"Thank you. Now, obviously, we have a situation in which the nominee, Kerry, must occupy the White House by election in November. There are many problems involved, so far, with the Kerry team, which is not actually ready to deal with the many of the problems which are going to hit the United States during this period. But when you look at the alternatives, you realize that Kerry is a decent person, with, for all ordinary purposes, a credible background, and credible commitments; but he just needs some touching up on a lot of very important issues which he does not yet, presently, understand. But apart from those particular differences—which is our responsibility, and mine in particular, to set forth the alternative to some of the more weak points in his address last night, particularly the latter 30 minutes of it—we've got to get him elected. Because the alternative is unthinkable..."

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Latest From LaRouche:
From the Democratic Convention:
LaRouche Holds Dialogue with His Youth Movement

Lyndon LaRouche's opening remarks to his historic webcast from the Boston Democratic Convention site July 25 (see EIW #30), were followed more than two hours of discussion with the audience present at the John Hancock Center, as well as with those listening over the Internet, who submitted questions by e-mail. Here is the major portion of that dialogue.

LaRouche to West Coast Cadre School:
Beyond the Convention: Mobilizing the Resistance to Fascism

Lyndon LaRouche spoke to a cadre school in Los Angeles via teleconference, on July 17, 2004.

This Week in History

August 2 - August 8, 1864

Adm. Farragut 'Damns the Torpedoes'; Enters Mobile Bay

Just at daybreak on Aug. 5, 1864, the Union fleet in the Gulf of Mexico, commanded by Adm. David Farragut, moved into battle formation to enter Confederate-held Mobile Bay. The attack was part of Gen. Ulysses Grant's much larger strategic plan to bring the Civil War to a close, and, although it took awhile, it worked.

Grant's overall plan was to move a number of Union armies to converge in Virginia, cutting off Lee's communications with other parts of the Confederacy, and forcing him into a decisive battle in open country. Now that Union control of the Mississippi River had cut the Confederacy in two, Grant focused on an enveloping movement east of the Mississippi which would make it difficult for the Confederates to use their internal lines. One Union army from the deep South was to cut the James and Appomattox River line of communication, while General Sherman's army would execute a wide wheeling march 7through the South to complete the envelopment. The capture of Mobile, Ala. would deprive the Confederacy of its last major ocean port and would shorten the supply lines to Sherman's army.

Admiral Farragut (1801-1870), entrusted with the capture of Mobile Bay, was a 63-year-old veteran of the War of 1812, a distinction he shared with Army Generals Winfield Scott and John Wool. Scott, before resigning as commanding general of the army in November 1861, had laid out a plan similar in conception for enveloping the South. Although it was derisively dubbed "Operation Anaconda" by those who thought Richmond could be taken in a month or two, that concept actually was used by the Union in blockading Southern ports and attempting to prevent the resupply of the rebel armies.

The capture of Mobile Bay presented a difficult problem, for the bay had two entrances—one for shallow-water boats, and the other with a deep channel which ran between several well-equipped forts. The main entrance was extensively mined with "torpedoes," forcing any entering ships to run right under one of the guardian fort's guns. But Farragut was the man for the job, not only because of his earlier capture of New Orleans, but also because of the character and bravery he had developed when just a young boy.

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