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Date Posted: 15:01:43 10/30/07 Tue
Author: part 2
Subject: Re: October 30, 2007
In reply to: part 1 's message, "October 30, 2007" on 14:57:24 10/30/07 Tue

ECONOMICS

Existing Homes Sales Plummet 19% in Past Year

Oct. 29--Sales of existing homes from September 2006 to September
2007 dropped more than 19%, the fastest decline since 1991,
according to Marketwatch Oct. 24. They declined in all four
sections of the country. Inventories of unsold single-family
homes rose to more than a ten-month supply, the largest in
relation to sales in nearly 20 years.
Sales of existing homes and condos fell to a ``seasonably
adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million,'' the lowest since 1999.
New construction of single-family homes has dropped 31% in
the past year. [fhb]

Paulson to India: An Offer They'd Be Wise To Refuse

Oct. 29 (LPAC)--``The U.S. private sector stands ready to share
their experience in dealing with the development of domestic bond
markets and other elements that create the backbone of a
financial center,'' the Goldman Sachs veteran currently occupying
the office of U.S. Treasury Secretary told a conference in
Mumbai, India today. Henry Paulson wants Mumbai (formerly Bombay)
to become the next ``IFC''--an international financial center.
Paulson, accompanied on his three-day tour by a group of
fellow financiers including JPMorgan Chase chairman William
Harrison and Franklin Templeton CEO Richard Frank, also said
India should reduce its statutory requirements for financial
institutions, reduce the requirements for banks to provide credit
to certain priority sectors, and remove various restrictions and
caps on foreign investment, the {Hindustan Times} reports. For
good measure, he added reducing the requirement that financial
institutions hold large amounts of government debt.
Some of this may be a bit of a hard sell. Just this past
week, according to Sify.com, M. Domodaran, the chairman of the
Securities and Exchange Board of India, said that only entities
regulated in their own country will be allowed to participate in
Indian markets. U.S.-based hedge funds, for example, are not what
you'd call regulated in their own country.
Foreigners, the {International Herald Tribune} notes, are
currently prohibited from owning large stakes in many sectors of
the Indian economy, from finance to power and railroads, and from
participating in markets such as commodity exchanges. But,
Paulson insisted, ``Limits on debt and equity financing and asset
allocation restrictions on financial institutions are impediments
to putting resources to their most productive use,'' {The Hindu
Business Line} reports.
Among other reasons, Paulson's visit is to cajole the Indian
government to go along with the nuclear energy treaty that the
Bush-Cheney regime is pushing. The treaty would undercut India's
efforts to independently develop its thorium reactor, using
India's ample supply of that element.
The {Financial Times} reports that Nicholas Burns,
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, and principal
negotiator of the treaty, warned last week that India needs to
complete the accord by the end of the year to avoid ``damage'' to
the relationship between India and the United States. [fhb]

150,000 French Households Could Be Caught in Subprime Crisis

Oct. 29 (LPAC)--For the second time in a week, a major French
daily has rung the alarm over the exploding subprime mortgage
crisis hitting France. After {Le Figaro} covered the "bad
surprise" hitting moderate-income households last week, then the
Oct. 27 issue of {Liberation} ran a three-page expose on the
French subprime mortgage crisis, beginning on the front page. The
article was headlined "In the Adjustable-Rate Trap," and was
accompanied by a photo of subprime borrowers from Indiana,
captioned: "Borrowers, beware these loans. 150,000 French
households are at risk of being trapped by the adjustable rate
system. Thus the fear of a crisis like that which rocked the
American financial system this summer."
The paper details the stories of French families who took
out adjustable-rate mortgages, indexed to the ECB's Euribor, the
Euro Interbank Offered Rate, the very short-term rate at which
banks lend to each other; would-be homeowners were sold on these
loans when Euribor variable rates were much lower (Sept. 2001,
3%; Sept. 2002-2005, 2%; Sept. 2006-2007, from 4-4.76%) than the
commercial banks' fixed rates (approx. 4-4.54%).
In the French version of subprimes, among the most favored
were "capped" loans, within a band of 3-5% increase or decrease
of the variable rate, giving households the illusion they could
manage the payments. However, when the indexed rate continued to
climb, instead of raising the monthly payment, the loan's term
would be stretched out. But it didn't actually work that way,
{Liberation} points out. With Euribor rates heading upward, it
set off a chain-reaction to indexed adjustable rate loans: The
monthly pay-out rises, the term of the loan is extended, and the
reduction of principal becomes "minuscule, in fact sometimes even
negative."
In one interview after another, homeowners told Liberation
they thought if rates went up, the repayment term of the loan
would be extended. But when they got their statements, they
discovered 25-year loans turned into 30 or 35 years, 4.9% capped
rates became 5.7%, and monthly payments had grown by 80 or more
euros... oh yes, and that still didn't touch the principal! Again
and again, the bank would tell them, "You just didn't read the
contract closely enough."
Liberation reports that the French Association of Bank Users
(AFUB) has recently received 500 complaints from "worried"
homeowners, and AFUB is advising them not only to reject any
illegal practices, but to seek to have their loans renegotiated.
AFUB president Serge Maitre told Liberation that in this
adjustable rate system, it makes no sense to index a long-term
loan to the rates of day-to-day lending such as Euribor. For him,
this goes against the monetary and financial code, which
"requires there be a direct relationship between the object of a
contract and the index." [cbi/krn]

