In this issue:

Helga Zepp LaRouche Addresses World Public Forum in Rhodes

Chirac and Schroeder Say U.S. Draft Resolution on Iraq "Falls Far Short"

French Media Highlights Chirac/Schroeder Agreement

Iraq Is Ten Times More Dangerous Than Yugoslav Resistance

Iraq on the Road Towards 'Lebanization'

Evidence Given to Hutton Inquiry Shattering Blair Regime

London Declares War on European Independent Defense Initiative

Paris and Germany Working on Joint Program To Build Classic Submarines

From Volume 2, Issue Number 36 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Sept. 9, 2003

Western European News Digest

Helga Zepp LaRouche Addresses World Public Forum in Rhodes

This week at a conference held in Rhodes, in the Aegean Sea, Helga Zepp LaRouche joined hundreds of other world leaders, and spoke at the World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations"—a three-day conference attended by some 300 people.

According to the website of World Public Forum, the sponsoring organization, www.wpfdc.com:

"The initiative of the Forum was approved by the Presidents of Russia, Lithuania, Iran, Uzbekistan, and supreme officials of India, Greece, Russian Orthodox Church, the Universal Patriarchy, representatives of UNESCO, the PACE and a number of influential international, public, religious and state organizations, world business elites."

In one of the plenary sessions, Mrs. Zepp LaRouche spoke on "A German Classical Contribution to a New Humane World Order, the Concept of the Beautiful Soul of Friedrich Schiller." Her speech will appear in an upcoming issue of EIW.

Chirac and Schroeder Say U.S. Draft Resolution on Iraq "Falls Far Short"

At the end of the first round of their consultations in Dresden Sept. 4, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac said that they were ready to look into the text of what the American side would present to the UN Security Council, but from what they had seen so far, in Schroeder's words, "to us [it] seems rather far away from that which we consider the priority, namely, the transfer of government into the hands of the Iraqis." Schroeder added that irrespective of whatever new resolution the UN Security Council passes, Germany would not send troops to Iraq, definitely.

Chirac said that "we are still very far away from the text of a resolution which we can support wholeheartedly." In a separate statement from Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said as well that "still, a lot of work has to be done on a new resolution," especially on the question of how to "have the speediest transfer of power to the Iraqi people," and of seeing an "orderly elected, internationally recognized civilian government in place."

French Media Highlights Chirac/Schroeder Agreement

Following their Dresden bilateral summit, France and Germany are flaunting their renewed alliance. Le Figaro reports on German Chancellor Schroeder's statement at the press conference: "We haven't talked about bilateral problems because there simply are none."

Le Monde and Liberation however, play up, negatively, the Franco-German announcement about a "new growth initiative" aimed at reinforcing economic growth and enhancing the Italian Tremonti Plan, with 19 new projects, which include a list of things such as a Maglev between Munich and its airport, and a new particle accelerator. According to Liberation, "The German Chancellor and the French President want this program to be financed by the European Investment Bank."

Liberation, in an article titled "Paris and Berlin, An Instability Pact," snarls against both capitals, stating that "rather than suffering separately the furies of Brussels (because of their deficits, which go far beyond the Maastricht criteria), Paris and Berlin have instead decided to create a common front." Germany just announced that its 2003 deficit will reach 3.8%, and according to German Finance Minster Hans Eichel, it will be "difficult" for Germany to meet the Pact's constraints in 2004. France just announced a 4% public deficit for this year, and French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin just announced further tax decreases of 3%, which run completely counter to the orthodoxy of the Pact.

Iraq Is Ten Times More Dangerous Than Yugoslav Resistance

"The situation facing the Americans in Iraq is 10 times more dangerous than what the Nazis faced with the Yugoslav resistance during World War Two," insisted a leading strategist in continental Europe, himself from the Balkans, during a discussion with EIR on Sept. 2.

This source said: "I have been asked several times, during the past days, what is the comparison of the Iraqi resistance, now, to the Yugoslav resistance, then. The basic difference, is that the Yugoslav resistance was in the forest and mountains. True enough, it required the Germans to send in 20 divisions. But, in the end, they were able to maintain and protect their lines of communication, East-West and North-South. With Iraq, by contrast, the resistance is from the urban guerrilla. That presents a danger 10 times more dangerous than the Yugoslav resistance of 1941-45. The situation for the Americans, in reality, is worse."

He said: "To stress the point: Look at what is now happening in Kosovo, which is 10,000 square kilometers, and has 30,000 NATO troops present. Although this is not reported by the media, which doesn't give a damn, the reality is that, in Kosovo, there is killing left and right, and destruction all the time, right under the noses of the NATO forces. Iraq, remember, is 500,000 square kilometers, 50 times larger than Kosovo, with only five times more troops. Under these conditions, there is not the slightest chance to maintain peace, order, and security. The sabotage and killing will go on. And this is not 'Saddam' behind the resistance, this is a resistance against the reality of occupation."

