International Peace Coalition

Report on International Peace Coalition, Week 161

July 4, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 161st consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took the unusual step of starting an hour later than usual, so that participants could view the live video address of Pope Leo XIV as he accepted the 38th Liberty Medal from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator, reported that “he represents in his person and his teaching… the values of the American Revolution and the founding fathers.” She recommended that everyone read his recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, because the present state of American policy has deviated so far from those values.

Other IPC participants had varying reactions to the pope’s address. Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, and cofounder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), prefaced his remarks by saying, “I’m a cradle Catholic.” He went on to acknowledge that Pope Leo is speaking out, but “in abstractions and generalities,” and he chose not to speak freely about “the blood-stained face of history.” He drew a comparison to the role of Pius XII, who also spoke in abstractions during World War II.

Later in the meeting, Zepp-LaRouche conceded that “maybe the Pope could have spoken more clearly against the war.” But she pointed out that leading warmongers in the United States have reacted sharply to comments by the Pope, and she said that there is a German proverb: “hit dogs bark,” meaning that their hysterical reactions were proof that the pope’s words had reached their intended targets.

McGovern said later that upon reflection, he still feels that he was not “too harsh on Pope Leo.” The United States is participating in a war of aggression and a genocide, and the Pope failed to “stick his neck out” and address these things directly, unlike Jesus who “didn’t speak in platitudes.”

Father Harry Bury, a renowned Catholic priest for 70 years, lifelong peace activist, member of the U.S. Catholic Priest Association, and the founder of Twin Cities Nonviolent, said that while this is a dangerous time that is escalating toward a third world war, he is still hopeful because of two factors: the Schiller Institute’s Oasis Plan, and the Pope’s recent encyclical.

During the discussion period, co-moderator Dennis Small called attention to the fact that the government of Spain has announced an amnesty for 1.3 million migrants. Two weeks earlier the Pope was in Spain, where he said that we need to have development so that people can remain in their home nations and not be forced to leave in order to survive. Mexican farm activist Alberto Vizcarra added that the Pope applies the doctrine of the “common good” to agriculture, which must prioritize the needs of humanity over the profits of speculators.

In her concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche said that the recent encyclical is “a very powerful intervention”; what he said about the American Revolution is more perceptive than the comments of anyone outside of Lyndon LaRouche and his collaborators. “We have to get Americans back to their soul,” she said.

Another participant noted that Peter Thiel of Palantir accuses the Pope of being an agent of communism because he calls for regulation of Artificial Intelligence.

The Current Strategic Picture

Zepp-LaRouche observed that it is difficult to say which theater of war is more dangerous, the Middle East or Ukraine. The answer is probably Ukraine, since it involves a direct conflict between NATO and Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has publicly questioned the intention behind the Aug. 15, 2025 Anchorage, Alaska meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. While the summit had seemed to offer a pathway to resolve the conflict, top leaders now wonder if it may have been a strategic deception by the West, like the Minsk Accords of 2014-2015. In the Middle East, the June 17 U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding is “in complete shambles.” “Day by day, hour by hour, the energy and fertilizer crisis around the world is getting worse,” she said. The United States and Israel have foolishly pursued a policy of assassinating moderate Iranian leaders, putting the hardliners in control.

Prof. Richard Anderson Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories from 2008 to 2014, observed that the current crisis ironically overlaps the “fake celebration” of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. World leaders are captive to a dangerous ideology “rooted in militarist geopolitics.” Because they can’t accept the reality of military supremacy leading to political defeat, they are driving us closer to the nuclear precipice. They refuse to learn the lessons of the limits of military power. There is also the pernicious problem of private sector militarism: “Wars are profitable whether they are won or lost.” The founders of the United States understood that a democratic republic can’t handle peacetime militarism.

Ray McGovern added that there is an additional factor of danger to the NATO-Russia confrontation: Finland and Lithuania have announced that they will deploy nuclear weapons on their territory, and it is likely that the other Baltic states, Estonia and Latvia, will follow suit.

