First Time Ever: LaRouche Webcast Released in Russian

Aug. 15 (EIRNS)—For the first time ever, the LaRouche Political Action Committee has made available a Russian-language voiceover of a webcast speech, given by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., in Washington on July 22, 2008, titled "One Year Later: But Still Not Too Late for You." The Russian version can be accessed, along with voiceovers in four other languages, in the video archive at www.larouchepac.com.

In this speech, LaRouche called for three specific remedies for the current strategic crisis, which are not cures to the problem, but without which "there's no future for the United States and no future for the world." The third of those points is that, "The United States must propose to the governments of Russia, China, and India, that these four major countries will agree to sponsor a committee, an alliance of powers, including other powers, to establish a fixed-exchange-rate financial-credit system internationally, of the type that Roosevelt intended in 1944, not what Truman did in 1945!"

LaRouche's forecasts and policy solutions command a high degree of interest and support in Russia and other nations in the former Soviet area where Russian is spoken.

Poland-U.S. BMD Agreement: Another Provocation vs. Russia

Aug. 15 (EIRNS)—Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and U.S. State Department official John Rood signed an agreement in Warsaw today for emplacement of ten American anti-missile missiles in Poland. The 18 months of negotiations had reached an impasse, when Poland upped the ante on the military and security guarantees and hardware it was demanding from the United States. The anti-Russian campaign surrounding South Ossetia apparently propelled the United States to meet Poland's demands. Regardless of the frequent U.S. insistence that its ballistic missile defense European deployment was meant to counter a threat from Iran, the Polish government never hid the fact from the very beginning that it wanted the system and U.S. military guarantees, to deal with Russia.

Tusk stated: "We would start with a battery under U.S. command, but made available to the Polish army. Then there would be a second phase, involving equipping the Polish army with missiles." Tusk said this would mean that the United States is obliged to defend Poland in case of an attack, more quickly than NATO would. The Patriot missiles which would be moved from Germany to Poland are a defense only short-range missile attack.

Kazimierz Kiki, sociology professor at Swietokrzyska Academy, observed: "This agreement can be seen as a purely anti-Russian Agreement. It's making Poland part of the U.S. defense system and, in my view, pushes Poland along a well-worn road of mistakes—looking for allies afar and enemies nearby."

Medvedev, Sarkozy Release Plan for South Ossetia

Aug. 12 (EIRNS)—After announcing his order to cease the military operation around South Ossetia, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev today received President Nicholas Sarkozy of France, the current chair of the European Union. Appearing together afterwards, each President read aloud, in Russian and French, respectively, principles agreed on by the two sides. Medvedev said he "would like to emphasize that our meeting is taking place within a new status quo"—the declared success and end of the Russian military operation, which had come in response to Georgia's attack on the provincial government and Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia.

The principles, according to the Kremlin's transcript of Medvedev's remarks, are six:

1) Do not resort to the use of force.

2) The absolute cessation of all hostilities.

3) Free access to humanitarian assistance.

4) The Armed Forces of Georgia must withdraw to their permanent positions.

5) The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must withdraw to the line where they were stationed, prior to the beginning of hostilities. Prior to the establishment of international mechanisms, the Russian peacekeeping forces will take additional security measures.

6) An international debate on the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and ways to ensure their lasting security will take place.

The version later negotiated by Sarkozy with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and signed by the latter during the visit to Georgia of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, omitted explicit reference to future "status" talks.

Sarkozy said, "I would like to say in the presence of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, that we do see Russia striving to guarantee the sovereignty, and respect the sovereignty, of Georgia. And he can confirm that we have no ambiguity on that."

Turkish Caucasus Federation Denounces Georgia

Aug. 11 (EIRNS)—The Ankara, Turkey based Federation of Caucasian Associations criticized Georgia's attack on South Ossetia, accusing Georgia of ethnic cleansing. In a statement published in today's Zaman, they declared:

"As the Federation of Caucasian Associations, we stress that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are not breakaway regions; they are independent republics. Their invasion by Georgia cannot be accepted just as no invasion in the world can. Decisions of independence by the people of these countries cannot be rendered null and void through wars. South Ossetia is currently under invasion by Georgia. Babies are heartlessly being killed there, and innocent mothers, fathers and elderly are being lynched."

Calling on Turkey to recognize the republics' independence, they write, "We want Turkey and the rest of the world to recognize these two countries' independence as they did for Kosovo. We call on international democracy and human rights organizations to call for an end to the barbarity in South Ossetia."

There have been calls for Turkey not to take sides on the Georgia-Russia conflict. One reason is the fact that Turkey has a ethnic Caucasian community of its own, to which it has to show consideration. It has been suggested that Turkey play a mediating role similar to the one it is playing between Syria and Israel.

Russian War Busts Myth of Revolution in Military Affairs

Aug. 11 (EIRNS)—One consequence of the Russian military operations in South Ossetia may be the busting of the myth that future warfare will be characterized by what is called "fourth generation warfare," or the notion that modern history has moved beyond the point where conventional heavy forces would ever be useful in future wars. Retired Col. Patrick Lang, a former U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer, wrote of the fourth generation notion on his website a few days ago, that, "It seems to me that what has happened in Georgia, South Ossetia, and the Russian Federation belies that idea." Lang notes that, the television evidence shows that tanks, self-propelled artillery, armored personnel carriers, fighter jets, conventional infantry, and so forth abounded in this war.

A currently serving Army officer, with two tours in Iraq under his belt, and who is a critic of the Army's singular focus on counterinsurgency doctrine, in response to an e-mail inquiry from EIR, commented that this war should be a "wake-up call" for the U.S. Army, "since many of its senior leaders have been of the mind that fighting between large armies in the open are things of the past."