Yesterday's Real Journalist News - THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018

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THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018

• The Role of the British Empire Has Never Been Clearer
• Centcom Chief: Syrian Government Is Winning the Civil War in Syria
• Tillerson Was Wrong about China’s Role in Africa, Says Chinese Diplomat in Africa
• Russia Charges That the U.K. Is Violating the Chemical Weapons Convention
• Russia Is ‘Guilty,’ British Prime Minister May Shrieks
• Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Lambasts London’s Insane Chemical Weapons Fraud
• Labour Leader Corbyn Questions Theresa May’s Claims
• Duterte Pulls Philippines Out of the Racist International Criminal Court Star Chamber
• Of Course, China Is Developing Space-Based Laser Weapons

EDITORIAL
The Role of the British Empire Has Never Been Clearer
March 14 (EIRNS)—First it was Tony Blair’s “dodgy dossier” on Saddam Hussein’s WMD which unleashed the pathetic George W. Bush to turn the entire Mideast (with help from Obama) into a terrorist hellhole. Then came claims of Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons, tricking Trump into a missile attack on a Syrian airbase. Then came British intelligence operative Christopher Steele’s own “dodgy dossier,” launching a regime-change effort against the government of the United States based on fairy tales about Trump and Russia. Now, Prime Minister Theresa May, typically without evidence, declares there is “no alternative conclusion” but that the “Russian state” is responsible for the nerve agent attack in the London district of Salisbury, “an unlawful use of force against the United Kingdom.” We must all unite against the evil Russians, May and her controllers are screaming.

It is all self-evidently nonsense, but there is desperation in the British Empire. For 50 years Lyndon LaRouche has documented the British Empire’s historic hatred of the United States, and the systematic takeover of U.S. government policy through Wall Street and other assets following the death of FDR and the assassination of JFK. Few listened. “The British Empire is dead,” we’d often hear, followed by the insistence that the only empire today is the Russian Empire, or the American Empire, depending on which of the British Empire’s controlled environments one chose to inhabit.

But it is not working so easily this time. The London Guardian today showed the level of panic in the Empire: “Throughout the day,” they editorialize, “the U.K. worked hard diplomatically in Washington to persuade Trump to set aside his desire for a rapport with Putin, and recognize that Russia was the only country that had the means or the motive to seek to kill Skripal,” the Russian double agent for MI6 who was hit with a nerve agent last week together with his daughter. But, they whine, “Trump offered only a reluctant acceptance of the British case, but did not directly ascribe responsibility to Russia.... It would be a blow to Anglo-U.S. relations if Trump refused to accept the British intelligence assessment, but since his election he has felt under siege over allegations that he colluded with Russia to win the presidency, and he believes former British intelligence officers have been feeding those allegations.”

Indeed he does, and that effort to use lies concocted by MI6 to bring down his presidency has now been thoroughly discredited. The former Obama intelligence officials who peddled the British lies have been caught red-handed running a treasonous attack on the U.S. government, and could (and should) soon be in jail.

Prime Minister May is not running free within the U.K., either. It is increasingly likely that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would win an election if it comes to that, as it may, and the Tories are trailing Corbyn’s Labour Party in the polls for the upcoming local elections. Corbyn directly challenged May’s actions against Russia in the Parliament today, asking if she would follow the rules of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and provide Russia with samples of the nerve agent and wait the required ten days. May blustered that she had given the Russians enough time, and that there was consensus from all the backbenchers, that Corbyn was out of line, and that she was expelling 23 Russian diplomats. In a move that will certainly strike terror in the hearts of the Russians, May also announced that the Royal Family will not attend the World Cup in Russia.

The British oligarchs’ fear is legitimate. The Empire will not survive the coming together of the United States, Russia, China, Africa, Ibero-America—and even the people of Europe and the U.K.—in the new paradigm represented by the spirit of the New Silk Road. They are willing to risk thermonuclear war to prevent that new paradigm, but their time is running out. It is a moment of great potential, if the human race rises to the occasion.

U.S. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
Centcom Chief: Syrian Government Is Winning the Civil War in Syria
March 14 (EIRNS)—Gen. Joseph Votel, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday that the Syrian government, backed by Russia and Iran, has won the civil war, reports Military.com. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked Votel, “Is it too strong a statement that, with Russia and Iran’s help, Assad has won the civil war in Syria?” Votel responded: “I don’t think that is too strong of a statement. I think they have provided him the wherewithal to be ascendant at this point.” When asked if it is still U.S. policy that “Assad must go,” Votel replied, “I don’t know that that’s our particular policy at this particular point.”