Professor Bassam el Hachem, Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Lebanon, said that Lebanon is more mobilized than ever against the American and Israel aggression. Hezbollah is called terrorist because they are resisting Israel. Israel is not satisfied with occupying Palestine; they want to go farther with a “Greater Israel” plan. He added that the attack on Iran in the midst of negotiations was a “dirty knife in the back of the Iranians.”

Co-moderator Dennis Speed read a message from Dennis Kucinich, former U.S. Congressman from Ohio and former U.S. Presidential Candidate, who was unable to attend in person. Kucinich is focused on Section 219 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which would merge U.S. defense and intelligence with Israelʼs defense technology capabilities. Speed reported that in a phone discussion with Kucinich, they both agreed that it should be called the Jonathan Pollard initiative, after the American-born Israeli spy and former intelligence analyst who was sentenced in 1987 to life imprisonment in the United States for spying for Israel, released in 2015, now lives in Israel and has even called for Israel to use nuclear weapons against Iran. Congress should not be asked to vote on the $901 billion NDAA without hearing debate on amendments. Kucinich urged everyone to read his July 2 article U.S.-Israel Military Merger Delayed: Here’s Why and How You Can Stop It.

Report from a Mexican Farm Activist

Baltazar Valdez Armentía, leader of United Farmers of Sinaloa and on the Steering Committee of the National Front to Save the Mexican Countryside, said that Mexican agriculture was threatened by three factors: the geopolitical crisis, including the Iran war which is causing shortages in energy and fertilizer; environmental collapse; and predatory financiers who make hunger central to their business strategy. “While farmers receive a pittance for their crops,” speculators rig the game to maximize their profits. His movement calls upon the Mexican government to confront the transnational agro-financial corporations. They are demanding parity prices and protective tariffs, a crackdown on speculation, and the construction of adequate infrastructure.

Report from Philadelphia

Independent congressional candidate Jose Vega (in New Yorkʼs 15th C.D., the Bronx) reported that he was in “an undisclosed location” in Philadelphia. The free outdoor public viewing of the Pope’s livestreamed remarks at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia was cancelled due to heat, so Jose took the opportunity to organize people who showed up hoping to attend. He commented on the recent election victories by insurgent Democrats, and observed that Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw lost his primary as part of the same process we see in Maine, Michigan, New York and Colorado. We don’t have time to wait for new Congressmen to be sworn in, insisted Jose. “We need to be thinking about how to rebuild the parts of the world that we have destroyed,” using the method of the Oasis Plan. We can’t just be defined by what we oppose.

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Report on Meeting of the International Peace Coalition, Week 160

by EIR staff

June 26—The 160th consecutive weekly session of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) focused on the war danger, which remains grave, but also on economic issues which are closely related. Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator Helga Zepp-LaRouche began by saying, “The world is sitting on the absolute edge of the abyss.” An important obstacle to peace is that “You cannot trust one word which is being uttered by the so-called leaders of the collective West.” She commented on a “not-so-subtle shift” in what is coming from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has stated recently that the Anglosphere is going for complete dominance and wants no obstacles to their continued extraction of resources from the rest of the world. The United States, and President Donald Trump in particular, he said, has stopped trying to be an honest broker in the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, as had been discussed in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaksa in Aug. 2025. If that is true, Lavrov said, the suspicion would be that Anchorage was just a ploy to buy time for Ukraine, and “…keep Ukraine as a launching pad for the fighting against Russia.”

The West is going for an unparalleled military build-up as their economies are collapsing. The Prime Ministers of Canada, Mark Carney, and Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, with their call for the creation of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) are openly calling for a return to the policies of Hitlerʼs Finance Minister Hjalmar Schacht in order to finance the build-up. To end this insanity, the nations of the West must declare their willingness to cooperate with the global majority, and “they would be received with open arms” by the new institutions which have emerged.

A video interview with Mossi Raz, former Israeli Member of Knesset and former Director General of Peace Now, conducted by EIR’s Gerald Belsky. Raz commented on the recent letter by former Israeli officials, demanding the eradication of “Jewish terrorism” in the occupied West Bank. He agreed that the inaction of Israeli security forces is dangerous. Raz supports a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine; neither side is going to leave, so there must be some form of economic cooperation. Most Israelis are unaware that this potential exists. Youth are unaware of even the initiative that has been put forward by the Arab League. Most think that Arabs only want to kill them.

