EDITORIAL

Create a Chance for Humanity in the U.S. Nov. 6 Elections, or the World Goes to Hell

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—The 75-day countdown to the Nov. 6 U.S. Federal elections is a critical opportunity to activate Americans to forge a plurality of leadership favorable to shifting the U.S. policy course into a New Paradigm for development and peace. If not, the world goes to Hell.

Predictably, the advocates for going to Hell, went wild yesterday, gleefully claiming that the two legal decisions against President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, mean the end of the line for Trump himself—i.e., impeachment or automatic ouster by other means. But the initiation and conduct of these peripheral anti-Trump court maneuvers are based on the fraudulent mandate to find Trump-Russian collusion; but there is no collusion. They are a non-starter. The “Get Trump” Mueller investigation is just the front-end of British Empire dirty operations to mobilize people and nations against the fraud of “Demon Russia,” in an attempt to distract and destroy opposition to the British financial/control empire, which itself is cracking up.

Trump himself came out swinging against the Mueller fraud, and for going all-out during the elections, at a campaign rally last night in Charleston, West Virginia. He asked the crowd repeatedly, “Where is the [Russian] collusion?” He said that he will be making campaign rally trips on 40 days during the remaining time to Nov. 6, a record for Presidential electioneering, to stump for people who will support the policy commitments that got him elected. The President stressed the importance of ensuring a Republican majority in the Senate because the Democratic Party has no policy, except “Resist!” In fact, he said, the Democratic Party “is a hostage to ‘Resist’ ” and like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, “don’t believe America can be great.”

The U.S. elections are now underway in earnest, given that 45 states have held their party primaries, and the candidates are chosen. One of the more significant is in South Dakota, where today in Mitchell, South Dakota, statewide Independent Congressional candidate Ron Wieczorek, who is endorsed by LaRouche PAC, faced off against his Republican, Democratic and Libertarian opponents, in their first big public debate. It was moderated by the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest U.S. farm organization, and had a strong focus on emergency economic policy required for the rural crisis and infrastructure.

The critical intervention in the policy debate at large is provided by the Schiller Institute’s newly released petition, calling for a New Bretton Woods conference. The urgency for action on a new world credit system is indicated by the latest in the continuing crisis on what’s called the “emerging markets” front. Today, the value of the peso again plunged in Argentina. In Africa, Angola is in crisis; its currency has dropped 38% in value since the beginning of the year.

Where the world can instead be going, is shown by the agenda for the Forum of China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit Sept. 3-4 in Beijing, which was previewed today by Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Sessions will be co-chaired by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will give the keynote. A “new phase” of development between China and Africa will be set in motion, with the signing of specific cooperation projects and mega-plans for the coming years. This is the biggest heads of state gathering in China this year.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER

China’s Wang Yi Previews FOCAC Summit, ‘A New Phase of China-Africa Development’

Aug. 21 (EIRNS)—Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi outlined the format and the program for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing, which will be held on Sept. 3-4.

The summit, which Wang Yi characterized as a “reunion of the China-Africa family” will have four major foci: 1) it will renew the call for a shared future for China and Africa bound by their common interests; 2) it will initiate a new phase of China-Africa development, enhancing the African countries’ participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and focussing on upgrading cooperation on trade and infrastructure and people-to-people relations; 3) it will introduce pathways to a higher level of cooperation over the coming three years, and with the signing of a number of cooperation agreements with some countries, focussing on areas critical for Africa; 4) it will enhance the story of China-African cooperation historically with new measures to be introduced that are people-centered. Wang Yi also said that there would be a great focus on young people in order to carry the relationship further down the road.

The morning of Sept. 3 will consist of an opening dialogue among participants, centered on issues of practical cooperation, increasing synergy and improving trade ties. President Xi Jinping and African leaders will participate in this discussion, along with business leaders and other delegates. In the afternoon, there will be the opening ceremony which President Xi will keynote. It will be followed by more formal discussion, focussing on industrial cooperation, the development of trade, health issues, and peace and security issues. The discussion will be tailored to the needs of the African countries. The co-chairs of this meeting will be President Xi, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also chairman of the ruling African National Congress. In the evening there will be a grand banquet and entertainment program for the delegates.

