown coming.

But the central bank elite have a new element: Let the Federal Reserve also print money directly for the government to spend, and tell the government what to spend it on. They came up with this unconstitutional plan last August at a world bankers’ conference. They sweeten the plot with the words “new infrastructure,” knowing that citizens want to see new roads, railroads, ports, water systems built. But what the City of London and Wall Street experts mean by “new infrastructure” is windmills and solar panels blanketing the countryside while the nuclear and coal electric plants get shut down.

Lyndon LaRouche made clear the actions to deal with the crisis; they now have to be led by President Donald Trump—backed by informed and organized American citizens—in cooperation with other heads of state and government in a summit, soon.

Break up the City of London and Wall Street giant banks by restoring the Glass-Steagall Act, which thinking citizens and constituency organizations all want. This will shut down much of the pure financial speculation which has been ruling the financial system. Let the President know the way to lower the dollar—which he wants to do—is not to berate the Federal Reserve, but to make firm agreements with the other major powers to set stable currency rates. That will end $5 trillion a day in speculation on London currency markets, and give him the lower dollar value so America can export more high-technology capital goods.

Get rid of the Federal Reserve—replace it with, or make it into a national bank for credit to new infrastructure, manufacturing and industry. Involve other spacefaring countries in a dynamic NASA Moon-Mars mission to drive new technologies, and a crash program for fusion power to create scientific breakthroughs.

No combination of financier or Congressional “experts,” looking at this oncoming crisis, will arrive at the solution. The organized and demanding citizenry must take over.

European Healthcare Workers Denounce Budget Cuts

March 4 (EIRNS)—Even before the new coronavirus epidemic broke out, the European Public Services Union (EPSU), representing 8 million union members, had issued a statement on Dec. 18, 2019, denouncing the “decade of austerity, liberalization and cuts” which followed the financial crisis 2008 in the public health sector, bringing with it increasing workloads for nurses and dramatic workforce shortages.

“The salaries of health professionals were frozen, and even reduced in countries such as Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania. For nurses, the largest group of health workers, recruitment and retention rates were diminished and there was a reduction in nurses’ posts across Europe,” the EPSU charged.

“Unrest is now spreading in a number of European countries. In the middle of a historic protest in France, health chiefs explained that the “[health] system is collapsing and we are no longer able to carry out our jobs under good conditions and to provide quality and safe care,” the union states. “In Latvia, budget proposals for the medical sector prompted a nationwide protest of health professionals. In fact, in the last couple of months alone, tens of thousands of health and care workers have taken to the streets in nine EU countries. Their demands are strikingly similar: In order to continue delivering the vital services the population depends on, they need a significant increase in pay, staffing levels and resources.”

The EPSU is referring to a Eurobarometer opinion poll according to which 70% of Europeans want more action in the health sector—an unmistakable message to new EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to act.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

China Foreign Ministry Reveals U.S. Is Real ‘Empire of Hackers,’ CIA Ran 11 Years of Cyberattacks

March 4 (EIRNS)—The U.S. continues to play the victim of cyberattacks, like a robber shouting “stop, thief!” whereas evidence shows that the U.S. is the real “hacking empire,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in today’s briefing, after Chinese tech giant, Qihoo 360 released a report yesterday disclosing that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had been carrying out cyberattacks against China for 11 years.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged the U.S. to give a clear explanation of its actions, stop such activities immediately, and provide a peaceful, secure, open and cooperative cyberspace to China and the world.

From the exposés by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, to the recent unveiling of Swiss Crypto AG encryption company, the unethical behavior of the U.S. intelligence community has been repeatedly revealed. The report released on March 3 by 360 Qihoo, is yet another powerful proof, Zhao said.

According to a release on the report on Qihoo 360’s website today, the company was able, by tracking and analyzing the leaked “Vault 7,” the Chinese to discover a series of attacks against China’s aerospace, scientific research institutions, petroleum industry and large-scale internet companies by a hacking organization which it calls APT-C-39, affiliated with the CIA.

In fact, Huawei had previously accused the U.S. government of attempting to break into its information systems, and the U.S. has used unscrupulous means to disrupt its businesses, the company said in a statement in September 2019.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

WHO’s Dr. Tedros Informs Coronavirus Requires Comprehensive Approach, Not ‘One Size Fits All’

March 4 (EIRNS)—In a press conference this morning in Geneva, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, “is not SARS, it is not MERS, and it is not influenza. The nature of this virus means we have an opportunity to break the chains of transmission and contain its spread. At the very least, we can slow it down and buy time. That must remain our singular focus.” (Both SARS and MERS are coronaviruses.)

According to the WHO COVID-19 Situation Report 44 for March 4, 2020: The number of cases globally now stands at 93,090; outside China, 12,668, in a total of 76 countries, with 2,103 new cases reported. On key hotspots, from WHO’s report today:

• Italy has 2,502 confirmed cases and 80 deaths, 28 new. As of Thursday, all schools, universities and daycare centers will be closed nationwide until at least March 15, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced today. School closures affect 8.7 million students; attendance at sporting events is also banned.

• South Korea is the world’s second most-infected country after China, with 5,328 confirmed cases and 32 deaths. Most cases are concentrated in the city of Daegu, whose 4,000 cases have overwhelmed the city’s healthcare system. Many companies and towns are deserted, as employees are now working from home.

• Iran’s confirmed cases rose by 25% today, with 835 new cases, to a total 2,336, with 77 total deaths. President Hassan Rouhani announced that the virus had now spread to all the country’s provinces. Iran’s neighbors are taking stringent measures, to close borders to travel, and limiting pilgrimages to Iran, for example.

In a press release issued yesterday, the WHO warned that “severe and mounting disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding and misuse is putting lives at risk from the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases.” Dr. Tedros urged industry and governments to “act quickly to boost supply, ease export restrictions and put measures in place to stop speculation and hoarding. We can’t stop COVID-19 without protecting health workers first.”

He emphasized today: “Our view continues to be that containment of COVID-19 must be the top priority for all countries, but at the same time, countries should be preparing for sustained community transmission. The approach must be a comprehensive one. There is no one-size fits all approach.”

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