International Peace Coalition

The 95th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) was held on March 28, with speakers from Germany, France, Iran, Argentina and Mexico. People from 32 countries participated in the online event. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute and initiator of the IPC, opened the meeting by warning that the effort to restore relations between Russia and the United States by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and to end the war in Ukraine, was endangered by attempts to draw the U.S. into a war on Iran, and by the mass remilitarization policy being pushed by the British and EU leadership under the false claim that Russia is a military threat to Europe. She said that a war on Iran would provoke chaos—economically, militarily and politically—and could lead to world war.

The “Coalition of the Willing,” promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders, held a meeting of 30 countries this week, trying (unsuccessfully) to get a united European policy of deploying NATO troops into Ukraine, a policy certain to provoke full scale war with Russia. The German population, she said, is horrified at the billions of euros being proposed for a military build-up, even while the economies across Europe are in a state of collapse. She noted that within the U.S., even within the Republican Party, there is division over the bombing of Yemen and a threatened war against Iran, since Trump had campaigned to stop the perpetual wars.

*[Two Trumps**

The first guest speaker was former Iranian Ambassador to Germany Seyed Hossein Mousavian. The Ambassador said that in regard to U.S. policy toward Iran, there were two Trumps: The first Trump, before the U.S. presidential election, wanted peace with Iran, and said that the only requirement was that Iran not build a nuclear weapon. He promoted a new agreement between the nations, to which Iran responded positively. But the second Trump, after the election and the inauguration, turned more to the Zionist lobby, announcing a return to the “maximum pressure” policy from his first term, which was announced while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was with him in Washington. Trump expanded the demands to include a general dismantling of the nuclear program, announced by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, which is impossible according to the Ambassador.

Trump’s letter to Iran’s leadership, the Ambassador said, had all the major points from the anti-Iran policy from Trump’s first term. He said both Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were opposed to a war, but Trump’s problem is that his Administration is not united. Several U.S. policies indicate a preparation for war, including the bombing of Yemen, more weapons to Israel, aircraft carriers deployed to the Persian Gulf, B-2 bombers sent to the Diego Garcia military base, and Israel breaking the ceasefire in Gaza with U.S. approval. To prevent war and to build peace, he said there must be “mutual respect” which follows international law, and which includes economic cooperation and people-to-people relationships. The U.S. and Iran have never been enemies, he asserted, and should be friends.

Col. (ret.) Alain Corvez, a consultant in international affairs and former advisor to the French Ministry of the Interior, who has addressed the IPC several times, said he considers the accusation by certain U.S. leaders that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons capability to be “propaganda.” The real issue is that it does have an advanced missile capability, representing a powerful deterrence capacity, which was demonstrated by its successful breach of Israeli defenses in the April 2024 military exchange between the two countries

Disdain for the EU

The recent Iran-Russia-China joint naval drills in the Gulf of Oman show that any attack against Iran will likely see Iranian support from both Russia and China. He concurred with Ambassador Mousavian that the Trump Administration is divided, and that the so-called “Signalgate” leak of Yemen war plans by The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was run by the Deep State to undermine Trump. He praised U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s show of disdain for the European Union, adding that “I share this disdain.” The British Empire has been weakened, but the British retain their power over the world’s monetary system, while the financial oligarchy controls the media, feeding the population with anti-Russia, anti-China and anti-Iran lies.

Carolina Domínguez, a long-time leader of the LaRouche Youth Movement in Mexico, reported on three forums held on campuses in Mexico, with over 400 students and professors, addressing the issue of participation in an international peace movement. She said the meetings demonstrated that “youth do not want war.” According to Dominguez, there was a strong response to the call for youth to join the IPC, to participate in an April 22 online international youth conference with Helga Zepp-LaRouche, and in the May 24-25 international conference of the Schiller Institute.

