THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
Page 1
Reach us at 1-800-278-3135 or www.larouchepub.com
———EIR Daily Alert Service———
EIR DAILY ALERT SERVICE P.O. BOX 17390, WASHINGTON, DC 20041-0390
• Call To Stop the Immediate Danger of World War III
• Obama Syrian Warfare Policy Confronted on Illegality at Pentagon and State
Department Briefings
• Labour Leader Corbyn Says Tony Blair Should be Tried for War Crimes
• Russia, Iran Press Ahead with Diplomatic Intervention To Support Syria
• The ‘New’ Suez Canal: A Challenge for Sicily and Calabria
• Sen. Chuck Grassley Launches Probe of Hillary Clinton; If She Is Wise, She’ll
Give Up Obama
• ‘The New Suez Canal: An Epic by Egyptians’
• First Container Train from Western China Arrives in Azerbaijan
• Japan Finally Responds to Massive NSA Spying
EDITORIAL
Call To Stop the Immediate Danger of World War III
The following statement is being circulated internationally by the Schiller
Institute and Executive Intelligence Review. Citizens concerned about the grave
danger facing humanity are encouraged to sign the statement, and may access it
on the website of the Schiller Institute (http://schillerinstitute.org) EIR
(http://www.larouchepub.com), or the LaRouche Political Action Committee.
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—It is high time to break the most dangerous taboo of the
present: to know and act on the acute possibility, that mankind may be
annihilated within days or weeks.
On the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the
world stands closer to the brink of thermonuclear war than at any time since the
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The Obama Administration and NATO have
placed mankind in jeopardy of sudden extinction through a series of senseless
provocations directed against Russia, primarily, and China second.
When the Iron Curtain came down, an agreement was reached that, in return
for Russian acceptance of German reunification within NATO, there would be
no further eastward expansion of NATO. Ukraine was identified as a crucial
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
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Reach us at 1-800-278-3135 or www.larouchepub.com
neutral buffer between East and West, with the idea that Ukraine would serve as
a bridge between the European Union and the emerging Russian economic bloc.
All of those fundamental war-prevention agreements have now been
violated. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs,
Victoria Nuland, publicly boasted in December 2013 that the U.S. had spent $5
billion on “color revolutions” to draw Ukraine into the European Union, and,
eventually, into NATO.
The U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the ABM Treaty in order to deploy a
missile defense system in Eastern and Southern Europe, ostensibly aimed at Iran,
but actually targeted at Russia. Last week, the Obama Administration confirmed
this reality by announcing the deployment would go forward, despite the P5+1
deal with Iran. Russian officials have charged, all along, that the U.S. unilateral
Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) in Europe was part of a plan for a preemptive
thermonuclear strike capability against Russia.
Deployment of that ABM system is well underway in Romania and Poland,
and the first three ship-based AEGIS missile defense systems are already in
place and have conducted maneuvers in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, both
bordering Russian territory.
Now reports have surfaced that the upcoming Trident Juncture 15 NATO
exercises will include rehearsals of use of nuclear weapons against Russia.
Washington is moving ahead with production and deployment of a new
generation of tactical nuclear weapons, the B61-12, which can reach targets
inside Russian territory from F-35 stealth fighter jets. An estimated 500 of the
B61-12 nuclear weapons are to be produced, with current plans calling for about
200 of them to be deployed on continental Europe.
These unmistakable provocations have not gone unnoticed in the East and
West. Since the onset of the Ukraine coup in November 2013, Russia has gone
through major upgrading of its entire thermonuclear strategic force. Russian
defense officials have publicly warned that they have developed and deployed an
undefeatable nuclear second strike. To demonstrate this, Russian strategic
bombers and submarines have engaged in exercises in international waters near
NATO territories.
During the duration of the month of August, there is a grave danger of
provocations against Russia by President Obama, who could use the occasion of
the Congressional recess to launch a war. A wide range of influential figures has
already voiced these concerns, including retired Russian and American flag
officers. The decision of Obama, to change the rules of engagement of the U.S.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
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Air Force in Syria without Congressional approval three days after Congress
went into recess, bringing about the immediate danger of an escalation into a
war against Syria, which the Congress voted against two years ago, underlines
the acuteness of the danger.
In 1914 the world was sleepwalking into the catastrophe. Today, with
arsenals of thermonuclear weapons sufficient to extinguish civilization dozens of
times over, the world is sleepwalking again to the abyss.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Obama Syrian Warfare Policy Confronted on Illegality at Pentagon and State
Department Briefings
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—Yesterday’s Pentagon and State Department briefings were
the occasions for sharp questioning of the Obama Syria warfare policy of 1)
training a few “moderate rebels”; 2) providing them air strike cover against
anyone—including potentially Syrian government forces; and 3) doing it
unilaterally, and calling it legal and Constitutional.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Navy Capt. Jeffrey Davis, was hit with
reporters’ questions on these matters. He then sent out a statement later in the
day admitting officially, that, indeed, on July 31, there was a firefight between a
group of U.S.-trained opposition rebels and 50 or so militants, and that the U.S.
did conduct air strikes in support of the U.S.-trained group. The militants were
from Jabhat al-Nusra, not ISIL. This was the first air strike not directed against
ISIL, and illustrated that U.S. air strikes against Syrian government forces is
absolutely possible.