On Sept. 4 there will a round-table discussion, with the morning session chaired by President Ramaphosa and the afternoon by President Xi. They will discuss the three-year plan moving toward the year 2021. On the sidelines, there will be bilateral meetings with President Xi and the African leaders. Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, will also be chairing a forum on AIDS.

El Salvador Is China’s ‘Friend in Ibero-America and Partner in the Belt and Road Initiative’

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—In signing the joint communiqué with El Salvador’s Foreign Minister Carlos Castaneda on Aug. 21 establishing diplomatic relations, China’s Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi stated that China has now added “a friend in Latin America and the Caribbean region, as well as a partner in pushing forward the Belt and Road initiative and building a community of a shared future for humanity.”

“China is willing to join hands with El Salvador to achieve their joint development, press ahead with China-Latin America cooperation as a whole, and contribute to the collective rejuvenation of the developing countries,” Wang said.

Needless to say, the British-loving imperial crowd is nonplussed, if not enraged.

The U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Jean Manes tried to make El Salvador’s decision an issue of corruption, suggesting that negotiations had been so “non-transparent,” and therefore, surely something nefarious was taking place. Before taking such a step, she intoned, the San Salvador government should have “consulted with all sectors” of society, since the measure could have an impact lasting “not weeks or months but decades.” She demanded to know, “what was the nature of the negotiations? Why not do this with transparency?” insisting that “the people”—did she mean the State Department?—should have been informed.

Presidential spokesman Roberto Lorenzana responded appropriately that establishing ties with China is El Salvador’s “sovereign and independent right,” Xinhua reported. The country couldn’t continue “to turn its back on the world,” by failing to recognize China’s role as a global player, he said. “We cannot ignore that China is the world’s second power and the leading export economy on the planet. We should instead be asking ourselves why we didn’t do it sooner. How much has El Salvador lost by not having a relationship with an economic giant like China?” He added that the “enormous opportunities that open up for an economy like ours in a market of that magnitude is impressive from a scientific and technical point of view.”

The Aug. 22 Global Times meanwhile asked “which country is next?” The fact that many of Taiwan’s “allies” are “establishing diplomatic ties with the Chinese mainland is an irresistible trend. It is only a matter of time before Taiwan has zero ‘allies.’ ”

COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM

Financial Turmoil Racking Multiple National Currencies

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—Financial turmoil is occurring in multiple national currency crises, reflecting the actual breakdown of the decades-old casino monetary system, which induced all kinds of speculative international money flows, now collapsing. This is the “reverse carry-trade,” with a vengeance.

This week, the Argentine peso plummeted again, and as of yesterday, was at 32 pesos to the dollar. President Mauricio Macri now plans to head to New York in September, at the time of the UN General Assembly, which he had not originally planned to attend, to meet with Wall Street bankers. He will endeavor to convince them that Argentina will not default on its debt, amidst rampant rumors that this will occur, and that Argentina will have to revise the terms of its recent IMF agreement because it can’t meet stated goals.

The Brazilian real also fell this week. On Aug. 21, it hit a two-year low, trading past 4 to the dollar.

In Africa, Angola is trying to deal with its currency crisis, in which the kwanza is down 38% since the beginning of the year. This week the government formally appealed for help from the IMF, whose practices, of course, notoriously abet the looting of the national economy in question.

Greek Government Cuts Funding to Health System in Half

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—Everyone is celebrating Greece’s ending its bailout program this week, but nothing is said about the huge damage done to the economy, which destructive process will continue, as surveillance will continue to 2060. Responding to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s declaration on Aug. 21 that Greece is closing the door on austerity, the country’s union of public hospital workers (POEDIN) revealed the devastation caused by the austerity.

Since 2010, when Greece signed its first international bailout, the number of permanent employees at hospitals has been slashed by 25,000, while state funding for hospitals has been halved from €1.5 billion euros in 2015 to just €786 million this year. Half of the equipment in state hospitals have exceeded their life expectancy while acute doctor shortages persist on the islands. On Ithaca, for instance, which Tsipras visited on Aug. 21 to make his speech, the health center has just six doctors, three of whom are set to retire this year, POEDIN said.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

Trump on Mueller Fraud, and Manafort, Cohen Court Decisions: ‘What Collusion?’

