International Peace Coalition, Report on #151
by EIR staff
April 24—The International Peace Coalition (IPC) commenced its 151st consecutive weekly online meeting with an overview by Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who noted that the Chinese government has called upon its citizens to leave Iran, which may mean that they have information on the immanent resumption of the war with United States and Israel. The continuous two month blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been caused by this unprovoked war of aggression against Iran, has put the world in acute danger of falling into an economic depression with incredible social consequences. There are already severe shortages of oil, energy prices are increasing, and shortages of fertilizer are endangering the world’s food supply.
Zepp-LaRouche said that there is an urgent need to establish a New International Security and Development Architecture which takes account of the interests of all nations. Although that idea had been dismissed by many in the past, she said, now that the world is collapsing that idea is gaining resonance and people are beginning to ask how international relations among nations can be reestablished based upon principles. The only institution which has called for a such a principled return to international law, other than the Schiller Institute and the IPC, is the government of China which has put forward its four global initiatives, in particular its Global Governance Initiative, which is a framework of how to rearrange international relations based on the UN Charter and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
Other consequences of the collapse of the present system include the Persian Gulf states, which had a business model where they relied on the presence of American bases to guarantee their security, but as it turns out, the United States only protects Israel. These countries are now in a very difficult position, she said, feeling the economic effects of the war. There is an urgent need to discuss: what do we do with this region of Southwest Asia when the war ends? Zepp-LaRouche said that for this reason, the Schiller Institute has put forward an Extended Oasis Plan for the region; the creation of large amounts of new fresh water with nuclear desalination of ocean water brought in by canals; the building of economic development corridors extending from India to the Mediterranean, from the Caucuses to the Persian Gulf.
Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Africa has been a very significant development, she said. In the United States, support for President Donald Trump is rapidly declining, even among his MAGA base. Since the U.S. Congress abdicated the right to declare war, “it is their urgent responsibility to take it back.”
María de los Ángeles Huerta del Río, former Congresswoman from Mexico, warned that most important wars of the 21st Century are fought not with drones and missiles, but with algorithms and the battlefield is the human mind. This is called “hybrid warfare.” Ultraconservative think tanks like the Atlas Network are linked with Silicon Valley tech giants and legions of propaganda influencers. Latin America has become a testing ground for these techniques. We need instead to make it into a zone of “cognitive peace.” She proposed that the nations of this region reassert the role of national media to combat propaganda, and that they join forces in these endeavors in a “South-South” alliance to stand up to the power of the global media giants, an alliance for “cognitive sovereignty and digital justice.”
Dennis Fritz, U.S. Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant (ret.) and current Senior Fellow at the Eisenhower Media Network, spoke as a military man who has seen the inner workings of the Pentagon. He said that he has been warning about the Iran war which is happening right now for decades. “How did I know it was coming? I saw the plan” and it goes back to 1992. Retired U.S. four-star General Wesley Clark revealed that after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks he was told by a Pentagon general of the plan for the United States to take out seven countries within five years. “We are the cause of the majority of the problems around the world,” Fritz said. We claim to stand for democracy and freedom, but we destroy those things around the world. We started a war in Ukraine, at the expense of Ukraine, to weaken Russia. The entire world is being held hostage to an economic disaster, due to a war that we started in Iran. We are currently blockading Cuba, starving women and children. The huge sums of money we spend on war could have enormous benefits to the civilian economy.
Zepp-LaRouche responded that the idea of billionaires becoming trillionaires through war profiteering must become a topic of public debate.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Diane Sare said that she has been in a fight to get the U.S. Congress to assume the responsibility for declaring war, as the Constitution requires in Article I, Section 8. We see partisan posturing; Democrats hope that the war continues so that Trump and the Republicans will be held responsible on election day. Sare and congressional candidate Jose Vega—who has qualified for ballot status as a Democrat and is now petitioning to also get on the ballot as an independent in New York’s 15th congressional district (the Bronx)— are pulling together a coalition of independent candidates across the United States. Regarding the physical economy, she said, “Let’s get real.” We used to understand the relationship between maintaining our infrastructure and meeting the needs of the population.
Mike Callicrate, Kansas cattle rancher and founder of Ranch Foods Direct, warned that we cannot feed ourselves currently, we have lost more than half our ranchers, and we import food from poor countries. “Global food policy should protect people, not predators.”
Jack Gilroy, of Veterans for Peace and Pax Christi, reported on a visit to Washington D.C., where 150 individuals from 5 or 6 different veterans’ organizations went into the U.S. Capitol Rotunda bearing red tulips for the people killed in Iran. Seventy U.S. veterans were arrested as they stood at parade rest.
Larry Johnson is a former CIA analyst and Deputy Director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Counterterrorism from 1989 to 1993. He said that Trump is delusional about his accomplishments and shows lack of emotional control. This is particularly apparent in Trump’s attacks on his former supporters like American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and former Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (from Georgia’s 14th Congressional District) who have become his critics. The petulant name-calling is what we might expect from a twelve-year-old. At the recent emergency meeting on Iran, Trump began to openly talk about using a nuclear weapon, according to multiple sources. Later in public statements he ruled out the use of nukes, and we hope that he remembers that he said that. Trump said that he is waiting for a specific proposal from Iran, when Iran’s ten-point plan proposal was sent ten days ago. The United States does not have enough ships to have a full blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, despite the claims that they are making.
Johnson said that neither the Iranians nor the Americans appreciate the global consequences of closing the Strait. Those consequences are beginning to be seen now. In particular, the disruption of supplies of urea for fertilizer will devastate world food production. People in our government who are responsible for anticipating and addressing this impending crisis are clueless.
Independent presidential candidate Diane Sare recalled that President Joe Biden was senile, but everyone pretended he was fine, as he pursued a policy of war and genocide. Now Trump continues Biden’s policies, and Trump is also losing his mind, while public figures pretend that his behavior is normal.
LaRouche Organization organizer Tim Rush reported on the activity of delegations of citizens who visited Congress on April 22, reaching roughly 40 offices of leading members of the House of Representatives to hand-deliver letters, both from their constituents, and from leaders of other nations, who emphasized that “it’s a question of world heritage that the founding principles of the United States must be revived.” Co-moderator Dennis Small read from a selection of these international letters, including from a 90-year-old nun in Barcelona, Spain. In response, Zepp-LaRouche sent special greetings to this nun, and called attention to the exemplary role of Spain in the current strategic situation. She said that she hoped that the people of Spain would “encourage the idea” of Spain being kicked out of NATO.
Discussion
Mike Callicrate stressed the importance of restoring a relationship between farmers and ranchers, and the communities in which they operate. Global agribusinesses have strangled food production and created food scarcity.
A participant asked, What if Iran were to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as a benevolent gesture, in the expectation of fairness. Is this thinkable? Zepp-LaRouche replied that the questioner should put herself in the shoes of Iranian leaders who have no reason to trust the United States or Israel, and they must look out for the safety and welfare of their citizens. Dennis Small reminded the meeting that it is actually the United States which is presently blocking the Strait.
A Spanish participant stressed the injustice of the U.S. siege of Cuba, a nation which has often demonstrated solidarity with other developing nations.
In concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche stated that the need to unite the international peace movement is more urgent than ever. She referred to the presentation by former Congresswoman María de los Ángeles Huerta del Río as being particularly important, since the issue of “narrative control” has emerged as central in the struggle for peace.
