The LaRouche Connection

Program Summaries: 1997
287-338

Updated Dec. 12, 2008


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[Summaries of Programs 287 - 307, 309, 311, 313-317, 319-330, and 332-338 are not available at this time.]

 

Program No. 308
"European Labor Fights Maastricht Austerity"

[The following is a transcription of host Webster Tarpley's introduction to an in-studio interview with Liliana Celani, Schiller Institute activist in Italy, conducted June 10, 1997. A summary of the entire program is not available at this time.]

    WELCOME TO THE LAROUCHE CONNECTION. MY NAME IS WEBSTER TARPLEY. TODAY WE WILL BE TAKING A LOOK AT THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION IN EUROPE. RIGHT NOW THE DOMINATING THEME IN EUROPE IS THE MAASTRICHT TREATY AND THE SINGLE EUROPEAN CURRENCY. ON JANUARY 1, 1999 THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, AT LEAST SOME OF THEM -- MAYBE -- ARE SCHEDULED TO ABOLISH THEIR MARKS AND FRANCS AND LIRE AND PESETAS AND LAUNCH THE NEW CURRENCY UNIT CALLED THE EURO. THE DECISION OF JUST WHICH COUNTRIES WILL MAKE THAT LEAP WILL COME IN THE SPRING OF 1998. AND IN ORDER TO JOIN THE EURO, YOU HAVE TO SUFFER. THE MAASTRICHT CONVERGENCE CRITERIA DEMAND THAT NO COUNTRY'S BUDGET DEFICIT EXCEED THREE PER CENT OF ITS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT. ALSO, NO COUNTRY'S TOTAL PUBLIC DEBT CAN EXCEED 60 PER CENT OF ITS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT. CROWNING THE ENTIRE EDIFICE IS THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, WHICH IS BEYOND THE REACH OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS, OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, AND OF THE ELECTED RUBBER-STAMP EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN STRASBURG. THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK IS A TRUE IMPERIAL, OLIGARCHICAL AND DICTATORIAL INSTITUTION. NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS ARE EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN TO TRY TO INFLUENCE ITS DECISIONS. THE CENTRAL BANKS ARE GUARANTEED SOLE POWER TO PRINT MONEY; THE GOVERNMENTS THEMSELVES ARE FORBIDDEN TO DO SO. GOVERNMENTS ARE FORBIDDEN TO PROVIDE SUBSIDIZED OR LOW-COST CREDIT FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY PURPOSES. THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION CAN IMPOSE FINES AND SANCTIONS ON THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBER STATES, AS IF THEY WERE UNRULY SCHOOLBOYS OR TIPSY MOTORISTS. THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY HAS BEEN IN DEEP RECESSION FOR MOST OF THE PAST DECADE.

    THE MAASTRICHT PROGRAM IS A PROGRAM OF BRUTAL AUSTERITY AND SAVAGE DEFLATION WHICH CAN ONLY MAKE THINGS MUCH WORSE. TAKE THE CASE OF GERMANY. RIGHT NOW THERE ARE MORE THAN 8 MILLION UNEMPLOYED AND UNDEREMPLOYED IN GERMANY; THE OFFICIAL FIGURE IS TWELVE PER CENT. BUT THIS IS ALREADY MORE UNEMPLOYMENT THAN WHEN HITLER SEIZED POWER IN THE DEPTHS OF THE DEPRESSION IN JANUARY, 1933. GERMANY ALSO HAS ONE OF THE HEAVIEST PUBLIC DEBTS PER CAPITA IN THE WORLD, AND IT IS RISING VERY FAST. GERMAN CHANCELLOR HELMUT KOHL CONSIDERS HIMSELF THE ARCHITECT OF THE EUROPEAN SINGLE CURRENCY, AND HE HAS BEEN VERY STAUNCH IN LECTURING OTHER COUNTRIES -- LIKE THOSE DISORDERLY ITALIANS AND SPANIARDS AND GREEKS -- ABOUT THE NEED FOR STRICT OBSERVANCE OF THE MAASTRICHT CRITERIA. BUT IN MAY 1997 THE GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER THEO WAIGEL REVEALED THAT BECAUSE OF FALLING TAX REVENUES COMBINED WITH EXTRA EXPENSES FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE, GERMANY WAS SURE TO FAIL THE MAASTRICHT TEST. KOHL AND WAIGEL THEN COOKED UP EXACTLY THE KIND OF CHEAP ACCOUNTING TRICK THEY HAD BEEN WARNING THE OTHER EUROPEANS NOT TO PULL. KOHL DISCOVERED THAT THE GOLD RESERVES OF THE GERMAN CENTRAL BANK, THE BUNDESBANK, WERE STILL VALUED AT THE OFFICIAL LEVELS OF THE 1970'S. KOHL AND WAIGEL DECIDED TO START COUNTING ALL THAT GOLD AT ITS PRESENT MARKET VALUE, WHICH IS EIGHT OR NINE TIMES MORE.

    THE RESULTING PROFIT WOULD BE USED TO BRING THE GERMAN DEFICIT BELOW 3% OF GDP, AND EVERYTHING WOULD BE HUNKY-DORY. ENTER AT THIS POINT HERR HANS TIETMEYER, THE LEADER OF THE MONETARIST CLIQUE AT THE INDEPENDENT BUNDESBANK. TIETMEYER OBJECTED TO KOHL'S TRICK, AND POLITICAL ARM-WRESTLING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL ENSUED. AS OF NOW, KOHL WILL UPVALUE THE GOLD, BUT HE WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO USE THE WINDFALL PROFITS THIS YEAR. IN FRANCE, THE JUPPE GOVERNMENT TRIED IN LATE 1995 TO DISMANTLE WHAT IS LEFT OF THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET, AGAIN TO MEET THE MAASTRICHT BUDGET CRITERIA. THE RESULT WAS A MASS STRIKE THAT WENT ON FOR MONTHS.

    THE HATRED AGAINST JUPPE AND HIS AUSTERITY WAS EXPRESSED AGAIN IN THE FRENCH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF MAY, 1997, WHEN THE GAULLISTS AND GISCARDIANS WERE VOTED OUT AND THE SOCIALISTS WERE VOTED IN. NOW THE NEW FRENCH SOCIALIST PRIME MINISTER LIONEL JOSPIN HAS A PROBLEM: HE WAS ELECTED TO STOP MAASTRICHT AUSTERITY, BUT HE IS ALSO PLEDGED TO GO AHEAD ON THE SINGLE CURRENCY. SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE. NOT SURPRISINGLY, JOSPIN HAS ASKED THE OTHER GOVERNMENTS FOR A PAUSE ON THE ROAD TO MAASTRICHT, SINCE HE HOPES THAT FRENCH VOTERS WILL FORGET HIS ELECTION PROMISES AFTER A FEW MONTHS. JOSPIN'S GOVERNING COALITION INCLUDES THE COMMUNISTS, WHO NEED FOR POLITICAL REASONS TO MAKE A SHOW OF OPPOSING MAASTRICHT. SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING CHANGES HAVE COME IN GREAT BRITAIN. HERE THE CONSERVATIVES WERE VOTED OUT AFTER 18 YEARS IN POWER IN THE BIGGEST LANDSLIDE IN A CENTURY. THE LABOUR PARTY IS NOW IN POWER WITH TONY BLAIR AS PRIME MINISTER. BLAIR IS A MEMBER OF THE BRITISH OLIGARCHY AND THE QUEEN'S PRIVY COUNCIL. BLAIR IS CLOSER IN HIS POLICIES TO MARGARET THATCHER THAN TO THE OLD TRADE-UNION BASED LABOUR PARTY. IF THE ANTI-MAASTRICHT MASS STRIKE COMES TO BRITAIN, BLAIR WILL ACT AS THE CHIEF STRIKEBREAKER, WITH LEFT- WING COVER. BLAIR IS ALSO A RATHER OBVIOUS ATTEMPT TO DISORIENT PRESIDENT CLINTON BY OFFERING HIM A NEW FRIEND ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE. BLAIR CAN ALSO BE COMPARED TO RAMSAY MACDONALD, THE LABOUR PARTY PRIME MINISTER OF THE EARLY 1930'S WHO DITCHED HIS OWN PARTY TO BECOME THE LEADER OF A NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT FOR AUSTERITY. REMEMBER THAT RAMSAY MACDONALD WAS THE MAN WHO PRESIDED OVER THE DELIBERATE AND PRE-PLANNED BRITISH DEFAULT ON GOLD PAYMENT IN SEPTEMBER, 1931, WHICH DESTROYED THE POUND-BASED INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEM OF THE INTERWAR PERIOD. IN DOING THIS MACDONALD MADE THE WORLD DEPRESSION PERMANENT, AND ALSO SET OFF THE AMERICAN BANKING PANIC OF LATE 1932 AND EARLY 1933, WHICH SHUT DOWN VIRTUALLY EVERY BANK IN THIS COUNTRY. ONE OF TONY BLAIR'S FIRST MEASURES HAS BEEN TO GIVE EVEN MORE POWER AND INDEPENDENCE TO THE BANK OF ENGLAND. IN THE CASE OF ITALY, WE HAVE A COUNTRY THAT HAS BEEN REDUCED TO A PUPPET STATE OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND. JUST ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO A SERIES OF PILOTED CORRUPTION SCANDALS STARTED WHICH DESTROYED THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC AND SOCIALIST PARTIES, WHICH  HAD FORMED the GOVERNMENTS OF THE POSTWAR PERIOD. MORE THAN TWO

