International Peace Coalition, Week 168
Aug. 21—On August 21 the International Peace Coalition (IPC) held its 168th consecutive weekly meeting which Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute and initiator of the IPC said may be our most important meeting ever. Two regional wars threaten to go out of control, and the use of tactical nuclear weapons is now a topic for casual discussion. This has been recently confirmed by former U.S. Congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene who said that she is not guessing when she says that there is an open discussion in the Pentagon, or in the President Donald Trump administration, of using tactical nuclear weapons, but rather she knows from direct sources that this is a live discussion. Elbridge Colby, the so-called “U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy,” has confirmed on the record that the Pentagon is re-examining U.S. nuclear employment guidance in order to give the President what he calls “rational nuclear options” in a regional conflict with Russia or China—and he maintains that, unlike U.S. Nuclear Posture Reviews, this does not need to be approved by Congress or even be made public.
Zepp-LaRouche said that President Trump should admit that he has lost the war in Iran, but instead he is vacillating between saying he is talking to the Iranians and saying there are no talks—most recently warning of crushing sanctions against Iran and any country working with them. However, Iran has survived 47 years of sanctions, and it is the United States which is bankrupt with the federal deficit now passing the $40 trillion mark. According to media reports, Iranian officials threatened to attack U.S. military bases in Europe if the U.S. intensifies the war. Israel continues the genocide in Gaza, but has been committing similar atrocities in the West Bank. But President Trump is unable or unwilling to control Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The fighting in Ukraine is also escalating, but all of these wars are a consequence of the economic crisis, and the desire by western countries to maintain the 500-year-old colonial system of looting. Zepp-LaRouche stressed the urgency to circulate the letter which appeals to Pope Leo XIV to intervene by calling for a summit of global leaders to address the need of peace and nuclear disarmament. At least two former heads of state have already signed the letter.
Ray McGovern, the retired CIA analyst and founding member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), said that he started the day this morning the same way he starts every morning—reading the news from EIR. He highly recommended that people read an article by Jason Ross. McGovern questioned how Elbridge Colby could even talk about changing official nuclear doctrines without first consulting with the Russians. McGovern said that he has been watching the Russians and the Soviets before them for over six decades, and said that the Russians are “an open book,” and make their nuclear policy crystal clear. Colby is “still wet behind the ears” with no experience and no understanding of what war is. McGovern used to brief Colbyʼs father on the Russians. Elbridge Colby wrote that he wants “nuclear superiority,” but McGovern said that this is not possible and that nobody will be superior in a nuclear war, which is why it is called “Mutually Assured Destruction.”
McGovern stressed that President Trump is not well physically nor psychologically and could lead the world into a nuclear war either deliberately, accidentally, or by responding to an Israeli “false flag” provocation. This Israeli instigation is how President Trump started the Iran War. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz which is the equivalent of holding a nuclear weapon. Would Trump respond with a nuclear weapon? Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson recently spoke on the Judging Freedom podcast where he said that the U.S. military leadership would not allow Trump to use nuclear weapons. McGovern said that he prays that Wilkerson is correct, but that there is no assurance.
McGovern spoke of several near nuclear incidents such as in 1983 when Soviet Union radar indicated a missile attack, the Russian officer in charge [Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov] refused to launch a counterattack, knowing that there was a technical problem with the radar system and that there was no threat. Another crisis in Nov. 1983 was averted when the CIAʼs Mel Goodman—with whom McGovern said he was proud to work on Soviet foreign policy—bypassed all his superiors and went directly to CIA Director Bill Casey to warn that the White House had to stop ongoing western military exercises which were misunderstood in Moscow to be an attack on the Soviet Union. A third possible incident occurred when President Nixon had been drinking heavily and Kissinger warned military leaders that Nixon was inebriated and should he give orders to launch a nuclear strike the military leaders should first check with Kissinger. McGovern said that we are currently facing a level of danger that he has not seen since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and he again put the biggest concern on President Trumpʼs mental state.
Jack Gilroy, a leader in Pax Christi, spoke of the growing circulation of the letter calling on Pope Leo XIV to bring world leaders together to address the need for peace and nuclear disarmament. Gilroy said that the Pope is seen as a moral leader and is respected by people of all faiths. In the past Gilroy could meet with his congressman, but recently the congressman has given excuses to cancel meetings and the last time the meeting was canceled because the congressman was on an AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel.
Garland Nixon, the media personality and political analyst, said that the members of the European oligarchy are the most rabidly pro-war because they are hysterical about the end of the 500 years of colonialism and looting. The British always had the goal of controlling shipping choke points, but now the Houthis have more control than the British Navy. Nixon said that these oligarchs are angry, furious, and irrational at the fall of their colonial hierarchy. Nearly everybody calling into his show want to know how they can help.
Dennis Small said that the 500 years of colonial looting and the drive for nuclear war are the same issue. Elbridge Colby is married to the Brazilian Susana Cordeiro Guerra who is the Vice President at the World Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean. In Brazil Guerra was a protege of the Finance Minister Paulo Guedes, a former student of Milton Friedman and one of the looters of the “Chicago Boys” under President Jair Bolsonaro.
Donald Ramotar, former president of Guyana, said the several western countries are desperate to “turn back the clock” to keep the 500 years of colonialism alive.
Jose Vega spoke about his independent congressional campaign and the website TheTorresFile.com which documents the money and corruptions around Congressman Ritchie Torres (Democrat in New Yorkʼs 15th C.D., the Bronx). Moderator Anastasia Battle gave a report of a scheduled “Crusader” confrontation in Dearborn, Michigan between Christian Nationalists and the large Arab community, however, activists and faith leaders from many denominations came out to defend the community and peaceful unity.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche closed the event stressing that “We are all in one boat,” one humanity. We need to promote the Extended Oasis Plan to end the cycle of violence and educate 30 to 50 percent of the population and join with the Global Majority. The world wants peace and stability, not wars and genocide. In recent weeks military leaders warned that we are sleepwalking into another 1914 war crisis. We must circulate the letter to every institution and every thinking person. (sac)
