General

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.

International Peace Coalition, Week 149

by EIR Staff

April 10—Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute and convener of the International Peace Coalition (IPC), opened the IPC’s 149th meeting by discussing the ongoing peace negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan, which must reverse the global political and strategic “debacle” of the last week. She noted that, while U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to annihilate Iran and end its civilization, all while declaring victory for the United States in the ceasefire, the reality is much different. Iran clearly suffered significant damage and loss of life, but after all the bombing, its will remains unbroken. Any plan to split the Iranian population backfired, she said, and the country is more unified than ever. Iran is in full control of the Strait of Hormuz and wanted to demonstrate its ability to stand up to the United States, which it did.

Zepp-LaRouche continued, noting that the United States sought to show it is still a world leader but garnered little support, diminishing its power and prestige. The region is now in shambles, and the world is in disarray. Persian Gulf States no longer view U.S. military bases on their territory as a guarantee of protection; instead, their presence is now seen as a liability. The U.S. has not only endangered the entire region by starting the Iran War, but ultimately the entire world. Trump must now halt the war, as its continuation would threaten the global economy.

The erratic behavior of the United States, Zepp-LaRouche added, makes it uncertain what will happen next. She stated that Trump is the first U.S. president to act purely in the interest of Israel and that, with the exception of Spain and a few other countries, most Western leaders lacked the courage to challenge American policy. The “Coalition of the Willing” is still promoting war with Russia, which led Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova to say that Germany had not learned the lesson from two world wars. Zepp-LaRouche referenced a recent article by Pino Arlacchi—former Undersecretary-General of the UN and Director of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime who worked with the Taliban in 1999-2002 to successfully eliminate opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan—who suggested replacing the UN Security Council with a “peace enforcement mechanism” elected by the UN General Assembly. She referenced nuclear weapons experts such as Dr. Theodore Postol and Steven Starr, who both have warned that if one nation uses a nuclear weapon, many more nuclear weapons will be unleashed. Zepp-LaRouche warned that the entire architecture of the world order is collapsing, potentially resulting in chaos. However, she also suggested that a new order, based on reason and modeled after the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, is possible. She called for an Extended Oasis Plan for the different countries of Southwest Asia, reaching from India to the Mediterranean, from the Caucasus to the Gulf States—to determine which development corridors are most suitable to develop that region as a whole—given that the entire region is an expanding desert, that would have to involve the creation of new water sources. Zepp-LaRouche highlighted Pope Leo XIV’s  positive role in mobilizing people to stop the war.

The next speaker, Col. (ret.) Richard H. Black, former head of the U.S. Army’s  Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon and former Virginia state senator, warned of Israel’s role in keeping the war going. Black said that Israel’s goal is a permanent presence of U.S. troops on the ground, but that President Trump must maintain control over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Black added that U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have an “Israel First” agenda, and that almost the entire U.S. Congress is subservient to Israel. He stated that Israel’s assassination campaign in the Iran War has killed all of Iran’s senior pro-Western negotiators, who are now being replaced by hardliners, which will only prolong the war, a goal of Netanyahu.

Col. (ret.) Alain Corvez, former advisor to the French Defense and Interior Ministries said that Western hegemony is weakening due to the Iran War and that the world balance of power is shifting, predicting that BRICS nations, especially Russia, China, and Iran, will grow in influence. The United States will retain power but have less global influence and deeper divisions at home. Corvez said that both Trump and the Democrats have been unsuccessful in the U.S., and that Diane Sare’s independent U.S. presidential campaign offers a solution and will gain support.

Dialogue of Civilizations and Learning Our True History

Asked to comment, Helga Zepp-LaRouche called on Americans to reflect on their own history during this 250th year of independence, asserting that a return to the policies of Ben Franklin and John Quincy Adams would facilitate collaboration with the Global Majority. She stated that the sooner the West understands and works with the Global Majority, the sooner we can overcome the war and other crises facing humanity.