    YEARS AGO THE PRIME MINISTER BECAME LAMBERTO DINI, A FORMER OFFICIAL OF THE BANK OF ITALY AND OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND HERE IN WASHINGTON. THE CURRENT PRIME MINISTER IS ROMANO PRODI, A BRITISH-LINKED ACADEMIC TECHNOCRAT AND PROFESSOR. DINI, THE IMF MAN, IS THE FOREIGN MINISTER. THE FINANCE MINISTER IS CIAMPI, ANOTHER FORMER OFFICIAL OF THE BANK OF ITALY. THE OLD ITALIAN COMMUNIST PARTY, NOW RE-NAMED THE PDS -- DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF THE LEFT -- IS THE STRONGEST FORCE IN THE GOVERNMENT. THE PDS SUPPORTS THE IMF AUSTERITY PROGRAM, WHICH NOW INCLUDES A $20 BILLION AUSTERITY PROGRAM AND THE DISMANTLING OF PENSIONS TO MEET THE MAASTRICHT CRITERIA. IN ALL THESE COUNTRIES THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE ESTABLISHED POLITICAL PARTIES ARE PLAYING THE MAASTRICHT GAME. BUT THERE IS ALSO SIGNIFICANT OPPOSITION TO MAASTRICHT, MUCH OF WHICH IS ORIENTED TOWARDS THE IDEAS OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL ECONOMIST LYNDON LAROUCHE. RECENTLY, FOR EXAMPLE, THE ITALIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT PUBLIO FIORI, FORMERLY ONE OF THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC LEADERS IN THE CITY OF ROME AND NOW A LEADER OF NATIONAL ALLIANCE, ONE OF THE MAIN OPPOSITION PARTIES, ENDORSED LAROUCHE'S CALL FOR A NEW BRETTON WOODS CONFERENCE FOR A NEW WORLD MONETARY SYSTEM, AND SOON AFTER HOSTED LAROUCHE AT A CONFERENCE IN ROME.

     WITH US TODAY IS LILIANA CELANI, AN ACTIVIST OF THE SCHILLER INSTITUTE IN ITALY, GERMANY, AND OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. MRS. CELANI HAS BEEN A POLITICAL COMMENTATOR ON OUR PROGRAM SEVERAL TIMES, AND WAS ALSO OUR REPORTER IN BUSSETO, ITALY FOR THE DECEMBER 1996 CONFERENCE ON MUSICAL TUNING ATTENDED BY THE CELEBRATED TENOR CARLO BERGONZI.

June 10, 1997

Program No. 310
"Return to the Machine Tool Principle!"

[The following is a transcription of host Webster Tarpley's introduction to an in-studio interview with Richard Freeman, of EIR, conducted June 24, 1997. A summary of the entire show is not available at this time.]

WELCOME TO THE LAROUCHE CONNECTION. MY NAME IS WEBSTER TARPLEY. TODAY WE ARE GOING TO FOCUS ON ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND LEAST UNDERSTOOD FACTORS WHICH HAS MADE MODERN CIVILIZATION POSSIBLE - THE MACHINE TOOL.

     YOU DON'T HEAR MUCH IN THE MEDIA ABOUT THE MACHINE TOOL INDUSTRY THESE DAYS, ESPECIALLY NOT IN COMPARISON WITH THE WONDERS OF MICROCHIPS AND SOFTWARE AND WEB SERVERS. BUT WITHOUT MACHINE TOOLS, THE MODERN CIVILIZATION THAT SUPPORTS COMPUTERS AND THE REST COULD NOT EXIST. THE CURRENT DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN MACHINE TOOL INDUSTRY EXPRESSES THE CRISIS OF OUR CIVILIZATION MORE CLEARLY THAN JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE. POLITICIANS RUN AROUND YELLING ABOUT A BUDGET DEFICIT, BUT THEY OUGHT TO BE YELLING MUCH LOUDER ABOUT A MACHINE TOOL DEFICIT -- OR BETTER YET A MACHINE TOOL GAP, SINCE THIS IS A STRATEGIC THREAT TO AMERICA'S FUTURE. MACHINE TOOLS ARE THE MACHINES THAT MANUFACTURE OTHER MACHINES, INCLUDING OTHER MACHINE TOOLS. THEY ARE THE ESSENCE OF AN INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY IN ITS MOST CONCENTRATED FORM. MACHINE TOOLS FORM A VITAL NEXUS OF MODERN CIVILIZATION BECAUSE THEY PROVIDE THE LINK BETWEEN THE SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY ON THE ONE HAND AND THE FACTORY PRODUCTION LINE ON THE OTHER. THE SCIENTIST WORKS IN THE LABORATORY AND COMES UP WITH A DISCOVERY THAT EMBODIES SOME FUNDAMENTAL NEW INSIGHT INTO THE NATURE OF THINGS. BUT HOW DOES THIS NEW DISCOVERY COME TO REPRESENT PROGRESS FOR THE WHOLE SOCIETY, SUCH AS A HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING? TO BECOME AVAILABLE TO ADVANCE THE CAUSE OF CIVILIZATION IN THAT WAY, THE NEW SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY HAS TO BECOME EMBODIED IN THE DESIGN OF A NEW MACHINE TOOL OR MAYBE EVEN A WHOLE CLASS OF MACHINE TOOLS. SO IT IS THE NEW MACHINE TOOL THAT BRINGS THE NEW SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY TO THE SHOP FLOOR, THE FACTORY, THE MASS PRODUCTION LINE. IMPLICIT IN THIS ARGUMENT IS THE IDEA THAT YOU CANNOT RUN A SOCIETY BASED ON INFORMATION ALONE. YOU CANNOT RUN A SOCIETY BASED ON SERVICES ALONE. THE PRODUCTION PROCESS HAS ALWAYS INVOLVED AND WILL ALWAYS INVOLVE CARRYING OUT PROGRESSIVE PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE ORDER OF NATURE. PRODUCTION IS INDISPENSABLE, AND PRODUCTION MEANS THE PRODUCTION OF TANGIBLE PHYSICAL WEALTH, OF HARD COMMODITIES. IN THIS ENTIRE PROCESS, MACHINE TOOLS ARE THE POINT AT WHICH THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD.

BETTER MACHINE TOOLS IMPROVE THE PRODUCTIVITY OF HUMAN LABOR. AND SO IT IS THAT THE MARCH OF MODERN INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND ADVANCES OF MACHINE TOOLS HAVE GONE HAND IN HAND. MACHINE TOOLS, AS WE SAID, ARE THE MACHINES THAT CREATE OTHER MACHINES, INCLUDING OTHER MACHINE TOOLS. THERE ARE TWO BASIC KINDS OF MACHINE TOOLS: FIRST THERE ARE THE MACHINE TOOLS THAT CUT METAL OR CERAMICS. THIS INCLUDES BORING, BROACHING, DRILLING, GEAR- CUTTING, GRINDING, TURNING, AND MILLING. THE OTHER BIG CATEGORY OF MACHINE TOOLS ARE THOSE THAT SHAPE METAL; THESE DO THE FORGING, DIE-FORMING, BENDING, PRESSING, SHEARING AND PUNCHING.