Dr. Taylor Haynes, National President of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and former Republican candidate for Governor of Wyoming, said that he is fighting on two fronts: as a rancher, he opposes the big 4 meatpackers who control 85% of the meatpacking in the U.S. and are consolidating control over distribution of food. And he is informing people in his region about the detrimental effects of wind farms and other measures being imposed in the name of fighting climate change.

He said that “the geopolitical thing is above my pay grade” because his information comes from agenda-driven media.

In response, Zepp-LaRouche mentioned a new German book called “Truth Complex” (Der Wahrheitskomplex) which describes how narrative control has been imposed throughout the West, using artificial intelligence (AI) to suppress any dissenting viewpoints.

Co-moderator Dennis Small responded that in Mexico, the National Front for the Protection of the Countryside opposes Mexicoʼs basic grains being controlled by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the largest derivatives trading organization in the world, whose speculation threatens the continued existence of Mexican farmers and their ability to feed the population.

Haynes asked in reply, why would anyone allow their food source to be managed by an exchange in another country which has nothing to do with production?

Moderator Anastasia Battle had just returned from the 2026 World Youth Development Forum in Wuhan, China, which discussed concrete solutions to poverty and food scarcity, where US Schiller Institute president, Megan Dobrodt and herself spoke. It issued a declaration of support for peace through economic development. There was a thoughtful discussion of AI, with some speakers saying that “AI has speed, you have soul—co-create with it.” Human creativity involves a “leap of faith” of which AI is incapable of doing.

Battle reported the focus on “People-centered sustainable development” as the key to lifting hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty. Some of the conference participants had the opportunity to visit the Three Gorges Dam, where they learned of China’s successful stewardship of the Yangtze River. This dam provides electricity for 300 million people! It calmed the river which quite often would flood and destroy lives in the region. The Chinese have been actively working on preserving and reviving the plant, animal and cultural life along the river. Even celebrating a beloved poet Qu Yuan for the dragon boat festival. At one point there were only 10 Chinese sturgeons left, but now their number has grown to 300,000. Contrary to the claims of Western environmentalists, development does not equal destruction.

Larry Johnson, former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), warned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is more dangerous than the one in Iran and the Persian Gulf, in terms of possible escalation to nuclear war. The Russians have reached the end of their patience. Whatever agreements were reached in Anchorage are dead. Russia is making rapid advances in the war. Unlike Operation Barbarossa (Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on June 22, 1941) which caught Russia by surprise, this time Russia is prepared.

Johnson noted that countries around the world are drawing down their strategic reserves of petroleum. Diesel and aviation fuel are approaching critical shortages. The Strait of Hormuz is not open—claims that it is open are a lie.

Zepp-LaRouche replied that the worst-case scenario would be one where a military escalation coincides with a blow-out of the financial system. The elites are unwilling to change any failed policies, preferring to control the narrative and exclude any discussion of an alternative policy.

Johnson observed that Russia and China are both calling for a new security architecture in the Persian Gulf, and Pakistan has assumed a leading role, assisting China in diplomacy. BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are supplanting U.S. influence in the region. Commenting on the result of Tuesday’s U.S. primary elections, he said, “The toxicity of the language of these Zionists is a reflection of how much trouble they’re in…we’re witnessing the decline of the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.”

Co-moderator Dennis Small appealed for financial support so that the IPC can have another 160 meetings. As an example of the IPC’s effectiveness, he cited the case of a Spanish Bishop who received one of the letters sent by an activist who reported on this in last week’s IPC meeting. The Bishop sent a reply, in which he agreed emphatically with what we are doing, and said that it is consonant with what the Pope is striving for.

Discussion

Zepp-LaRouche warned that you cannot underestimate the amount of intelligence warfare being deployed, combined with narrative control and the perennial “divide and conquer” tactic. This is the reason that the peace movement is not united. This is something we must outwit and outflank.