Cliff Kiracofe, a former senior professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and author of the book Dark Crusade: Christian Zionism and U.S. Foreign Policy, concurred with Zepp-LaRouche that there is a divide in the Republican Party, including within the Trump team. Vice President JD Vance, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, FBI chief Kash Patel, and CIA Chief John Ratcliff are firmly in Trump’s camp, but National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and his assistant Alex Wong, Kiricofe said, are not.

Wong allegedly included Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic magazine in the Signal chat group used by top-Trump officials to discuss plans for bombing Yemen. Both Waltz and Wong were part of Sen. Mitt Romney’s 2012 U.S. presidential campaign, which was part of the neoconservative movement against Trump. Wong has also worked as an aide to arch-neocon Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). Jeffey Goldberg, who leaked the contents of the Signal chat to the press, Kiricofe said, is an avid Zionist who once served in the Israel Defense Forces as a prison guard.

Alberto Portugheis, an Argentine pianist who has performed as a soloist in leading concert halls worldwide while also promoting peace, asserted that as long as the military-industrial complex exists, there will be no end to war. He praised U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt for saying that “no war is an accident.” The military-industrial complex destroys nations as well as the environment, and must be eliminated.

Zepp-LaRouche closed the meeting by encouraging everyone to subscribe to the EIR Daily Alert service, in order to keep informed on the rapidly changing political crises around the world and the necessary solutions. She said we must stop the “remilitarization” insanity in Europe, which is wasting trillions of euros on the false claim that Russia is preparing to invade Europe. She said that EIR is preparing a report on this. [eir]

Report on IPC #91

March 1, 2025 (EIRNS)—The 91st weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) on Friday, Feb. 28 turned into a profound philosophical discussion on the true meaning of politics and diplomacy which must be established in order to prevent the descent into global war, and on the current extremely dynamic transformation taking place in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s election and his forceful intervention to stop the surrogate war on Russia in Ukraine.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the founder of the Schiller Institute and convener of the IPC, opened the forum by pointing to the tectonic shift taking place, with the collapse of the collective West. The unipolar world, ruled by the West since the end of the Soviet Union, is disintegrating, and “is never to be fixed again.”

The war in Ukraine is lost, but the Europeans refuse to stop, preparing for a war they cannot win, and cannot afford. In a state of denial about reality, they sent French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to Washington to coerce Trump to continue the war, but totally failed. It is an “arrogance of power,” Zepp-LaRouche said, which is expressed by the 2007 Lisbon Treaty. That treaty was used by the EU leadership to effectively create a European constitution, including a provision to wage collective war, without the consent of the European people—after 2005 referendums in the Netherlands and France on the creation of such a constitution were soundly defeated.

Zepp-LaRouche emphasized the importance of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 27 declaration that the talks with the Trump administration are going well, and that the intention is to create global security for all countries—very much like the intention of the IPC and the Schiller Institute to create a new architecture for security and development for all nations. She warned that the situation in the Middle East is still treacherous, and that we must not finish our fight for peace until all the threats are resolved.

Peace Is Bad for the Military-Industrial Complex

Ray McGovern, a co-founder of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), posed the question: Will the Europeans be able to stop Trump’s peace effort? He warned that the media is a major weapon against peace, and “peace is bad for business.” He reported that former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich and his wife had authored an article showing that with the breakout of peace talks in the U.S., the stock values of the military-industrial companies had begun a sharp decline, whereas in Europe, where the leaders are militarizing their countries, the military-industrial stocks are booming. He ridiculed the continuing anti-Russia hysteria, asking if Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky were merely pumping gas at a Russian “gas station.” Trump is not only saying “no more war in Ukraine,” he is also saying “no more NATO.” Europe can no longer depend on the U.S., he said. Nonetheless, the danger in the Middle East is still great, and we should recall what his friend, the late peace-activist Daniel Berrigan said: “The difference between doing something and doing nothing is everything.”

