Police-State Measures Against Protesters with 'Wrong' Thoughts May 4, 2021 (EIRNS)--An Arkansas man photographed at a desk in Nancy Pelosi's office was taken into custody on Jan. 8, charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, and possession of a "deadly or dangerous weapon" (the retired firefighter's walking stick -- fitted with a stun gun but without batteries on Jan. 6). Federal prosecutors requested, and secured, an order from Judge Beryl Howell, the chief judge of the D.C. district court, for the man to be taken to Washington D.C., where he has been incarcerated in solitary confinement pending his trial later this month. In another case, that of the "zip tie guy" and his mother, a D.C. appellate court denounced their pre-trial detention, leading to their release--pending trial--after more than two months in jail. As the kid-gloves approach towards Antifa protesters in Portland makes clear, this strict approach is not pursued against all protesters in the United States, but rather is trained on those who are to be exhibited as examples of the DVEs (domestic violent extremists) that supposedly pose a mortal threat to "American democracy." Just last Wednesday, April 28, a couple in Alaska were roused from their bedroom by armed FBI agents, who had broken the door to their home and inn. The agents handcuffed the pair, along with several houseguests, and interrogated them for hours about their participation in the Jan. 6 event at the Capitol. The couple had attended Trump's speech and walked to the Capitol, but had not entered it. Eventually the agents revealed that they believed the wife had stolen Nancy Pelosi's laptop. After ransacking their home and confiscating electronic equipment, the agents left. The same day, Rudy Giuliani's home was searched. In total, an enormous police and intelligence operation has led to the arrest of over 400 people for their participation in the Jan. 6 events. Are we really to believe that this same apparatus was unable to foresee the need for additional security at the Capitol that day?
The latest “Food Security” report on Afghanistan released yesterday by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) raises the alarm that Afghanistan is becoming the largest humanitarian crisis in the world—beyond even the horror of the famines in Yemen, Ethiopia, Syria, and South Sudan. The facts, maps, and descriptions included in that report make clear that mass death has begun, and that the U.S.-led Western financial sanctions are playing a major role in this catastrophe. This is genocide.
The number of Afghanistan’s people suffering “acute food insecurity” has risen, even after this season’s harvest, from 14 million to 18.8 million people—47% of the nation’s population. That’s a 37% increase since the last assessment carried out by these agencies in April. The FAO and WFP now project that, come the November to March winter months, at least 22.8 million people—more than half (55%) of Afghanistan’s people—will be starving to death. Be clear: “acute food insecurity” is not chronic hunger; it is defined as “when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.”
“Economic decline” stemming from the imposition of international financial sanctions is identified right up front as a “key driver” of this catastrophe, along with conflict and drought. “In the wake of Afghanistan’s political transition and the consequent freezing of US$ 9.5 billion in national assets, the economy plummeted,” the report acknowledges. “The banking system suffered severe disruption, and the national currency lost 12.5 percent of value, leading to high unemployment and food prices.”
In large part because of the sanctions, “for the first time, urban residents are suffering from food insecurity at similar rates to rural communities…. Across cities, towns and villages, virtually no family can afford sufficient food, according to recent WFP surveys,” the World Food Program reported in a press release. “Rampant unemployment and a liquidity crisis are putting all major urban centers in danger of slipping into a Phase 4 emergency level of food insecurity, including formerly middle class populations,” the report finds.
“Afghanistan is now among the world’s worst humanitarian crises—if not the worst—and food security has all but collapsed,” WFP executive director David Beasley warned in releasing this report. “This winter, millions of Afghans will be forced to choose between migration and starvation unless we can step up our life-saving assistance, and unless the economy can be resuscitated…. Hunger is rising and children are dying … the international community must come together to address this crisis, which is fast spinning out of control.”
The WFP press release cites one of the authors of the report, Jean-Martin Bauer, on how one million Afghan children, right now, are in danger of dying of hunger. Bauer asserted that “no one wants to see Afghan children die as a result of, you know, politics, essentially.”