In response to a participant who asked why only China and Russia have embraced the concept of a credit system as expressed in the U.S. Constitution, co-moderator Dennis Small replied that any nation that attempts to adopt such a system is picking a fight with the most powerful and dangerous forces in the world. For a credit system to work, it must be insulated from the forces of financial speculation which will seek to divert the credit issued away from physical production and into feeding their bubbles.

In concluding remarks, Dr. Haynes vowed that he will continue his activities on social media, despite the shadow-bans and other obstacles, and by intervening in public events whenever the opportunity presents itself, presenting the facts calmly.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche warned that we are “in for a very stormy next several months.” We must be realists with respect to the danger, but also eternal optimists. The global majority represents 80% of humanity, and they are headed in a useful direction. Humans, as she emphasizes in the 10th of her “Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture”, are essentially good; evil is caused by a lack of development, and can be overcome through development. Commenting on the role of American Pope Leo XIV, she said, “This Pope is a gift from Heaven,” she said, and we should use his encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” as “a tremendous weapon.”

June 19, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 159th consecutive weekly online meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took place at the end of an historic week, two days after the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran had been signed. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator, told the participants that “it is a great relief that the Memorandum of Understanding has been signed,” but that there are still “many possible booby traps” that remain. She asked, “What will Trump do if Israel does not adhere to the agreement?” She reiterated her proposed solution, that a development strategy centered on the Oasis Plan is required to provide a lasting basis for genuine peace.

The neocons’ desired “unipolar world,” dominated by the Anglosphere, has failed, Zepp-LaRouche announced. The nations of the Global South are no longer dependent upon the colonial powers; the rise of China gives them another option for economic ties. “The Chinese experiment is a wonderful success story,” she said. She placed great importance on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, which calls for a “civilization of love,” and recalled that the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote that “you can decide to feel love at will.” Zepp-LaRouche has just authored a statement titled “Urgent Appeal from Pope Leo XIV: ‘Stop! Repent! Before It’s Too Late!’ The New Name for Peace Is Development!”

Dr. Abdullah Ahsan is a professor of comparative civilization who has taught in Malaysia and Türkiye. He said that after reading the Pope’s statement, we must ask, “Is a civilization of love possible, or not?” Dr. Ahsan believes that it is. But there must be trust based on human dignity, and this will not be easily achieved. Israel challenged the MOU within hours by bombing Lebanon. Dr. Ahsan also called attention to the mistreatment of the Iranian soccer team, which is competing at the FIFA World Cup tournament in the U.S., but has been forced to leave the country immediately after each match, preventing planned recovery time, and must base itself in Tijuana, Mexico.

An excerpt was featured from a video interview by EIR’s Gerald Belsky with Dr. Mohammad A. Toor, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Pakistani American Congress, and president of American Pakistani Physicians for Justice and Democracy. He discussed the importance of regional cooperation for economic development in order to create the foundation for peace. He specifically noted the possibility of now extending the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, all the way through Pakistan and even into neighboring India.

An Inflection Point for Brazil

Luiz Erthal, editor-in-chief of the Brazilian newspaper Toda Palavra, said that the G7 summit “was an inflection point in Brazilian foreign policy.” He reported that Brazilian President Lula went to the meeting to make it clear to the largest economies of the world that they cannot ignore the development needs of the Global South. He went to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in a defiant, challenging posture, after Trump had endorsed the extreme right-wing candidacy of Flávio Bolsonaro, whom Trump managed to confuse with his brother, Eduardo, both sons of the jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro. Trump avoided Lula at the conference. Lula made it clear in France that Brazil will not tolerate foreign interference in its internal affairs. He said that Trump talks too much, and now he is going to have to listen. The countries of the Global South will not accept being isolated from China, a country that offers them a real opportunity for economic development.

On the question of more humane treatment for migrants, Erthal reported that Brazil has received more than 2 million immigrants, from countries such as Venezuela and Cuba, and is processing a growing number of claims for asylum. “Fortunately, Brazil has a welcoming attitude toward these people.”

LaRouche Organization activist Tim Rush offered a report from congressional office visits in Washington, D.C., where he and his team spoke on the issue of the attempted merger of the U.S., Israeli and British defense and intelligence establishments. This is the intent of Section 219 of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). “This is an arm of something much bigger than Israel per se,” Rush said. The young staffers with whom they met were astonished by the discussion of great infrastructure projects that recall a time in American history of which they were unaware.