Dr. Jérôme Ravenet, a professor of philosophy in France, the author of a thesis on Chinese President Xi Jinping, and a Chinese scholar, pointed first to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s repulsive speech in Chicago in 1999 openly promoting Anglo-American imperial intervention in third countries, which became the basis and justification for the many regime-change wars by the U.K. and the U.S. in the following years. Sanctions and military interventions only escalate conflicts, not solve them, Ravenet said. Are they insane, he asked, or are they convinced that military intervention is necessary to counter a perceived evil?

The West has now worn out its power, with color revolutions and hubris. He then discussed the great philosophic minds of Western civilization, drawing from each a sense of justice. He pointed to Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, who distinguished between power and inclusivity, showing that power proves to be impotent (as the failure of sanctions demonstrates, as well as the fact that regime-change wars only create chaos), whereas the Chinese policy of the Belt and Road Initiative shows the benefit of inclusivity. He said that the West has demonized China, denying that the concept of socialist democracy can even exist. Contrary to the Wolfowitz Doctrine of Western superiority and hegemony, the great philosophers pointed to common sense, and a multipolar world; that contradictions do not mean declaring others to be enemies—pointing to Nicholas of Cusa’s concept of the “coincidence of opposites.” China’s idea of a “win-win” policy, and Charles de Gaulle’s notion of a “third way” between communism and capitalism, are better approaches.

Zepp-LaRouche praised Dr. Ravenet’s “enlightened” presentation, and agreed fully that the Chinese concept of “socialist democracy” was a better approach. After all, she noted, “democracy is dead in Europe,” as evidenced by the Romanian cancellation of the election because the winner was against the war in Ukraine, then arresting him to prevent him from running again. Europe is tied to the “Deep State” in the U.S. She brought up the notion of synarchy—the idea that the oligarchy and the banking interests must have power over the will of the masses, pointing to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s denunciation of the “deplorables” as an example.

Ray McGovern thanked Dr. Ravenet, saying that he felt like he was “back in grad school, taking notes.” He said that we must also consider the role of racism in the thinking of the oligarchy. He noted that he studied the Classics, and learned Greek, learning that there were two words for power—one meaning hegemony, the other relational, in which the interests of the other were important. He added that Jesus used the term for relational.

Dr. Ravenet added that in regard to anti-China racism, it was French Philosopher Montesquieu who introduced the notion of “Oriental despotism,” although he knew nothing about China. His concern was to oppose Gottfried Leibniz, who was working with the Jesuits who were in China. He concurred with McGovern that Jesus rejected the concept of power as hegemonism.

Mubarak Awad, a Palestinian-American who heads Non-Violence International, provided a video discussion with the Schiller Institute’s Gerald Belsky, in which he strongly endorsed the LaRouche Oasis Plan. He said Palestinians are “less interested in one state or two states, but that people cannot live without water.” He denounced the politicization of water, pointing to Israel’s cutting off the water supply as part of their war on Gaza. He said that Palestinians do not trust the West, since its leaders repeatedly say “peace” and “two-state solution,” but not a single U.S. President has enforced that policy, all saying that “it is up to Israel.” Other countries must be brought into the planning, such as Türkiye, India and African countries; not just Europeans, who had colonized the region.

A Shared Community of Mankind

In response to a question about what type of leadership was needed in Europe, Zepp-LaRouche said, “Not those who reject the common good.” She pointed to China’s notion of the “shared community of mankind.” Leaders must “inspire,” she said, which requires a love of poetry and of music. Such leaders existed in the past, such as Charles de Gaulle, the Prussian reformers who followed Friedrich Schiller and the Humboldts, the leaders of the 1955 Bandung Conference, Confucius, and Joan of Arc. “We need discussions of these ideas,” rather than the common use of “slogans and text messages.”

Dr. Ravenet expressed his delight that the Schiller Institute exists to discuss these issues. He said that he had taught the Chinese language for years, but that in France, there was an effort to marginalize the teaching of Chinese and other languages. Zepp-LaRouche responded that knowing other languages and cultures is crucial if we are to create a world worthy of all nations and all peoples.