Captain Davis said, “as for the legal authorities question about engaging
Assad’s forces, we won’t speculate about potential scenarios that might arise.”
He said, “Our train-and-equip program is focused first and foremost on
preparing appropriately vetted Syrian opposition forces to counter ISIL. At the
commencement of the counter-ISIL campaign, we cautioned Syria not to engage
U.S. aircraft. The Syrian regime would be similarly advised not to interfere with
the counter-ISIL mission of the Syrian fighters we have trained and equipped. If
the Syrian fighters we have trained and equipped come under attack, the
President would have the authority under the Constitution to defend those
fighters, but we will not discuss our specific rules of engagement.”
The relevant backdrop is that, only 60 “moderate rebels” have been trained
and equipped so far in the U.S. $500 million “train-and-equip” program. The
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
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original stated goal was 15,000 trainees, but fewer than 7,000 “applied,” and
finally, only 60 passed the vetting and training. Davis claimed yesterday not to
have any information about casualties among the U.S.-trained fighters in the July
31 firefight; he did admit that five of them were abducted by al-Nusra in a
separate incident.
At the State Department, Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner was less assertive
about legal authority. “I frankly don’t know what the legal authority is,” he said
in direct response to a question. When pressed hard on the fact that, there’s no
Congressional authorization nor is there a UN Security Council resolution
authorizing the air strike campaign that’s been underway since last August,
much less, for the “major shift in policy” Obama decided on, to protect the U.S.-
trained rebels, Toner could only mumble that “we’re in consultations” with both
the Congress and the UN Security Council.
In fact, the only Administration acknowledgment of the new air strike policy
initiated July 31, came through an unnamed official to a Wall Street Journal
blogger, posted Aug. 2. This follows the pattern of the Administration’s creeping
into warfare without engaging the U.S. Congress and the American public, as it
did in Libya in 2011 and almost did in Syria in 2013.
This stealth was castigated by Council of Foreign Relations analyst Micah
Zenko, in an Aug. 3 blog posting shortly after the news first broke that Obama
had decided to authorize air strikes to defend the U.S.-trained rebels from any
and all attackers including, should that situation arise, Assad’s forces. “This
truly significant decision, which more deeply commits U.S. credibility and
military power to the outcome of the Syrian civil war, comes not from behind a
White House or Pentagon podium, but rather from an anonymous official
speaking to a reporter,” writes Zenko. “This should have been declared publicly
by President Obama or [Defense] Secretary Carter, who should have then been
willing to answer some of the clarifying questions that Administration officials
have refused to address in Congressional hearings.” Furthermore, “the legal
basis for this policy decision is totally unclear.”
In concluding, Zenko notes that “Congress has still not authorized this latest
open-ended war that began one year ago this week.” Or if there is a legal basis,
the administration still has not articulated what that is. “[T]he White House or
the Pentagon should immediately articulate this legal basis publicly, but given
their pattern of behavior we certainly should not expect them to do so.”
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Labour Leader Corbyn Says Tony Blair Should be Tried for War Crimes
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—British MP Jeremy Corbyn, the frontrunner candidate for
Leader of the Labour Party, said today that Tony Blair should be tried for war
crimes if the Chilcot Inquiry rules that Blair broke international law by invading
Iraq in 2003, Reuters reported.
Besides affirming that national leaders must follow international law
respecting the sovereignty of nations, a finding that the 2003 Iraq War was
illegal would discredit U.S. President Obama’s ongoing bombing of Syria solely
on his own authority.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be tried for war crimes
committed during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, depending on the findings of the
Chilcot Inquiry, said Corbyn, who has a 22% lead in the September election for
Labour Party Leader.
Speaking on BBC’s “Newsnight,” Reuters reports, Corbyn said Blair should
“confess” to any plans he made with George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003,
and added that if Blair remains silent, the publication of the Chilcot report would
“force Blair’s hand.” Corbyn called the Iraq war “an illegal war,” adding, “I am
confident about that. Indeed, [former UN Secretary-General] Kofi Annan
confirmed it was an illegal war...”
“The Chilcot report is going to come out sometime,” said Corbyn. “What
happened in Crawford, Texas in 2002 in [Blair’s] private meetings with Bush?
Why has the Chilcot Report still not come out? Because, apparently, there is still
debate about the release of information on one side or the other of the Atlantic.”
Addressing the current ISIS threat in Syria, Corbyn said that he “would want
to isolate ISIS. I don’t think going on a bombing campaign in Syria is going to
bring about their defeat. I think it would make them stronger. I am not a
supporter of military intervention. I am a supporter of isolating ISIS and
bringing about a coalition of the region against them.”
