Western European News Digest
Jacques Cheminade Presents LaRouche Doctrine in Qatar
On the evening of May 4, LaRouche associate Jacques Cheminade gave a 40-minute presentation, ranging from an exit strategy for U.S. forces from Iraq, to the reality of physical economy as defined by the LaRouche Doctrine. Cheminade, a leading political figure in France and a former French Presidential candidate, was one of three main speakers at the conference organized by a Qatari think-thank on the Iraq war, which took place at the Doha Sheraton Hotel. Over 400 people from embassies, oil corporations, civil society, and scholars attended and asked questions. The event was covered in the May 5 Arab newspapers Al-Watan, Al-Sharq, and Al-Raya.
'LaRouche Doctrine' Covered on Rome Regional TV
On May 4 at 10:00 p.m., the Rome-based regional TV network "Teleambiente" broadcast an hour-long live discussion on the situation in Iraq and in Southwest Asia with Paolo Raimondi, president of the Movimento Internazionale per i Diritti Civili-Solidarietà, the LaRouche organization in Italy; Prof. Giulio Salierno, author and university sociology teacher; and Maurizio Musolino, head of the news department of the weekly La Rinascita della sinistra, the paper of the Party of the Italian Communists (PdCI), an opposition party in the Parliament.
Giuseppe Vecchio, the program host, opened the discussion with his usual: "Let us hear the latest developments of the LaRouche campaigns and activities in the USA." Raimondi presented the fundamental points of the LaRouche Doctrine, the importance of the 9/11 Investigation Commission in Washington, and the continuation of the "Impeach Cheney" campaign of LaRouche to change the present situation in the USA.
Musolino endorsed decision by new Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero to withdraw the Spanish troops from Iraq, combined with an international mobilization to get the UN to play the leading role in a peaceful solution. He denounced the Bush visit to Rome at the beginning of June as a cheap attempt to help Berlusconi in the European election vote scheduled a week thereafter. Professor Salierno went into an historical explanation of the role played by the colonial powers from World War I on to radicalize the Arab and Islamic populations. He several times expressed his agreement with Raimondi on the neo-con imperial reasons behind the wars, on the global financial crash, and on the decisive importance of the political battle inside the U.S. led by LaRouche.
The same day, two Rome-based press agencies, Agenparl and Osservatore Politico Internazionale (OPI), reported a statement by Raimondi on the content of the LaRouche Doctrine in which he invited the Italian political forces to take note of the debate this "proposal for action" has generated inside the USA and in the Arab world.
Joint Automotive Projects Discussed in China-Germany Talks
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, shortly after his arrival May 2 in Germany for his first trip there, visited the Audi car-manufacturing plant in Ingolstadt; two bigger joint ventures in auto were scheduled to be signed during his three-day stay: Volkswagen and Shanghai Automotive, as well as DaimlerChrysler and Beijing Automotive, will establish new modern production lines in China, with investments between 5 and 8 billion euros over the next six years.
Also mentioned as being among leading German companies that have joint-venture projects planned for China, are Infineon (information technology), Siemens (railway communication systems, other electronics, gas turbines), Degussa (special metallurgy), and Bayer (pharmaceuticals, chemicals).
Wen Jiabao was scheduled to address the German political and economic elites in Berlin twice on May 4, first at a high-tech dialogue forum hosted by the Ministry of Economics, and later at an event of the Asia-Pacific Committee of the German Industrial Association. From Berlin, he went on to Brussels, for talks with the European Union Commission on May 5.
Nuclear Technology Revived in Europe with EPR
The French government gave the green light May 5 for the construction of an enhanced pressurized-water reactor prototype, also called the European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR), to be completed by 2010. A specific timetable has not yet been decided, and the Assemblée Nationalewhere the government party, the UMP, has a solid majorityhas yet to vote on it. The private sector will cover 3 billion euros of the cost.
The EPR is a Franco-German joint venture pilot project with Framatome, which will build the first reactor of this type, not in France, but in Finland, which several weeks ago signed a contract. There is also interest in Bulgaria, which wants to build a modern 1,000-megawatt unit.
A reflection of the French move was seen in Germany, where Bavarian State Governor Edmund Stoiber, in a speech in Munich on May 5, said nuclear power is indispensable, and is enjoying a renaissance worldwide, after years of being demonized. More and more nuclear power reactors will be built in the coming years, Stoiber said, adding that the transformation of Bavaria from an agrarian state to an industrial one in the second half of the past century went along with the construction of nuclear power plants, which today provide two-thirds of the state's power needsalmost as much as in France.