This report was followed by another video excerpt, this time from a Pakistani TV interview with Helga Zepp-LaRouche. She said that Trump himself had admitted that he had to make peace with Iran in order to avert a global economic calamity. In response to an interviewer’s question, she once again developed the ideas in the extended Oasis Plan.

At the conclusion of the presentations, Zepp-LaRouche reminded Americans that $2.2 trillion in taxpayer money was spent on the Afghanistan war, and the results were “pitiful.” A fraction of that money, spent on development, could have turned Afghanistan into a “blossoming nation.”

Discussion Highlights

Activists from around the planet shared their experiences in organizing for peace.

John Steinbach is a veteran anti-nuclear activist and the co-founder of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Peace Committee of the National Capital Area. He offered a report on the recent vigil by his organization.

A Spanish Schiller Institute activist reported on a campaign to send letters to every bishop in Spain, recently visited by Pope Leo XIV, in support of the Schiller Institute’s peace proposals.

One participant sent in a question to Luiz Erthal regarding an effective means for combating drug trafficking while also respecting national sovereignty, as opposed to the U.S. approach. Erthal responded that Brazil’s Federal Police have been very effective in combating drugs, and that the U.S. should not use the “War on Drugs” as a cover for political purposes that violate other countries’ sovereignty. Instead, the U.S. should crack down on money laundering. In his concluding remarks, Erthal saluted the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, which helped to inspire Brazilian independence.

In her concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche replied to a German participant who had referred to a divergence between technological advance and moral development in nations. She recalled the contributions of space pioneer Krafft Ehricke, who had served on the board of the Schiller Institute, and emphasized the importance of Schiller’s concept of Aesthetical Education.

She went on to contrast her late husband’s real-time assessment of the 9/11 attacks as having an “inside job” component, to recent statements by Palantir Technologies co-founder Peter Thiel, who praised the 9/11 catastrophe as a “Straussian moment,” a reference to Thiel’s 2003 essay by that name. Thiel insists that such “moments” represent a transitional phase where Western elites may use covert power to manage the world. As Zepp-LaRouche put it, they seek continual crises, which they exploit to stay in control. This defines the method of our opponents, which is necessary to understand in our campaign for lasting peace.

May 9, 2026 (EIRNS)—The International Peace Coalition (IPC) held its 153rd consecutive weekly meeting on May 8 which is also VE Day, this year being the 81st anniversary of the victory in Europe over fascism in 1945. Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator Helga Zepp-LaRouche noted that it will be celebrated in Moscow on May 9 with a military parade and a ceremony attended by visitors from around the world—celebrations which acting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has threatened to disrupt with drones. For three years Russia has avoided any escalation of the Ukraine war, but has warned that any attack on the Moscow celebrations would be met with severe attacks by Russia on decision-making centers in Ukraine. Russia has also identified 12 European facilities involved in producing drones for Ukraine, many of which are in Germany, and has warned that if these drones are used to attack the Moscow celebrations, these German facilities would become legitimate military targets.

Dmitry Medvedev, the former President and Prime Minister of Russia and current deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, has recently spoken in very blunt terms that the denazification in Germany was never fully completed at the end of World War II. The Oct. 3, 1990 Two Plus Four Agreement, which allowed the unification of Germany, stated that no NATO troops would enter the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany)—but NATO forces, in violation of that agreement are now stationed there. The 2025 Kensington Treaty is a joint defense agreement between the United Kingdom and Germany which puts Germany on the front lines in the military campaign against Russia. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has been outspoken that Britain has worked against any peace agreements and is actively encouraging more war. Germany, which is currently mobilized for a military buildup, would be a clear target in any escalation of the Ukraine war.

