Report on IPC #142
Feb. 20, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 142nd consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition on Friday,Feb. 20 posed the extreme contrast between the degeneracy of the world into sexual perversion, war fighting and economic looting, and, on the other hand, the purpose of the IPC and the Schiller Institute: lifting humanity into a higher vision of mankind, based on the creative power of man and the placing of humanity itself as the focus of human thought. The extreme danger of President Trump unleashing a war on Iran, and the almost certain expansion of such a war throughout the region or even globally, was a focus of much of the discussion, as well as the impact of the Epstein Class phenomena, expanded with the arrest of the former Prince Andrew, threatening the welcome demise of the British Royal System.
A reference to the Epstein mentality coming from British radicalism was pointed to by reference to Jeremy Bentham, whose defense of pederasty and his defense of usury demonstrated that both of these are based on the same mentality—a degrading of humanity to less than human. This is, indeed, the reality of the Epstein Class, which is not only a cult of sexual perversity, but also a central portion of the global speculative perversion which is bringing down the productive economy of the Western world. Dennis Speed noted that the connection between sexual exploitation and financial speculation and looting are both representative of the “predatory mindset.”
Helga Zepp-LaRouche sent in a video which addressed both the danger of war in Iran and the implications of the exposure of the Epstein perversions. She noted the insanity of Marco Rubio, whose speech at the Munich Conference not only compared Beethoven to the Rolling Stones, but also praised the 500 years of colonialism as the great gift of Western Civilization to the history of mankind!
Steven Starr, the director of the University of Missouri’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program, as well as a senior scientist at the Physicians for Social Responsibility, provided a powerful, if frightening, picture of the scope of the pending war with Iran. He began by playing a short video from Scott Ritter describing the massive U.S. military deployment now gathered in the region of Iran. Starr then described the Iranian missile capacity as very advanced, capable of doing massive damage if it is deployed, in response to a U.S. and/or Israeli attack. He noted that Alastair Crooke, the former MI6 officer, had pointed to the fact that China has supplied Iran with a radar system which can identify stealth warplanes, undermining the idea that the U.S. stealth fighter jets could easily take out Iran’s missile defenses. Iran has hundreds of missiles, buried in underground, fortified caves, and missile silos spread all over the country, as well as hypersonic missiles. He also pointed to the Russia-China-Iran security agreement of January 2026. If Iran responds by deploying its missiles against Israel and U.S. military bases, the destruction would be substantial. He noted that the Israeli population is largely concentrated in three major cities, showing a map of such a city showing the impact of a barrage of missiles, literally hitting the entire population. The danger then becomes: Would Israel then decide to deploy its nuclear weapons? He also noted that Iran could potentially take out one of the American aircraft carriers, with 5,000 Americans onboard. Would the U.S. then deploy a nuclear weapon? These are frightening questions, but real possibilities.
Eduardo Gabriel Fernández of Argentina, a graduate of the Advanced Course in National Defense and a member of the Gen. Jorge Edgar Leal Argentine Sovereignty Monitoring Center, described the ongoing destruction of his country under the current President Javier Milei. This is a “planned and deliberate” destruction, he said, destroying the policies implemented by former President Juan Perón (he added that Perón and Lyndon LaRouche were similar thinkers and leaders, although at different times). He said that since the time of the pandemic, production in the country has declined by 60%, with 20,000 businesses closed. Food shortages are severe, with beef output declining by more than half, while bread costs have risen drastically. Extreme poverty has risen to nearly 10%, with a serious problem of malnourishment. Under Milei, the Epstein mentality has taken over from Tavistock, with shock therapy applied. He said this was not the first crisis to hit Argentina, noting earlier dictatorships and the Malvinas War from the U.K. The only solution is a return to sovereignty. He pointed to the Schiller Institute as a guiding force.
Dennis Small, EIR Director for Ibero-America, said that the Argentine crisis is relative to the entire world. It was once, under Perón and also under the two Kirchner presidencies, was a major industrial power, which has been destroyed by the Milei government under the direction of Wall Street. The Jan. 3 U.S. invasion of Venezuela, which EIR declared had marked a global phase change, has been proven to be exactly that, with the adoption of Malthusian genocide. We are now seeing this with the U.S. manipulated coup against Peruvian President José Jerí for the “crime” of cooperating with China in building the Chancay Port and planning a trans-oceanic railroad, and also in the forced “dollarization” of South American countries.
Jose Vega, a member of the Schiller Institute now running for Congress in the Bronx, New York, showed a video he has produced addressing the danger of Israel’s nuclear weapons capacity and the subservience of his election opponent, Rep. Ritchie Torres, to the Zionist Lobby in the U.S. On the threat of war against Iran, he asked: “Where is the Congress?”
Steven Starr was asked about the state of mind impacting the decisions to go to war. He replied that the problem is “hubris.” The U.S. belief that they are the only superpower (the unipolar world), and Israel’s belief that they are the only nuclear power in the region, both lead to the sin of hubris, that they can commit genocide in Gaza and wage war on Iran without resistance.
Karel Vereycken, a member of the Schiller Institute from France and an artist, discussed the dehumanizing taking place across the Western world and the need to “re-humanize.” The Renaissance was driven by governments holding competitions, spurring people to create music, poems, and architectural proposals, and we should do the same—with conferences which solicit original works of art, music, poetry and so forth. He noted that his wife, Christine Bierre, had visited China’s Xinjiang Province shortly after a series of terrorist attacks had taken place, and that the Chinese approach was to provide educational facilities for those drawn into such radical circles, in which they were given lessons in music and painting as a means for uplifting their outlook on life. He warned against the revival of eugenics and genetical engineering by the circles around Epstein, reflecting the eugenics of the Nazis.
Vereycken also read a petition titled “For an Immediate Reactivation of the UN Charter in Support of Multilateralism,” which had been prepared by citizens of France and Belgium to call on Americans to “Say No To War,” and call for a reform of the United Nations, such that each country would have an equal voice, while also providing the right to security and development for all nations.
A listener in Peru asked the question, “What real alternatives exist to the crisis facing civilization today?” Dennis Small asked in his reply: “What do you mean by ‘real’?” If you mean “practical,” then perhaps the answer is no, there is no alternative, and civilization is doomed. The question is, how do you change the population’s axioms of thinking, to break the influence of British radical liberalism, of Bentham, Locke, and Hume? This is the role of Nicholas of Cusa’s “coincidence of opposites,” the existence of a higher plane from which solutions to contradictions exist. It has happened before, he noted, pointing to the Renaissance, the role Lyndon LaRouche played throughout his life, and which the March 2 conference being prepared by the Schiller Institute today will address.
Michael Billington, EIR
