EDITORIAL

The Time Is Now—Destroy the British Empire Once and For All

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—There are many who have doubted Lyndon LaRouche over these past 50 years in his warning that the British Empire was still alive, and still dedicated to crushing the American System of Alexander Hamilton, John Quincy Adams, Abe Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. But today the City of London and the British Monarchy have declared themselves intent on destroying any effort to restore the American System in their former colony.

The Obama years had proven to be the total takeover of the U.S. government by the British System. The “free trade” model of the British, which America’s Founding Fathers had fought a revolution to escape, had succeeded in eliminating all of the Franklin Roosevelt regulations and restraints on Wall Street, creating a speculative bubble reaching into the mega-trillions. The British opium war on China was superseded in evil by the British and Wall Street banks’ “Dope, Inc.,” creating the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history, while Obama refused to jail the bankers responsible for either the financial crash or the drug money laundering, and openly promoted drug legalization. Industry was dismantled under the guise of “free trade” and the hoax that carbon was destroying the planet, all sponsored by Prince Philip’s World Wildlife Fund and related green fanatics. Space exploration and the scientific development of nuclear and fusion power were destroyed under the same British imperial model of forced backwardness. Perpetual, colonial wars have been waged against nations that were no threat to the U.S., but were too close to Russia or China, using the British/Saudi funded terror networks to remove governments by force. Obama and his British sponsors prepared for war with Russia and China with a massive military encirclement of both Eurasian nations.

The threat to British control over the U.S. represented by the defeat of Obama/Hillary Clinton has brought the British out into the open to stop any chance that the Trump Administration can restore sanity. They must be stopped, and the British System destroyed, if civilization is to survive the crisis.

Look at the past months:

• The hysterical campaign to portray Donald Trump as a Russian tool was run by the MI6 agent Christopher Steele and the BBC, fabricating a document so absurd that even the British assets within the U.S. intelligence community who leaked it, had to admit that they could not confirm any of it.
• The Spectator British magazine published an article by a BBC journalist Paul Wood on Jan. 21 titled “Will Donald Trump Be Assassinated, Ousted in a Coup or Just Impeached?” It must be remembered that American Presidents who have stood up against the British Empire have a tradition of being killed, by the British, throughout U.S. history—Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy.
• A lawsuit has been introduced in New York accusing President Trump of breaching the Constitution by owning hotels which occasionally accept foreign government officials as guests, supposedly constituting bribes and payoffs to the President. The case is being brought by “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington,” a group funded by the notorious British asset George Soros, the world’s leading sponsor of drug legalization, euthanasia, color revolutions, and operations against the Russian and Chinese governments.

Despite the Soros campaign against Trump, whom he labeled a “would-be dictator,” an associate of Soros, Steven Mnuchin, has been chosen to be Trump’s Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin worked in two hedge funds heavily funded by Soros, and worked directly for Soros Fund Management at one point. Mnuchin, in his confirmation hearing, flatly stated that he and Trump would not support the restoration of Glass-Steagall, despite the fact that Trump had pledged to restore Glass-Steagall during the campaign.

The potential that the new American administration will reject the British System, in favor of Glass-Steagall, of cooperation with Russia in combatting terrorism rather than overthrowing sovereign governments, and of joining with China in the New Silk Road development of the entire world, is not certain, but definitely possible. What is required is the mobilization of the American people to acknowledge the evil of the British System and to crush it, protecting Trump and the nation from the assault on humanity now in play from a desperate British Empire. The time is now.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

Astana Talks End with Joint Russian-Turkish-Iranian Declaration

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—The intra-Syrian talks sponsored by Russia, Iran, and Turkey and hosted by Kazakhstan, ended today with a joint statement issued by Russia, Iran, and Turkey. The three governments, acting as guarantors of the process, “Reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian and democratic State, as confirmed by the UN Security Council.” They also will seek the consolidation of the ceasefire initially agreed to by the three powers on Dec. 29, 2016, which was subsequently endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2336. They also agreed “to establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the ceasefire,” and they “Reiterate their determination to fight jointly against ISIL/Daesh and Al-Nusra and to separate from them armed opposition groups.”

Alexander Lavrentiev, the chief of the Russian delegation in Astana, reported, after the meeting closed, that the negotiations with the armed opposition groups recognized the importance of the launch of the political process in Syria and the need to start elaborating on a new constitution, which must be adopted through the will of the Syrian people. “We’ll hope that the armed Syrian opposition will be more active in this direction,” Lavrentiev said, reports TASS. “We’ll be trying to help it in that.”

He reported, in fact, that the Russian government has transferred to the opposition groups a draft constitution intended as a means to jump-start the political process. “We have done this solely because we want to expedite this process and give it an additional and stimulating impetus, without interfering in the very process of the examination and the adoption of the country’s fundamental law,” Lavrentiev said. “We believe that this process should be led by the Syrian people itself,” he said.