Zepp-LaRouche stressed that the next 48 hours are critical to stop this madness for war, and encouraged all participants to use the video of this IPC meeting to educate others. She also insisted that NATO should have been dismantled in 1991 when the Warsaw Pact dissolved. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he intends to remove 5,000 U.S. soldiers from Germany, but that still leaves 30,000 in place. NATO can no longer be seen as a defensive alliance, she said, but is rather an occupying force, quoting NATO’s first Secretary General Lord Ismay that NATO’s job is to “Keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

Iran, after months of fighting, remains in control of its territory and has gained the support of its population, which sees the Israeli and U.S. war as an act of unprovoked aggression, Zepp-LaRouche said. She referenced a Washington Post report which details the warning from U.S. intelligence that Iran can outlast President Trump’s blockades, has 70% of its stockpile of drones and missiles still intact, and is still able to assemble new weapon systems—while the United States has depleted its supply of interceptors. A second Washington Post report proves that Iran has inflicted much more damage on U.S. military facilities and other targets in the region than previously reported. She argued that if the United States is unable to protect its own bases in the region, then these facilities become a liability to their host country, adding that many countries in the region depend upon desalinization plants for 70 to 80% of their water supply, and any targeting of these facilities could be catastrophic.

Defund the Iran War

The cost of this war and the damage to the world economy is estimated to be $4 trillion and threatens a global economic depression. Some members of the U.S. Congress, mostly with military backgrounds, are working to cut all funding for the war. Spain has been working to stop the many wars around the world and this week gave the nation’s highest honor to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese, for her tireless effort to stop the genocide in Gaza. In the ceremony, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that Albanese “upholds the conscience of the world.”

The next speaker was Beto Almeida, a journalist from TeleSUR-TV in Brazil. Almeida said that Brazil is working to end wars and start economic development. He compared the May 7 meeting between Brazilian President Lula da Silva with President Trump, and the friendly cooperation between President Franklin Roosevelt and Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas. Almeida said that Roosevelt helped Brazil build its first steel mill, but now the United States is run by neoliberal economists and hedge funds. When Brazil works on economic development projects, China comes to offer cooperation, but the U.S. never comes—and that President Trump prefers threats. Lula is willing to talk about any subject, but not under threats or undue pressure. For example, in 2010, despite intense pressure from President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not to do so, he made a high-profile visit to Iran. According to Almeida, Lula has offered to mediate relations between the United States and Venezuela—relations which have been severely strained by the U.S.’s unlawful kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Dennis Small, Ibero-American editor for EIR, later added that Lula correctly met with Trump, but also spoke to the American people stressing the Franklin Roosevelt tradition.

Militant and Grim

As one would expect, Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector and U.S. Marine, did not sugarcoat the danger of war. He said that we have passed the Rubicon, and the decisions for war escalation have already been made. Ritter has been invited to the Russian Embassy four years in a row to celebrate VE Day, but for the first time the atmosphere was much more “militant and grim.” If this Ukraine war escalates, Ukraine will be destroyed as a modern country—but Russia will not stop there. Because Germany has been producing drones used by Ukraine, it could be targeted by Russia for destruction. More broadly Europe, with its militarization policy aimed at Russia, is committing suicide and taking the rest of the world with it. Zepp-LaRouche commented that Ritter confirmed all of her fears of the approaching danger. She said that we must multiply our efforts to wake up the population before it is too late.

The next speaker was the co-founder and president of Farm Action Angela Huffman. She stressed that farms have been in a fragile position, but the war is only making the problem worse. The United States loses 67 farms every day, but the monopolies make billions. Shell Oil doubled its profits this quarter to $7 billion. A system of bailouts has been implemented, but farmers don’t want any bailouts, and the bailouts never resolve the underlying problems. Huffman is demanding antitrust legislation to break up the monopolies, end the price gouging, especially during wars, and to produce the food that we eat instead of overproducing certain crops for export. She pointed to the $50 billion U.S. trade deficit in agriculture.

Lyndon LaRouche movement organizer Tim Rush gave a report on efforts in the U.S. Congress to defund the Iran war. He and fellow organizers had meetings in 40 House and Senate offices; and now Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY) has introduced the No Funds for Iran War Act. Helping in this effort were the 67 letters from people in 15 countries demanding that Congress stop funding the Iran war. Rush said that the legislation has language similar to that in the leaflet that he was distributing written by independent U.S. presidential candidate Diane Sare. Many of the 18 cosponsors of the legislation have military backgrounds, and are serious about stopping the war. Others in Congress have put on a show of speaking against the war, but not actually supporting this or any other legislation to stop it. Rush also said that President Trump’s push for a $1.5 trillion military budget is to create a “slush fund” and copies the plan of Nazi Minister of Economics Hjalmar Schacht to slash social programs to fund a giant military buildup.