IMPORTANT BASIC IDEAS IN THIS REGARD GO BACK TO LEONARDO DA VINCI. MACHINE TOOLS WERE A KEY PART OF THE EFFORT TO BUILD A STEAM ENGINE THAT WENT FROM LEIBNIZ TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND JAMES WATT. THE AMERICAN ELI WHITNEY WAS ANOTHER MACHINE TOOL PIONEER, AS WAS HENRY FORD. THE GREATEST MACHINE TOOL TYCOON IN WORLD HISTORY WAS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. ROOSEVELT'S PRESIDENCY LEFT US WITH THE MOST MODERN MACHINE TOOL PARK IN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY. BY CONTRAST, THE GREATEST WRECKER OF US MACHINE TOOL BUILDING WAS PAUL ADOLF VOLCKER OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE, WHO IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES GAVE US A 22% PRIME RATE AND AN EXPORT- STRANGLING SUPERDOLLAR AS PART OF HIS PROGRAM FOR THE CONTROLLED DISINTEGRATION OF THE WORLD ECONOMY. THE VOLCKER ERA WAS THE DOWNWARD PLUNGE IN US MACHINE TOOL PRODUCTION. THE US MACHINE TOOL INDUSTRY HAS NEVER BEEN ABLE TO RECOVER FROM VOLCKER'S ASTRONOMICAL INTEREST RATES. THE FIRST COMPUTER-CONTROLLED MACHINE TOOLS WERE BUILT WITH THE HELP OF THE US AIR FORCE. BUT FEDERAL RESERVE CREDIT POLICIES HAVE CREATED A SITUATION WHERE US MACHINE TOOL BUILDERS LAG BEHIND THEIR FOREIGN COMPETITORS WHEN IT COMES TO INSTALLING NUMERICALLY-CONTROLLED AND COMPUTER- CONTROLLED MACHINE TOOLS. AMERICAN MACHINE TOOLS ARE GETTING OLDER AND OLDER ON THE AVERAGE. IF WE WANT TO GET AN ECONOMIC RECOVERY GOING IN THE US, THE FIRST BOTTLENECK WE WOULD FACE WOULD BE THE DECREPIT STATE OF OUR MACHINE TOOLS. THE NEXT STEP IN DEVELOPMENT OF METAL CUTTING AND METAL-FORMING TOOLS IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE THE APPLICATION OF HIGH-ENERGY LASERS, WHICH WILL MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THE WORKER TO ALTER THE MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF MATTER AT THE FACTORY WORK-BENCH. HERE THE 1983 STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE WOULD HAVE GIVEN THE UNITED STATES A COMMANDING LEAD, BUT THIS INESTIMABLE ADVANTAGE HAS BEEN THROWN OUT THE WINDOW AS THE CONGRESS REFUSED TO FUND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AT ADEQUATE LEVELS. ANOTHER SPECIAL QUALITY OF MACHINE TOOLS IS WHO MAKES THEM. HISTORICALLY MACHINE TOOL DESIGN AND PRODUCTION HAS NOT BEEN THE DOMAIN OF HUGE CORPORATIONS.

     IT HAS BEEN THE SPECIALTY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM INDUSTRY. MACHINE TOOL FIRMS WERE OFTEN FAMILY-OWNED, WITH THE EXPERTISE OF RUNNING THEM PASSED DOWN OVER GENERATIONS. AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, THIS KIND OF SETUP CREATED A MENTALITY WHICH WAS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF THE TYPICAL CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER WHO IS LOOTING THE COMPANY TO PAY A BIGGER DIVIDEND SO HE CAN LOOK GOOD AT THE ANNUAL MEETING.

    FIERCELY INDEPENDENT SMALL AND MEDIUM PRODUCERS ARE CAPABLE OF TACKLING JOBS THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN HANDLE, BUT TODAY THEY ARE A VANISHING BREED. WE OUGHT TO GO BACK TO THE KENNEDY-ERA INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT TO HELP REVIVE SMALL AND MEDIUM MACHINE TOOL BUILDERS.

June 24, 1997

Program No. 312
"The Landbridge: Driver for World Economic Recovery"

[The following is a transcription of host Webster Tarpley's introduction to an in-studio interview with Jonathan Tennenbaum, Science Advisor to the Schiller Institute. A summary of the entire program is not available at this time.]

WELCOME TO THE LAROUCHE CONNECTION. MY NAME IS WEBSTER TARPLEY. TODAY WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT WHERE WE STAND IN TERMS OF THE REALLY BIG CHOICES IN UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. 1997 HAS SEEN SOME BIG EVENTS IN WORLD AFFAIRS, INCLUDING THE RETURN OF HONG KONG TO CHINA AFTER A CENTURY AND A HALF OF BRITISH IMPERIALIST RULE. WE HAVE WITNESSED THE LONG-AWAITED RUSSIAN-CHINESE SUMMIT OF JIANG ZEMIN WITH BORIS YELTSIN. PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS BEEN TO EUROPE TO PRESIDE OVER THE ADMISSION OF SEVERAL NEW COUNTRIES TO THE NORTH ATLANTIC ALLIANCE. HERE AT HOME, THE MOST-FAVORED NATION TRADING RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA HAS BEEN RENEWED AFTER AN ACRIMONIOUS CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE, ALTHOUGH THE FUTURE COURSE OF US CHINA POLICY REMAINS VERY UNCERTAIN. AS A RECENT REPORT FROM THE BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS HAS AGAIN POINTED UP, THE WORLD FINANCIAL SYSTEM CONTINUES TO TEETER ON THE VERGE OF A FINANCIAL MELTDOWN. AND ALL THIS TAKES PLACE BEFORE THE BACKDROP OF A NEW ROUND OF BRITISH EMPIRE-BUILDING IN CENTRAL AFRICA, WITH THE GENOCIDAL EXPANSIONISM OF UGANDA'S MOUSEVENI PROMOTING THE TAKEOVER OF ZAIRE BY THE BRITISH ASSET KABILA. AS EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE REVIEW AND THE SCHILLER INSTITUTE HAVE BEEN ARGUING, THE WORLD AFTER THE END OF THE COLD WAR IS A FOUR-CORNERED GAME, WITH THE UNITED STATES, THE BRITISH EMPIRE, RUSSIA, AND CHINA QUALIFYING AS GREAT POWERS. CONTRARY TO WHAT MOST AMERICANS THINK, IT IS THE BRITISH WHO ARE THE MOST HOSTILE TO OUR COUNTRY, AND THEY ARE ALSO VERY POWERFUL. DURING THE HONG KONG HANDOVER, IT WAS IRONIC TO HEAR THE AMERICAN NETWORKS PRATING THAT WITH THE LOSS OF HONG KONG, THE BRITISH EMPIRE HAD CEASED TO EXIST APART FROM THE FALKLAND ISLANDS, GIBRALTAR, AND A FEW OTHER IMPERIAL OUTPOSTS. IT WAS IRONIC BECAUSE JUST AS THE BRITISH WERE LEAVING HONG KONG, THEIR PUPPET KABILA WAS TAKING OVER THE VAST AND MINERAL-RICH COUNTRY OF ZAIRE. IT WAS ALSO IRONIC BECAUSE THE BRITISH HAVE NEVER CEASED TO CONTROL BETWEEN ONE QUARTER AND ONE FIFTH OF THE LAND AREA AND POPULATION OF THE WORLD. NOW IN THIS CRISIS-RIDDEN FOUR-CORNERED WORLD OF THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, WHAT OUGHT THE AMERICAN POLICY TO BE? IT OUGHT TO BE A SPECIAL OUTREACH TO CHINA AND RUSSIA TO SECURE A WORLD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY BACKED UP BY THE NECESSARY MONETARY ARRANGEMENTS IN THE FORM OF A NEW BRETTON WOODS SYSTEM. CONTRARY AGAIN TO WHAT MOST PEOPLE THINK, THE PROSPECT OF COOPERATION AMONG THE UNITED STATES, RUSSIA, AND CHINA IS NOT A NEW DEPARTURE -- IT WAS THE VERY BASIS OF FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT'S FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS THE END OF HIS LIFE-- A FACT WHICH DOES NOT EMERGE SUFFICIENTLY FROM THE NEW FDR MEMORIAL HERE IN WASHINGTON. UNFORTUNATELY, FDR'S VISION OF A WORLD DOMINATED BY WASHINGTON, MOSCOW, AND NANKING WAS THROWN OVERBOARD BY HARRY TRUMAN AND HIS CREW OF PRO-BRITISH ADVISERS LIKE DEAN ACHESON, AVERILL HARRIMAN AND CLARK CLIFFORD. BUT TODAY THERE IS A CHANCE TO RETURN TO FDR'S GRAND DESIGN. TODAY ASIA AND EUROPE ARE DOMINATED BY A DESIRE TO PUT ASIDE POINTLESS OLD RIVALRIES IN FAVOR OF COOPERATION, ESPECIALLY OF COOPERATION IN THE BUILDING OF MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE MODERN RAILROADS AND ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEMS. OUR REGULAR VIEWERS HAVE SOME FAMILIARITY WITH CONCEPTS LIKE THE EURASIAN LAND BRIDGE AND THE NEW SILK ROAD, WHICH REFER IN THE BROADEST SENSE TO A COMPLEX OF AMBITIOUS PLANS TO CONNECT BY RAIL CHINA, RUSSIA, INDIA, IRAN, TURKEY, AND THE NEW REPUBLICS OF CENTRAL ASIA WITH EUROPE, JAPAN, AFRICA, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND EVEN WITH THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 