As a result of Corbyn’s demands for action on Blair, British Prime Minister
David Cameron has called for Sir John Chilcot to announce the date on which
his report will be published. The Chilcot Commission began its inquiry on the
legality of the 2003 invasion of Iraq in 2009, finished gathering evidence in
2011, but has yet to issue a report.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
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Russia, Iran Press Ahead with Diplomatic Intervention To Support Syria
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem traveled to Tehran
where he met yesterday with Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab and
African Affairs Hussein Amir Abdollahian and also Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. Iran reportedly has a new proposal for resolving the
four-year conflict and planned to discuss it with Russia and Syria. “We have
discussed issues of mutual concern and viewpoints were identical on the topics
discussed,” al-Moallem said after his meeting with Abdollahian, adding that
“any upcoming initiative will be done in coordination with the Syrian leadership
and officials.”
“The danger now is that Islamic State may seize the whole of Syria,” Fyodor
Lukyanov, head of the Moscow-based Council on Foreign and Defense Policy,
told Bloomberg by phone. “We need to find a way to forge a common front
against Islamic State, but the main problem remains disagreement over Assad.”
On Aug. 3, Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated the U.S. position that it’s all
Assad’s fault and that he has to go. Despite Kerry’s position, Abdollahian
suggested that the chances of a diplomatic resolution of the war were growing.
“Fortunately we see a change in the strategy of regional players in the Syrian
crisis. If four years ago they believed war is the only solution, now they prefer to
focus on diplomacy,” he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency (FNA).
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif himself sees the need for a regional
cooperation mechanism to deal with the different extremist threats. “Nowhere in
the world needs this mechanism more than the Gulf region, and the Middle East.
... No one can fight against extremist groups like the Islamic State in Iraq, while
helping them grow in Yemen and Syria,” he wrote in an article published in four
Arab newspapers on Aug. 3.
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
The ‘New’ Suez Canal: A Challenge for Sicily and Calabria
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—On the eve of tomorrow’s inauguration of the new Suez
Canal, there is an explosion of coverage in the Italian media, as if suddenly
opinion- and decision-makers have realized that something is occurring that they
cannot believe.
An article in the Messina-based newspaper La Gazzetta del Sud, the largest
daily in Calabria and the third largest in Sicily, points to the gap between the
developments in Egypt and the depressed situation in Italy. Under the headline
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“Suez, a Challenge for Sicily and Calabria,” the article echoes what EIR and the
LaRouche movement in Italy, Movisol, have been saying. That is, that Italy must
upgrade its infrastructure in order to play a role in the Eurasian Land Bridge
policy. “This tired and distracted Italy,” the article starts “should mark the date
of Thursday, August 6 on the calendar: Egypt will inaugurate the ‘new’ Suez
Canal. There are two good reasons to focus on what a future-oriented country
has been able to accomplish: one reason is linked to our past, and the other one
to scenarios which will become true in a few years.”
The project for the first Suez Canal originated with Luigi Negrelli, an
Austro-Italian engineer, and was celebrated by the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s
opera Aida in 1871. “A triumph of the Italian genius and of the will of the
Egyptian people.”
Today, Negrelli and Verdi are no longer around, but “Italy cannot miss the
value of such a revolution.”
“Has anyone understood that Sicily and Calabria could earn the fruits of the
increase of traffic in the Southern Mediterranean region? It is a pity that our
island [Sicily] is not physically connected with the rest of Italy [by a bridge] and
that [the Calabrian port of] Gioia Tauro is not well served by rail. We need to
change that quickly.
“Southern Italy cannot ignore this revolution, born of the will of an entire
people: Think that when the government announced the project, the sale of 6.5
billion bonds was completed in barely eight days. Egyptians scrambled to
finance the great challenge. Here at home, instead, we have plenty of No TAV
[No High-Speed Rail], No Bridge, No This and No That—despite the validity of
the projects.
“Is there another Italy, looking to the future and willing to play a role?”
The article announced that a report will be published in October, financed by
Intesa Sanpaolo and a local foundation, on the perspectives of the new Suez
Canal.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Sen. Chuck Grassley Launches Probe of Hillary Clinton; If She Is Wise, She’ll Give
Up Obama
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chair of the Senate Judiciary
Committee and a vigorous investigator, has put Hillary Clinton in his crosshairs
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
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for a tough investigation, thereby creating a good opportunity for Clinton to
come clean, put the blame on Obama, and stop him from starting nuclear war.
Politico’s Rachel Bade wrote today that Grassley will place a hold on a State
Department nominee until he gets answers from State about Mrs. Clinton’s
tenure there. Grassley’s probe targets the special work status of Clinton aide and
confidante Huma Abedin. Grassley charged that the State Department has
“failed” to confirm it has received the inquiries sent three times by the
Committee. The Washington Post reported last night that the FBI has started
investigating Abedin’s alleged conflict of interest, and Clinton’s home email
system.
