FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015
———EIR Daily Alert Service———
EIR DAILY ALERT SERVICE P.O. BOX 17390, WASHINGTON, DC 20041-0390
• Eisenhower Blocked Nuclear War; Kennedy Blocked Nuclear War; Does Hillary Have the Guts?
• China Accuses U.S. of ‘Militarizing’ South China Sea; Announces Joint China-Russia Naval Exercises in Sea of Japan
• Russia Vetoes Fake UN Resolution on MH17
• The Undefined, Dangerous Nature of U.S.-Turkey Agreement on Syria
• Congressman Walter Jones Voices Strong Support for Motion To Remove Boehner
• Italy’s Mezzogiorno Has Collapsed More than Greece, according to Svimez Industrial Development Think Tank
• Italian Economist Rinaldi: Are There Secret EU Clauses Allowing the Troika Takeover of Greece?
• Corbyn vs. Blair—U.K. Unions Choosing Glass-Steagall over Genocide • BRICS $100 Billion Currency Pool Opened Today
• Turkey’s Erdogan Seeks Role in ‘One Road, One Belt,’ Membership in SCO
EDITORIAL
Eisenhower Blocked Nuclear War; Kennedy Blocked Nuclear War; Does Hillary Have the Guts?
July 30 (EIRNS)—Hillary Clinton probably has the fate of the human species in her hands. If she acts now to expose what she personally knows about Obama’s lying criminality concerning the September 11, 2012 murders of four United States government representatives in Benghazi, Libya,— then Hillary’s Presidential campaign will be at an end, because she will be forced to betray her own complicity (even if it was reluctant complicity), with Obama. But she will have saved humanity from probable extinction, in a thermonuclear war which Obama would otherwise launch against Russia and China during the month of August, with Congress out of session.
Now it is only that one voice, that of the hitherto complicit Hillary Clinton, in breaking with her own complicity, which can either throw Obama out of office during August,— or else bring him so close to impeachment and conviction during August, that he is unable to launch the war which his mistress, the British Queen, demands.
Hillary’s personal situation,— that of her awesome personal responsibility at this instant,— may be unusual, but it is by no means unprecedented. If there has been no international nuclear war since 1945, causing hundreds of millions of casualties or worse, it has been because some U.S. Presidents, and others, have passed the test which now confronts Hillary Clinton. They passed it because they came to recognize that absolutely no personal consideration, no sacrifice,— even that of their own lives and more, if it comes to that,— could remotely be compared with thermonuclear war. And today, unlike in those past decades, that war might be as short as two days, and would likely end the existence of our
species.
Eisenhower had said in 1946, “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.” When he decided to run for President, he recognized the drift of Truman and the Truman Administration towards nuclear war, and was determined to reverse it. In the 1954 Dien Bien Phu crisis, as in the 1956 Suez crisis, he understood that descent into nuclear war was around the corner, and acted accordingly. Eisenhower inspired the institution of the U.S. Presidency for the truth, as he stated it in 1956, that “The only way to win World War III is to prevent it.”
The true facts of how close we came to nuclear war in 1962, and of everything President John F. Kennedy did to avoid it, are even today only known to very few. How he used his brother Robert as a totally-secret channel to the Soviet leadership, circumventing his contaminated cabinet and even his White House. He knew that their advice would probably lead to a devastating war.
How he persuaded the Soviets to give up a large part of their war-making capacity. For all those critical days, only that one single objective dominated him totally. But he reached that objective,— even at the cost of his life.
Nor should it be forgotten how Pope John XXIII, then just as close to the end of his own life as was President Kennedy, himself boldly intervened into that crisis, totally on his own responsibility and against the advice of his Curia.
The mention of the Pope should remind us of how the office, or, better said, the responsibility, changes the man. It should remind us of St. Paul’s conversion on Damascus Road. This change, or the potentiality for this change, is the only meaning of being human. Those who deny that Hillary Clinton can make this change are guilty of a criminal cynicism about themselves.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
China Accuses U.S. of ‘Militarizing’ South China Sea; Announces Joint China- Russia Naval Exercises in Sea of Japan
July 30 (EIRNS)—China’s Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun today accused the U.S. of militarizing the South China Sea. “The U.S. side disregards and distorts the facts, and plays up China’s military threat, to sow discord between China and the littoral states in the South China Sea,” said Yang. “We firmly oppose such actions. The Chinese side expresses its serious concern over U.S. activities to militarize the South China Sea region. Such actions taken by the U.S. side would inevitably arouse suspicion from others that, does the U.S. want nothing better than chaos in the region?”