As for the trilateral mechanism for monitoring the ceasefire, Lavrentiev reported that military experts from all three countries have agreed to set up the trilateral group in Astana, which will begin functioning in early February.

Statements made by the two Syrian sides after the meeting concluded, indicate that, while progress was definitely made, there is still much work ahead before a political settlement in Syria is achieved. Bashar al-Ja’afari, Syria’s UN representative and the leader of the government delegation in Astana, said that the meeting succeeded in achieving the goal of consolidating the cessation of hostilities for a specific period of time, which would pave the way for dialogue among the Syrians, reports SANA. He said that at the same time, “it was distressful” to sit in the same room “with other Syrians that are linked to foreign agendas and are working for foreign authorities, and some of them are committed to terrorist groups.” However, he went on, “no matter the cost, we would do that to save our state and our people.”

Mohammad Alloush, heading the opposition delegation, reports Reuters, said he had reservations about the text which he claimed legitimized Iran’s “bloodletting” in Syria.

China Builds the World’s Highest Ring Road around Lhasa

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—After building the world’s highest rail route, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, opened in 2006, the Chinese have now nearly completed the world’s highest ring road in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region.

China News Service reports that the road, with a total length of nearly 100 km, will feature six lanes, seven tunnels and 27 bridges. The road is at an average altitude of 3,600 meters.

They note that the road, which will be fully open in June, will greatly ease traffic jams and expand the development capacity of the city, according to Lin Sheng, the deputy mayor of Lhasa.

Beautiful pictures of the road and the now modern city of Lhasa can be seen on the CGTN TV site.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Trump Wins Strong Support from Labor Leaders

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump’s meeting on Monday with top U.S. trade union leaders earned him strong support, particularly for ending the “Trans-Pacific Partnership” (TPP) and setting into motion a renegotiation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Zero Hedge reports that the labor leaders, including construction, carpenters, plumbers and sheet metal unions, described the private meeting at the White House as “incredible.”

Teamster President James Hoffa released a statement, which said that with Trump’s withdrawal from TPP, Trump has “taken the first step toward fixing 30 years of bad trade policies that have cost working Americans millions of good-paying jobs….  Millions of working men and women saw their jobs leave the country as free trade policies undermined our manufacturing industry. We hope that President Trump’s meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Jan. 31 opens a real dialogue about fixing the flawed NAFTA. We take this development as a positive sign that President Trump will continue to fulfill his campaign promises in regard to trade policy reform and instruct the USTR [U.S. Trade Representative] to negotiate future agreements that protect American workers and industry.”

AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka said TPP withdrawal is “a good first step toward building trade policies that benefit workers.”

This relationship between labor and a Republican President is another expression of the rage among the productive layer of working people in America against the policies of Obama and Hillary Clinton, as the election also showed.

“This is a group that I know well,” Trump said, adding “we’re going to put a lot of people back to work and stop the ridiculous trade deals.”

Zero Hedge notes that “nearly all major unions endorsed Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton, during the presidential election campaign: They now appear to be shifting their allegiance.” Their members clearly led the way.

Three National Infrastructure Bank Plans with Dubious Financing

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—Today Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and a group of seven senior Democratic Senators informed the press that they were unveiling a $1 trillion infrastructure program, and offered support to President Trump to overcome GOP budget-cutters if he will accept it.

Democrats including Schumer, Bill Nelson of Florida, Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy of Vermont released a 10-year blueprint to “rebuild America’s infrastructure and create 15 million jobs” at a Capitol Hill press conference. Their outline includes $75 billion for schools, $210 billion for roads and bridges, $110 billion to repair and replace water and sewer systems, $180 billion for rail and bus lines, $70 billion to deepen ports and upgrade airports, $100 billion to “update” the nation’s electricity grid, $10 billion for VA hospitals and $20 billion for broadband installations. Some $200 billion is supposed to be a fund to build the most important national projects, and here the New York/New Jersey “Gateway Project” rail tunnel development is clearly on Senator Schumer’s agenda.

One sticking point is the way the program will be funded. Although the Democrats’ release called for “full Federal funding” rather than public-private partnerships, and talked about financing it by “closing tax loopholes,” that is similar to invoking the Wizard of Oz or the “luck of the Irish.” Based on previous comments by Democratic staff to journalists, the idea may be to grant a business tax rate of just 10% or 15% on alleged trillions of dollars being held abroad to avoid taxation—in other words, opening a large new tax loophole, rather than closing any. Nor would this come close to funding a $1 trillion program.

Otherwise, the focus of the Democrats’ plan goes to repair/replace and “shovel-ready” local projects. It might recall the ARRA or “Stimulus Act” of Obama, which stimulated no added productivity whatsoever in the U.S. economy.

The fact that Schumer has made it clear to LaRouche PAC organizers that he opposes restoring the Glass-Steagall Act, indicates the level of, at best, the incompetence in his approach.

Democrats in the House led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut had already presented “National Infrastructure Development Bank” legislation 10 days earlier, also calling on President Trump to support it in order to reach his own infrastructure building goals. It relies on a small amount of Federal borrowing but a large amount of borrowing by such a new bank, particularly from pension funds. So while focused more on building new infrastructure, its financing method has never worked previously.