Rep. Trey Gowdy’s (R-SC) committee investigating the Sept. 11, 2012
attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which killed the U.S. Ambassador to
Libya and three other American staffers, told other committees to “stand down”
on the Clinton investigation, but Grassley said, “Gowdy’s committee is going to
go deeper.... We’re just trying to see if the FBI is doing its job. They won’t be
interested in it if it’s just a general email issue.”
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
‘The New Suez Canal: An Epic by Egyptians’
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—The joy, pride and sense of achievement felt by the Egyptian
government and people at having completed the new Suez Canal in exactly one
year, is beautifully depicted in a 24-minute video produced by Nile TV
International, titled as above, issued on the eve of the Aug. 6 ceremony officially
inaugurating the canal.
In interviews with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Adm. Mohab Mameesh,
head of the Suez Canal Authority, and with the engineers, workers, dredgers,
and young people who participated in building the expanded canal, Nile TV
International shows that this was truly a national project which engaged all
sectors of the population, with an eye to the future of Egypt, and the world.
This is “Egypt’s gift to the world,” said Admiral Mameesh. “It was a miracle
by all standards. It shows that Egyptians are capable of miracles, capable of
achieving the impossible. The will of Egyptians is there to make the country
better. Egypt forward ever.” In one segment, el-Sisi is shown making the
announcement that the project would be completed in one year, and was met by
surprised looks by some of the government officials in the audience. But through
what one engineer called “a superhuman effort,” during which everyone worked
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non-stop, even the foreign dredgers from China, Belgium and the United Arab
Emirates, the project was completed.
It was also characterized by an enormous spirit of collaboration and
solidarity at all levels, from the engineers, to the workers, dredgers and canal
pilots. Admiral Mameesh visited the project frequently, spoke with the workers,
encouraged them and said prayers with them.
Particular emphasis was given to the role of young people who participated
in the project. When Admiral Mameesh was asked how he intended to inspire
youth to work on similar projects, he underscored that “we are building Egypt
through this project.” It will create jobs. “It is very important for Egypt’s
economy. It will push the country forward,” and provide great benefits
especially for the poor, he said. An engineer commented that it “is for all coming
generations—our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.” A young
graduate of Egypt’s Naval Academy told Nile TV International how proud he
was to have participated in the project.
Certainly infuriating the British Empire and its toadies, was the remark made
by military expert Gen. Hamdy Bekheir, who told Nile TV International that,
“this is a glorious and victorious day. This is Egypt. We are here. We are coming
back, and we will do whatever we want to do. Trust us.”
SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE
First Container Train from Western China Arrives in Azerbaijan
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—On Aug. 3, the first-ever container train from China arrived in
Azerbaijan, welcomed by Azeri government officials and diplomatic
representatives from Kazakhstan, Georgia and Turkey. The newly established
route, which goes from Shihezi in Xinjiang to the Caspian Sea port at Aljat, has
been worked out by the Coordination Committee on the development of Trans-
Caspian International Transport Route, TITR, originally initiated by the Kazakh
state railway company. The train transports 82 standard containers and goes the
distance of more than 4,000 kilometers, after its departure from Shihezi on July
28. Having arrived at Baku, it went on another 70 kilometers by rail ferry to the
port of Aljat—where Azerbaijan is currently building a modern port complex
covering 400 hectares. The port is to become another big hub in rail freight
transport between China and Europe.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
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OTHER
Japan Finally Responds to Massive NSA Spying
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—Days after WikiLeaks published revelations of massive,
directed NSA espionage against Japanese government and economic targets on
July 30, Japan’s government has finally questioned U.S. policy. Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that he would have “serious
concerns” if WikiLeaks’ claims that Washington spied on Japanese politicians
were true, and called for an investigation into the matter.
Tokyo’s Cabinet spokesman Yoshihide Suga said in a statement that Biden
had apologized to the Japanese leader in a telephone call for “causing troubles.”
“Prime Minister Abe told [Biden] that, if figures in Japan were in fact subject to
these activities, it would risk jeopardizing the trusting relations between allies,
and he would have to express serious concern.”
WikiLeaks said the U.S. intercepts showed “intimate knowledge of internal
Japanese deliberations” on trade issues, nuclear policy, and Tokyo’s diplomatic
relations with Washington.
“The reports demonstrate the depth of U.S. surveillance of the Japanese
government, indicating that intelligence was gathered and processed from
numerous Japanese government ministries and offices,” WikiLeaks said. Prime
Minister Abe did not appear to be a direct target of wiretapping, but senior
politicians were, including Trade Minister Yoichi Miyazawa and Bank of Japan
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.
The leaks occurred just as Abe is seeking to expand the role of Japan’s
military by “reinterpretation” of the Japanese anti-war provision of the
Constitution, and also in the wake of the failed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
talks in Hawaii. The leaks bolster internal Japanese opposition to these two
disastrous policy moves by the Abe government.
The reports about U.S. intelligence operations against Japan also seriously
weaken the U.S. case against Chinese “cyber” attacks. The American stand
against China has always been built around the contention that it is only China
that targets business rather than intelligence targets, but the spying on Japan
clearly had economic targets.