The head of U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Harry Harris this week warned China against militarizing the South China Sea (which, of course, is at least partially Chinese territory), calling the area “front and center in the tug-of-war between the majority of regional nations that want to maintain the status quo, and China that wants to change it to suit its narrow self-interest.”
China’s Yang countered this, noting that the status quo was being dramatically altered, not by China, but by the U.S. militarization, including building up alliances in the region (such as the mass deployment of advanced U.S. military forces into the Philippines), stepped-up joint exercises in the region, bringing Japan into exercises far from its borders, and increased provocative close-in reconnaissance of the Chinese armed forces.
China held a one-day live fire naval drill in the South China Sea on July 28, and will hold large naval exercises in the South China Sea between. Aug. 1-8, to mark the 88th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army.
Defense spokesman Yang also announced today that Russia and China will hold joint naval exercises from Aug. 20-28 in the Sea of Japan and in the Gulf of Peter the Great, which lies off the strategic Far Eastern Russian port city of Vladivostok.
Russia Vetoes Fake UN Resolution on MH17
July 30 (EIRNS)—Russia vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council yesterday, that would have established an international tribunal to try those individuals and entities allegedly responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine on July 17, 2014. Clearly the backers of the resolution knew that Russia opposed it and would veto it, yet they proceeded anyway. Therefore, the only purpose in proceeding with such a vote, knowing what the outcome would be, would be to push forward the drive for war against Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin telegraphed ahead of the vote that Russia would veto it. “The Russian President confirmed the unchanging position that it is inexpedient to create such a judicial body,” the Kremlin said in a statement following a phone call between Putin and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Eleven members of the council voted in favor of the proposal by Malaysia, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium and Ukraine, while China, Angola and Venezuela abstained.
The expected chorus of denunciations of Russia followed from the usual suspects. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power told the council that “no veto will stand in the way of this heinous crime being investigated and prosecuted.” The Australian Foreign Minister declared that “Those responsible may believe that they can now hide behind the Russian Federation’s veto. They will not be allowed to evade justice.”
Franz Klintsevich, a member of the Duma Defense Committee, told reporters in Moscow yesterday, that the purpose of the debate was to fan confrontation and hysteria rather than to get to the truth about the tragedy. “We’re dealing with a sheer propaganda action that seeks to affect public opinion, which is gradually inclining towards cooperation with Russia,” he said.
The Undefined, Dangerous Nature of U.S.-Turkey Agreement on Syria July 30 (EIRNS)—It won’t be a no-fly zone or a safe zone in Syria, three unnamed U.S. officials told reporters on a conference call on July 28. So what will it be, this zone that the U.S. and Turkey will be creating along the border in northern Syria following the July 23 agreement between U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan? “In terms of what exactly it looks like and how it will look and what the modalities are, that’s what we have to work out with [the Turks],” one official said according to a report on the Defense One news site.
They’re calling it an “ISIS-free zone,” but who will make sure that ISIS isn’t operating in the zone? The Turks don’t want any Syrian Kurds in the zone, though the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia has been the most effective force against ISIS. The Turkish English-language daily Today’s Zaman notes that if the 98-kilometer-long area falls into the hands of the Kurds, Turkey will not have access to moderate Syrian rebels, because the entire border will either be controlled by Kurds or Syrian government forces. Since there will be no Turkish or U.S. troops on the ground inside Syria, “the prevailing idea is to coordinate with moderate Syrian opposition fighters for control of the territory,” but “Finding them [the so-called moderates], however, is another daunting task.”
The U.S.-backed Syrian opposition groups have lost a great deal of territory they once controlled in northwestern Syria to the al-Qaeda-linked Al Nusra Front since last November.
“Finding them” might have suddenly become even more difficult. Reuters reported, yesterday, that according to opposition sources and the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, militants from Al Nusra abducted Nadim al-Hassan, the leader of a rebel group called Division 30, and a number of his companions, following a meeting in Azaz, north of Aleppo, to coordinate efforts with other factions. According to Reuters sources, most of the 54 Syrian opposition fighters, including al-Hassan, who have gone through the U.S. trainand-equip program have been from Division 30.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Congressman Walter Jones Voices Strong Support for Motion To Remove Boehner July 30 (EIRNS)—Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) yesterday filed a motion in the House of Representatives to remove John Boehner (OH) from his position as Speaker of the House. In reporting on Meadows’s motion, CNN obtained comments from his colleague, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), who provided a strong explanation for the motion.
