This article is the lead of the May 2, 2014 issue of
Executive Intelligence Review.
Mike Billington
Obama's Failed Asia Trip:
Nothing Left But War
April
28—President Barack Obama will return from his April 22-29 Asia tour tomorrow,
having failed to accomplish any of the objectives that were spelled out on the
eve of his four-nation excursion. He failed to arm-twist the Japanese into
significant economic concessions aimed at pushing ahead with the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) free-trade scheme; he failed to get Japan to sign off on new
American sanctions against Russia; and he failed in his efforts to bridge the
conflicts between Japan and South Korea, two key Asian nations which are part of
the Obama scheme to build a containment alliance against China.
According to
several Asian officials, both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South
Korean President Park Geun-Hye were well aware of President Obama's sinking
support back home, the building Democratic Party revolt against his failed
policies, and most of all, his defeat in attempting to push through
Congressional fast-track authorization for the TPP. In short, Obama's domestic
meltdown is impacting his shrinking global credibility, and widespread news
coverage in the U.S. of his failures in Asia will drive his further political
demise.
Lyndon
LaRouche, Obama's leading domestic critic, noted, over the weekend of April
26-27, that Obama's Asia failures, combined with the fact that Russian President
Vladimir Putin continues to call Washington's bluff over the Ukraine conflict,
have accelerated the prospects of Obama being dumped. "This does not mean that
Obama is finished, but it does mean that the preconditions are now apparent for
his early demise," LaRouche told colleagues.
Having turned
American policy in Ukraine over to Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland
(a former employee of Dick Cheney, and wife of rabid neocon Robert Kagan), who
proceeded to finance and support neo-Nazi thugs in a coup against the elected
government of Ukraine, and provoke a confrontation with Russia, President Obama
has now carried out a tour of Asia under the direction of his National Security
Advisor Susan Rice, the British-trained expert on imperial regime change,
pushing forward the timetable for a thermonuclear confrontation with China on
behalf of Wall Street and the City of London.
There are two
prongs to Obama's confrontation with China. One is economic, in the form of the
TPP, which aims to impose supranational dictates which prevent sovereign control
of a nation's trade and productive processes. The TPP is also directly aimed at
the isolation of China, to restrain its crucial and expanding role in the
extraordinary growth taking place in East and Southeast Asia, even while the
West is in a terminal breakdown crisis.
From the
standpoint of the intended economic warfare, Obama failed totally, and instead,
was told by Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia that they had no interest in
committing economic suicide.
But on the
second prong—the buildup of an expanding U.S. military presence in Asia along
China's borders, centered on Japan, the Philippines, and Australia, thereby
creating the capacity to impose Obama's currently operative first-strike policy
known as Air-Sea Battle—on this front, Obama was quite successful, if success is
measured according to the British Empire's commitment to global war and
depopulation.
Storm Over
Asia
Even before
landing in Tokyo April 23, Obama conducted a written interview (almost certainly
drafted by Susan Rice) with the Yomiuri Shimbun, which broke from the
official U.S. doctrine that Washington does not take sides in territorial
disputes, and from its intentional ambiguity in regard to U.S. military
commitments over the current heated conflict between Japan and China over the
Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, by declaring that:
"The policy
of the United States is clear—the Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan
and therefore fall within the scope of Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of
Mutual Cooperation and Security."
Thus any
conflict over the contested islands, whether provoked by Japan or China, or even
by the U.S., will serve as a justification for U.S. military operations against
China.
China
responded immediately. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang reported that China
had issued a "solemn representation" to both the American and Japanese
ambassadors in Beijing, saying:
"We urge
the United States and Japan to give up the Cold War mindset, earnestly respect
the interests and concerns of other countries in the region, and refrain from
further disturbances to regional peace and stability."