Page 1
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———EIR Daily Alert Service———
EIR DAILY ALERT SERVICE P.O. BOX 17390, WASHINGTON, DC 20041-0390
• Call To Stop the Immediate Danger of World War III
• Obama Syrian Warfare Policy Confronted on Illegality at Pentagon and State
Department Briefings
• Labour Leader Corbyn Says Tony Blair Should be Tried for War Crimes
• Russia, Iran Press Ahead with Diplomatic Intervention To Support Syria
• The ‘New’ Suez Canal: A Challenge for Sicily and Calabria
• Sen. Chuck Grassley Launches Probe of Hillary Clinton; If She Is Wise, She’ll
Give Up Obama
• ‘The New Suez Canal: An Epic by Egyptians’
• First Container Train from Western China Arrives in Azerbaijan
• Japan Finally Responds to Massive NSA Spying
EDITORIAL
Call To Stop the Immediate Danger of World War III
The following statement is being circulated internationally by the Schiller
Institute and Executive Intelligence Review. Citizens concerned about the grave
danger facing humanity are encouraged to sign the statement, and may access it
on the website of the Schiller Institute (http://schillerinstitute.org) EIR
(http://www.larouchepub.com), or the LaRouche Political Action Committee.
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—It is high time to break the most dangerous taboo of the
present: to know and act on the acute possibility, that mankind may be
annihilated within days or weeks.
On the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the
world stands closer to the brink of thermonuclear war than at any time since the
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The Obama Administration and NATO have
placed mankind in jeopardy of sudden extinction through a series of senseless
provocations directed against Russia, primarily, and China second.
When the Iron Curtain came down, an agreement was reached that, in return
for Russian acceptance of German reunification within NATO, there would be
no further eastward expansion of NATO. Ukraine was identified as a crucial
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
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Reach us at 1-800-278-3135 or www.larouchepub.com
neutral buffer between East and West, with the idea that Ukraine would serve as
a bridge between the European Union and the emerging Russian economic bloc.
All of those fundamental war-prevention agreements have now been
violated. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs,
Victoria Nuland, publicly boasted in December 2013 that the U.S. had spent $5
billion on “color revolutions” to draw Ukraine into the European Union, and,
eventually, into NATO.
The U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the ABM Treaty in order to deploy a
missile defense system in Eastern and Southern Europe, ostensibly aimed at Iran,
but actually targeted at Russia. Last week, the Obama Administration confirmed
this reality by announcing the deployment would go forward, despite the P5+1
deal with Iran. Russian officials have charged, all along, that the U.S. unilateral
Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) in Europe was part of a plan for a preemptive
thermonuclear strike capability against Russia.
Deployment of that ABM system is well underway in Romania and Poland,
and the first three ship-based AEGIS missile defense systems are already in
place and have conducted maneuvers in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, both
bordering Russian territory.
Now reports have surfaced that the upcoming Trident Juncture 15 NATO
exercises will include rehearsals of use of nuclear weapons against Russia.
Washington is moving ahead with production and deployment of a new
generation of tactical nuclear weapons, the B61-12, which can reach targets
inside Russian territory from F-35 stealth fighter jets. An estimated 500 of the
B61-12 nuclear weapons are to be produced, with current plans calling for about
200 of them to be deployed on continental Europe.
These unmistakable provocations have not gone unnoticed in the East and
West. Since the onset of the Ukraine coup in November 2013, Russia has gone
through major upgrading of its entire thermonuclear strategic force. Russian
defense officials have publicly warned that they have developed and deployed an
undefeatable nuclear second strike. To demonstrate this, Russian strategic
bombers and submarines have engaged in exercises in international waters near
NATO territories.
During the duration of the month of August, there is a grave danger of
provocations against Russia by President Obama, who could use the occasion of
the Congressional recess to launch a war. A wide range of influential figures has
already voiced these concerns, including retired Russian and American flag
officers. The decision of Obama, to change the rules of engagement of the U.S.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
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Air Force in Syria without Congressional approval three days after Congress
went into recess, bringing about the immediate danger of an escalation into a
war against Syria, which the Congress voted against two years ago, underlines
the acuteness of the danger.
In 1914 the world was sleepwalking into the catastrophe. Today, with
arsenals of thermonuclear weapons sufficient to extinguish civilization dozens of
times over, the world is sleepwalking again to the abyss.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Obama Syrian Warfare Policy Confronted on Illegality at Pentagon and State
Department Briefings
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—Yesterday’s Pentagon and State Department briefings were
the occasions for sharp questioning of the Obama Syria warfare policy of 1)
training a few “moderate rebels”; 2) providing them air strike cover against
anyone—including potentially Syrian government forces; and 3) doing it
unilaterally, and calling it legal and Constitutional.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Navy Capt. Jeffrey Davis, was hit with
reporters’ questions on these matters. He then sent out a statement later in the
day admitting officially, that, indeed, on July 31, there was a firefight between a
group of U.S.-trained opposition rebels and 50 or so militants, and that the U.S.
did conduct air strikes in support of the U.S.-trained group. The militants were
from Jabhat al-Nusra, not ISIL. This was the first air strike not directed against
ISIL, and illustrated that U.S. air strikes against Syrian government forces is
absolutely possible.