“We are sent here to represent the people of our districts,” Jones said. “Our first allegiance should be to the people we represent, not to the Speaker of the House. Too many times he has used that position to intimidate and coerce.”
Representative Jones sketched out how in the recent votes on the trade fast-track authority for the President, Boehner had taken reprisals against Republicans who voted against the bill, such as removing them from committee chairmanships.
Jones said, “We’re not here to be puppets of the Speaker of the House; we’re here to represent the people of our districts.”
One of the CNN anchors asked whether the motion was just a personal attack by Representative Meadows, who had lost a chairmanship. Jones responded, “I don’t think anyone should be intimidated because they vote their conscience. If you can’t vote your conscience, then you don’t need to be here for the people back home. You really don’t. If you’re supposed to be here to vote the will of the Speaker and not the will of the people, then you don’t need to be here. And this Speaker in my opinion has used too much force to intimidate, and that’s wrong.”
Representative Jones said in closing, “…when you’ve got a problem like we have with the Speaker of the House being so coercive, then we need to do what is necessary for the good of the people and the good of this country.”
Representative Jones has stood up against the Republican leadership on several crucial issues. He is a sponsor of the Glass-Steagall bill before the House, primary sponsor of the bill to release the 28 classified pages of the 9/11 report which reveal the Saudi role in funding the 9/11 attacks, and has fought against Obama and his Republican cohorts in their efforts to start wars across the world.
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Italy’s Mezzogiorno Has Collapsed More than Greece, according to Svimez Industrial Development Think Tank
July 30 (EIRNS)—Italy’s southern regions, called the Mezzogiorno, roughly corresponds to the old Magna Grecia, birthplace or home of Archimedes, Pythagoras, Archytas, Aristoxenus and many other great scientists. In addition to their common heritage, it looks as though the Mezzogiorno and Greece are today suffering the same cruel victimization.
Svimez, the Association for the Industrial Development of the Mezzogiorno, has published its yearly report acknowledging that Southern Italy is facing industrial desertification and demographic annihilation.
Measured in GDP, in the 2001-2014 period the Mezzogiorno declined more than Greece: –9.4% versus –1.7%.
Of course, after 2010 and Greece’s takeover by the Troika, the Greek collapse was more dramatic. However, the decline of Mezzogiorno has proceeded at an increasing rate. GDP has been negative for seven years in a row. Whereas all Italian regions have been hit by the 2008-2014 recession, Southern Italy has cumulatively lost 13% whereas Central-Northern Italy has lost “only” 7.4%.
The industrial collapse is more dramatic: Added value has collapsed 45% in the Mezzogiorno versus 17.2% in the rest of the country. Building construction collapsed 38.7% (vs. 29.8%).
This has effected an unprecedented negative demographic trend. There have been only 174,000 births in the Mezzogiorno regions in 2014, out of a population of 20.6 million. This is the lowest figure since 1862, the birth of the Italian state itself. “Southern Italy will thus be characterized in the next years by a demographic distortion, a tsunami with unpredictable consequences, destined to lose 4.2 million inhabitants in the next 50 years,” says the report.
Italian Economist Rinaldi: Are There Secret EU Clauses Allowing the Troika Takeover of Greece?
July 30 (EIRNS)—Economist Antonio Maria Rinaldi, interviewed yesterday by the Italian online daily IntelligoNews, was asked whether there are “secret clauses” justifying the Troika takeover of Greece’s tax offices. Rinaldi was responding to statements by former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis who had said, in a conversation with British bankers reported among others in the Greek daily Kathimerini: “The General Secretary of Public Revenues within my ministry is controlled fully and directly by the Troika. It was not under control of my ministry, of myself as minister, it was controlled by Brussels. The general secretary is appointed effectively through a process which is Troikacontrolled and so is the whole mechanism within. It’s like the Inland Revenue in the U.K. being controlled by Brussels. I am sure as you are hearing these words, your hair is standing on end.”