THE EURASIAN LAND BRIDGE PROGRAM IS THE VERY OBVIOUS WAY TO BEGIN PROMOTING AN ECONOMIC RECOVERY AMONG THAT VAST MAJORITY OF HUMAN KIND WHO LIVE IN ASIA AND EUROPE. THE EURASIAN LAND BRIDGE IS ALSO THE CLEAREST FORMULA FOR IMPOSING PEACE ON THE MANY PARTS OF EURASIA WHERE ARMED CONFLICT HAS BEEN ENDEMIC AND CONSTANTLY THREATENS TO BREAK OUT INTO WARFARE. OUR AMERICAN INTEREST IN A PEACEFUL WORLD AND IN ECONOMIC RECOVERY OUGHT TO IMPEL US NOT JUST TO SUPPORT THE EURASIAN LAND BRIDGE, BUT ALSO TO PARTICIPATE IN WHAT IS UNQUESTIONABLY THE BIGGEST AND MOST PROFITABLE BUSINESS VENTURE OF OUR TIME OR OF ANY TIME. BUT THE WHOLE US STRATEGIC AND FOREIGN POLICY COMMUNITY IS DOMINATED BY DEVOTEES OF BRITISH-STYLE GEOPOLITICS. WHEN JIANG ZEMIN MET YELTSIN, THE PRO-BRITISH GEOPOLITICIANS ARGUED THAT THE UNITED STATES HAD TO FEEL THREATENED, ALTHOUGH PRESIDENT CLINTON WISELY REPUDIATED THESE SUGGESTIONS. THESE DAYS THE QUESTION USUALLY CENTERS ON CHINA. IS CHINA DESTINED TO BECOME THE GREAT ADVERSARY OF THE NEW CENTURY-- AS THE GEOPOLITICIANS ARGUE -- OR IS THE PATH OF COOPERATION BETTER? THE TRUTH IS THAT A POSITIVE RELATION BETWEEN THE US AND CHINA WILL BE THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENT IN WORLD AFFAIRS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. 

IMPORTANT FORCES IN CHINA ARE BUSILY SENDING SIGNALS THAT THEY SEE THE MATTER IN JUST THIS WAY -- LIKE THE RECENT ARTICLE IN HUNDRED YEAR TIDE, THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY, WHICH PORTRAYS THE KOREAN WAR OF THE 1950'S NOT AS A GREAT EXERCISE IN PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM, BUT AS A CASE OF A BLUNDERING MAO BEING DUPED AND PRESSURED BY STALIN TO BECOME EMBROILED IN A NEEDLESS AND COSTLY CONFLICT WITH THE UNITED STATES. IF THE ONLY SINO-AMERICAN WAR IN HISTORY WAS NOT NECESSARY, THEN NEITHER IS CONFLICT TODAY.

OUR GUEST TO EXPLORE ALL THESE ISSUES IN JONATHAN TENNENBAUM, AUTHOR OF THE EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE REVIEW SPECIAL REPORT ENTITLED THE EURASIAN LANDBRIDGE -- THE NEW SILK ROAD, LOCOMOTIVE FOR WORLD WIDE DEVELOPMENT. TENNENBAUM HAS VISITED BOTH RUSSIA AND CHINA IN THE CONTEXT OF ORGANIZING EFFORTS FOR BUILDING EURASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE. HE HAS ALSO BEEN ACTIVE IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE LAROUCHE EUROPEAN PRODUCTIVE TRIANGLE PROGRAM OF 1989. TENNENBAUM HAS LIVED FOR MANY YEARS IN DENMARK AND THEN IN GERMANY. HE IS ALSO THE AUTHOR OF A VERY INTERESTING STUDY ON THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS.

July 8, 1997

Program No. 316
“Sanction Great Britain for Terrorism!”

[The following is a transcription of host Webster Tarpley’s introduction to an in-studio interview conducted August 5, 1997, with Joseph Brewda, Middle East Editor for EIR magazine; and William Jones, White House Correspondent for EIR. A summary of the entire program is not available at this time.]

            Welcome to The LaRouche Connection. My name is Webster Tarpley. Today our topic is international terrorism.

            After the end of the Cold War, many expected international terrorism to go away. But instead, terrorism has increased, especially here in the Untied States, especially since 1993. We have had the New York World Trade Center destroyed, the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombed, and so forth. With no more Cold War, the question arises: who is organizing and directing terrorism around the world? The U.S. State Department publishes a list of so-called terrorist States every year, but that list always leaves out the country which functions today as the biggest logistics base and public relations platform of world terrorism. That country, the leading terrorist State, is Great Britain.

            Yes, you heard right. The safe house of international terrorism is Great Britain, the United Kingdom, England, and yes, there is a mountain of evidence, which Executive Intelligence Review has published and will continue to publish, which shows that support for terrorism is a British policy which goes back to the time of Napoleon, and it is a giant strategic factor in the world today. London is the pre-eminent metropolis where the terrorists marshal their resources and prepare their bombings and assassinations.

            A few examples:

            First, let us take the case of Hamas (an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement), the terrorist group that operates in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Remember the pre-election terror wave of February-March 1996 carried out by Hamas against Israeli targets, which set the stage for the defeat of [Simon] Peres and the coming of the warmonger [Benjamin] Netanyahu regime. Well, Hamas has a permanent office in London, and it is in London that Hamas publishes its monthly magazine. It was this magazine, published by Hamas in London, which published the call for terror attacks on civilian targets in Israel. It also turns out that Hamas gets most of its money from fundraising in Britain. Without its logistics base, Hamas could not have staged its bloodbaths in the Middle East. Altogether, it has been estimated that terrorists have raised $140 million in Britain recently, which has gone to stoke the fires of violence. The Peres government of Israel protested to London about all this, but to no avail.

            Then there is the so-called Islamic Jihad. In February 1997, the British Home Office granted permission to Islamic Jihad to set up legal offices in London for both public relations and fundraising purposes. Islamic Jihad is of course both anti-American and opposed to President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. Taking advantage of its new freedom, Islamic Jihad issued a statement within a few days, saying that all American interests are legitimate targets to be attacked by its members. And Islamic Jihad does more than talk. Islamic Jihad was part of the failed conspiracy to blow up public monuments in New York City after the 1993 bombing of the New York World Trade Center. Islamic Jihad, welcomed in London, was also involved in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President [Anwar] Sadat.

            And then there is the case of the famous Saudi financier, Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden’s family is reputedly the richest in Saudi Arabia, except for the Saudi royal family itself. The bin Laden clan is reputedly worth about $5 billion. Bin Laden’s favorite cause is getting U.S. military forces out of Saudi Arabia. Osama bin Laden funded the bombing of the U.S. military barracks at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia on June 25, 1996, which killed 19 Americans. Osama bin Laden has called in the British press for a jihad against the U.S. forces stationed in Saudi Arabia, and says that fighting the Americans is a sacred duty.

            And, by the way, the mastermind of the New York World Trade Center bombing lived for three years at a safehouse in Pakistan paid for by bin Laden. Bin Laden’s father was a member of Prince Philip’s exclusive 1000 Club. As for Osama himself, he lives in a luxurious villa in the London suburb of Wembly. When the U.S. barracks was blown up, a certain Mohammed al-Massari, from these same circles, went on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to endorse the terror attack as justified, to take credit personally for having carried it out, and to call for more of the same. There was an attempt to deport him, but it failed. In April 1996, the British Home Office gave al-Massari a four-year visa, allowing him to stay in Britain and continue his anti-American terror activities.