The head of
the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, Wu Xinbo, wrote an op-ed in
the New York Times, saying that the U.S. has been a "destabilizing
force" in the dispute between China and Japan, and noting that the U.S. created
the problem in the first place, in 1971, by turning administrative control over
the islands to Japan, rather than returning them to China as called for in the
1945 Potsdam Declaration, which specified that all territories seized by
Imperial Japan (the islands were absorbed by Japan in its 1895 war with China)
be returned to the original sovereign.
Wu went on to
denounce Obama's backing of Abe's effort to reinterpret the country's post-World
War II pacifist Constitution (drafted in collaboration with Gen. Douglas
MacArthur), in order to end Japan's self-imposed ban on foreign military
operations. In fact, Obama praised Abe's militarization plans during their joint
press conference on April 24, saying that he "enthusiastically welcomed Japan's
desire to play a greater role in upholding international security ... including
by reviewing existing limits on the exercise of collective self-defense," a
euphemism for the right to conduct offensive warfare in support of the
U.S.
Wu's
Times op-ed concluded:
"These
policies suggest that the United States, while claiming to be neutral, not
only supports the Japanese position over the islands, but, more importantly,
prods Japan to be more aggressive toward China."
In the
Obama-Abe press conference, when AP asked Abe about his December visit to the
Yasukuni Shrine (which glorifies the Japanese role in World War II and honors
Japanese war criminals, along with other soldiers), Abe unabashedly defended his
visit, despite the obvious fact that this is one of the most provocative acts a
Japanese leader can take in regard to the painful memories in China and Korea of
the war crimes committed during the Japanese occupation. Although the Obama
government, and most Japan institutions, condemned Abe's visit to the Yasukuni
Shrine at the time, as an unwelcome provocation, Obama made no objection during
the press conference—a tacit approval under diplomatic protocol.
Although not
reported in the world press, Japanese sources told EIR that Susan Rice
also tried to strong-arm Abe to join in the next round of sanctions against
Russia. Japan had earlier given verbal support to the sanctions imposed by the
U.S. and EU after the Crimea referendum in favor of secession, and Russia's
annexation of its former territory, but Japan refused to impose any sanctions of
its own, conscious of the crucial relationship between Japan and Russia in
regard to the development of the Eurasian Far East, as well as the need to
settle outstanding territorial issues. The source reported that on this issue,
Abe refused to capitulate.
Philippines: One Big
U.S. Military Base
Today, just
hours before Obama's arrival in Manila April 27, Philippines Defense Secretary
Voltaire Gazmin and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg signed an
Enhanced Defense Cooperation agreement, which has essentially turned the
Philippines into a massive U.S. military base, with ground, air, and sea-based
capacities at multiple basing sites, and with ample storage facilities. That
this is intended to serve as a primary base of operations for a war on China is
quite openly acknowledged by all sides.
Obama, in a
joint press conference with Philippines President Noynoy Aquino, described the
agreement as "a terrific opportunity for us to work with the Philippines to make
sure that our navies, our air forces are coordinated, to make sure that there's
information-sharing to allow us to respond to new threats, and to work with
other countries—ASEAN countries, Australia, Japan." The Philippines has
essentially no air force or navy, so the intention is clear.
The irony of
this move by Presidents Obama and Aquino, is that the Constitution of the
Philippines explicitly forbids the basing of any foreign military forces on its
sovereign territory. No one is fooled by the subterfuge that the U.S. bases are
not bases at all, but only "guest facilities" within existing Philippine
military bases, and that the soldiers, military aircraft, and warships are
merely "rotating guests," despite the fact that they will be stationed at
permanent, newly constructed, U.S.-run facilities. President Aquino announced
that he will not seek Congressional approval for the agreement—yet another
breach of the Philippine Constitution.
The deal was
barely reached in time for Obama's visit, since the U.S. has insisted that
Filipinos would be forbidden access to the "guest facilities" within their own
Philippine military bases, which was simply too much for many leading Filipinos
to swallow, especially within the military.
Although the
details of the agreement have not been released—and may never be—it is reported
in the press that the agreement will allow the base commanders from the
Philippines military to have access to the U.S. facilities. How that will play
out is not certain.