Rinaldi stated that he had no reason to doubt Varoufakis’ revelations. Rinaldi remarked, “All this is very serious: it is a foreign interference into the sovereignty of another country. Where is it written that the EU can do such things regarding member countries? We would like to know whether there are secret clauses in the treaties that prescribe this. In such a case, Italy would undergo the same treatment.”
Corbyn vs. Blair—U.K. Unions Choosing Glass-Steagall over Genocide July 30 (EIRNS)—In an article titled: “Jeremy Corbyn Will Finally Purge ‘Virus’ of Tony Blair from Labour, Union Says,” Britain’s Daily Telegraph reports on the endorsement of Corbyn to head the Labour Party by the Communication Workers Union, which has 200,000 members. Dave Ward, the union general secretary, said: “There is a virus within the Labour Party, and Jeremy Corbyn is the antidote. The grip of the Blairites and individuals like Peter Mandelson must now be loosened once and for all.” Lord Mandelson was a member of Blair’s cabinet.
Another union, the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, also gave its backing to Corbyn and Angela Eagle as his deputy. Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA, said: “Jeremy is clearly articulating why we must end the austerity quagmire, and that Labour’s economic policies must move on from failed neoliberalism. He and Angela also support bringing our railways back into public ownership. That is why I will be strongly urging our members to vote for Jeremy for leader and Angela for deputy.”
Corbyn already has the endorsement of other major unions including Unite, GMB, and UNISON, a public workers’ union with 1.3 million members. Dave Prentis, UNISON’s general secretary, said the union has changed its first choice to Corbyn.
The articles don’t mention Corbyn’s call for Glass-Steagall legislation, but that fact gives weight to his attacks on austerity and defense of industrial development.
Corbyn has a 17-point lead in an official YouGov poll and a 20-point lead in private polling.
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER BRICS
$100 Billion Currency Pool Opened Today
July 30 (EIRNS)—The agreement on the BRICS $100 billion currency reserve pool, the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) came into force Thursday, reported RT. “The arrangement is important, not only because it provides the possibility to quickly obtain additional liquidity, but its very existence has a positive, stabilizing effect on the market,” said Russia’s BRICS group representative. The treaty for the BRICS New Development Bank and Contingent Reserve Arrangement was made on July 15, 2014 during the Fortaleza, Brazil summit, and the CRA operating arrangement was signed among the heads of the five nations’ central banks and finance ministers in Moscow on July 8, 2015, at the same time as the BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia.
China will make the biggest contribution of $41 billion to the fund. Russia, Brazil and India will donate $18 billion each, while South Africa’s investment will be $5 billion.
Turkey’s Erdogan Seeks Role in ‘One Road, One Belt,’ Membership in SCO
July 30 (EIRNS)—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, concluding his two-day visit to Beijing today, told CCTV journalist Yang Rui that Turkey wishes to become not only an “observer” but a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Turkey currently has “dialogue partner” status in the SCO, which a step below “observer status.” Erdogan said that he felt that the SCO would become a much more important regional organization with India and Pakistan now slated to become members. Erdogan also said that Turkey could play an important role in President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road,” as a transit nation between Europe and Asia. In reply to a question on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Erdogan said that he thought the AIIB would be playing a major role in reviving the economies of Asia. Turkey is one of the 57 founding members of the AIIB.
In his discussions with President Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, he gave assurances that Turkey respected the territorial integrity of China and that it would make every effort to counter the activity of the East Turkestan Independence Movement, a Uighur “independence” movement aimed at splitting Xinjiang from China. Turkey, the 2015 chair of the G20, will be hosting the G20 Summit on Nov. 15, which will prepare to hand over the chairmanship of that body to China, which will head the G20 in 2016.
Both President Erdogan and President Xi addressed a China-Turkey Business Forum in Beijing. President Xi said that China was already building a high-speed rail line between Ankara and Istanbul, and that it would make more investments in Turkey in the field of high-speed rail and new energy, including nuclear, wind, and solar. Xi also said that China was interested in expanding cooperation to fields such as aerospace, finance and investment. Xi characterized Turkey as “an important hub” in the Road and Belt. Trade between the two nations is now at $27 billion and they are committed to increasing this to $50 billion.#
Michael O. Billington
Executive Intelligence Review
Asia Desk
mobeir@aol.com
Posted by: Cathy Cruz