Nor has that of the third, still floating proposal—President Trump’s.

Gabbard Goes After Wall Street Banks

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—Hawaii’s Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D), while continuously organizing for her Stop Arming Terrorists Act, on Jan. 18 sent out a tweet going after Wall Street. Linking to her “Wall Street Reform” page in her election platform, her tweet read: “Wall Street banks can’t be allowed to continue the status quo—no accountability for their actions & no transparency. https://www.votetulsi.com/node/24925.”

“Tulsi has been a strong advocate for Wall Street reform, including breaking up the big banks and reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act,” is the big kicker on the top of her Wall Street Reform page.

Most prominent of her “important steps” for needed reform is:

“Restore the Glass-Steagall Act—For decades, the Glass-Steagall Act protected the public by separating risky investment banking and commercial banking. Had this common sense regulation not been repealed, we never would have faced the economic hardship that we do today. Without this healthy separation, greed leads bankers to leverage available funds for the highest profit potential—and often riskiest investments.”

Along with playing up prominently her statement on the floor of the House that “there are two kinds of people serving in Congress: Those who are serving the interests of the American people, and those who are serving the interests of the big banks and Wall Street speculators,” the page includes a link to an earlier Glass-Steagall bill she co-sponsored, and to four articles by her, or about her campaign against Wall Street. The last of these is a link to LaRouche PAC’s January 2015 note titled “Hawaiian Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tells Obama: We Need Glass-Steagall Now!”

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Obama Told Cameron Not To Reveal British Trident Missile Failure Back in June

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—According to The Times of London today, U.S. President Barack Obama had asked the U.K. government of David Cameron not to reveal the information about the failed Trident missile test in June 2016.

“It was the Obama administration that asked the Cameron administration not to comment on this. The U.S. administration may have been worried that there could be similar problems on other missiles. The British submarine successfully carried and launched the missile; the bit that went wrong was the U.S. proprietary technology,” The Times quoted its military source as saying.

The Trident is an American missile produced by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, California, and is sold to Britain, which has no missile technology to speak of. The missiles are maintained by the United States, inside the United States and are “co-mingled” with U.S. missiles. According to a British freedom-of-information request, Britain maintains full operational control, i.e., it can fire the missiles without approval from the United States. Not very reassuring, to say the least.

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Draghi Sets Ransom for Italy To Leave the Euro

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—In a fundamental shift, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has for the first time discussed the option of one country leaving the euro. Draghi did this in a written response to an inquiry by European Parliament members Marco Zanni and Marco Valli. Draghi’s letter to the two MEPs has made headlines in the international financial media Jan. 23. Draghi’s letter, in English, is available on the ECB website.

However, Draghi set a ransom of €359 billion for Italy to leave the euro.

The €359 billion is Italy’s current debt in the “TARGET2” clearing system among Eurozone central banks (Eurosystem). “If a country were to leave the Eurosystem, its national central bank’s claims on or liabilities to the ECB would need to be settled in full,” Draghi wrote.

TARGET2 is a clearing system for cross-border payments among national central banks within the Eurosystem. It concerns transfer of so-called  “central bank money,” i.e., payments not related to commercial credits.

Responding to Draghi, Marco Valli called the TARGET2 balance “an illegitimate and technically rebuttable” balance, in a statement reported by the Rome daily Il Tempo. That debt “was caused by those who wanted to keep the euro project alive at all costs. Let, therefore, Romano Prodi, Mario Draghi, all the governments which defended it and all other sponsors of this disaster [take responsibility]. Italians never voted to support the single currency. We have since long demanded a debate in Europe for the controlled dissolution of the Eurozone, given the technical and political impossibility to carry out a sustainable currency project.”

Valli, however, said he is glad that Draghi has opened the debate.

“Until yesterday, even just thinking” about leaving the euro “was taboo, but from today on, it looks like the ‘whatever it takes’ is no longer valid. Mario Draghi has indirectly admitted, with a veiled threat, that a country can leave the Eurozone.”

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Russian Researchers Develop More Efficient, Hybrid Nuclear Desalination Technology

Jan. 24 (EIRNS)—Russian researchers have developed a new, more efficient hybrid method for desalination, using both the heat from nuclear reactors, and conventional membranes, after the pretreatment of water.

The pretreatment in this new process takes account of the salinity

and composition of pollutants in the water, and using hydrodynamic and chemical properties of the materials, removes them by techniques including coagulation, and taking solid colloids out of suspension. Current systems use either membranes or heat distillation. The hybrid combination of the use of the heat from the nuclear plant for distillation along with the membrane methods following the pretreatment, can reduce the size, energy consumption, and cost of the desalination unit. The work is being carried out at the National Research Nuclear University. The technique is intended to be used by Rosatom in new nuclear power plants, such as in Egypt, where the installation of desalination technology is planned.

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