Pakistani-American academic, Dr. Abdullah Al-Ahsan, discussed the role of the former head of UK’s Arab Bureau, Bernard Lewis and his American sidekick Samuel Huntington in creating the Clash of Civilizations, noting that the government of Iran called for a Dialogue of Civilizations in the 1990s. Instead of pursuing this opening, however, the “War on Terror” was used to divide the world. Al-Ahsan said that civilizations can only thrive when people have dignity and society is based on truth-seeking. He warned that Pakistan is working for a ceasefire, but many of its leaders are “in the pocket” of America and cannot be trusted.

Speaking from Canada, Yakov Rabkin, professor emeritus of history at the Université de Montréal said that he has spent much of his life studying the history of Zionism and the establishment of the relatively young state of Israel, which he described as a “settler colonial entity.” The violence in West Asia, he said, comes from the attempt to expand an ideology of Jewish supremacism in a borderless ethnic national state within the already populated land of Palestine. He said that settlers feel insecure, so they try to expand their borders, but the new borders are equally insecure because of the fundamentally failed nature of their outlook. Since its founding, Israel has relied on military force. He said that Israel has nuclear weapons and will not hesitate to use them to defend itself from an “existential threat,” but this is not a threat to the nation or its people, but a threat to the Apartheid system. Rabkin quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying in 2001 that “America is a thing that we can move easily,” and added that Israel labels anyone who resists this type of manipulation as “antisemitic.” Those who would like to know more, he said, should read his recent short book Israel in Palestine: Jewish Rejection of Zionism.

Intervening In the U.S. Scene

Jose Vega, candidate for Congress in New York’s 15th congressional district (the Bronx), discussed his campaign and a candidates debate the night before where he reiterated his call for the Oasis Plan and for 10,000 new engineers in Gaza and the Bronx. There was a clear freakout from the Democratic establishment when he pointed out that his contender, former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee Michael Blake, was a servant of the Jeffrey Epstein Class.

Diane Sare, independent candidate for U.S. President called on Congress to end the war by simply cutting off all funding—which, she said, was how the U.S. war in Vietnam was finally brought to an end in Aug. 1973. She said that much of the Democratic Party leadership wants the war to continue in order for their candidates to win the U.S. midterm elections. She stated that two of the Democratic Congress members who were responsible for tabling the recent War Powers Resolution—U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (from New York’s 5th congressional district) and U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (from New York’s 8th congressional district)—also take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and make deals with the “donor class.” Sare mentioned an event she attended the day before on Capitol Hill that was focused on the need to impeach Trump. She pointed out that Trump is just the logical conclusion of over 20 years of political insanity—a 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq based on lies, President Obama’s invasion of Libya, President Biden’s toleration of two years of genocide in Gaza, 200 Congressmen signing a letter attacking South Africa’s challenge to that genocide at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and the Epstein Class controlling the federal government. Therefore, we must remove Trump’s hand from the levers of power, but do so without further dividing the country.

During the question period, Helga Zepp-LaRouche returned to the issue of the Clash of Civilizations, stating that the enemy image shifted from communism to Islam when the Cold War ended. She said that the trick has been to constantly divide people, but we must unite people, who may have differences, using the highest level of debate. IPC co-moderator Dennis Small spoke of Pope Leo XIV’s  efforts to stop the war, despite threats from U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby. He noted that the Pope has called for a worldwide vigil for peace on April 11. Dennis Speed, another IPC co-moderator, added that the Pope will come to the United States in July but has declined an invitation from President Trump to meet him at the White House on July 4, the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, instead spending that day in Lampedusa, an Italian island off the coast of Tunisia, helping migrants attempting to enter Europe from Africa.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche concluded the event by commenting on some of the questions that came in. First she spoke of the importance of the Pope going to Africa later this year. She said that it is important that voices from the Global South are heard and that the Pope spent much of his career in Peru, which gives him insight into the needs of the Global Majority. She said that she is not giving up on the West, but that it needs a “moral revival,”  and that it has been targeted with schemes to dumb down the population with war propaganda and entertainment. Zepp-LaRouche said that people need to challenge their axioms to become wiser and more loving to one another, and that we need great culture, life-long learning, and Socratic dialogues with our neighbors.