WESTERN EUROPEAN NEWS DIGEST
LaRouche Co-Thinkers in Europe Hold Day of Action Against War
On Friday, Nov. 15, Lyndon LaRouche's co-thinkers in Europe held a European-wide day of action, to prevent a war against Iraq, and initiate a true peace policy, with targetted literature distributions outside parliaments and other government offices, and big rallies in urban areas. During the day of action, the following leaflet was distributed everywhere, in Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark:
Resistance Against Looming War on Iraq - - More Necessary Than Ever!
We Need a Real Peace Policy!
by Helga Zepp LaRouche
In Europe, one could presently hardly commit a bigger mistake, than to stop mobilizing against the danger of an Iraq war, because there are still major hindrances in the way of the hawk faction in the United States. Of course it is bad that now all members of the UN Security Council have unanimously voted in favor of the new Anglo-American resolution on Iraq, which was certainly influenced by the way the U.S. election results were interpreted internationally. But: This does not mean that there will inevitably be war.
1. Even if the new resolution, on the one hand, contains a number of clauses which are meant as traps for Saddam Hussein, to thus find a "reason for war," the U.S. is, on the other hand, bound into the process of the United Nations, which was the intent of primarily Russia and France, but also of the entire world community, who feared that the U.S. would attack unilaterally.
2. The argument that there were connections between Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaeda network, is implausible and is not believed. This line was given out in order to have a pretext for war, if Saddam were not be caught in the traps of the resolution. The head of the BND [Germany's equivalent to the FBI], August Hanning, stressed that the U.S. was claiming such a connection, but he had no relevant proofs. Russian Defense Minister Ivanov pointed to the intense knowledge of the Russian security services concerning the involvement of many countries in terrorism, but Iraq in this respect could be mentioned the least.
3. The line of some European media, that Bush has gotten a "mandate for war" with the result of the American mid-term elections, is absurd. The Republicans did not win the elections, but rather all those Democrats from the environment of Lieberman and Gore, who, like copies of the Republicans, supported the war, have been defeated. Thus, the real winner of the elections is Lyndon LaRouche, whose authority and credibility has risen massively.
4. The elections in the United States and the artificial election dynamics are over; now, we are concerned with reality again. The massive reservations on the part of many Republicans, and traditionalist military men against the war, will come to the fore again. In the Democratic Party, there will be a broad change of leadership.
5. The global systemic crisis becomes the all-dominating issue. The lowering of interest rates by 50 basis points by the Federal Reserve, only hours after the elections, means an oath of disclosure, and shows the panic of U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. In view of the inflation rate, the United States, like Japan, now has a zero-percent interest-rate policy. The financial collapse will further escalate, dramatically, and lead to the further disintegration of the U.S. economy. Maybe the final collapse of the system will be our Christmas present this year!
As in 1932-33, it is the combination of real economic depression and world financial crisis, which underlies the war dynamic. Today, fascism and war are looming again, and it would be most fatal not to make the reasons for this, namely, the financial collapse, the main issue. If we want to prevent a war effectively, we have to change the agenda of world politics!
The first step in the right direction has just been taken, by the heads of states of the ASEAN nations, China, Japan, South Korea, and India, during their summit meeting in Phnom Penh. There, they not only envisioned the expansion of the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Pusan in South Korea via North Korea, China, and Russia, to Europei.e., the Eurasian Land-Bridgeas a conscious war avoidance strategy, but they also discussed the necessity of close economic cooperation between Asia and Europe, to overcome the world economic crisis.
Everything must be done to prevent the war against Iraq, because that in turn would mean the immediate danger of a war against Islam, which would then become a real "War of Civilizations," the danger of disintegration of 150 multi-ethnic states around the world, and thus the collapse of the world system of our civilization, as former Russian Prime Minister Primakov rightly warned. But the war danger must not distract our attention away from overcoming, with maximum efforts, the economic crisis, and with it, removing the real reason for war.
THEREFORE: Let us put the necessity of a new world financial systema New Bretton Woodsand the establishment of the Eurasian Land-Bridge on the agenda, everywhere!
It is not yet too late!
British Firemen Stage Successful 48-Hour Strike, Threaten More Actions
All of Britain's 52,000 firemen went on a two-day strike this past week, in protest of the refusal of Tony Blair's government to grant a long-overdue 40% wage increase, and likewise long-overdue modernizations of the firefighting services.