            One of the leading protectors of al-Massari, was Lord Avebury, a leading member of the British House of Lords and the Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights. Lord Avebury is an apostle of what he calls “centrifugalism,” which is the alleged tendency of large modern nation-states to break apart. Lord Avebury talks about the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and says the same thing will happen in India, where he is helping things along by supporting independent Kashmir and an independent Punjab under the name of Khalistan. Lord Avebury would clearly like to break up the United States as well.

            It is clear that Lord Avebury is the godfather of many of the terrorists holed up in London under the official protection of the British government. In August, 1996, the British government announced that it would permit thousands of terrorists from around the world to converge on London for an elaborate international conference. This caused a furor in Egypt, one of the countries the terrorists intended to target. The famous semi-official Cairo newspaper “Al Ahram” wrote: “Britain has become the number one base in the world for international terrorism…. These terrorists are agents of secret intelligence services.” The analysis was right on the money. Egyptian President Mubarak accused London of subverting the spirit of President [Bill] Clinton’s Sharm-el-Sheikh anti-terror conference of spring, 1996, by giving asylum to terrorists. The outcry became so great, that the British had to cancel the conference, at least, the public one.

            The British have also harbored bombers from the Groupe Islamic Armee, the infamous GIA butchers of Algeria. In November, 1995, the French paper Le Figaro informed its readers that “the British Capital has served as logistical and financial base for the terrorists.”

            The British also harbor the PKK (the Kurdish Workers Party), which attacks Turkish targets as well as threatening German officials. The PKK has television studios in London where it churns out massive TV propaganda that is delivered via satellite.

            And the list goes on and on. All told, protests against British sponsorship of world terrorism have been issued by the governments of Peru, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany, Turkey, Nigeria, and Libya. Maybe one day soon even the stubborn anglophiles of the U.S. State Department will give up their willful blindness and tell the American people the truth about British sponsorship of international terrorism.

Aug. 5, 1997

Program No. 318
"British Geopolitics Targets Asia"

[The following is a transcription of host Webster Tarpley's introduction to an in-studio interview conducted August 19, 1997 with Kathy Wolfe and Gail Billington. A summary of the entire program is not available at this time.]

WELCOME TO THE LAROUCHE CONNECTION. MY NAME IS WEBSTER TARPLEY. TODAY OUR FOCUS IS THE IMMENSE REGIONAL CRISIS WHICH IS BOILING OVER IN ASIA. UNTIL RECENTLY, IT APPEARED THAT ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN ASIA WAS THE MOST DYNAMIC IN THE WORLD, BUT NOW THE PICTURE IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED. LIKE EVERY OTHER PART OF THIS WORLD, ASIA IS BEING BUFFETED BY THE TYPHOON OF WORLD FINANCIAL DISINTEGRATION, WHICH HAS BECOME MORE INTENSE IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1997. BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, ASIA IS ALSO BEING LASHED BY BRITISH GEOPOLITICAL DESTABILIZATION, MUCH OF IT CENTERED ON THE ENCIRCLEMENT OF CHINA. AS A RESULT, ASIA IS INCREASINGLY CRISIS- RIDDEN. UNTIL RECENTLY, YOU HEARD A LOT ABOUT THE GREAT ECONOMIC EXPANSION GOING ON IN THE ASIAN TIGERS, THE SO-CALLED NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES LIKE SOUTH KOREA, TAIWAN, HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, PLUS THAILAND AND MALAYSIA. BECAUSE OF THE FINANCIAL DISINTEGRATION AND BECAUSE OF DESTRUCTIVE BRITISH OPERATIONS, A NUMBER OF THESE TIGERS HAVE FALLEN UPON HARD TIMES, AND THE GLOSS IS OFF THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC MIRACLE. SURELY THE MOST DRAMATIC FEATURE OF THIS CRISIS IS THE COLOSSAL FAMINE IN NORTH KOREA. HERE, AT THE CLOSE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, OVER 5 MILLION PERSONS ARE FACING STARVATION IN THE SHORT RUN, AND ABOUT TWO AND A HALF MILLION OF THESE ARE INNOCENT CHILDREN. ALL 24 MILLION NORTH KOREANS ARE THREATENED BY MALNUTRITION AND DISEASE. WE WILL BE SHOWING YOU SOME DIRECT PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF THIS TRAGIC SITUATION. NOW IF WE BELIEVE IN THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE, THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON, AND THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF MAN, THEN WE MUST PUT ASIDE POWER POLITICS AND SAVE THESE FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS. THAT WOULD ALSO BE GOOD POLITICS. SO FAR THE US HAS SENT 177,000 TONS OF GRAIN TO NORTH KOREA IN BULK CARRIERS, BUT THE NORTH KOREANS NEED TEN TIMES THAT, JUST UNDER 2 MILLION TONS.

TRUE TO FORM, THE BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE DENIES THAT THERE IS ANY CRISIS AT ALL IN NORTH KOREA. THE NORTH KOREAN POLITICAL REGIME FOR ITS PART HAS BEEN ATTEMPTING TO SEND CONCILIATORY SIGNALS TO WASHINGTON. SO IT IS UP TO THE UNITED STATES TO BRUSH THESE GHOULS AND VAMPIRES OF LONDON ASIDE AND FULFILL THE DICTATES OF ELEMENTARY MORALITY.

IN THE OTHER HALF OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA, ALL IS NOT SO WELL IN PREVIOUSLY PROSPEROUS SOUTH KOREA. DURING 1997, FIVE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INDUSTRIAL GROUPS IN THE COUNTRY HAVE GONE BANKRUPT, THREATENING TO DETONATE A NATIONWIDE BANKING PANIC. FARTHER SOUTH, A NUMBER OF ASIAN COUNTRIES HAVE ALSO BEEN CAUGHT UP IN THE BIGGEST CURRENCY AND EQUITY MARKET TURBULENCE SINCE MEXICO IN 1994-95. THERE ARE NO FIXED CURRENCY PARITIES IN ASIA, BUT MANY COUNTRIES INFORMALLY PEG THEIR CURRENCY TO THE US DOLLAR, WHICH IS OFTEN THEIR BIGGEST MARKET. THE TECHNICAL REASON FOR THE TURBULENCE IS THAT THE DOLLAR IS VERY STRONG AT THE MOMENT, AND THE YEN VERY WEAK, SO THE WILD RISE IN THESE CURRENCIES AS THEY FOLLOWED THE DOLLAR UP HAS PRICED THE EXPORTS OF THESE COUNTRIES OUT OF THE WORLD MARKET. BEFORE LONG THE LINKS OF THE DOLLAR TO THE PHILIPPINE PESO AND THE THAI BAHT BEGAN TO LOOK LIKE BIG TARGETS TO THOSE MODERN VANDALS, THE INTERNATIONAL HEDGE FUND OPERATORS. THE FIRST ASIAN COUNTRY TO SAY UNCLE WAS THE PHILIPPINES, WHICH SUBMITTED TO THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND TOWARDS THE END OF JULY, AND RECEIVED A $1 BILLION IMF LOAN TO STABILIZE THE PESO. WE WILL GET A FIRST-HAND REPORT FROM THE PHILIPPINES FROM GAIL BILLINGTON OF EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE REVIEW, WHO HAS JUST RETURNED FROM A VISIT IN THAT COUNTRY. THEN CAME THAILAND, WHICH HAD BEEN TARGETED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CORSAIR AND SPECULATOR GEORGE SOROS. THE THAI BAHT HAD BEEN UNDER ATTACK FOR MONTHS WHEN THE GOVERNMENT FINALLY DECIDED TO KNUCKLE UNDER TO THE IMF, APPLYING FOR A BAILOUT PACKAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST. AS ALWAYS, THE PRICE OF THE BAILOUT PACKAGE IS THAT THE IMF TAKES OVER YOUR COUNTRY. THAILAND COULD IMPROVE ITS SITUATION WITH SOME HELP FROM CURRENCY CONTROLS, EXCHANGE CONTROLS, AND CAPITAL CONTROLS, BUT ALL THAT IS TABOO UNDER THE IMF RULES FOR GLOBALONEY INTERNATIONAL FINANCE. SO THE FUTURE FOR THAILAND WILL BE VERY GRIM. THIS REGIONAL CURRENCY CRISIS THEN SPREAD FURTHER, ENGULFING CURRENCIES MANY AMERICANS HAVE NEVER HEARD OF, UNLESS THEY ARE HEDGE FUND OPERATORS. ON JUST ONE DAY, JULY 22, THE INDONESIAN RUPIAH LOST 7% OF ITS VALUE UNDER SPECULATIVE ATTACK. THE MALAYSIAN CURRENCY, THE RINGIT, ALSO BEGAN TO SUFFER. THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT OF PRIME MINISTER MAHATIR MOHAMMED, WHO IS A MORE MILITANT NATIONALIST THAN MANY OF HIS NEIGHBORS, RAISED A SPIRITED PROTEST WITH THE US STATE DEPARTMENT ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES OF THE MARPLOT SOROS. INCREDIBLY, THE STATE DEPARTMENT DEFENDED THIS MODERN MILLKEN, SAYING THAT HE WAS AN HONORABLE MAN WHO HAD DONE MUCH GOOD. DID THE STATE DEPARTMENT MEAN THAT SOROS WAS AN HONORABLE MAN IN THE SAME WAY MARC ANTONY SAID THE SAME ABOUT BRUTUS IN SHAKESPEARE'S JULIUS CAESAR? DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP. IN ANY CASE, SOON THE SINGAPORE DOLLAR WAS ALSO UNDER SPECULATIVE ATTACK. SOME OF OUR VIEWERS ARE NO DOUBT GETTING IMPATIENT WITH ALL THE TALK ABOUT LITTLE-KNOWN SOUTHEAST ASIAN CURRENCIES.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE PROBLEMS OF AN AMERICAN WORKING FAMILY, YOU MAY ASK. WELL, THE JAPANESE EXPOSURE TO THAILAND IS ABOUT FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS IF THE BANKS IN THAILAND BLOW SKY HIGH, AS THEY ARE THREATENING TO DO, THAT COULD BLOW A HOLE IN THE JAPANESE BANKING SYSTEM, WHICH IS ITSELF ALREADY IN DEEP TROUBLE, WITH $1.5 TRILLION IN BAD REAL ESTATE LOANS LEFT OVER FROM THE JAPANESE BUBBLE ECONOMY O SOME YEARS BACK. AND IF BIG JAPANESE BANKS FACE BANKRUPTCY, THEIR FIRST RESPONSE WILL BE TO RAISE CASH BY DUMPING HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF US TREASURY BONDS ONTO THE NEW YORK MARKET, WHICH WOULD BRING DOWN EVERY SKYSCRAPER IN WALL STREET.