Jacques Cheminade, the head of the French Solidarité et Progrès party, said that leaders must be willing to break from the “set rules of discourse” to seek the truth.

A question was raised as to whether Trump had the fortitude to counter the Deep State. IPC co-moderator Dennis Speed responded that the new U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded that certain files be released, only to find that thousands of pages had been withheld. She has now demanded that they all be released immediately, and to reveal who had withheld them. Tulsi Gabbard, now the Director of National Intelligence, has countered the British demand that Apple create a “backdoor” on all their phones so that British intelligence can spy on everyone. These are the cases which will determine if the Deep State can win or not.

eir

Report on the 89th meeting of the International Peace Coalition

Feb. 14, 2025 (EIRNS)—The 89th consecutive meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) today was an historic discussion centered on a dialogue between Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the founder of the Schiller Institute and the initiator of the IPC, with Her Excellency Dr. Naledi Pandor, the former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation for South Africa, 2019-2024, known for her leadership of South Africa and the Global South in general, including her personal role in South Africa’s bringing the issue of Israel’s genocide against in Gaza before the UN International Court of Justice.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche opened the 2.5-hour dialogue by noting that, while the danger of global nuclear war is still a great threat, dramatic changes are taking place which give hope for the future. She referenced the phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump’s call for reviving arms control talks between the U.S., Russia and China, and the U.S. declaring that Ukraine will not be allowed to become a member of NATO, as indicative of those changes. However, the Trump proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and remove all the Palestinians is both a horrible concept and totally unacceptable to Palestinians and to all the countries in the region—other than Israel. She said that this is further evidence that the LaRouche Oasis Plan is urgently needed, together with a two-state solution. The plan conceived by Egypt for reconstructing Gaza is a decent start, but we should combine it with the Oasis Plan, she said, to address the massive development needs of all the nations in the region.

Referring to the Feb. 14-16 Munich Security Conference, Zepp-LaRouche said that it had been originally a forum for all nations to seriously discuss security issues, but it has now become a public-relations event for NATO. She did note however, that U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance had “lectured the audience on democracy,” saying that Europeans have become afraid of their voters! She said that creating a new global security and development architecture is a necessary step to resolve the many problems facing mankind.

Dr. Naledi Pandor then spoke, beginning by expressing her support for the Oasis Plan: It is an important idea, a very useful proposal to be studied by the groups in contention. She noted that 30 years ago, when South Africans began their fight for freedom from colonial control, they agreed that they had to have dialogue with their oppressors, while making sure they did not ignore the needs of the oppressed. Development is necessary, she said, but we must engage the Palestinian people, while also talking to Israelis, as well as those in the West who backed them in the genocide. We must ask the Palestinians what they want for their future, she stressed. Any plan which does not include sovereignty is unacceptable. Nearly everyone supports the two-state solution, but things have changed drastically over the years, as Israeli settlers have occupied large portions of the Palestinian land, including killings and land expropriation, making statehood impossible without the removal of those illegal settlements. The level of rage between the two sides must also be overcome.

Free the Oppressed and the Oppressors

In response to a question later on, she said that the freedom movement in South Africa early on recognized that they had to unify the African people, while the colonial policy was to divide them. They learned that oppression was not based only on racial identity, but on moral principles, and that therefore they had to oppose Apartheid, not white people. They needed to free both the oppressed and the oppressors.

She called on the Schiller Institute and the IPC to find a means to test the engagement process—to see if Palestinians are willing to sit down with Israelis, and vice versa. We need “adults” in the room, she emphasized, and was not sure if she had identified many as of yet. She called on the IPC to make an effort to find the necessary “adults” in all nations, who will organize for “peace through development.” The Schiller Institute and the IPC can play a crucial role in convening and initiating this process, and perhaps hold a series of meetings to take up these issues.