A short excerpt from a video interview with historian and long-time activist with the LaRouche movement Tony Chaitkin was played, with Chaitkin making the point that America has suffered “identity theft” because the United States used to be the leading anti-colonial power in the world, but now the U.S. is merely a tool of the imperial system. Presidents such as John Kennedy worked with leaders around the world promoting economic development. Chaitkin said that the fight for self-government and the fight for economic development are identical.

Floating Concentration Camps

In the question period, Abril Rojas Angel from Mexico City spoke about her involvement with the Freedom Flotilla and the 36-hour kidnapping of its 175 member crew, including herself, by the Israeli military, while the ship was in international waters. She said that they were forced into shipping containers which she described as “floating concentration camps.”

Alberto Vizcarra, a leader of the farm producers’ movement in Sonora, Mexico, praised the efforts of Angela Huffman from Farm Action and her focus on the control of the food cartels. Vizcarra agreed with her that the bailout system for farmers does not resolve the problem and that 70% of the bailout goes to the corporate interests which have created the problem. Vizcarra encouraged Huffman to take her cause to the U.S. Congress and said that “Mexico will support you.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche ended the meeting giving her endorsement to Vizcarra’s call to take the farm crisis to the U.S. Congress and that we all must see ourselves as the One Humanity. She said that the Global South is 85% of humanity and that their voice must be heard. She called on everyone to help build the May 15 EIR Emergency Round Table dealing with the danger of the world plunging into an economic depression.

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International Peace Coalition, Week 150

The International Peace Coalition (IPC) arrived at its 150th consecutive weekly meeting on Friday, April 17. The session was opened by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator. She described the current strategic juncture as one where “the world is vacillating between hope and Hell.” The ceasefire in Lebanon seems to have taken effect. The effort to invoke the War Powers Act in the U.S. Congress was defeated by only a very narrow margin, which indicates a sea change underway there, when compared to previous recent attempts. 

Turning to the economic picture, she reported that shortages of food in France might be enough to “cause a second French Revolution.” German industry is just vanishing like a “Summer Sale.” “We could have a repeat of 2008 at any moment,” she warned, where the rising oil prices could trigger a collapse of the debt bubble. We need a global Glass-Steagall reorganization of the financial system, to compliment the proposed Oasis Plan and the World Landbridge.

Diane Sare, independent U.S. presidential candidate, spoke next. Referring to her recent statement, she said, “We can’t afford posturing, we have to actually prevent an escalation,” and called for the U.S. Congress to withhold funding for the war—which is how the Vietnam War was brought to an end—rather than seeking election-campaign drama with an impeachment, or invocation of the 25th Amendment. She said that in her conversations with elected officials, she often hears the lament, “I can’t do anything, I’m only a Congressman”—but the Congress has the power of the purse. The War Powers Act, which has been the subject of partisan battles, gives the President 60 days in which to ask Congress for permission and funding—we are now at day 49.  

Sare concluded by saying, “The President clearly is insane.” She analyzed Trump’s latest tweet spasm, marveling at the wacky hyperbole. She said she was heartened by the fact that Democratic Representative Ro Khanna (from California’s 17th congressional district) and former Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene (from Georgia’s 14th congressional district) have agreed to a dialogue. This could provide relief from what Sare called the “super emotional hyped-up partisan bickering” that dominates American politics, and exemplifies the “dramatically shifting political terrain.” 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 now working with 15-20 independent candidates. These candidates need our input, because they are poorly educated on economics.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Ahsan,  Islamic scholar and Pakistani Professor of Comparative Civilization, told the meeting, “I was so optimistic when the campuses woke up” in opposition to the Israeli genocide, but the protests were suppressed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims to represent Western civilization, but what is that, really? Zionism’s second leader, Chaim Weizmann, openly sided “with the mind-set of British colonialist mentality.”