THAT IS A PERFECTLY VALID SCENARIO FOR A WORLD FINANCIAL MELTDOWN THAT COULD HAPPEN ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. THE JAPANESE BANKING CRISIS, CLEARLY, HAS BEEN A TIME BOMB TICKING UNDERNEATH GLOBAL CAPITAL MARKETS FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS AND MORE. FINALLY, IN THE MIDDLE OF ASIA, WE HAVE CHINA, THE ONE COUNTRY THAT OFFERS A CONTRAST TO THE CHAOS BREAKING OUT AROUND IT. CHINA IS NOW RE- ASSIMILATING HONG KONG, WHERE BRITISH FREE TRADE WILL DOUBTLESS LEAVE A BITTER AFTERTASTE, ESPECIALLY IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET. BUT THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP IS NOW MORE CONFIDENT, MORE SERENE, AND THUS BETTER ABLE TO PURSUE THEIR GOAL, WHICH HAPPENS TO BE BETTER RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES. CHINA IS THE ONE COUNTRY IN ASIA THAT IS ATTEMPTING TO ESCAPE THE LOGIC OF GLOBALONEY BY PROMOTING INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDING INCLUDING MODERN RAILROADS AND WATER PROJECTS LIKE THE THREE GORGES DAM. THE SILK ROAD, THE EURASIAN LAND BRIDGE, AND RELATED POLICIES ARE THE KEY TO OFFERING THE REST OF ASIA A NEW MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT, AN ALTERNATIVE TO GLOBALONEY.

I AM JOINED IN THE STUDIO TODAY BY KATHY WOLFE OF THE EIR ASIA DESK, WHO FOLLOWS JAPAN AND KOREA. I AM ALSO JOINED BY MRS. GAIL BILLINGTON, AN EXPERT ON SOUTHEAST ASIA. AS A OUR REGULAR VIEWERS KNOW, MRS. BILLINGTON IS THE WIFE OF MIKE BILLINGTON, THE CELEBRATED POLITICAL PRISONER WHO IS BEING ILLEGALLY KEPT IN JAIL IN VIRGINIA AS THE RESULT OF THE FRAME-UP CARRIED OUT BY THE GET LAROUCHE TASKFORCE; MRS. BILLINGTON HAS BEEN WORKING TIRELESSLY FOR HER HUSBAND'S RELEASE. MRS. BILLINGTON IS GOING TO HELP US MAKE SENSE OUT OF THE CAMBODIAN SITUATION. WE'RE GLAD TO HAVE BOTH OF YOU WITH US ON THE LAROUCHE CONNECTION.

August 19, 1997

Program No. 321
"Filipino Patriots Battle ‘Globaloney’”

[The following is a transcription of host Webster Tarpley's introduction to an in-studio interview with Herman Laurel, distinguished Filipino Journalist and Columnist, and host of a radio talk show on DZXL in Manila. A summary of the entire program is not available at this time.]

WEBSTER TARPLEY: Welcome to The LaRouche Connection. My name is Webster Tarpley.

Today, our focus is the Philippines. Right now, the Philippines is caught in the typhoon of the Southeast Asian currency crises, fomented by hedge fund operator George Soros and his gang. At the same time, the Philippines provides a very clear case study of the destructive effects of economic and financial globalization, pointing to the very clear conclusion that globalization cannot and does not work. Policy makers in Washington need quickly to learn the lessons of what has happened in the Philippines during the summer of 1997. Globalization has brought the Philippines nothing good.

During the 1950s, manufacturing in the Philippines grew at a 29% yearly rate. That was serious growth. By the early 1970s, the Philippines was the third largest developing economy in the Asia-Pacific region, second only to Indonesia and South Korea. President Ferdinand Marcos, a strong nationalist, developed a “grand design” of 11 major industrial projects to promote the full modernization of the Philippine economy. In a landmark achievement, the Philippines was the first country in Southeast Asia to get a nuclear reactor of its own. This was more than the International Monetary Fund and the London finance oligarchs would tolerate. In 1983, a series of measures dictated by the IMF threw the Philippines into virtual depression. U.S.-sponsored interference, including the overthrow of Marcos, did not help much either. The eleven Great Projects promoted by Marcos were cancelled. Even so, the Philippines still had an important machine-tool and machine shop capability, which was located in the dry docks and shipyards of the Subic Bay Naval Base, tenanted by the U.S.

When the Philippine government took control of Subic Bay and Clark Air Force Base at the end of the Cold War in 1991, the Bush administration did its very best to dismantle these capabilities completely, rather than converting them to help in future in-country development. Between 1992 and 1995, the Philippines, under President Fidel Ramos, has pursued the strategy of globalization, aspiring to become one of the “New Asian Tigers.” The country has followed a “Philippines 2000” plan, which has included the privatization of the state sector and other government property, the full convertibility of the peso, a free-trade regime, no limits on foreign investments, takeovers, an expatriation of profits, plus an independent—read private—central bank. There are now Special Economic Zones with tax subsidies for investors and the like. The social security system is being privatized on the Chilean model. The Finance Minister has advocated the “Hongkongization” of the financial sector, and the Manila Stock Exchange wants to move into derivatives. Just like the American steel mills that have been replaced by gambling dens and race tracks, Clark Field is now slated to become the new Las Vegas of Asia.

The Philippines has been put through the standard wringer of the global economy, with for-export assembly plants, low wages, a big service sector, financial services and foreign hot money, and the rise of organized crime, including narcotics. This is all the more deplorable because of the special responsibility the United States ought to have for its former Territory.

Let us recall July 4, 1946, the wonderful moment of Philippine Independence, when General Douglas MacArthur slapped Carlos Romulo on the back and said, “Carlos, America buried Imperialism here today!” We would all be better off today if that had really been true. As was easy to foresee, the globalization of the Philippines was the prelude to crisis. In the currency upheaval inflicted on Southeast Asia by George Soros and the other hedge funds, the Philippine peso came under attack in the Spring and Summer of 1997. In one 48-hour period, the Philippine Central Bank spent 2 billion hard-earned dollars in support operations for the peso, but could not prevent a 10% devaluation of the currency and, with that, a grave shock. The Philippines was obliged to apply to the IMF for a loan, submitting in the process to the usual destructive conditionalities.