On Trump’s attack on South Africa, she noted that the Afrikaners (white South Africans descended predominantly from Dutch settlers) whom Trump offered refuge in the U.S., had already rejected his idea. She added that Trump’s Executive Order had been signed “without research” and had misrepresented the policies of her nation. She looked forward to the IPC “finding the adults,” and convincing Trump that South Africa is a viable partner for the United States.

Donald Ramotar, the former President of Guyana, thanked Dr. Pandor, and said that in our mutual struggle for peace we must address the unjust economic conditions in many parts of the world. We must have a “bold plan, like [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s win-win approach, with no losers.” The LaRouche Oasis Plan, he said, is based on combined peace and development. The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) gives hope for that kind of global solution. He complained about Trump’s ordering Panama to cut ties with China’s BRI. The Oasis Plan presents a viable plan to reconstruct Gaza and the region, and it can be a central part of a global plan, he said, but Russia and China must be part of the process. He concurred with Dr. Pandor’s view on the need for a two-state solution, and that the United Nations needs to play a central role, as the only existing institution which represents all nations.

Dennis Fritz, director of the Eisenhower Media Network (EMN), a retired Command Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, said he was optimistic about Trump’s ending the war in Europe, but pessimistic about the situation in the Middle East. He said that U.S. President Joe Biden’s Administration was “the most evil in my time, by allowing and owning the genocide in Gaza.” He said that U.S. President George W. Bush “and the neocons,” got us into the wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria, while “Biden and the Zionists” gave us the disaster in the Middle East. On the other hand, he said the EMN is issuing a report praising Trump for “trying to be an adult,” with his Feb. 13 call to President Putin and his call for the revival of arms negotiations with Russia and China. He warned that the enemies of peace and diplomacy will “try to take him down.” He expressed special thanks and appreciation to Dr. Pandor for the role South Africa has played in stopping the genocide in Gaza, and also stated his support for the Oasis Plan.

We Are All in One Boat

Helga Zepp-LaRouche said we must not be deterred by problems of the past, but see this as a moment of great change. She said we are presenting the Oasis Plan to the Trump Cabinet as the only plan that can work. She noted that Egypt has proposed a useful plan, and that we should try to combine their plan with the Oasis Plan. “We are all in one boat,” she said, and we should think of greening the entire desert from North Africa into Central Asia.

Dr. Pandor agreed with President Ramotar on the link between peace and development. Large portions of the world still live in poverty, hopelessness, and growing hostility to the nations of the North. If we miss this moment, I can’t imagine the chaos that could ensue, she said. We must ensure a return to rationality. We need a global coalition to become positive advisers with a voice that will be heard in all nations. The Oasis Plan includes many issues of importance for greater Africa, where access to water and electricity are in very short supply. African leaders should join in the effort to adopt the plan: The African Union’s Agenda 2063 plan “dovetails in quite a comfortable manner” with the Oasis Plan.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche added that in addition to the Oasis Plan, the Schiller Institute has promoted the Transaqua plan to move water from the Congo River to develop the Lake Chad Basin countries, and the Grand Inga Dam project for power. She also noted that Chinese economist Zhang Weiwei had said in a recent Schiller Institute conference that China could build the Oasis Plan, as they had greened the deserts in China.

Asked what to do about the ongoing collapse of the European economies, Zepp-LaRouche called on Americans to intervene. The European establishment media was totally hysterical by Trump’s cooperation with Russia. She noted that the media in Europe, especially in Germany, are totally corrupted, and that if there is to be “any freedom of speech,” people from the U.S. must speak up.

Bill Jones from the Schiller Institute reminded Dr. Pandor that he and his late wife Marsha Freeman had visited South Africa for an astronomical conference years ago and had interviewed her during their visit. She had emphasized the importance of science and technology in that interview. Dr. Pandor responded that she recalled the interview well, and that South Africa has continued an emphasis on science and technology, including the construction of the world’s largest radio telescope. South Africa has good relations with NASA and other American science institutions, she added, calling on the IPC to help build friendly relations between the two countries.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche concluded the event by renewing her call for a Council of Reason, of individuals from every country who have shown through their lives a commitment to the common good. 