Garland Nixon, veteran progressive radio and television talk show host, said that there is “a learning process” for Americans. Some people say “it’s all about Israel” doing bad things, if we could get them under control we could fix the other problems. Others say that Israel is a “cat’s paw” for the United States, they can do things that we want done but don’t wish to do ourselves, and we can pretend we can’t control them. “Israel is just a small piece of the puzzle,” he said, in the larger effort of the U.S. empire to dominate the world. Americans who voted for President Donald Trump are angry: “We voted for economic development, and we got war instead of economic development.” He concluded by raising the issue of morality in foreign policy.

Zepp-LaRouche responded: “Since you addressed the issue of morality, I am very happy that the Pope is taking the role he’s taking.” She had recently published an open letter to the pontiff. “Our western civilization is collapsing, and it is collapsing morally,” she said, adding that privileges for millionaires and billionaires at the expense of everyone else, and the debased sexual activities exposed in the Epstein scandal, are both consistent with that. We need a revival of classical culture, not as art for art’s sake, but for reviving real morality. China’s democracy is much better than the Western model, because they have cultural morality as a goal.

Dr. Al-Ahsan referenced the 14th century Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldoun, who emphasized economic development as a result of human cooperation. In his time, we did not have the compartmentalization of knowledge that we have today. 

Dennis Small shared results of the IPC mobilization to pressure Congress to stop funding the war, as demanded by Diane Sare. For the past 150 weeks, we have had 200-300 people from 30 to 45 nations engaged with IPC. We need those people to mobilize, and get your messages in to the U.S. Congress. A former Minister of Justice and Human Rights in Ecuador wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress. A director of an Italian cultural institute wrote a letter in which he said that “European public opinion and Italian public opinion is watching with dismay.”

General Discussion Period

Zepp-LaRouche emphasized to the participants, “Please do not make the mistake to relax and say, “everything is in order.” This could be the lull before the storm. “We could be at the end of civilization in a matter of days.”

Co-moderator Dennis Speed presented a video of a Catholic priest, speaking on the dispute between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. He said that “Wars of Choice cannot be moral.” The utterances of the Trump administration cannot be reconciled with the “Just War” doctrine. “What has happened to our politics that such rhetoric can be normalized?”

Zepp-LaRouche added that the Pope is an Augustinian. If philosophy and faith arrive at the same conclusion, then there is no contradiction or conflict between science and faith. “I would just dare to have my own view on the issue of the Just War,” she added. In the era of nuclear weapons, any war can annihilate humanity, and therefore must be rejected as a means of resolving problems. “The idea that you must use violence to make your views heard… belongs to the realm of children’s diseases.”

Dr. Al-Ahsan added, “I don’t understand how a sane individual can keep silent” in the face of what is happening today, and endorsed the remarks of the Pope.

Zepp responded to a question about the Gospel of John, saying she is more prepared to talk about her husband’s conception of the Simultaneity of Eternity. She cited the revolutionary idea of 15th century Catholic Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, that Man, acting in Imago Vive Dei, must continue the process of creation.

An Argentinian/Italian scholar living in Colombia, informed the meeting about The Seville Statement on Violence, a scientific statement which says peace is possible, because war is  not a biological necessity. The Statement was written by an international team of specialists in 1986 for the United Nations sponsored International Year of Peace and its follow-up. Leading scientists debated whether violence is part of human nature, and concluded that it absolutely is not. It is learned from the outside. If violence can be learned, peace can be learned.

In response to questions from the participants about the role of Spain, Zepp-LaRouche said, “Spain has saved the honor of Europe by taking a very clear position against the genocide in Gaza.” If the Atlantic nations decided to cooperate with the Global South, rather than attempting to suppress those nations, we could solve the problems of the world overnight. This is the normal condition of human beings. “We are not condemned to be bestial.”In conclusion Zepp-LaRouche thanked the people who had called attention to the Seville Statement on violence, and voiced her opposition to the Manichean idea that good and evil must coexist. More statements and calls to the U.S. Congress are encouraged. If you would like to submit a statement for promotion contact anastasiammares@gmail.com