Oil Price Hikes Hit China with Gas Shortages

Oct. 29 (LPAC)--The dramatic speculative rise in oil prices has
forced refineries in China to cut back on deliveries, because
they cannot raise their controlled prices to meet increased costs
for crude. {The Standard} of Hong Kong reports that major cities
on the mainland are suffering supply shortages since crude
futures rose above $92 a barrel. Industry sources say that the
situation will only ease by the end of the month.
Most gas stations in cities such as Guangdong, Shanghai, and
Dongguan have put up "No Diesel" signs. Traffic jams have grown
as drivers line up at gas stations.
Bloomberg reports that PetroChina Co. is trying to raise
$8.9 billion to expand refineries and increase oil field output
by carrying out the world's largest share sale this year.
Since the People's Bank of China set the strongest daily
reference rate since the end of the fixed exchange rate in July
2005, the yuan rose 0.3% against the dollar Oct. 26, Bloomberg
reports. Deputy Bank Governor Liu Shiyu said the exchange rates
have "a role to play in correcting" trade imbalances. [ron/fhb]

UNITED STATES

Dick Cheney Is America's Hitler, Driving for War on Iran

October 29, 2007 (LPAC)--There is only one question being asked
by every international diplomat in Washington, and in capitals
throughout the world: Is Dick Cheney really going to attack
Iran?--and when will it happen, ask journalists, from David
Ignatius in the Washington Post, to Rami Khoury of the Daily Star
of Lebanon. Oct. 27 saw the publication of a rabid interview with
neo-con godfather, Norman Podhoretz, in the London {Daily
Telegraph}, saying that air war on Iran from submarines and air
strikes could finish the job on Iran in ``five minutes.''
Podhoretz is an advisor to Cheney favorite, Rudy Giuliani, and
Podhoretz just met with the idiot, George W. Bush, in the context
of Bush's ravings about ``World War III'' being started by Iran.
Today, the Cuban news service, Prensa Latina, reported in
its English language website that Cheney's war plans were
featured in the Oct. 26 issue of {Der Spiegel}.
``An official close to U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney
leaked plans for an attack on Iran which have been made public
Friday by the prestigious German media, {Der Spiegel},'' said
Prensa Latina, on Oct. 26. The news service added, ``In the
scenario concocted by Cheney's strategists, Washington's first
step would be to convince Israel to fire missiles at Iran's
uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Tehran would retaliate with
its own strike, providing the U.S. with an excuse to attack
military targets and nuclear facilities in Iran.''
Such scenarios are being spun and leaked from the Office of
the Vice President (OVP) faster than ever before.
Highly placed sources in the U.S. intelligence community
said that Cheney is furiously pushing for war against Iran and
Syria, and demands that there be {no negotiations} or dialogue
with these nations whatsoever. However, said one retired
Republican official, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and key
military commanders are ``pushing back'' against Cheney's war
drive.
The situation is highly dangerous, and Lyndon LaRouche
warned today that Cheney is America's Hitler, and anybody who is
soft on the question of removing Cheney is "giving Hitler a green
light." (mjs,js_)

Congressional Publication Agrees with New YOrk Times: Congress Is
Doing Nothing About Foreclosures Crisis