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump has kept the focus on the fraud of the Robert Mueller witch-hunt into Trump campaign collusion with Russia, in Trump’s remarks to a rally in Charleston, West Virginia last night, and to reporters, and in tweets since court decisions were announced yesterday on convictions of Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager; and plea deal by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer.

Speaking to reporters about Manafort, Trump said, “I feel badly for him. I must tell you Paul Manafort’s a good man. He was with Ronald Reagan. He was with a lot of different people over the years, and I feel very sad about that. It doesn’t involve me, but I still feel, you know, it’s a very sad thing that happened. This has nothing to do with Russian collusion. This started as Russian collusion. This has absolutely nothing to do—it’s a witch hunt and it’s a disgrace. This has nothing to do—what they started out looking for Russians involved in our campaign. There were none. I feel very badly for Paul Manafort—again, he worked for Bob Dole, he worked for Ronald Reagan; he worked for many people. It was something very much different, so it had nothing to do with Russian collusion. We continue the witch hunt.”

Others are also commenting on the blatant lack of focus on collusion with Russia. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) said last night in a TV interview with One America News Network, that Robert Mueller is supposed to “find out when and how Russia colluded with the Trump campaign,” and nothing like that has been done.

Today, Trump tweeted, “I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. ‘Justice’ took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him, and unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’—make up stories in order to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!”

On Michael Cohen, Trump offered some advice in a tweet this morning, “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!”

S.D. Congressional Debate: LaRouche PAC-Backed Wieczorek Shows Way Out of Farm Crisis

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—The first Congressional candidates’ debate in South Dakota took place today in Mitchell at Dakotafest, the premier Northern Plains agriculture fair. Before several hundred people, the candidates answered questions for 90 minutes in a debate moderated by Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation national president. Duvall himself has been speaking out about how farmers face ruin, because prices are so far below their costs of production. This has persisted over several years, but since May, has become extreme. Corn prices have dropped 15%; pork prices for the farmer have plunged 30%.

Ron Wieczorek, an Independent candidate who has been endorsed by LaRouche PAC, raised the whole scope of policy discussion, by speaking of the need for an emergency shift to a “New Bretton Woods” world system of stable currencies and massive credit for development, and elaborating Lyndon LaRouche’s “Four Laws” as essential in the U.S., not only in agriculture, but in the entire economy. Wieczorek stressed the necessity of classical culture. He spoke of the impact of the world New Silk Road and what the future can be.

Many in the audience came up afterwards to meet Wieczorek, who raises cattle, and make contact with his campaign. One farmer who had walked out during the discussion, came back later to shake Wieczorek’s hand, and explain that he was not only not turned off by the debate, but he was so emotionally overcome by the farm disaster, and the way Wieczorek described how we can solve it, that he had to leave for a while in order to recompose himself.

The other candidates for South Dakota’s open, at-large seat, were Democrat Tim Bjorkman, and Republican Dusty Johnson, and Libertarian George Hendrickson.

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER

Treasury Slaps New Sanctions on Russia, Alleging Cyber and North Korea Violations

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—The U.S. Treasury Department announced yesterday that it is imposing new sanctions on Russian firms and individuals, on grounds of attempting to evade U.S. sanctions punishing Moscow for malicious cyber security attacks, and for deceit in North Korean trade.

The Treasury Department sanctioned two Russian entities for aiding another Russian company, Divetechnoservices, that was sanctioned in June for providing underwater equipment and diving systems to Russia’s domestic security service, the FSB. U.S. officials also slapped sanctions on two Russian individuals for helping Divetechnoservices circumvent U.S. sanctions.

According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, “the action against these deceptive actors is critical to ensure that the public is aware of the tactics undertaken by designated parties and that these actors remain blocked from the U.S. financial system…. The Treasury Department is disrupting Russian efforts to circumvent our sanctions.” TASS also reports that sanctions apply to six Russian vessels for violating U.S. sanctions regarding North Korea.