Captain Davis said, “as for the legal authorities question about engaging
Assad’s forces, we won’t speculate about potential scenarios that might arise.”
He said, “Our train-and-equip program is focused first and foremost on
preparing appropriately vetted Syrian opposition forces to counter ISIL. At the
commencement of the counter-ISIL campaign, we cautioned Syria not to engage
U.S. aircraft. The Syrian regime would be similarly advised not to interfere with
the counter-ISIL mission of the Syrian fighters we have trained and equipped. If
the Syrian fighters we have trained and equipped come under attack, the
President would have the authority under the Constitution to defend those
fighters, but we will not discuss our specific rules of engagement.”
The relevant backdrop is that, only 60 “moderate rebels” have been trained
and equipped so far in the U.S. $500 million “train-and-equip” program. The
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original stated goal was 15,000 trainees, but fewer than 7,000 “applied,” and
finally, only 60 passed the vetting and training. Davis claimed yesterday not to
have any information about casualties among the U.S.-trained fighters in the July
31 firefight; he did admit that five of them were abducted by al-Nusra in a
separate incident.
At the State Department, Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner was less assertive
about legal authority. “I frankly don’t know what the legal authority is,” he said
in direct response to a question. When pressed hard on the fact that, there’s no
Congressional authorization nor is there a UN Security Council resolution
authorizing the air strike campaign that’s been underway since last August,
much less, for the “major shift in policy” Obama decided on, to protect the U.S.-
trained rebels, Toner could only mumble that “we’re in consultations” with both
the Congress and the UN Security Council.
In fact, the only Administration acknowledgment of the new air strike policy
initiated July 31, came through an unnamed official to a Wall Street Journal
blogger, posted Aug. 2. This follows the pattern of the Administration’s creeping
into warfare without engaging the U.S. Congress and the American public, as it
did in Libya in 2011 and almost did in Syria in 2013.
This stealth was castigated by Council of Foreign Relations analyst Micah
Zenko, in an Aug. 3 blog posting shortly after the news first broke that Obama
had decided to authorize air strikes to defend the U.S.-trained rebels from any
and all attackers including, should that situation arise, Assad’s forces. “This
truly significant decision, which more deeply commits U.S. credibility and
military power to the outcome of the Syrian civil war, comes not from behind a
White House or Pentagon podium, but rather from an anonymous official
speaking to a reporter,” writes Zenko. “This should have been declared publicly
by President Obama or [Defense] Secretary Carter, who should have then been
willing to answer some of the clarifying questions that Administration officials
have refused to address in Congressional hearings.” Furthermore, “the legal
basis for this policy decision is totally unclear.”
In concluding, Zenko notes that “Congress has still not authorized this latest
open-ended war that began one year ago this week.” Or if there is a legal basis,
the administration still has not articulated what that is. “[T]he White House or
the Pentagon should immediately articulate this legal basis publicly, but given
their pattern of behavior we certainly should not expect them to do so.”
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Labour Leader Corbyn Says Tony Blair Should be Tried for War Crimes
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—British MP Jeremy Corbyn, the frontrunner candidate for
Leader of the Labour Party, said today that Tony Blair should be tried for war
crimes if the Chilcot Inquiry rules that Blair broke international law by invading
Iraq in 2003, Reuters reported.
Besides affirming that national leaders must follow international law
respecting the sovereignty of nations, a finding that the 2003 Iraq War was
illegal would discredit U.S. President Obama’s ongoing bombing of Syria solely
on his own authority.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be tried for war crimes
committed during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, depending on the findings of the
Chilcot Inquiry, said Corbyn, who has a 22% lead in the September election for
Labour Party Leader.
Speaking on BBC’s “Newsnight,” Reuters reports, Corbyn said Blair should
“confess” to any plans he made with George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003,
and added that if Blair remains silent, the publication of the Chilcot report would
“force Blair’s hand.” Corbyn called the Iraq war “an illegal war,” adding, “I am
confident about that. Indeed, [former UN Secretary-General] Kofi Annan
confirmed it was an illegal war...”
“The Chilcot report is going to come out sometime,” said Corbyn. “What
happened in Crawford, Texas in 2002 in [Blair’s] private meetings with Bush?
Why has the Chilcot Report still not come out? Because, apparently, there is still
debate about the release of information on one side or the other of the Atlantic.”
Addressing the current ISIS threat in Syria, Corbyn said that he “would want
to isolate ISIS. I don’t think going on a bombing campaign in Syria is going to
bring about their defeat. I think it would make them stronger. I am not a
supporter of military intervention. I am a supporter of isolating ISIS and
bringing about a coalition of the region against them.”