Prove him right; join the Schiller Institute’s international campaign to end the financial strangulation of Afghanistan, and sign and circulate its “Call to Release the funds of the Afghan people.”
Edward Snowden provided us with an excellent example of how to debunk the self-righteous rants from the likes of Biden’s Secretary of State Blinken. After Blinken used the occasion of World Press Freedom Day to praise the U.S. for its advocacy of “press freedom”, Snowden asked, “What about Julian Assange?” This is one of many examples of the hypocrisy of the unipolar order demanded by the Biden government and its U.K./NATO allies, as they push the world toward war. We cannot let them get away with their commitment to imposing “rules” which benefit the globalist elites of the City of London and Wall Street, while pillaging the rest of the world.
Both China and Afghanistan appear to view the two days of meetings between Afghan Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Doha yesterday and today, as productive and friendly.
Going into the talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin yesterday noted the importance of the talks, the first at this level since their meetings in July before the Taliban assumption of power. “The Afghan people are seeing a historic opportunity to independently take control of their country’s future,” at the same time that they face “many difficulties and challenges, where there is an urgent need for external support,” the spokesman emphasized. “Against such a backdrop, the Chinese side and the Afghan Taliban authorities have agreed to meet in Doha.”
Global Times reports that Wang Yi spoke of China’s concerns (EITM terrorism, the need for inclusive government, for avoiding chaos, and for having good relations with neighbors, etc.), but also expressed China’s support for Afghanistan’s development:
“Wang urged the US and the West to lift sanctions on the country. He also called upon all parties to engage with the Afghan Taliban in a rational and pragmatic manner to help Afghanistan embark on a path of healthy development,” Global Times reported.
“Wang said that Afghanistan is now at a critical stage of transforming from chaos to governance, and is facing a historic opportunity to achieve reconciliation and advance national reconstruction. But challenges still lay ahead, including the humanitarian crises, economic chaos and terrorist threats, which require more understanding and support from the international community.”
Global Times reported that Baradar had briefed Wang on the current situation in Afghanistan, and told him “that the Afghan Taliban attaches great importance to China’s security concerns, and will resolutely honor its promise and never allow any forces to use the Afghan territory to harm China.”
Afghanistan’s Tolo News, citing government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, reports that Beijing had promised to provide $5 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, and that the two governments had agreed to set up three committees. “The first committee is working on political and diplomatic relations; the second will focus on creating relations and understanding between the two countries; and the third committee is working on economic projects,” Mujahid reported.
Two former Surgeon Generals of the United States responded to Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s initiative on Afghanistan.
Dr. David Satcher, who served as surgeon general from 1998 to 2002, had the following to say:
“Dr. William Foege, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1977-1983), in his book, House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox, about the successful effort to eradicate smallpox disease, describes how relationships were prioritized, including assuring that credit for successful interventions was appropriately shared. On the other hand, when we came close to eradicating polio in the last decade of the 20th Century, it was the fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan which prevented our success in eliminating polio in those countries, and thus eradicating it in the world. In other words, we were not willing to allow the immunization of children in Pakistan and Afghanistan to take priority over the killing of people and the winning of the war. But, in fact, nobody won the war in Afghanistan, and we failed to eradicate polio.
“Ultimately, we will eradicate polio, but unfortunately it will be after many lives have been lost and trillions of dollars have been spent.
“We can do better! We can invest in lives rather than deaths! We can bring new thinking into our relationships. We can care about each other and value lives beyond our own and beyond our own culture. We can work to make science work for us and for future generations.
“I am impressed with the idea and the statement. We’re talking about a whole new definition of winning and what it means to win, especially winning together, and supporting the healthy development of children as a priority. What is needed is a new paradigm, relative to what we value and what we are willing to do to bring it about.”
Dr. Joycelyn Elders, who served as surgeon general from 1993 to 1994, responded:
“I agree with Dr. David Satcher’s response to Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s statement regarding the needed approach to the dire health and humanitarian crisis facing Afghanistan and many other nations around the world. When we speak about the need for basic necessities for life, such as healthcare, food and water, that is the same for people everywhere, regardless of where you are or what type of government you have.
