Western European News Digest
Rome Press Covers LaRouche Warning on Bond-Market Crash
Two Rome-based press agencies reported U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche's recent warning of a bond-market crash. On April 8, Agenparl, a daily newsletter read mostly by parliamentarians and political leaders in Rome, and OPI (Osservatore Politico Internazionale), a small private political press agency, reported a statement by Paolo Raimondi, President of the Movimento Internazionale per i Diritti Civili Solidarietà, based on LaRouche's declaration, "Terror on Worldwide Main Street."
After detailing the story of the March U.S. jobs report and the devastating effect on bonds and related markets, under the title, "How 'good news' (but false) could ignite a systemic crisis," Raimondi quotes LaRouche comparing the present situation to the hyperinflationary policy of Weimar, Germany in 1923. At least two members of Parliament have expressed their appreciation for the analysis and the necessity of a new global financial reorganization.
British Fund Manager Issues Alarm on Housing Bubble
One day after the Financial Times published a warning from British fund manager Tony Dye that housing prices could collapse by 30%, London's Independent on April 14 devoted three pages to the subject. Headlined "'Dr Doom' predicts a house price crash to rival the 1980s," the article notes that some years ago, Dye "was ridiculed for predicting a crash in hi-tech stocks in the late 1990s," but later was proven to be right. Today, the same Tony Dye says: "I think we have reached the point where the rises are no longer sustainable and correction is likely to be fairly dramatic." House prices, starting in London, will crash by 30%. "It is going to be distressing for those who have bought in recent months and are likely to find themselves trapped in negative equity.... [P]eople have been lured into borrowing beyond their means."
An editorial by Independent economics editor Jeremy Warner the same day also covers Dye's warning: "Housing bubble trouble markets' Dr Doom," essentially stating that this time Dye "is probably correct." He adds: "Forget Iraq, top-up fees, immigration and the rest, elections are much more likely to be won and lost on the health of the economy and, on this front, the housing market has become Labour's biggest Achilles heel."
The Independent also ran short interviews with 10 financial experts, including Bank of England governor Mervyn King, all forced to comment on the issue of the coming housing crash in Britain. And the Daily Telegraph;s coverage, headlined "Avoiding a housing crash," says that Dye's warning should be taken seriously because, if it comes, it would have "serious economic and political consequences."
European Nations Moot Troop Withdrawal from Iraq
Following the Spanish example, several nations are considering a troop pull out from Iraq. The incoming Socialist government of Spain has already made clear that its troops will be withdrawn after June 30. In view of the ongoing anti-Occupation insurrection in Iraq, the June deadline has also been mooted by the governments of Kazakhstan, Thailand, and New Zealand in the past days.
Responding to increasing pressure from the population and a strong current in the Bulgarian parliament, President Parvanov April 12-13 announced the pull-out of Bulgarian troops from Kerbala, to a site farther off, saying that all of Bulgaria agrees that the top priority for its contingent in Iraq is its own safety. This is widely read as just the prelude to an announcement of complete pull-out from Iraq.
Pressure is also increasing in the parliaments of Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Romania, and Italy, to pull troops out. The Polish President has already announced a pull-out by the end of the year. In Ukraine, it is the pro-American opposition that is most outspoken for a pull-out; in Slovakia, the nominally anti-American left-wing opposition seeks withdrawal, as does the more pro-American conservative opposition in Czechia, and the leftwing-liberal opposition in Italy.
Hollinger Battle: Are Synarchists Fighting Each Other?
The board of Hollinger International has hired Lazard Frères to sell off part or all of its assets, in an attempt to preserve some of their value, which was heavily looted by former Hollinger chief, Conrad Black, Lord of Crossharbour. But in addition to the standing lawsuits to recover the $200 million that Black took illegally, there will be a "fresh suit" filed for damages far in excess of the $200 million, "when Richard Breeden, the former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman hired by the company to investigate allegations of financial impropriety, completes his inquiry. It is understood Breeden is close to completing his report and could hand it to the company this week. A revised claim will be submitted soon after." The report appears in the April 11 London Observer, written by business correspondent James Robinson.
Robinson adds, "Since the original writ [in January 2004] was filed, new allegations have emerged. Breeden is investigating claims that Black effectively sold dozens of Hollinger's smaller newspapers to himself for as little as 50 cents apiece, and then sold them off at a profit. One of those transactions allegedly netted Black and fellow executives over $750,000.... Hollinger's amended claim will seek to recoup the money Black allegedly made from dozens of similar transactions, which it believes could run into tens of millions of dollars."