A new political movement has been formed in the Philippines, to offer an alternative to the dead-end of globalization. This is the Katapat, which was founded in Nov. 1995, and which has just held its second National Congress, a highly successful gathering at which 32 trade, business, labor, religious, and community organizations were represented. The program at Katapat is the restoration of economic sovereignty, based on the norms of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which calls for a self-reliant and independent national economy controlled by Filipinos. Katapat leaders have called for a real industrial revolution, including the development of a real machine-too industry. Katapat also wants a rollback of global free trade liberalization, which it puts in the same category with colonialism.

Our guest today is the distinguished Filipino journalist and columnist Herman Laurel. In addition to his work for the print media, Mr. Laurel is also the host of a 90-minute radio talk show on radio station DZXL AM 558 in Manila, which has an audience estimated at half a million listeners.

Sept. 2, 1997

Program No. 322
"An Interview with Slovakia’s Dr. Joseph Miklosko"

[The following is a transcription of host Webster Tarpley's prepared introduction to an in-studio interview with Dr. Joseph Miklosko. For technical reasons, Mr. Tarpley was unable to conduct the interview. Nina Ogden filled in as guest host. These prepared remarks were not read in the actual interview, but provide relevant detail on Mr. Miklosko and the topic discussed.]

WEBSTER TARPLEY:  Welcome to The LaRouche Connection. My name is Webster Tarpley.

Today, we are honored by the return visit of one of our most eminent guests, Dr. Josef Miklosko of Bratislava, Slovakia. After the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in the autumn of 1989, Dr. Miklosko served as one of just two Vice Premiers in the first post-communist government in Prague. After the separation of Slovakia from the Czech Republic, Dr. Miklosko has been a leading public figure and a leading Catholic activist in Slovakia. As many of our viewers will remember, Dr. Miklosko was a guest on our program [Program 116, Aug. 2, 1993] when he came to the United States in 1993 to visit Lyndon LaRouche, who was at that time being held in federal prison in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Miklosko was one of the most courageous and prominent members of the international movement which between 1989 and 1994 demanded the freeing of LaRouche from an imprisonment that was seen as unjust in the eyes of the world. In that effort, Dr. Miklosko met with Senators and Congressmen on Capitol Hill to make the case for freeing LaRouche.

Since 1994, Dr. Miklosko has continued to speak out fro the exoneration of LaRouche and for the freeing of his co-defendants, including especially Mike Billington, Larry Hecht, Paul Gallagher, Anita Gallagher, and Don Phau—all of whom are serving barbaric jail terms in Virginia. To all of this work, Dr. Miklosko brings the special authority of someone who stood up for the ideals of freedom during the long communist dictatorship in his homeland, which, we should recall, was one of the most oppressive and brutal in the entire communist world after 1968.

Dr. Miklosko is now a professor at the University of TRNVA, a beautiful town between Bratislava and the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, which it has been my good fortune to visit. Dr. Miklosko is now working on a book about his eight years in politics. Originally a scientist and member of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dr. Miklosko has been very prominent as a Catholic activist in the tradition of Pope Leo XIII’s famous encyclical, De Rerum Novarum. His views on the restoration of capitalism in Central Europe thus come from the perspective of Catholic social doctrine, which stresses that private property is not an absolute,

Dr. Miklosko has told us that the celebrated “velvet revolution” in Prague was somewhat too velvet, as the former communist commisars have finagled their way back into power as newly-minted venture capitalists, eager to make windfall profits off the IMF’s shock therapy and free trade. Liberal reforms have led to declining industrial and agricultural production, rising unemployment, lowered standards of living, a dismantling of the social safety net, and the proliferation of social evils. Pope John Paul II calls this “capitalisme sauvage” and, sadly enough, many people around the world see it as the American Way.

In his encyclicals, John Paul II has also pointed out that Karl Marx’s “communism” and Adam Smith’s “free market” are both systems of materialism and determinism that deny man’s status as a spiritual being and which also rob us of freedom and responsibility. And now globalization has brought the Czech republic the first big currency crisis seen in the Danube valley since the 1930s. This was the summer 1997 crash of the Czech crown, which is an integral part of the ongoing collapse into disintegration of the entire world financial and monetary non-system.

So, we will get the view on all these issues from the very heart of Europe. Let us welcome Dr. Josef Miklosko to The LaRouche Connection.

Sept. 2, 1997

 

Program No. 331
"The MIR: Foundation for the International Space Station"

 [The following is a transcription of host Webster Tarpley's introduction to a November 4, 1997in-studio interview with Marsha Freeman. A summary of the entire program is not available at this time.]

WELCOME TO THE LAROUCHE CONNECTION. MY NAME IS WEBSTER TARPLEY. TODAY WE WANT TO RETURN TO ONE OF OUR FAVORITE TOPICS, SPACE EXPLORATION AND SPACE COLONIZATION, WITH THE HELP OF MARSHA FREEMAN OF EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE REVIEW.

WE WANT TO DEVOTE SOME ATTENTION TO THE CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE RUSSIAN SPACE STATION MIR, WHICH NOW HAS US ASTRONAUTS AS FULL MEMBERS OF ITS PERMANENT CREW. THE CORE BLOCK OF MIR HAS BEEN IN SPACE SINCE FEBRUARY 1986. VARIOUS MODULES WERE ADDED ON BETWEEN 1987 AND 1996. WHATEVER ELSE YOU CAN SAY ABOUT MIR, THE BASIC FACT REMAINS THAT FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, IT HAS BEEN THE ONLY OPERATIONAL SPACE STATION CONTINUOUSLY UP THERE - THE ONLY ONE. AND IN CONTRAST TO THE US SPACE SHUTTLE, IT HAS BEEN UP THERE ALL THE TIME, WITHOUT INTERRUPTION. A MISSION ON THE SPACE SHUTTLE IS NEVER MORE THAN TWO WEEKS. BUT A MISSION ON THE MIR CAN LAST MONTHS, OR EVEN YEARS. THIS IMPLIES TRAINING, EXPERIMENTATION, AND MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS THAT THE SPACE SHUTTLE SIMPLY DOES NOT ENCOUNTER. TAKE DOCKING IN SPACE. IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A SPACE STATION, YOU MUST CONTINUOUSLY SEND SPACE VEHICLES BACK AND FORTH FROM THE SPACE STATION TO EARTH, AND EACH TRIP INVOLVES A RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING IN SPACE. DOCKING IN SPACE IS AN EIGHT-DIMENSIONAL PROBLEM THAT HAS GOT TO BE MASTERED IN STRICTLY LIMITED TIME. IT IS THE KIND OF PROBLEM IT TAKES A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO SOLVE. WHEN THE SPACE SHUTTLE DOCKED WITH MIR FOR THE FIRST TIME IN JUNE 1995, IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE SHUTTLE HAD EVER DOCKED WITH ANY OTHER SPACECRAFT -- OR WITH ANYTHING ELSE. SO MIR HAS BEEN THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, OR RATHER IN SPACE, AND THE EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN SIMPLY INVALUABLE. CONGRESSMAN WHO BAD-MOUTH MIR NEED TO BE ASKED WHY THEY NEVER, IN ALL THOSE YEARS, WERE WILLING TO COUGH UP THE MONEY TO PUT UP A SPACE STATION MORE TO THEIR LIKING. SO MIR HAS ADDED A WHOLE NEW DIMENSION TO HUMANITY'S EXPERIENCE IN SPACE. IN THAT SENSE MIR HAS BEEN AND CONTINUES TO BE AN EPIC ACHIEVEMENT. THE MEDIA THAT ARE EAGER TO REPORT EVERY DETAIL WHEN SOMETHING BREAKS DOWN ABOARD MIR HAVE IGNORED VIRTUALLY EVERY ASPECT OF THE EXPERIMENTS WHICH CONTINUE TO BE CARRIED OUT ON BOARD. RIGHT NOW THERE IS AN AMERICAN ASTRONAUT FLYING ABOARD THE MIR. HIS NAME IS DOCTOR DAVID WOLF, M.D. BASED ON READING THE NEW YORK TIMES OR THE WASHINGTON POST, HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD KNOW THAT ASTRONAUT WOLF HAS HELPED TO DESIGN THE ROTATING WALL VESSEL, A DEVICE WHICH TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE ZERO-GRAVITY ENVIRONMENT ON BOARD THE SPACE STATION TO CARRY OUT HUMAN TISSUE CULTURING, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST PROMISING AREAS OF CANCER RESEARCH? AND THIS IS ONLY ONE PART OF THE WORK ASSOCIATED WITH THE MIR. OTHER RESEARCH HAS APPLICATIONS TO CARDIOVASCULAR PROBLEMS AND THEREFORE TO HEART DISEASE. THE CHANGES IN BONE STRUCTURE THAT OCCUR DURING LONG PERIODS IN SPACE CAN TEACH US LESSONS ABOUT OSTEOPOROSIS. THEN THERE ARE THE SUBTLE CHANGES IN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM OF THE HUMAN BODY WHICH COME FROM MICROGRAVITY. 