Jan. 24, 2025 (EIRNS)—Today’s 86th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) opened with Helga Zepp-LaRouche referencing the “relief” around the world with the end of the Biden/Blinken nightmare and the dramatic changes taking place as a result of the new Trump Administration, despite the problematic aspects. “The situation is very promising, although much can go wrong.”

Trump’s order to release the “assassination” files—the JFK files in 15 days, and the RFK and MLK files in 45 days—is a “bombshell.” The exposure of the lies and cover-up by the Warren Commission could and must clear the fog created in people’s minds about the crimes unleashed by the killing of President John F. Kennedy. The Schiller Institute Chorus’s performance of the Mozart Requiem on the 50th anniversary of his funeral mass in Boston, which included recorded statements by President Kennedy on issues of development, science and culture, demonstrated what a profound difference existed between him and all later Presidents.

These revelations, she emphasized, could open the path to the U.S. returning to its own better moments of technological advance, industrial growth, and cooperation with other sovereign nations. A recent video issued by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—who is part of Trump’s announced cabinet—exposes the role of preeminent BlackRock financial speculators in the military-industrial complex driven wars and economic looting.

Hope for an Era of Security and Development

The Oasis Plan is the single element that can bring the world together in not only bringing peace to Southwest Asia, but giving direction and hope to the world for an era of security and development for all nations.

Col. Richard H. Black (ret.), former head of the Army’s Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon and former Virginia State Senator, lauded the potential that Kash Patel as FBI Director, Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, and Pam Bondi as Attorney General could clean out the “rogue intelligence agencies.” He emphasized the long history of FBI corruption, reviewing several of the leading points in The LaRouche Organization’s newly-released pamphlet, “The Liars’ Bureau.” He described Tulsi Gabbard’s role, along with his own, in exposing the U.S. financing of al-Qaeda’s operation intended to bring down the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria, noting that Gabbard’s visit with Assad came one year after his own visit, as the first American political leader to visit Assad.

Graham Fuller, former CIA officer and co-chair of the National Intelligence Council, praised the BRICS, the most important part of the emerging world. He called for a renewal of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) with Iran, which Trump dismantled during his first term. Such a move could help bring the U.S. and Russia together, and would function as an important extension of the Oasis Plan into Iran and beyond into Central Asia. The issue is, will the U.S. see the BRICS as an opening or a threat? The issue of Greenland is of interest, as the Inuit people span Canada and Greenland, and are one of the largest indigenous populations in the world. Addressing the development needs of this population and the rich resources of the territory would change the character of the potential conflict of the superpowers over the issue of the artic region and the Northern Sea Route.

Alon-Lee Green, head of the Standing Together peace organization in Israel and Palestine, was interviewed by the Schiller Institute’s Gerald Belsky, expressing hope that the ceasefire is holding—that bombs are no longer falling, people are returning to their homes (“although most of their homes no longer exist”), and hostages and prisoners are being released. He warned that this may not last, as we see already that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved his killing forces to the West Bank. Green at first expressed reservations about the Oasis Plan, arguing that there must first be peace and independence for the Palestinians, lest economic proposals become a diversion. Belsky emphasized that without a development perspective the peace process would not succeed, and said both the political and economic aspects must be carried out simultaneously—with which Green concurred.

Zepp-LaRouche joined the discussion to assert that the Oasis Plan would only work if there were a fundamental shift in the global parameters, but that this change is, in fact, exactly what is taking shape. She reported that Chinese economist and professor Zhang Weiwei, speaking at a recent Schiller Institute conference, said that China could build this vast water and power project. We have a rare and crucial opportunity, she said, in which people can break out of their fixed modes of thinking and bring about great developments, as happened during the Renaissance which transformed the Middle Ages into the modern age. To save Gaza requires both the creation of statehood for the Palestinian people but also the development process represented by the Oasis Plan.