“The COVID pandemic is exasperating the crises in previously food and health-deprived countries. It is clear that the only way this will be defeated is with a modern healthcare system, in every nation. The Committee for the Coincidence of Opposites has emphasized the need for comprehensive, not piecemeal solutions. Infrastructure, food, energy, and clean water are crucial, combined with modern hospitals and trained personnel. I have long championed the training and deployment of community health care workers, especially recruited from among the young, to augment the resources of trained medical personnel. These workers would now be invaluable in assisting in this effort. Also, here is where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), a branch of the uniformed services of the U.S. which does not bear arms, and which I and my colleague Dr. Satcher directed, could play an important role.
“Now is the time for us to end confrontation and engage in cooperation to address the basic needs of humanity.”
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For more on The Committee for the Coincidence of Opposites — founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, and Dr. Jocelyn Elders — and the need for a world health platform – see the Founding Statement:
See the most recent statement by Helga Zepp-LaRouche on the need for food and public health in Afghanistan, and a policy of Peace through Development:
Global Health Security Requires Medical Infrastructure in Every Country:
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Friday that ten US diplomats are being declared {persona non grata} and ordered out of Russia, as part of what he labeled a “tit-for-tat response” to President Biden’s actions on Thursday. He also matched the US by barring eight Americans from entering Russia: FBI Director Christopher Wray, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Director of Federal Bureau of Prisons Michael Carvajal, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and former CIA Director James Woolsey. He indicated that further actions, if provoked, would include imposing “painful measures” on US businesses in Russia and expelling 100 of the 450 staff at the American embassy in Russia, to match the 350 Russians at their embassy in the US.
President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, met with his Security Council today: “There was a conversation about measures in response to the US sanctions imposed on our country the day before.” Also, military construction was high on the agenda, and Putin informed the Council of his call with Biden.
Earlier, on Thursday, Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had made it clear that a response to Biden’s actions was “unavoidable” and that the American ambassador, John Sullivan, was summoned for “tough talks.” Also on Thursday, the State Duma’s Speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin described Biden’s measures as showing that the “whole arsenal of accusations has been exhausted, and the US is going in a circle… by imposing sanctions, they punish themselves. In the end, they will have to build relationships that they themselves have destroyed.” The First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, Dmitry Novikov, told Izvestia that there was nothing surprising: “They say that they are ready to meet and contact, but only on topics that interest them, and in all other respects they will continue pressure. They call this a pragmatic approach.” Izvestia interviewed the president of the American University in Moscow, Eduard Lozansky, who suggested that, while the inconsistency of Biden’s actions this week casts doubt upon his sincerity, it could also be that advisers and party members have the bulk of control over Biden, making him twist and turn.
Tass’s coverage on Friday noted that Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin had noted weeks ago, that the US was planning on attacking Russian bonds, “a deliberate calculation to create a toxic atmosphere around Russian securities in order to reduce their investment potential”—and that Russia was preparing measures to counteract this escalation.
As the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York yesterday, the only real issue before the members is that of Development versus Depopulation. While British PM Boris Johnson was openly pushing depopulation, President Biden made an effort to hide behind rhetoric about “diplomacy” and “no Cold War”; but his actions last week, in formally announcing a new strategic alliance with the Brits and Australia — against China and Russia — shows why so many nations no longer trust the U.S. In contrast, China’s Xi called for a new Global Development Initiative, based on multilateralism, and non-interference in other’s internal affairs.
Venezuela has finally been able to make the down payment required for developing countries to begin to receive their allocations of COVID-19 vaccines from the international COVAX facility, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez announced on April 9. But Rodriguez reported that the government was only able to do so through elaborate maneuvers to secure Swiss francs for the purchase. President Nicolas Maduro explained the next day, that Venezuela could only do this by “liberating some resources which had been kidnapped by the U.S. and deposited in Swiss francs, because if it had been done in dollars, the U.S. Federal Reserve would have stolen it.”