As a result of Corbyn’s demands for action on Blair, British Prime Minister
David Cameron has called for Sir John Chilcot to announce the date on which
his report will be published. The Chilcot Commission began its inquiry on the
legality of the 2003 invasion of Iraq in 2009, finished gathering evidence in
2011, but has yet to issue a report.
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Russia, Iran Press Ahead with Diplomatic Intervention To Support Syria
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem traveled to Tehran
where he met yesterday with Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab and
African Affairs Hussein Amir Abdollahian and also Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. Iran reportedly has a new proposal for resolving the
four-year conflict and planned to discuss it with Russia and Syria. “We have
discussed issues of mutual concern and viewpoints were identical on the topics
discussed,” al-Moallem said after his meeting with Abdollahian, adding that
“any upcoming initiative will be done in coordination with the Syrian leadership
and officials.”
“The danger now is that Islamic State may seize the whole of Syria,” Fyodor
Lukyanov, head of the Moscow-based Council on Foreign and Defense Policy,
told Bloomberg by phone. “We need to find a way to forge a common front
against Islamic State, but the main problem remains disagreement over Assad.”
On Aug. 3, Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated the U.S. position that it’s all
Assad’s fault and that he has to go. Despite Kerry’s position, Abdollahian
suggested that the chances of a diplomatic resolution of the war were growing.
“Fortunately we see a change in the strategy of regional players in the Syrian
crisis. If four years ago they believed war is the only solution, now they prefer to
focus on diplomacy,” he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency (FNA).
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif himself sees the need for a regional
cooperation mechanism to deal with the different extremist threats. “Nowhere in
the world needs this mechanism more than the Gulf region, and the Middle East.
... No one can fight against extremist groups like the Islamic State in Iraq, while
helping them grow in Yemen and Syria,” he wrote in an article published in four
Arab newspapers on Aug. 3.
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
The ‘New’ Suez Canal: A Challenge for Sicily and Calabria
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—On the eve of tomorrow’s inauguration of the new Suez
Canal, there is an explosion of coverage in the Italian media, as if suddenly
opinion- and decision-makers have realized that something is occurring that they
cannot believe.
An article in the Messina-based newspaper La Gazzetta del Sud, the largest
daily in Calabria and the third largest in Sicily, points to the gap between the
developments in Egypt and the depressed situation in Italy. Under the headline
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“Suez, a Challenge for Sicily and Calabria,” the article echoes what EIR and the
LaRouche movement in Italy, Movisol, have been saying. That is, that Italy must
upgrade its infrastructure in order to play a role in the Eurasian Land Bridge
policy. “This tired and distracted Italy,” the article starts “should mark the date
of Thursday, August 6 on the calendar: Egypt will inaugurate the ‘new’ Suez
Canal. There are two good reasons to focus on what a future-oriented country
has been able to accomplish: one reason is linked to our past, and the other one
to scenarios which will become true in a few years.”
The project for the first Suez Canal originated with Luigi Negrelli, an
Austro-Italian engineer, and was celebrated by the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s
opera Aida in 1871. “A triumph of the Italian genius and of the will of the
Egyptian people.”
Today, Negrelli and Verdi are no longer around, but “Italy cannot miss the
value of such a revolution.”
“Has anyone understood that Sicily and Calabria could earn the fruits of the
increase of traffic in the Southern Mediterranean region? It is a pity that our
island [Sicily] is not physically connected with the rest of Italy [by a bridge] and
that [the Calabrian port of] Gioia Tauro is not well served by rail. We need to
change that quickly.
“Southern Italy cannot ignore this revolution, born of the will of an entire
people: Think that when the government announced the project, the sale of 6.5
billion bonds was completed in barely eight days. Egyptians scrambled to
finance the great challenge. Here at home, instead, we have plenty of No TAV
[No High-Speed Rail], No Bridge, No This and No That—despite the validity of
the projects.
“Is there another Italy, looking to the future and willing to play a role?”
The article announced that a report will be published in October, financed by
Intesa Sanpaolo and a local foundation, on the perspectives of the new Suez
Canal.
U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Sen. Chuck Grassley Launches Probe of Hillary Clinton; If She Is Wise, She’ll Give
Up Obama
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chair of the Senate Judiciary
Committee and a vigorous investigator, has put Hillary Clinton in his crosshairs
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for a tough investigation, thereby creating a good opportunity for Clinton to
come clean, put the blame on Obama, and stop him from starting nuclear war.
Politico’s Rachel Bade wrote today that Grassley will place a hold on a State
Department nominee until he gets answers from State about Mrs. Clinton’s
tenure there. Grassley’s probe targets the special work status of Clinton aide and
confidante Huma Abedin. Grassley charged that the State Department has
“failed” to confirm it has received the inquiries sent three times by the
Committee. The Washington Post reported last night that the FBI has started
investigating Abedin’s alleged conflict of interest, and Clinton’s home email
system.