Oct. 29 (LPAC)--Yesterday it was the New York Times lead
editorial; today, the Oct. 29 edition of Congressional Quarterly
(CQ) drew the conclusion that Congress is doing {nothing}
effective to stop the nationwide crisis of mass home
foreclosures, because of a desire not to touch the banking
system, which is in a profound credit crisis.
Despite a variety of legislation proposed during the past
two months, "According to consumer advocates and industry
experts, Congress is considering very little that would help
those people who are currently facing the loss of their homes,"
CQ reports. "Moreover, measures that might assist borrowers who
are currently struggling, a change in bankruptcy law principal
among them, appear unlikely become law."
Lyndon LaRouche and LaRouchePAC's principles of a Homeowners
and Bank Protection Act (HBPA) would, if enacted by Congress now,
stop foreclosures cold, nationally, and protect chartered banks
suffering major losses in the mortgage meltdown. But despite
demands from a hundred state legislators around the country, no
Member of Congress has introduced HBPA. House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi's misleadership has led the Democrats down blind alleys,
and Financial Services Committee chief Rep. Barney Frank
(D-Mass.) opposes such action.
CQ assesses what they {have} proposed. Federal Housing
Administration (FHA) reform, President Bush's idea, requests but
"doesn't require lenders to work out new arrangements." Frank's
proposed reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?: "their
Congressional charters would prevent [Fannie and Freddie] from
taking on the loans that were riskiest and likeliest to default."
Allowing "bankruptcy instead of foreclosure" for borrowers? "The
House Judiciary Committee retreated" from this idea under
pressure from big banks and lenders which threatened to raise
interest rates if homeowners were allowed to go bankrupt and
lower their mortgage payments.
Rep. Barney Frank says Congress has to focus on
lender-by-lender "workouts," reports CQ. But, "voluntary"
refinancing of mortgages in trouble is happening in a grand total
of 1% of the cases nationwide, as Moody's Investors Service just
showed.
The only way to stop foreclosures, is to stop them by law,
as only LaRouche and LaRouchePAC have proposed. [pbg]

Ghoul-iani Exposed! Firefighters, Victim's Mother, Exposed His
Incompetence in 9/11

October 29, 2007 (LAPC)--The U.S. Senate has approved $500,000 in
funding to set up the Regenhard Center for Emergency Response
Studies at John Jay College in Manhattan. The Center will be a
research entity and information clearinghouse for the study of
emergency responses to large-scale disasters. Named after a New
York firefighter who lost his life during the 9/11 attacks, the
Center was organized, and will be run by, Glenn Corbett, a John
Jay professor of fire science. ``The World Trade Center will be
our starting point,'' says Corbett, according to the New York
Post, October 29.
The right-wing New York Post goes ape over this development,
fearing continued attacks against Republican Presidential
candidate and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Both the
memorialized firefighter's mother, Sally Regenhard, and Corbett
have hit hard against Giuliani for poor performance before,
during, and since the 9/11 attacks. What's even worse is that
Giuliani is running for President as one of the American heroes
of 9/11, claiming, as exemplified at a stump speech at Pat
Robertson's Regent University recently, that ``the thing that
distinguishes me on terrorism is that I have more experience in
dealing with it'' than the other Presidential candidates.
Village Voice reporter Wayne Barrett revealed on Oct. 23,
that Giuliani, in private testimony before the 9/11 Commission
which will not be publicly released until after the 2008
elections, did not bring in any experts on terrorism to brief his
staff prior to 9/11. The Fire Commissioner Tom Von Essen said he
was told nothing at all regarding terrorism prior to 9/11.
Barrett's report continues, ``Twice, Giuliani dodged the
commission's questions about the radios used by first responders
-- one of the key critiques of the city's 9/11 response made by
New York and national firefighters' unions. The city's
firefighters were stuck with the same analog radios that had
malfunctioned in 1993, when the World Trade Center was first
attacked.'' ``Similarly, when Giuliani was pressed about the
`repeater' or amplifier that was installed at the World Trade
Center after the 1993 bombing to aid firefighter radio
communications there, the memorandum indicates simply: `No
knowledge.'"
Not only was this answer an indication of how little
attention Giuliani paid to firefighter response and other
security issues at the complex prior to 9/11, "it was an
indication that he wasn't taking the critique of the city's
response seriously even years later. In response to a recent
video released by the firefighters' union attacking Giuliani on
this issue, his campaign has been trying to shift the blame to
the repeater, suggesting that it was the failure to trigger this
system that caused the firefighters not to hear evacuation
orders.''
Ghoul-iani takes his rightful place in the Presidential
Campaign Halloween Parade. Watch for him haunting your
neighborhood. [jd_]