Former CIA officer Larry Johnson, a co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), warned that the CIA was lying to President Trump, exaggerating Russia’s casualties in Ukraine and otherwise making it appear that Russia was losing the war. Johnson was hopeful that Trump would put a halt to arms sales to Ukraine, which could perhaps put an end to the war. He also asserted that Trump had ordered an audit of the Department of Defense, which would expose a great deal of corruption.

Arms Control Agreements Don’t Work

LaRouche movement leader and former congressional candidate Jose Vega asked if Trump’s statement that he plans to meet with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss nuclear weapons might bring about an agreement to end nuclear weapons. Zepp-LaRouche responded that arms control doesn’t work, and in any case all the previous agreements are gone now. Rather, new physical principles which can render nuclear weapons obsolete must be developed, as Lyndon LaRouche proposed with his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). The Russian deployment of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile demonstrates breakthroughs in this direction. We must bring the world’s scientific researchers together to develop this alternative.

A number of those present questioned some of the policies promoted by different speakers, which led to a spirited discussion. One person complained that nuclear power was no longer needed, that solar power would provide all that the world required. Zepp-LaRouche called on the questioner to consider the issue of “energy-flux density,” and what was necessary for an expanding human race to meet the massively expanding need for energy. Another person challenged what he called “support for Donald Trump,” comparing him to the rightwing leaders in Israel as part of a “conservative international,” and saying all of the documentation of this could be found online. Zepp-LaRouche responded that people should not believe what they read online or when they search for something on Google—the very idea that knowledge consist of “googling” is ridiculous, she said.

She concluded the event by emphasizing that this is a moment of great changes in the world, and we must all work together to convince every country to reach back to the best or their own cultures, to bring those cultural expressions together for a new paradigm for all mankind. The Oasis Plan for Southwest Asia can be a decisive step in that direction. “At moments like this,” she said, “ideas matter. Get rid of the cultural garbage, as they are doing in Asia.” [eir]

Report International Peace Coalition #84

Jan. 10, 2025 (EIRNS)—Today’s 84th weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) was again a powerful expression of leaders from around the world joining forces to bring peace to a world on the brink of global war. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute, opened by noting the suspense in the air as the world awaits the Jan. 20 inauguration of Donald Trump, with no certainty about what direction his administration will take. The outgoing Biden Administration continues to push for war policies, with Defense Secretary Gen. Lloyd Austin again lying that if Ukraine is lost, the Russians (and other “autocrats”) will make other “land grabs.” The horror in Palestine continues and is expanding to the West Bank, which even the Israeli newspaper Haaretz admits is genocidal and can be called a “pogrom.”

Zepp-LaRouche named several of the people that Kash Patel (Trump’s pick to be FBI chief) listed in his book as targets for investigation in any effort to clean out the “Deep State.” To stop the wars, she said, we must stop the cause of the wars, which is the disintegration of the Western financial system, and do this in cooperation with the BRICS, to “help make humanity human again.”

Retired Swiss Lt. Col. Ralph Bosshard said that Trump is entering office in a “difficult atmosphere” which is not of his making. He said that the 2003 deal with Iran to stop their nuclear weapons program (which did not exist, as everyone knew) was agreed to by Tehran because they knew that otherwise they would be attacked. Now we have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is committing genocide and threatening war on Iran, being cheered in the U.S. Congress and by the Biden Administration. To prevent a global war with Russia, Russian interests must be addressed. Europe is collapsing in part because Biden used the weakness of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline, undermining all of Europe’s energy security. Trump must address the de-dollarization and determine which other policies must be addressed first. Time will be short, for he will soon not be able to blame Biden for the crises. The first few months will tell.