During the same hearing, Votel also expressed support for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “The JCPOA addresses one of the principal threats that we deal with from Iran, so if the JCPOA goes away, then we will have to have another way to deal with their nuclear weapons program,” he said. “There would be some concern (in the region), I think, about how we intended to address that particular threat if it was not being addressed through the JCPOA. ... Right now, I think it is in our interest” to stay in the deal, Votel said.

Tillerson Was Wrong about China’s Role in Africa, Says Chinese Diplomat in Africa
March 14 (EIRNS)—China’s Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian sharply countered negative remarks made by outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson regarding China’s role in Africa. Tillerson, who was on a week-long tour of five African countries, when he was dismissed by President Trump on Monday, had said last week in at the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital, that African nations should “not forfeit any elements of your sovereignty as you enter into such arrangements with China” or create a debt crisis.

Speaking at a press briefing, March 12, Lin said that Tillerson “has obviously chosen the wrong place, wrong topic against the wrong target. His words are wrong and not true. Sorry to say this is quite self-embarrassing,” reported Xinhua. The ambassador then detailed that China had invested over $100 billion in Africa, and had built 6,500 km of rail, 200 schools, 80 sports stadiums, and transferred technology, in addition to creating jobs and “changing the lives” of African people. He also pointed out Tillerson had probably used airports and roads built by China.

Lin continued his criticism: “What they really want is to keep Africa as it was, poor and divided, to be always controlled by others. What they worry about is Africa’s realization of economic independence with China’s support. What they worry about is a strong Africa that can no longer be ordered around politically.” Lin pointedly stated that “American friends are worried about Africa’s debt crisis on the lips, but they have no willingness to issue loans to support Africa’s development or to encourage their investors to [invest in] Africa.”

STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Russia Charges That the U.K. Is Violating the Chemical Weapons Convention
March 14 (EIRNS)—The British government is claiming that it is acting in a totally lawful manner with respect to its accusations against Russia on the poisoning of MI6 double agent, former Russian military intelligence (GRU) Col. Sergei Skripal, but the Russians are making a strong case that it’s not true.

Russia’s Ambassador to the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons Alexander Shulgin issued a very strong statement, posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry website, during a meeting of the OPCW’s Executive Council in Brussels, on March 13. He said the British authorities’ allegations are “absolutely unacceptable” and that the British government should abandon the language of ultimatums “and return to the legal framework of the chemical convention, which makes it possible to resolve this kind of situation.” He said that if London has serious reasons to believe that Russia was involved in the poisoning “we suggest that Britain immediately avail itself of the procedures provided for by paragraph 2 of Article 9 of the CWC (Chemical Weapons Convention). They make it possible, on a bilateral basis, to officially contact us for clarifications regarding any issues that raise doubts or concerns.” The Convention allows up to ten days for a member to respond to clarifications requested of it. “As such, the ultimatum’s demand that information be provided immediately, by the end of today, is absolutely unacceptable,” Shulgin said. May reported to the Commons on March 12 that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had summoned the Russian ambassador and had given Russia 24 hours to “immediately provide full and complete disclosure of the Novichok program ... by the end of tomorrow.”

Shulgin stressed that within the walls of the OPCW, one must use facts, not hysteria, and therefore, the Russians will demand, as is their right under the CWC, the material evidence of Russian involvement in the poisoning. “Britain’s allegations that they have everything, and their world-famous scientists have irrefutable data, but they will not give us anything, will not be taken into account. For us, this will mean that London has nothing substantial to show, and all its loud accusations are nothing but fiction and another instance of the dirty information war being waged on Russia. Sooner or later, they will have to be held accountable for their lies.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also issued a statement charging that Britain is in violation of the CWC. “The U.K. is in fact violating the Chemical Weapons Convention, pursuant to which it was obliged to deliver corresponding objective evidence, including samples of that agent, to the party that had fallen under suspicion.” He said yesterday that Moscow has received no inquiry from the U.K. about the agent allegedly used in the Salisbury case.

Russia Is ‘Guilty,’ British Prime Minister May Shrieks
March 14 (EIRNS)—Going well beyond her rant of two days ago before the House of Commons, in which she proclaimed it “highly likely” that Russia was involved in the poisoning of former GRU Col. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, but left open the possibility that others might have committed the crime, today Prime Minister Theresa May shrieked before the same body that “there is no alternative conclusion other than the Russian state was responsible for the attempted murder of Mr. Skripal and his daughter.”