THE BEHAVIOR OF HUMAN LYMPHOCYTES AS STUDIED IN SPACE CAN PERHAPS TEACH US SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY THESE CELLS RESPOND TO CANCER CELLS IN THE HUMAN BODY. BUT FROM THE MEDIA COVERAGE, YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW THAT THE MIR CREW WERE ADVANCING HUMAN KNOWLEDGE OF CANCER, HEART DISEASE, IMMUNE SYSTEM DISORDERS, OSTEOPOROSIS, LIVER DISEASE, AND OTHER AILMENTS. WE SHOULD ADD THAT US PARTICIPATION ON BOARD MIR HAS BEEN DECISIVE FOR ALLOWING THIS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH TO GO ON. THE RESULTS OF THESE EXPERIMENTS ARE POSTED ON THE INTERNET, WHERE THEY ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANYBODY IN THE WORLD WHO WANTS TO EXAMINE THEM. THE VERY FACT OF HAVING A LONG-TERM SPACE STATION INHERENTLY POSES QUESTIONS OF BREAKDOWNS AND REPAIRS, AN ISSUE WHICH CERTAIN MEDIA WANT TO WRAP IN A CLOUD OF HYSTERIA. THE RUSSIAN METHOD IS TO OPERATE NON-CRITICAL EQUIPMENT UP TO THE POINT OF FAILURE. THIS AMOUNTS TO BREAKDOWN MAINTENANCE, WHICH YOU WOULD NOT WANT ON YOUR SUBWAY SYSTEM BUT WHICH MAY BE UNAVOIDABLE IN SPACE, WHERE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE HAS GOT TO BE CONCENTRATED ON THE CRITICAL SYSTEMS.

THIS METHOD IS GOING TO BE EMPLOYED ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, SO WE SHOULD ALL BECOME FAMILIAR WITH IT NOW. IT OUGHT TO BE OBVIOUS TO ANYBODY THAT SPACE FLIGHT, ESPECIALLY DURING THE CURRENT PIONEERING PHASE, IS ALWAYS INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO RISK. ALTHOUGH MORE MONEY AND MORE RESOURCES CAN HELP TO REDUCE RISKS, RISK CAN NEVER BE TOTALLY BANISHED. NO COUNTRY HAS BEEN IMMUNE TO SUCH RISK, AS THE DRAMATIC SAGA OF APOLLO XIII OR THE TRAGIC FATE OF SOVIET COSMONAUT GERMAN TITOV BACK IN 1967 OUGHT TO REMIND US. BUT, AS APOLLO XIII ALSO REMINDS US, MOMENTS OF GREAT PERIL CAN ALSO PROVIDE THE SETTING FOR GREAT HEROISM AND GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL VIRTUOSITY. THEY CAN BECOME AND HAVE BECOME THE FINEST HOURS OF MANKIND'S GREAT VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY INTO THE COSMOS. THE WRETCHED FOES OF SCIENCE AND PROGRESS IN THE AMERICAN MEDIA ESTABLISHMENT HAVE DONE EVERYTHING TO RIDICULE THE MIR, CONJURING UP THE WING AND A PRAYER IMAGE OF A SPACE STATION HELD TOGETHER WITH CHEWING GUM AND BALING WIRE.

NOW THIS IS A TISSUE OF LIES, AS WE WILL SHOW. THERE ARE INDEED FOOLHARDY AND IRRESPONSIBLE PROJECTS FLOATING AROUND IN THE DEBATE ABOUT SPACE EXPLORATION, BUT MIR IS NOT ONE OF THEM. HOW ABOUT BOB ZUBRIN AND HIS FRIENDS FROM THE REALLY LOW-BUDGET MARS NETWORK, WHO WANT TO SEND HUMAN BEINGS TO MARS ON A SHOESTRING IN A SPACE VEHICLE WHICH ZUBRIN HAS REFERRED TO AS A 'TUNA FISH CAN.' CHARACTERISTICALLY, NATIONAL NEWSMAGAZINES HAVE GIVEN THIS SCHOOL OF THOUGHT OF SPACE FLIGHT ON THE CHEAP VERY FAVORABLE PUBLICITY, EVEN WHILE THEY ARE ATTEMPTING TO DISCREDIT THE MIR. HAVING SAID THIS, WE MUST ALSO RECALL THAT THE RUSSIAN MIR SPACE STATION HAS NOW BEEN IN USE FOR MUCH LONGER THAN ITS DESIGNER EVER PLANNED.

FROM THAT POINT OF VIEW, MIR HAS PROVEN TO BE A REMARKABLY DURABLE SPACE VEHICLE. ITS ABILITY TO PERFORM FAR BEYOND ITS BUILT-IN SPECIFICATIONS DOES HONOR TO THE SOVIET AND RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS WHO DESIGNED AND BUILT IT. SO, IF MIR IS NOW OBSOLESCENT, IT IS CLEARLY TIME TO BEGIN PUTTING UP A NEW SPACE STATION. WE ARE NOW ON THE EVE OF THAT NEW ERA. THE FIRST ELEMENT OF THE NEW INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IS SCHEDULED TO GO INTO ORBIT IN JUNE OF 1998. AFTER THAT THE NEW SPACE STATION WILL BE GRADUALLY ASSEMBLED OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS. EVENTUALLY THE NEW SPACE STATION WILL BE ABOUT TWO FOOTBALL FIELDS IN LENGTH. RIGHT NOW IT IS SCHEDULED TO BE COMPLETED BY 2009. THE NEW SPACE STATION WILL NORMALLY CARRY A CREW OF SIX, AND IT IS EXPECTED THAT A STANDARD MISSION WILL AVERAGE ABOUT THREE MONTHS FOR EACH ASTRONAUT. THE NEW SPACE STATION IS BEING BACKED BY A LARGE GROUP OF COUNTRIES. IN ADDITION TO THE UNITED STATES, THE PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE RUSSIA, JAPAN, CANADA, AND THE FIFTEEN MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY, INCLUDING GERMANY, FRANCE, ITALY, AND THE OTHER EUROPEANS. VERY IMPORTANT IN MY OPINION IS THE FACT THAT BRAZIL IS ALSO PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CONSORTIUM. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT A DEVELOPING COUNTRY, A COUNTRY WHICH IS NOT IN EUROPE AND NOT A MEMBER OF THE GROUP OF SEVEN WILL HAVE ITS ASTRONAUTS AS MEMBERS OF THE CORE GROUP. THE INCLUSION OF BRAZIL IS NOT JUST A POLITICAL GESTURE, BUT IS FULLY JUSTIFIED BY THE HIGHLY ADVANCED AEROSPACE INDUSTRY IN THAT COUNTRY. IT WOULD BE DESIRABLE TO BROADEN THIS PARTICIPATION EVEN FURTHER, WITH OBVIOUS CANDIDATES BEING CHINA, INDIA, AND A NUMBER OF OTHERS.

AS WE REPORTED ABOUT A YEAR AGO IN LATE 1996, WE ARE WITNESSING A WORLDWIDE REBIRTH OF INTEREST IN SPACE TRAVEL AND SPACE EXPLORATION. MUCH OF THIS NEW INTEREST HAS INVOLVED MARS, THANKS TO THE MARS PATHFINDER WHICH PLACED THE NOW-CELEBRATED ROVER ON THE SURFACE OF THE RED PLANET, AND THE MARS SURVEYOR, WHICH IS MAPPING THE MARTIAN GEOGRAPHY MORE ACCURATELY THAN EVER BEFORE. MORE RECENTLY, THE CASSINI SPACE PROBE HAS BEING ITS JOURNEY TOWARDS THE GIANT PLANETS BEYOND THE ASTEROID BELT, DESPITE THE PUERILE PROTESTS OF THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS WHO BECAME HYSTERICAL ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF PLUTONIUM ON BOARD.

SO, TO BRING US UP TO DATE ON ALL THESE ISSUES WITH HER UNPARALLELED EXPERTISE, WE ARE GLAD TO WELCOME IN THE STUDIO MARSHA FREEMAN, WHO COVERS AEROSPACE AND SCIENCE ISSUES FOR EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE REVIEW.

Nov. 4, 1997

 

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