That Venezuela was forced to go through such maneuvers to be able to purchase vaccines, exposes the lie by successive United States administrations, that U.S. economic sanctions do not affect humanitarian aid or the people of the dozens of nations on which sanctions have been imposed. Neither the President or Vice President gave any details, but Maduro said “at the right time,” people will find out how they had freed up a tiny portion of the country’s own reserves to make the needed payment to COVAX. (The 59.2 million Swiss francs paid equal a little over half of the $120 million cost of nearly 11.4 million vaccine doses.)
Led by Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, the Trump administration enacted sanctions against Venezuela which are nothing less than an economic blockade, a blockade which Biden’s Secretary of State Tony Blinken has reaffirmed. Under the sanctions, Venezuela’s foreign reserves held abroad have been seized by the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, and other banks. At the same time, Venezuela is prohibited from selling its oil on international markets—a measure enforced by U.S. navy gunboats as well as legal threats—thus shutting down its primary means of earning new dollars to cover vital imports, including food, medicines—and vaccines.
President Nicolas Maduro reported on April 10th that a great diplomatic and legal effort had been required to access enough of Venezuelan government funds which had been “kidnapped by the Federal Reserve” under the “criminal financial sanctions” to make the payment. The Biden administration had refused the government’s appeal for some of its frozen reserves to be released for the Venezuelan government to purchase vaccines, driving Maduro to even offer “oil for vaccines” on March 29—although, that, too, would be “illegal” under U.S. sanctions.
Venezuela is one of the South American countries where the coronavirus is surging right now, and particularly the Brazilian variant, yet until now, the only vaccine commitments the government has been able to line up were for Russia’s Sputnik V and EpivacCorona (for which payment arrangements were made), China’s Sinopharm (donated), and Cuba’s yet-to-be approved Abdala.
Both Biden’s Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Adviser Sullivan were trotted out for Sunday news shows to defend the “rules-based order” against threats from Russia and China. The order they back is a global central banker’s dictatorship, to be enforced by U.S. and NATO military might. The oligarchs they work for are the true authoritarians, and their goal is not only to take away our freedoms, but our lives, as their order is putting us on the verge of World War III. Time for a New Paradigm, to replace their collapsing, bankrupt and immoral system.
Register for the Schiller Institute May 8th conference: https://schillerinstitute.nationbuilder.com/20210508-conference Email me at HarleySch@gmail.com and find me on twitter.
Syria Times Covers Helga’s Webcast and Appeal
April 15, 2021 (EIRNS)–The English-language official Syria Times daily today published a detailed news item on Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s call during the weekly webcast. The video is also posted on the Syrian Times page.
The-moral-collapse-of-the-western-system-cries-out-for-a-new-paradigm The article is accompanied by two pictures, one of Helga and the other of Cardinal Zenari. The full text follows:
“In her weekly dialogue, Helga Zepp-LaRouche made an impassioned appeal to viewers to join with her in addressing the dangerous moral collapse which characterizes virtually every western government, including the United States. This collapse poses a threat to everyone, as the crisis in Ukraine continues to build toward a war between Russia and the forces of the U.S. and NATO. The possibility of a Biden-Putin summit is a positive development, but at the same time it was announced, his foreign policy team was voicing full support for the fanatical extremist wing of domestic forces in Ukraine, which is pushing to cross the “red line” announced years ago by Moscow, that of placing NATO troops on the Russian border of Ukraine.
“She also emphasized the urgency of lifting the so-called Caesar Sanctions against the people of Syria, citing the appeal of Cardinal Zenari to end the sanctions. There is nothing “humanitarian”, she stated, in starving children and shutting down hospitals and medical care, based on another fraudulent narrative cooked up by U.K.-U.S. regime-change networks. We must insist that every policy maker who does not speak up against this fraud is complicit in every death which occurs in Syria, and in Yemen.”