Europe-Russia Economic Integration Grows Apace
The Spanish newspaper El Pais carried a lengthy article May 5 titled "The Russians will not enter [the EU], but Russian oil will." EU Commissioner for Energy Loyola de Paciao, who recently visited Russia, told El Pais in the mid- to long-term perspective, there will be a more unified energy market. Russia and the EU are studying the synchronization of their electrical grids, and Russia is the main source of fission material for the EU.
El Pais further reports that the big Russian oil companies have prepared for the expansion of the EU, and have a big chunk of the EU market. The article is illustrated with a map showing the different oil and gas pipelines from Russia to the EU. In the new Europe of, now, 25 member states, there are no borders for Russian energy: a dense network of oil and gas pipelines go through Europe which unify the oil extraction sites with the potential consumers of the West. The big Russian energy companies positioned themselves before the EU expansion, writes El Pais, investing in modernization and the creation of refineries, port terminals, and transport routes for gas pipelines.
The Russian state obtains 40% of its annual income from export of hydrocarbon products: 25% of the gas and 20% of the oil consumed in the EU comes from Russia, and this percentage will increase in the future, according to Loyola de Palacio. For Moscow, the European energy market, which absorbs half of its exports of oil and 60% of its gas, will be important in the future, according to Valeri Salyguin, director of the Institute of Energy Policy in Moscow.
Tony Blair Covers His Backside in Scarlett Appointment
The May 6 appointment of John Scarlett as head of Britain's MI-6 intelligence organization has triggered a huge outcry. Scarlett has spent his entire career at MI-6, and is currently chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, which "liaises" between the intelligence services and the government.
From that position, Scarlett not only wrote the now-totally-discredited "Iraqi WMD" report, but defended it to the Hutton Inquiry whitewash. The WMD report was not only the basis for the British to enter the disastrous Iraq war, but also was used by the Cheney crowd to justify their "preemptive war" doctrine.
Tory Party spokesman Michael Ancram said that Scarlett's "appointment at this time is inappropriate," since the government's own "investigation" about gathering and use of "intelligence" before the Iraq warthe Butler inquiryis still ongoing.
"In today's world, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service is central to our national security. And it is essential the whole country has the fullest confidence in it," Howard said.
"The government-appointed Butler Inquiry is currently reviewing the whole question of intelligence, and the use made of it, in the run-up to the Iraq war. Given that John Scarlett is central to that review, and that the inquiry has not yet reported, I believe that this appointment, at this time, is inappropriate."
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell called the Scarlett appointment "highly controversial."
Britain Will Send 4,000 More Troops to Iraq
The Daily Telegraph reported May 2 that the decision was made by Prime Minister Tony Blair while he was visiting President Bush two weeks ago, although it has not been officially announced. The Telegraph adds that the British defense chiefs backed the deployment, "but have warned the government that the Army is at full [stretch] and would struggle to deal with any other international emergency requiring personnel." The troops are expected to be in Iraq for not less than two years, says the Telegraph.
The deployment will be to the Najaf and Kut region, replacing the Spanish and other troops that are being pulled out, and bringing the entire south central portion of Iraq under British command. British senior officers warned that the deployment is "likely to lead to extensive casualties," according to the Telegraph. It is expected that the first troops will arrive within two weeks.
Bombs in Central Athens Echo of 1970s 'Strategy of Tension'
Three bombs exploded in the central district of Kalitheas in Athens on the early morning of May 5, near several hotels scheduled to be used by Olympic officials for the 2004 summer Olympics. The Kalitheas police station was hit by what officials said were three separate bombs, consisting of three sticks of dynamite attached to an alarm clock. An unnamed newspaper reported receiving a warning call 10 minutes before the blast.
Authorities are pointing to similarities to the 1970s "November 17" leftist organization, which was blamed for assassinations at the time.
Subsequently, a bomb scare was reported aboard a Greek ferry carrying 580 passengers in Athens' port of Piraeus, followed by another threat that rattled the Greek Economics Ministry. In neither case were bombs found.
The May 5 bombings took place while senior members of the Public Order Ministry, the police, and intelligence services were in the United States to discuss security for the Olympics.
Turkish police said May 3 that they had foiled a plot to bomb the NATO meeting in Istanbul in June, which will be attended by heads of government from Europe and the United States. Sixteen militants said to be connected to the Ansar al-Islam group were arrested.
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