Related to this, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook page yesterday that anti-Russia sanctions are important to the upcoming U.S. elections, implying, that they are employed for the purpose of manipulating public perception. Her observation came in response to the recent announcement by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation Christopher Ford that Washington is ready to impose new sanctions on Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 elections.

State Department Neo-Con Brags of Alliance with British Empire Against Russia

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—Testifying yesterday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Wess Mitchell, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, did his best imitation of his predecessor Victoria Nuland in attacking Russia, and particularly targetting President Vladimir Putin, the demon he said is out to “break apart the American republic.”

Instructive of Mitchell’s thinking is his boast that “we are now working with our ally, the U.K., to form an international coalition for coordinating efforts” in combatting “malign” Russian activities. He reported that a new position has been created—the Senior Advisor for Russian Malign Activities and Trends (SARMAT), named after a Russian ICBM—to “develop cross-regional strategies across offices.”

Recall that at the June 8-9 G7 summit in Canada, it was British Prime Minister Theresa May who proposed the creation of an international “rapid response” force, capable of responding at immediately to any form of “Russian aggression.”

Mitchell, a neo-conservative “never Trump” fanatic who worked on former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s foreign policy team in 2008, made one wild claim after another. The Russian threat has evolved beyond being “simply an external or military one,” he argued. “It includes influence operations orchestrated by the Kremlin in the very heart of the Western world … directed from the highest levels of the Russian state.” At the center of it all is Vladimir Putin, he said, whose thesis is that the American Constitution “is an experiment that will fail if it is challenged in the right way from within. Putin wants to break apart the American republic … by systematically inflaming the fault-lines within our society.” He insisted that Russia’s efforts “areabout geopolitics … the Putinist system’s permanent and self-justifying struggle for international dominance.”

Mitchell was adamant that Europe’s “frontline states,” Ukraine and Georgia, must be defended. The Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs takes the Russian threat seriously. Speaking as co-chair of the “Russia Influence Group,” he bragged that he works with Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, head of the European Command EUCOM, and also NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), to bring the combined forces of EUR—his State Department Bureau—and EUCOM “to bear against this problem. Under EUR leadership, he said, all 49 U.S. missions located in Europe and Eurasia “are required to develop, coordinate and execute tailored action plans for rebuffing Russian influence operations in their host countries.”

Trump and Abe Discuss North Korea Denuclearization

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke today by phone, discussing their cooperation toward the denuclearization of North Korea, reported Kyodo News, from a government source. Today’s telephone conversation came ahead of the expected fourth visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang soon, as Washington has been trying to push North Korea into taking concrete action to achieve the goal. Abe and Trump are likely to confirm the importance of trilateral cooperation among their two countries and South Korea in dealing with North Korea, according to the source, Kyodo News reports. No date has been announced yet for Pompeo’s trip to North Korea, which will be his fourth visit.

The White House briefing mentioned the phone call but gave no concrete details.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

India’s Manned Space Program Will Be a ‘Truly National Effort’

Aug. 22 (EIRNS)—An Indian program to launch an astronaut into Earth orbit by 2022, just announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has sparked a discussion among the Indian intelligentsia on whether to do it, what it would entail, how much it will cost, its value to the nation, etc.

One thoughtful contribution is a commentary yesterday in DNA(dnaindia.com) by Vidya Sagar Reddy, at the Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative of Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. He characterizes the initiative as “truly a national effort [that] will improve the country’s scientific potential, not to mention the positive impact on technical education.”

“The shape of the program to come, spinoffs and continuity projects will have to be discussed,” along with the budget to carry it out, he observes. “The project is expected to create at least 15,000 jobs.”

International cooperation will be necessary to accomplish the ambitious goal, he says. For example, “astronaut training could be obtained from the U.S. or Russia … the U.S. possesses space tracking sensors spread around the globe,” that can help with navigation, and in general, “Europe (especially France) and Russia are also welcoming partners for India’s manned mission.”

The overall assessment in the Indian space community is that it will take a great and concentrated effort, and the adequate budget support, but that it can be done by the Prime Minister’s target date.