President
Aquino's election was based primarily on the fact that he is the son of former
President Cory Aquino, who was placed in office in 1986 by the U.S.-run coup
against the Philippines' last nationalist leader, Ferdinand Marcos. Cory Aquino
dutifully followed the dictates of then-Secretary of State George Shultz and his
deputy Paul Wolfowitz to shut down the completed nuclear power plant built under
Marcos (the first such nuclear facility in Southeast Asia), threw out the rice
self-sufficiency policy of the Marcos government, and closed the 11 industrial
development programs initiated by Marcos—a process which turned the nation into
an impoverished hell-hole, which has only gotten worse each year since then.
Now, it has been essentially re-colonized and turned into potential cannon
fodder in a rapidly approaching U.S. thermonuclear war against China and
Russia.
Korea Rejects
Anti-China Posture
Obama's brief
visit to South Korea April 25-26 was intended to consolidate an effort begun in
the Hague in March, on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, where Obama
strong-armed the Korean President to meet with him and Prime Minister Abe.
Relations between Japan and South Korea have been extremely tense over Abe's
attempts to roll back earlier Japanese apologies for crimes committed during the
Second World War, and the nearly half-century of Korean colonization by Japan.
Obama and his neocon backers have tried desperately to drag South Korea away
from its increasingly strong relations with China, and to ally with the U.S. and
Japan against both China and North Korea. The meeting in the Hague accomplished
little, and Obama's visit to Seoul (thankfully) accomplished even
less.
Only days
before Obama's arrival April 25, President Park held a 40-minute phone call with
Chinese President Xi Jinping, discussing Obama's coming visit, as well as the
North Korean issue. While calling on China to encourage North Korea not to carry
out its threatened fourth test of a nuclear weapon, Park also discussed the
necessary positive solution to the North Korea problem—regionwide development
projects engaging the North in a mutually beneficial program for peace through
development.
Even more of
a poke in the eye to Obama, President Park deployed the head of the Korea
Railway Corporation (KORAIL), Choi Yeon-hye, to Pyongyang, traveling by rail
from Beijing, to attend a meeting of the Organization for Cooperation between
Railways, an annual meeting of Eurasian countries dedicated to expanding
international rail development. Explicitly on the agenda: cooperation among
Russia, China, South Korea, and North Korea on connecting South Korea to the
Trans-Siberian Railway by restoring the long-dormant rail connections through
North Korea.
When Obama
spoke to the press with President Park, he ignored her efforts to forge a
feasible solution to the Korea crisis, repeating instead his usual belligerent
demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear weapons program, with nothing offered
in return. Obama stated the obvious—that North Korea is the most isolated
country in the world—and that more sanctions would be imposed if it did not
submit.
While it is
true that North Korea is isolated, Obama himself is increasingly isolated from
most of the world outside of the trans-Atlantic nations, and from a growing
number of sane leaders in the U.S. as well. Amb. Stephen Bosworth, a
distinguished senior U.S. diplomat, who played a leading role in the successful
peace process among the U.S., South Korea, and North Korea, reached under
President Bill Clinton in 1994-95 (the General Framework, sabotaged by Dick
Cheney in 2002), and who was appointed as Special Representative to North Korea
(2009-11) by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, spoke in Washington on April
24, the same day that Obama was in Seoul, on the crisis in North Korea. Asked by
EIR to comment on Obama's threats to Pyongyang, contrasted with the
development efforts being discussed among Russia, China, and the two Koreas,
Bosworth did not hide his disgust with Obama's current confrontational
approach:
"I believe
strongly that by focusing as exclusively on the nuclear issue as we are now,
we're ignoring long-term considerations that are of great importance. I come
back to the question that was raised about railways between South Korea, North
Korea, Russia, etc. And there was an allusion in there to the flow of natural
gas, perhaps, along the Korean Peninsula. My view is that in the longer term,
starting now, the best way to deal with North Korea is not to focus just on
their nuclear capability, although that is obviously a grave concern, but to
focus on what I think is the underlying problem of great seriousness, which is
the inherent weakness of North Korea. And as long as they are as weak as they
are, and perceive that they're as weak as they are, in their calculus, the
only way of dealing with that is to be able to pose a threat to the other
countries in the region. And my answer to that would be, all right, let's tie
them into a meaningful network of regional economic engagements. If you could
tie them in through their own self-interest into a network involving the flow
of natural gas down from Russia into the Korean Peninsula, I think the
benefits from that in the medium and longer term could be quite substantial,
because it would give them a stake in stability. And now they really don't
have a stake in stability."