Russia, she told the gathered MPs, had engaged in “an unlawful use of force” against the U.K.,” and had provided “no credible explanation.” In fact, she charged, it has treated the U.K. demand to explain how the nerve gas Novichok was used with “sarcasm, contempt and defiance.” Giving her best Winston Churchill imitation, she warned, “We will not tolerate the threat to life of British people and others on British soil from the Russian government. Nor will we tolerate such a flagrant breach of Russia’s international obligations.”

Without a shred of evidence, and having ignored the strict protocols stipulated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Chemical Weapons Convention in such a case, May announced the immediate expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats, proclaiming them to be spies, and announced a series of other measures to punish Russia for its alleged crimes. Moscow is apparently supposed to be aghast that, among the punishments, is that the Royal Family will not be attending the World Cup in Russia this June!

May made much of the “support” she is ostensibly receiving from the U.S., Germany and France, failing to mention that President Donald Trump has said he wants to see all the evidence, while French President Emmanuel Macron is being very cautious. The spokesman of the French government, Benjamin Griveaux, announced at a press conference today that France will wait until “the completion of the investigation” to take a position on this matter, stressing that France “wishes all the facts to be fully proven before taking a position on that type of subject. We do not engage in political fiction on such grave matters.”

Others of London’s measures include freezing Russian assets, if there is evidence they are being used to compromise British security, “or threaten the life or property of U.K. nationals or residents”; legislation to protect the U.K. from hostile state activity, including increasing power in the sanctions bill; considering new counter-espionage powers, “to harden our defenses against all forms of hostile state activity”; suspending all high-level diplomatic contact with Russia, including revoking an invitation to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to visit; and considering legislation to add “a targeted power to detain those suspected of hostile state activity at the U.K. border,” a power which is “currently only permitted in relation to those suspected of terrorism,” she said.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Lambasts London’s Insane Chemical Weapons Fraud
March 14 (EIRNS)—Russia’s Foreign Ministry has issued an official response to the measures announced today by British Prime Minister Theresa May, in her hysterical, Goebbels-like speech before the House of Commons which includes the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats. The Foreign Ministry warns that “our response measures will not be long in coming.”

May’s actions constitute an “unprecedented, flagrant provocation that undermines the foundations of normal dialogue between our countries,” the Ministry statement read. With its actions, the British government is clearly pursuing “unseemly political ends,” the statement continues, and “Instead of completing its own investigation and using established international protocols in the framework of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),” London has “opted for confrontation with Russia,” the Foreign Ministry charged.

“Obviously, by investigating this incident in a unilateral, non-transparent way, the British government is again seeking to launch a groundless anti-Russia campaign.

“Needless to say, our response measures will not be long in coming,” concluded the ministry statement.

Elaborating further, today Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by TASS as saying today that while Russia has no motives for poisoning former GRU Col. Sergei Skripal and his daughter, “such motives might certainly exist in the minds of those who would like to push ahead with the Russophobic campaign in all spheres of human activity without exception.” He pointed out that in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the U.K. was obliged to send an official request for information to Russia, “but no such request was sent.”

The height of London’s arrogance, as Lavrov explained, was the fact that the British representative to the OPCW questioned Russian Ambassador to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin, as to “why Russia was trying to refer to the Chemical Weapons Convention, because in his words, it was sufficient that the British Foreign Secretary had summoned the Russian ambassador [to London] and told him everything.” Minister Lavrov concluded, “You know, this kind of conceit shows in almost all the steps London has been taking—not only in this particular case.”

Labour Leader Corbyn Questions Theresa May’s Claims
March 14 (EIRNS)—Following British Prime Minister Theresa May’s hysterical charges against Russia today in the House of Commons, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and his spokesperson, suggested there could be an alternative explanation and raised the issue of the intelligence services’ role.

Business Insider website quotes Corbyn’s spokesperson saying that the Labour leader didn’t believe there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Russia poisoned Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and suggested that British intelligence services may have it wrong. After all, the spokesperson said, “there is a history between weapons of mass destruction and intelligence, which is problematic, to put it mildly.” The spokesperson hypothesized that a “mafia” or another former Soviet state, not the Kremlin, could have been involved.