Dr. Glenn Diesen, a political scientist from Denmark, said he was optimistic that Trump will act to resolve the crisis with Russia, but that the “liberal democracy” paradigm has failed. The “international aristocracy” has constructed a “club of democracies,” but such a unipolar policy requires hegemony, which can only be implemented through force. As a result, now the so-called “democracies” are supporting genocide; they have overthrown the Assad government in Syria through force; they are supporting ISIS; and they have overturned the democratic election in Romania. They refuse to acknowledge any security interests other than their own. Multipolarity is not up for question, he said, it is a reality. The unipolar world was based on many wars with weak countries, but were nonetheless a disaster for the West. Imagine what will happen in a war against a superpower. The economies and the people of the West are exhausted, and have given up on diplomacy. Governments are falling left and right. Trump has acknowledged that the expansion of NATO was a mistake, which is at least a step toward peace.

Dr. Mimi Syed of the Doctors Against Genocide spoke as a physician and as a mother, describing the horror she witnessed during her trips to Gaza—“atrocities which should never be witnessed by anyone.” This is counter to the ideas upon which the U.S. was created, she said. She described several such horror situations, including that of an 8-year-old boy in a “safe zone” whose face was blown off by a bomb, who was wearing a t-shirt with “Captain America” on it—an ugly irony. She said America was financing these war crimes, and we must rise together to demand a ceasefire and humanitarian aid for the Palestinians.

Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the former Surgeon General of the U.S., addressed the meeting, praising the Schiller Institute and the IPC, and Helga Zepp-LaRouche in particular, for waging this fight. We are failing to prepare the next generation, she said, by allowing the destruction of children, who need health, education and hope. The horror which we all see is “making us all sick.” She pledged her support in any way she could to stop the genocide. “Everybody can do something,” she stated.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche noted that Dr. Elders had played a critical role during the COVID pandemic in working with her to create the Committee for the Coincidence of Opposites, based on the concept of Nicholas of Cusa in the 15th Century—the notion that if humanity is put first, then all apparent opposites can be brought together. She also agreed with Lt. Col. Bosshard on Trump’s shortness of time to act, noting that the U.S. has now lost all credibility worldwide, and has lost the right to address human rights, as a “dying civilization.” The U.S. can and must return to its own best traditions. “Our own humanity is at issue” if we don’t stop the atrocities underway.

Dr. Rodolfo Ondarza, a Mexican neurosurgeon and a former Representative in the Mexico City Legislative Assembly, read an excerpt from a public letter he wrote in support of the Doctors Against Genocide, praising the morality and bravery of Dr. Hassan Abu Safiya and other Palestinian medical workers incarcerated by Israel. He demanded their freedom, and an end to the genocide.

In the discussion period, people addressed the failure of the United Nations, the need for more exposure of the IPC, and the lack of adequate health systems around the world. The ongoing lobbying in the U.S. Congress by the Doctors Against Genocide, with help from Schiller Institute members and retired U.S. military officers, was discussed. Schiller Institute organizer Joe Jennings described the rally he and fellow activists held at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, the largest medical center in the world with fifty thousand health workers, with leaflets and signs to stop the genocide. There was a discussion of the Peace of Westphalia which resolved the religious wars in Europe in 1648 based on respect for the “interests of the other,” and how the Versailles Treaty after WWI, which ignored Germany’s interests, created the conditions for WWII. The end of the Cold War, in which the interests of the Soviet Union were ignored in favor of the expansion of NATO, led to the current extreme danger of global nuclear war.

In closing statements, Lt. Col. Bosshard noted that he had been in Ukraine before the military operations began, and that it was clear that Russia would defend the Russian speaking population. For the Kiev government to declare the use of the Russian language illegal was insane. The belief in Western superiority has only encouraged Western leaders to “bark louder,” he said. The West must learn to respect other cultures.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche addressed the pandemic question by noting that Lyndon H. LaRouche in 1971 created a taskforce on the impact of the “conditionalities” of the IMF, which forced nations to pay their debts even at the expense of the needs of the population. Lowering the living standards in this way, he showed, was the cause of pandemics of old and new diseases, and the related collapse of populations.