If Obama were
not owned by Wall Street, such words of wisdom might have an impact.
Malaysia—Another
Rejection
Obama's
one-day visit to Malaysia April 26-27—the first by a U.S. President since Lyndon
Johnson's visit in 1966—was reduced to a public relations ploy, since it was
already clearly understood that Malaysia was not about to capitulate to U.S.
demands regarding the TPP. Therefore, the visit was dominated by an amorphous
agreement to upgrade diplomatic ties to a comprehensive partnership, while the
media emphasized that relations are "Oh, so much better" than under the long
reign of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who in fact defended Malaysian sovereignty, and
still plays a key role from his retirement in defending the nation.[1]
The most
important part of the Malaysia visit was not entrusted to Obama, but was handled
directly by his controller, British agent Susan Rice, together with Rice's
cohort Daniel Russel, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs. Rice and Russel met with the leading British-Saudi agent in Malaysia,
Anwar Ibrahim, together with Anwar's opposition party co-leaders, after Obama
left Malaysia. According to the Malaysia Chronicle, Anwar "suggested
the United States create a Working Group on governance and human rights that
included representatives from civil society and opposition as one critical way
to strengthen the comprehensive partnership announced during President Obamas
visit." This would indeed be music to the ears of Rice, who helped dispense the
$5 billion allocated by the U.S. to set up the anti-Russian (and pro-neo-Nazi)
NGOs in Ukraine over the past years.
While the
opposition leaders whined that the current government stole the last election,
and that "Anwar Ibrahim should be the rightful Prime Minister of Malaysia right
now," the core of the meeting clearly took place in the unrecorded 20-minute
private discussion between Rice and Anwar after the larger meeting. Under
discussion there was likely the proposal which Anwar, who is the head of the
Muslim Brotherhood in Malaysia, presented in an op-ed to the Washington
Post on April 26, as Obama was arriving in Kuala Lumpur. Anwar argued that
Southeast Asia needs its own "Arab Spring." This would unleash the radical
jihadists across Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, to destroy these
nations as the Middle East has been destroyed by the British/Obama backing of
al-Qaeda-linked opposition to secular governments there.
Indeed, Anwar
has been funded, and worked closely with, the Saudi sponsors of Islamic
jihadists throughout his career, which will fit in nicely with Susan Rice's
support for al-Qaeda in Libya and Syria, and for neo-Nazis in
Ukraine.
Only
Solution—Impeach Obama
LaRouche
noted recently that Obama is finished—hated by the U.S. citizenry for multiple
crimes against the Constitution and the livelihood of the people, and no longer
tolerable to his Wall Street and British Empire sponsors, as he has failed to
implement their instructions to force Russia to back down to the NATO onslaught
in Ukraine, and has now failed in his instructions to force the economic suicide
of the TPP down the throats of the Asian nations. The preconditions of Obama's
impeachment are now in place—to take his finger off the button, to stop his
bail-out and bail-in of the bankrupt Wall Street banks, and to allow the
launching of America's cooperation with the Eurasian nations in vast economic
and infrastructural development projects.
His Asia trip
demonstrates that his oft-promoted "pivot to Asia" offers nothing of benefit to
the people of the United States, nor those of Asia, but is simply a mobilization
for a war which, together with the simultaneous push for war on Russia, would
mean extinction of civilization. His removal from office is urgent.
No comments:
Post a Comment