Category: Aggregated

The United States and Europe, still refusing the offers of credit, investment, and scientific cooperation from China and the BRICS-allied nations, are in a grave dual crisis. They face a war confrontation with Russia — which, all sane citizens recognize, means a thermonuclear war of destruction awaits. And they face the increasing threat of a financial blowout of exploding Wall Street derivatives bubbles, triggered by the collapse of the euro, the oil debt bubble, or both at once.

Any financial columnist or bank analyst will tell you now: It’s “inevitable” that either the new Greek government capitulates to more austerity and effectively murders its own citizens; or it is forced out of the euro, its exit triggering, they say, a currency breakup and financial chaos.

What they don’t accept, is the possibility that Greece could, instead, change the entirety of economically collapsed Europe! In recent days, some of the largest demonstrations in years in Europe have backed up exactly this “impossibility.” Backed by the mass effects of broad anti-Wall Street, anti-austerity movements in a number of countries, Greece could win, and shift all of Europe towards shedding its immense, dead debts and creating new credit for development — EVEN, joining with the new international development banks of the BRICS-allied nations to do this.

This is our objective, and we, LaRouchePAC and EIR, are in the center of this possibility, and putting everything we have into it.

Geopoliticians of all stripes pronounce it “inevitable” that either Vladimir Putin capitulates to ongoing intense financial/economic attacks on Russia, or the “Ukraine” escalation goes on, toward the looming threat of world war with nuclear forces on a hair-trigger.

But none of them anticipated that two European leaders would suddenly launch a last-minute diplomatic initiative at the highest level, which has so far survived the Obama-British desire to kill it.

Nor do they have any idea what will follow this. That depends on human creativity in a crisis. A month ago, because of the huge international impact, on the day of the Paris attacks, of a press conference in Washington exposing the Saudi/British role in the 9/11 attacks, a revived French national unity began to appear. That national unity has now spilled over into a determination to stop Obama and the British from triggering a war with Russia. Such a determination changes the possibilities of “mere diplomacy” in the face of oligarchies set on war.

But more is required for peace — actions to neutralize “Nuland’s Nazis,” the extreme right-wing and fascist forces who dominated the “Maidan coup” in Kiev just a year ago. Is this “impossible”?

At a time of deep crisis like this one, this comes down to a characteristic of completely “unpredictable” human creativity, capable of changing the inevitable, if backed up by fight.

This truth was expressed in a brief but powerful discussion by EIR Founding Editor Lyndon LaRouche discussion — addressed to exactly these dual crises — on Feb. 8. LaRouche had first opened this up, more deeply, on Feb. 3. That discussion, which should be read, or better, listened to by anyone who wants to change the world for the good, can be read and listened to here.

France’s political parties are unified in President François Hollande’s opposition to Obama’s war against Russia, and denounced it in the strongest terms. The Socialist government of Hollande; the conservative Union for a Popular Movement Party (UMP) led by former French President Sarkozy, and Marine Le Pen’s National Front party declared, as Sarkozy stated it,

“The interests of the Americans with [regard to] the Russians are not the interests of Europe and Russia.”

The break with the captured British pawn Obama came over his intention to send lethal weapons to the Nazis in Kiev. This would be a “casus belli” for Russia, against the U.S. and its coalition “partners.”

Former French President Sarkozy addressed the Congress of the UMP Feb. 7,

“We are part of a common civilization with Russia. We do not want the revival of a Cold War between Europe and Russia.”

With regard to Crimea’s decision to secede from Ukraine, Sarkozy said,

“Crimea has chosen Russia, and we cannot blame it [for doing so]…. We must find the means to create a peacekeeping force to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine.” He added further, “Ukraine is not destined to join the EU. Ukraine must preserve its role as a bridge between Europe and Russia.”

President Hollande himself called for broader autonomy for the Donbass regions of Ukraine. They need “rather strong autonomy” from Kiev, he told France 1 TV Feb. 8. Hollande’s foreign minister Laurent Fabius said there must be no new sanctions imposed on Russia or Ukrainians while the “Normandy” negotiations are ongoing.

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s National Front, called EU Headquarters in Brussels “American lackeys” over the EU Ukraine policy. She told reporters

“the aim of the Americans is to start a war in Europe to push NATO to the Russian border.”

Even stronger were the Feb. 8 statements of former Foreign Minister François Fillon to the public broadcaster France 5, that the United States is

“attempting to unleash a war in Europe, which would end in complete catastrophe….Total war caused by the Ukrainian conflict is absolutely unacceptable.”

Two things are clear, then. Very forceful French pressure is driving the last-minute diplomatic efforts to snatch a ceasefire from the jaws of the U.S.-British drive for war. And France itself continues to be affected by the revolutionary impulse of national unity from the huge marches following the Paris terror attacks a month ago. That potential revolutionary change was noted immediately then by Lyndon LaRouche, who said that the “28 pages” press conference on the day of the attacks had launched a change in the world situation.

President Obama and German Chancellor Merkel seemed to be in agreement in their press conference Monday that the way forward in Ukraine in the conflict between Russia and the West is through continued diplomacy rather than war. In her comments, Merkel said,

“Whenever you have political conflict, such as the one that we have now between Russia and Ukraine, but also in many other conflicts around the world, it has always proved to be right to try again and again to solve such a conflict. And there’s always a point where you say, well, all of the options are on the table, we’ve gone back and forth, but then one has to think again. Whenever you have political conflict, such as the one that we have now between Russia and Ukraine, but also in many other conflicts around the world, it has always proved to be right to try again and again to solve such a conflict.”

Obama’s comments were in the same vein, albeit expressed somewhat less convincingly:

“My hope is that through these diplomatic efforts, those costs have become high enough that Mr. Putin’s preferred option is for a diplomatic resolution. And I won’t prejudge whether or not they’ll be successful…. If they are not, then we will continue to raise those costs.”

Obama then went on ominously,

“Now, it is true that if, in fact, diplomacy fails, what I’ve asked my team to do is to look at all options — what other means can we put in place to change Mr. Putin’s calculus — and the possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that’s being examined. But I have not made a decision about that yet. I have consulted with not just Angela, but will be consulting with other allies about this issue.”

Obama had also indicated that NATO would be beefing up its military posture along the Russian border.

“Along with our NATO allies, well keep bolstering our presence in Central and Eastern Europe — part of our unwavering Article 5 obligation to our collective defense. We will continue to work with the IMF and other partners to provide Ukraine with critical financial support as it pursues economic and anti-corruption reforms. We discussed the issue of how best to assist Ukraine as it defends itself, and we agreed that sanctions on Russia need to remain fully in force until Russia complies fully with its obligations.”

In reply to a question on Greece, Merkel insisted on the Troika conditionalities:

“The German policy, ever since 2010, has been aimed at Greece staying a member of the Eurozone. I’ve said this time and again. The basic rules have always been the same. You put in your own efforts, and on the other side, you’re being shown solidarity as a quid pro quo. The three institutions of the Troika — the ECB, the European Union Commission, and the IMF — have agreed on programs. These programs are the basis of any discussion we have. I’ve always said I will wait for Greece to come with a sustainable proposal and then we’ll talk about this,” she said.