The modernization controversy has also exposed the fact that by comparison, the 19,000 firemen of the Armed Forces, whom Blair has deployed as "strike-breakers," are equipped far worse than the regular firemen: Their equipment, cars, and phone systems are so outdated that even with a maximum mobilization, they can only achieve 50% of what the civilian firemen can do.
Andy Gilchrist, the chairman of the firemen's labor union, threatened three further one-week strikes before Christmas, if the government does not make substantial concessions after this limited two-day strike action. Gilchrist has also rejected Blair's argument that at a time when Britain fears attack by al-Qaeda terrorists, the firemen should be available and not go on strike. If such an attack really occurs, the firemen will be there, Gilchrist said.
The strike has forced industry to reduce hazardous productionfor example, in the chemical sector, and at oil refineriesin order to avoid being dependent on the uncertain arrival of Blair's military firemen brigade, if fires break out. Also, 19 stations of the London Underground have been shut down, for the duration of the strike.
Europe and Russia: Franco-Russian, German-Russian Talks Held
Franco-Russian talks were held in Paris last week, at the level of Foreign and Defense Ministers. Russian Cabinet Ministers Igor Ivanov and Sergei Ivanov arrived Nov. 13 and flew back to Moscow late night Nov. 15. The last day of their visit, which featured meetings not only with their ministerial counterparts, but also other leading political figures of France, was concluded with the first official session of the Franco-Russian Council for Strategic Consultations. The Mideast, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and the Caucasus were on the agenda, as well as joint projects of military and anti-terror relevance.
Meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder met in Oslo, Norway, Nov. 12. The meeting had originally been planned for Oct. 24 in Berlin, but had to be postponed because of the Moscow theater hostage-taking. The German Chancellor also held talks with the Norwegian government while in Oslo, as did Putin, who travelled there from Brussels, where he had attended the EU meeting.
The German-Russian agenda was much like that of the Franco-Russian lower-level meetingstrategic crisis hotspots like Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, Afghanistan, the Caucasusbut it also discussed the planned tripartite German-Russian-Ukrainian gas consortium arrangement that is to secure substantial investments in the Ukrainian gas pipeline grid, and thereby ensure safe gas transfer from Russia to Western Europe. A third agenda item was another visit by Putin to Berlin early next year, in the context of the Russian Culture and Science Year in Germany, in 2003 (for more see RUSSIA NEWS DIGEST).
Berlusconi Tells Turkish Leader: 'Italy Is Your Best Friend in the EU'
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Nov. 13 received Recep Tayyp Erdogan, the leader of the "Islamist" Party of Justice and Development that just won 85% of the votes in the Turkish elections. Erdogan's visit to Rome was the first in a series that will take him to Greece, Spain, and Belgium.
Berlusconi was very cordial with Erdogan, stating publicly in his welcoming speech that Italy is Turkey's "best friend" in Europe, and that Italy is committed to "do all it can in order to avoid Turkey's being disappointed by the Copenhagen summit" in December.
The summit will discuss the possible entrance of Turkey into the European Union, for which Turkey has long been pressing. Turkey hopes that the summit will actually set the precise date to start the negotiations which will lead to Turkey's inclusion in the EU. In an interview in the daily Repubblica, Erdogan said that he expects "Italy's support, so that Turkey can obtain a date to start negotiations to join Europe. We hope that the (European) Union understands the importance of Turkey as a bridge toward Asia, and that therefore they admit us, sending a positive signal to the whole world. I think the pressure Italy will put on the EU will be very effective. If a date is not set in Copenhagen, our people's trust in Europe would be devastated."
In the meantime, the Italian agency IRNA reported that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder gave his unconditional support to Turkey's rapprochement efforts with the European Union. "Turkey's perspective is Europe," Schroeder is reported as saying to Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. The German Chancellor also stated that everything should be done "to prevent Turkey's slide into Islamic fundamentalism." He urged Turkey to make "crystal clear" that the "reform course" will continue. Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is scheduled to arrive in Germany on Nov. 27, and there to meet with Schroeder.
According to the London Economist, the United States is pressuring the EU hard to admit Turkey, and the pressure is having particular effect in Germany.
The issue of Turkey's inclusion in the EU has become even hotter of late, because of the intervention of Valery Giscard d'Estaing, chairman of the convention on the European Union's future. Giscard declared that Turkey is not a European country, and that it would be "the end" of the EU if Turkey were ever admitted.
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