Black is also the Daddy Warbucks for former U.S. neo-conservative Defense Policy Board head Richard Perle. Perle is a voting board member of Hollinger, Inc., the Black company that looted Hollinger International Inc., which involves Perle in the scandal.
Was Perben Demoted for Ties to Ashcroft?
Justice Minister Dominique Perben was a prime target in the recent French government reshuffle. According to the national weekly, l'Express, President Jacques Chirac wanted to move Perben out of the Justice Ministry, and demote him to head a minor ministry such as "Equipment." Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin managed to keep him at his post at the last minute. Chirac, however, downgraded Perben to the from the fourth to sixth rank in protocol, and forced him to take Chirac's adviser on judicial issues, Laurent Le Mesle, as head of his cabinet, i.e., Le Mesle will actually take control of the Justice Ministry.
Lyndon LaRouche associate Jacques Cheminade and the LaRouche Youth Movement recently conducted a hard-hitting campaign against Perben for having secretly negotiated with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft the possibility of the FBI extending its operations into France, using the post 9/11 fight against terrorism as a pretext, which apparently displeased Chirac and his Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
Blair: 'A True Crusader' for Iraq War
"Did you ever see the strange glint in Tony Blair's eye when he speaks of Iraq? He's even more emotionally and ideologically committed to the 'cause' in Iraq than is George W. Bush. Blair is a true crusader," a London insider remarked on his view of the British Prime Minister's state of mind, as the April 16 date approaches, for the planned meeting with President Bush in New York.
Blair's state of mind was shown in a signed commentary for the London Observer on April 11, in which the Prime Minister hyperventilated that if the American-British intervention in Iraq were defeated, this "would defeat civilization and democracy everywhere.... This is not a 'civil war'.... The insurgents are former Saddam sympathisers, ... terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda and, most recently, followers of the Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr...."
The Guardian's Martin Kettle said the article showed Blair in his "most Gladstonian mode." Lord William Gladstone, a 19th Century Prime Minister, at the height of the British empire, would regularly invoke the most high "moral principles" to advocate imperial interventions abroad. One of his favorite causes, was as a supporter of the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War.
Blair's Observer article has been sharply criticized in much of the British press. The Independent wrote April 12 that "Mr. Blair seems to have learned nothing from recent developments in Iraq.... The only groups Mr. Blair excludes from his demonology are ordinary Iraqis, drawn to rebel against the dire state of their country, and the failure of the occupiers to bring security. Without their desperation, Mr. Sadr would not have flourished."
Danish Neo-Con Prime Minister Challenged on Iraqi WMD
A recently fired senior Military Secret Service (FE) officer went public April 15, charging that Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen deliberately lied about the existence of Iraqi WMD.
Frank Soeholt Grevil chose to speak out after Anders Fogh, addressing the Parliament, several times referenced the FE as a source for Iraqi WMD, even though several intelligence reports made it clear that no reliable information existed to support such a claim.
Frank Grevil is known as a totally reliable and trustworthy employee, who had received a special medal of honor within the military academy. That he would choose to leak information, risking jail and dismissal, must be interpreted as "something rotten (and smelly), in the state of Denmark."
The PM has denied lying. Hearings are expected soon.
Schroeder: Palestinian Interests Must Not Be Discarded
At a press conference following a one-hour meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Hanover, Germany April 16, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that anything that could set a negative precedence in the Israel-Palestine conflict, must be avoided. The genuine and justified interests of the Palestinians must not be discarded, but taken into account appropriately, for the next round of peace talks, Schroeder said, adding that he expects Israel to respect the outline set by the Road Map.
Concerning Iraq, Schroeder insisted that the re-transfer of sovereignty begin after June 30, and that this transfer be done in a way that, above all, serves the genuine interests of the Iraqi people.
Mubarak concurred with Schroeder's views, both on the Road Map and the Iraqi sovereignty issue.
Infrastructure Project Will Spin Off 800 Million Euros
The Femern connection that connects the vital geopolitical area between the Danish Island Zeeland and Northern Germany will, according to a report released by the Consulting Engineering company COWI A/S, spin off 800 million euros to the Danish state, and be of similar advantage to Germany and the rest of Europe, the Danish Traffic Ministry reported April 14. The savings comes from lower passenger transport time and reduced costs on goods traffic. The report is one among many from the commission established by the Danish and German governments in August 2003, after official mutual binding confirmation that they would establish the project.
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