Rep. Trey Gowdy’s (R-SC) committee investigating the Sept. 11, 2012
attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which killed the U.S. Ambassador to
Libya and three other American staffers, told other committees to “stand down”
on the Clinton investigation, but Grassley said, “Gowdy’s committee is going to
go deeper.... We’re just trying to see if the FBI is doing its job. They won’t be
interested in it if it’s just a general email issue.”
THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
‘The New Suez Canal: An Epic by Egyptians’
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—The joy, pride and sense of achievement felt by the Egyptian
government and people at having completed the new Suez Canal in exactly one
year, is beautifully depicted in a 24-minute video produced by Nile TV
International, titled as above, issued on the eve of the Aug. 6 ceremony officially
inaugurating the canal.
In interviews with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Adm. Mohab Mameesh,
head of the Suez Canal Authority, and with the engineers, workers, dredgers,
and young people who participated in building the expanded canal, Nile TV
International shows that this was truly a national project which engaged all
sectors of the population, with an eye to the future of Egypt, and the world.
This is “Egypt’s gift to the world,” said Admiral Mameesh. “It was a miracle
by all standards. It shows that Egyptians are capable of miracles, capable of
achieving the impossible. The will of Egyptians is there to make the country
better. Egypt forward ever.” In one segment, el-Sisi is shown making the
announcement that the project would be completed in one year, and was met by
surprised looks by some of the government officials in the audience. But through
what one engineer called “a superhuman effort,” during which everyone worked
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non-stop, even the foreign dredgers from China, Belgium and the United Arab
Emirates, the project was completed.
It was also characterized by an enormous spirit of collaboration and
solidarity at all levels, from the engineers, to the workers, dredgers and canal
pilots. Admiral Mameesh visited the project frequently, spoke with the workers,
encouraged them and said prayers with them.
Particular emphasis was given to the role of young people who participated
in the project. When Admiral Mameesh was asked how he intended to inspire
youth to work on similar projects, he underscored that “we are building Egypt
through this project.” It will create jobs. “It is very important for Egypt’s
economy. It will push the country forward,” and provide great benefits
especially for the poor, he said. An engineer commented that it “is for all coming
generations—our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.” A young
graduate of Egypt’s Naval Academy told Nile TV International how proud he
was to have participated in the project.
Certainly infuriating the British Empire and its toadies, was the remark made
by military expert Gen. Hamdy Bekheir, who told Nile TV International that,
“this is a glorious and victorious day. This is Egypt. We are here. We are coming
back, and we will do whatever we want to do. Trust us.”
SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE
First Container Train from Western China Arrives in Azerbaijan
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—On Aug. 3, the first-ever container train from China arrived in
Azerbaijan, welcomed by Azeri government officials and diplomatic
representatives from Kazakhstan, Georgia and Turkey. The newly established
route, which goes from Shihezi in Xinjiang to the Caspian Sea port at Aljat, has
been worked out by the Coordination Committee on the development of Trans-
Caspian International Transport Route, TITR, originally initiated by the Kazakh
state railway company. The train transports 82 standard containers and goes the
distance of more than 4,000 kilometers, after its departure from Shihezi on July
28. Having arrived at Baku, it went on another 70 kilometers by rail ferry to the
port of Aljat—where Azerbaijan is currently building a modern port complex
covering 400 hectares. The port is to become another big hub in rail freight
transport between China and Europe.
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OTHER
Japan Finally Responds to Massive NSA Spying
Aug. 5 (EIRNS)—Days after WikiLeaks published revelations of massive,
directed NSA espionage against Japanese government and economic targets on
July 30, Japan’s government has finally questioned U.S. policy. Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that he would have “serious
concerns” if WikiLeaks’ claims that Washington spied on Japanese politicians
were true, and called for an investigation into the matter.
Tokyo’s Cabinet spokesman Yoshihide Suga said in a statement that Biden
had apologized to the Japanese leader in a telephone call for “causing troubles.”
“Prime Minister Abe told [Biden] that, if figures in Japan were in fact subject to
these activities, it would risk jeopardizing the trusting relations between allies,
and he would have to express serious concern.”
WikiLeaks said the U.S. intercepts showed “intimate knowledge of internal
Japanese deliberations” on trade issues, nuclear policy, and Tokyo’s diplomatic
relations with Washington.
“The reports demonstrate the depth of U.S. surveillance of the Japanese
government, indicating that intelligence was gathered and processed from
numerous Japanese government ministries and offices,” WikiLeaks said. Prime
Minister Abe did not appear to be a direct target of wiretapping, but senior
politicians were, including Trade Minister Yoichi Miyazawa and Bank of Japan
Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.
The leaks occurred just as Abe is seeking to expand the role of Japan’s
military by “reinterpretation” of the Japanese anti-war provision of the
Constitution, and also in the wake of the failed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
talks in Hawaii. The leaks bolster internal Japanese opposition to these two
disastrous policy moves by the Abe government.
The reports about U.S. intelligence operations against Japan also seriously
weaken the U.S. case against Chinese “cyber” attacks. The American stand
against China has always been built around the contention that it is only China
that targets business rather than intelligence targets, but the spying on Japan
clearly had economic targets.
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