This strategist asserted that the Americans now have only two choices: Send in 200,000 more troops, or share the responsibility for what is going on in Iraq, by going to the United Nations, and working out a viable UN resolution, that would allow France, Germany, Russia, Pakistan, and Egypt, among others, to deploy adequate troops into Iraq.

Iraq on the Road Towards 'Lebanization'

Speaking in Paris to EIR on Sept. 5, a well-placed Franco-Iraqi source evaluated that no Iraqi group had any interest in carrying out either the bombing that killed Shi'ite leader Mohammed Bakr Al Hakim, or the bombing against the UN headquarters in Baghdad. Such operations were very large and needed, in this person's view, an infrastructure which goes beyond mere revenge groups of this or that grievance within Iraq.

The attacks on the UN and on Al Hakim were aimed, he pointed out, at targets which had the potential to establish some stability and order in Iraq. If the strategy were to create maximum chaos in order to bring in a potential dictator, then, the concern is that one of the next targets in that strategy could be Talabani, who ensures control over a large part of the Iraqi Kurdistan.

While the source has been favorable to a UN leading role in Iraq to replace the Americans, today he fears it's too late: The situation in Iraq has already reached a great degree of "Lebanization," and it will be extremely difficult to impose a central authority upon a country already on the verge of civil war.

Evidence Given to Hutton Inquiry Shattering Blair Regime

This week's InDepth features EIR's Mark Burdman on the bombshell evidence presented to the Hutton Inquiry, which could bring down British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Burdman writes: "British Prime Minister Tony Blair has taken such a political battering, during the usually quiescent British summer, that serious observers are asking who and what can replace him? Blair has suffered a number of severe shocks. On Aug. 29, Alastair Campbell, his Downing Street 'spin doctor' and main psycho-political crutch, resigned. In the first week of September, Lord Hutton's inquiry into the July 17 death of British WMD expert Dr. David Kelly heard testimony that sent the Blair regime reeling.

"Kelly's widow Janice and daughter Rachel testified on Sept 1. Speaking via video-conference, Janice Kelly proclaimed that 'in his final days, my husband felt belittled, betrayed and let down by his superiors.' Such words most directly undermined Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, in whose Ministry of Defence (MOD) Kelly worked; Hoon is likely the next government member to leave office. But beyond that, her account, in the words of one leading British commentator, 'thoroughly trounced' Blair and Downing Street.

"Then, on Sept. 3, the entire basis of Blair's justification for going to war against Iraq was blown apart by two senior intelligence officials. The first was Dr. Brian Jones, originally an MOD scientist in 1973, just retired as a branch head of the Defense Intelligence Analysis Staff. Jones's department was dedicated to investigating Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). He showed that the content of Downing Street's controversial September 2002 dossier on Iraqi WMD was dictated by political expediency, and exaggerated, in substance. Next, Jones's testimony was buttressed by a very senior MOD witness, only identified as 'Mr. A,' and who testified via video with his voice muffled. He was described as Britain's foremost authority on chemical warfare, working in the MOD's Counter-Proliferation Arms Control Department. Mr. A charged that 'spin merchants,' rather than intelligence experts, determined how the subject of Iraqi WMD was conveyed to the public, and that intelligence claims cited in that dossier, were fundamentally mistaken." (See InDepth for full story.)

London Declares War on European Independent Defense Initiative

On April 29, in a bold move, the governments of France, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg decided to create an independent (of NATO) center of command for the European Defense Initiative, with the future headquarters to be located in Brussels.

The beleaguered British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who had already expressed his opposition to this initiative, has now decided to launch an offensive to kill it. A memorandum entitled "U.K. food for thought" sent out to all EU members opposes the creation of those independent headquarters, and proposes instead the creation of a European subdivision that would be located at the SHAPE, the NATO command in Mons, Belgium.

"Taking into account the costs and the risks of duplication involved in the creation of a permanent structure, Great Britain will not approve the idea of a general quarter separated from NATO to lead autonomous operations launched by the [European] Union," states the document. This move is part of an overall British offensive against whole elements of the European convention (or "constitution") elaborated by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, which France and Germany are pushing all the EU countries to rapidly adopt. The purpose of this convention is to create the conditions of entrance to the EU to be met by a whole list of a new members who will be admitted in coming years.

Among those provisions is the idea that limited groups of countries can come together to work more rapidly in some priority areas that do not necessarily concern all EU members. The document makes official the possibility of having "reinforced cooperation" on matters of defense, a clause necessary to get the new general command in Brussels under way.

Paris and Germany Working on Joint Program To Build Classic Submarines

France and Germany are currently trying to take full control of the German shipyards of Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW), producing classic, non-nuclear submarines. The reason is that Equity Partner, the American investment fund, has announced it will sell off its interests in this venture. France and Germany are trying to keep out the American Northrup Grumann group, which has shown interest in buying Equity's part, in a bid to have Germany and France, which are number 1 and 2 in building classic submarines in the world, keep total control of this market. Noelle Lenoire, French Undersecretary for European Matters, and German Defense Minister Peter Struck have both expressed their interest in a joint Franco-German operation at a point when both countries are looking for new initiatives to reinforce their partnership.

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