The Guardian quotes Corbyn saying that the Skripal poisoning was “an appalling act of violence. Nerve agents are abominable if used in any war ... it is utterly reckless to use them in a civilian environment.” But, it’s not inconceivable that the nerve agent might have been used by someone other than Russia, he said. He recalled that May had said in her March 12 speech, that either this was a direct act by the Russian state, or that the Russian government had lost control of its “catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.”

Thus, he continued, any response must be based on clear evidence. “If the government believes that it is still a possibility that Russia negligently lost control of a military-grade nerve agent, what action is being taken through the OPCW with our allies?” And, “what response did the British government make to Russia’s request for a sample of the nerve agent to test it?”

May harrumphed that the Russians had already been given a chance to explain where the nerve agent had come from, and then boasted that her government had attained “consensus” among the MPs. Judging from the remarks that were made by backbenchers “across the whole of the house” last Monday, she proclaimed, there is clearly a consensus “across the backbenches of this house.” She lamented, that unfortunately, this consensus doesn’t extend to Corbyn, “who could have taken the opportunity as the U.K. government has done to condemn the culpability of the Russian state.”

May’s Tories are far behind in the polls from Corbyn’s Labour Party for local elections coming up.

THE NEW GLOBAL ECONOMIC ORDER
Duterte Pulls Philippines Out of the Racist International Criminal Court Star Chamber
March 14 (EIRNS)—Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte today issued a 15-page legal document declaring that his country was henceforth no longer a member of the International Criminal Court. The ICC has been known since its inception in 2002 as a racist, imperial body, created by networks around George Soros, to impose the dictates of the West upon their former colonies. All but one of the eleven trials the ICC has conducted have been against the leaders of African nations.

Duterte’s statement reviews several legal precedents to justify the withdrawal, but the essence is the following broadside against the UN Human Rights mafia:

“At the onset of my presidency, there appears to be a systematic assault by the United Nations as well as its special rapporteurs not only on my person but on my administration as well, more particularly on the relentless campaign against the proliferation of illegal drugs industry in the country.

“Special rapporteur Agnes Callamard, without proof, and merely relying on news reports and accusations from my critics, has embarked on a campaign against me before the international public and has pictured me as a ruthless violator of human rights and directly responsible for the deaths of its suspects which she describes as extrajudicial killings.

“Recently, two Filipino United Nations special rapporteurs, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz and Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, made public announcements effectively accusing the Philippine government of human rights abuses, killings, and attacks being carried by members of the armed forces against the indigenous communities.

“The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has joined the United Nations special rapporteurs in maligning my person by saying that I should submit myself to psychiatric examination. He likewise accused me of attacking the special rapporteur of committing widespread extrajudicial executions and engaging in ongoing attacks against voices who are critical of the current appointment, including human rights defender.

“As stated earlier, the International Criminal Courts Special Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda gave a premature public announcement of a preliminary examination thereby creating the impression that I am likely to be charged before the International Criminal Court, violating, therefore, the presumption of innocence accorded me by the Constitution. The accusations of these United Nations officials have the effect of painting me guilty before the eyes of the world. There appears to be a concerted effort on those aforesaid United Nation officials to paint me as a ruthless and heartless violator of human rights.”

Duterte also rejected the ICC rule that says a withdrawal from the body requires a one-year waiting period, concluding that the Philippines is out “effective immediately.”

Several African nations have withdrawn from the ICC and others have refused to prevent targetted leaders from visiting their countries. It’s time to end this imperial Star Chamber.

SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Of Course, China Is Developing Space-Based Laser Weapons
March 14 (EIRNS)—“Like the U.S. Defense Department, the [People’s Liberation Army] PLA has long understood the transformative potential of directed-energy weapons, including lasers, EML, and microwave weapons. In 2015, the PLA published the book, Light War, in which authors Li Bingyuan, Huyan Ning, and Wang Shenliang write that in 30 years directed-energy weapons will dominate the battlefield ... and the authors put special emphasis on space-based energy weapons.” So reports an article in March 5 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology . Author Richard D. Fisher continues:

“One significant space-weapons proposal was made in the December 2013 issue of the journal Chinese Optics, titled ‘Development of Space-Based Laser Weapons.’ The authors are from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, a leading Chinese laser-weapon developer. They proposed a 2023 completion for a 5-ton low-Earth orbit laser weapon platform equipped with a 1 MW chemical laser capable of hitting targets out to 5,000 km. Four could be launched by a Casic solid-fuel, potentially mobile, 20-ton payload space-launch vehicle now under development.”