Praise for New Super-Violent Video Game

Oct 29 (LPAC)--To unabashed applause by the New York Times and
praise by the pseudo government agency, the Entertainment
Software Rating Board (ESRB), the video game "Manhunt 2" is being
released this week. It's expected to rise to the number one
selling game. "Manhunt 2" is published by Rockstar Games, the
makers of the previous number-one super-violent, point-and-shoot
video game, "Grand Theft Auto." When Manhunt 2 was banned in
Great Britain and then given an "Adults Only" rating in the U.S.
this past summer, Rockstar decided to withdraw it from the U.S.
market. But now, with a little bit of editing, it has gotten an
"M" for Mature rating by the ESRB. The New York Times explains,
"one scene that depicted a pair of pliers being applied to male
genitalia has been cut." Now the game can be sold at stores such
as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, ensuring its sales.
The Times sheds mock tears writing that video games have
been wrongly singled out for criticism, "While a respected book
and forthcoming film like 'Kite Runner' can win acclaim while
revolving around an act of child sodomy, an entire cottage
industry has emerged to denounce shootings and stabbings in video
games." The president of the ESRB, Patricia Vance, gave Manhunt 2
her blessing saying, "There are many positive ways of helping
ensure that kids play age-appropriate games, but the fact remains
that it is a parent's rightful place to make choices for their
own children." [ddp]

IBERO-AMERICA

Resounding Mandate for Cristina Kirchner in Presidential
Elections

Oct. 29 (LPaC)--Much to the distress of Wall Street and the City
of London, Argentine First Lady and Sen. Cristina Fernandez de
Kirchner, the Presidential candidate of the Victory Front, won a
resounding victory in the Oct. 28 Presidential elections with 45%
of the vote--more than 20 percentage points above the 23% of her
opponent Elisa Carrio of the "Civic Coalition." The Victory Front
also won a majority in the Lower House of Congress and maintained
its majority in the Senate. About 75% of registered voters
participated in the elections.
In her Election Night victory speech, Senator Fernandez
warned, that "far from placing us in a position of privilege,
places us in a position of greater responsibility," because
millions of citizens have placed their confidence in her. Much
progress has been made over the past four years under the
leadership of President Nestor Kirchner, Senator Fernandez said,
pulling the country and its people out of the devastating,
IMF-provoked economic and social crisis that existed in 2003,
when he took office. But there is still much work to be done, to
make further advances in combatting poverty, unemployment and a
host of other social problems. She called on "all of the men and
women, those who voted for us, and those who didn't," to now join
with her, "because it is necessary to rebuild [the nation's]
social and institutional fabric.... A nation isn't built only on
the basis of a good government, but on the basis of a good
society." Progress must be made, not only for Argentina, "but for
the world," she said.
The First Lady made a moving tribute to her husband, who has
indicated that he intends to remain very politically active,
"modernizing" the Peronist movement, and traveling the country,
speaking to citizens in their communities, and helping to build
new institutions. Most current cabinet members are expected to
remain in their positions when Senator Fernandez takes office on
Dec. 10.
While international commentary is stupidly focussing on
whether Senator Fernandez is another Hillary Clinton, or Evita
Peron--the latter the popular wife of former President Juan D.
Peron who governed in the 1940s and 1950, and for the last time
in 1974--the President-elect is pointing to the issues facing her
nation. She underscored on Oct. 28 that she had won by an ample
margin over Carrio, who has spent most of her time in recent
years pummelling President Nestor Kirchner as a "fascist" and
"authoritarian,"--even while she promoted her own Hannah Arendt
Institute, named after the fascist lover of Nazi sympathizer
Martin Heidegger. [crr]

Mayoral Candidate "Subway" Samuel Moreno Wins Bogota Elections

BOGOTA, Oct. 29 (EIRNS)--Samuel Moreno Rojas, the candidate for
mayor of Colombia's capital, Bogota, around whose campaign the
LaRouche Youth Movement mobilized support for LaRouche's World
Land-Bridge strategy, won the elections yesterday by a wide
margin: 43.7% vs. his leading opponent's 28%. Moreno provoked the
oligarchy's hysteria by refusing to back down from his promise to
build a subway for the city, despite the oligarchy's fanatic
insistence that Colombia "cannot afford" even this most minimal
form of modern transportation.
The LYM told Bogota's citizens they should not only fight
for their right to a subway, but for Colombia to participate in
the biggest project of them all: the unification of the Eurasian
landmass and the Americas by a railroad running through a tunnel
under the Bering Strait, down through North and Central America,
crossing into South America through the jungle terrain of the
Darien Gap which lies on the border between Panama and Colombia.
The LYM organized in the streets and universities,
distributing more than 70,000 leaflets headlined "Vote for the
Darien Gap Train and the Subway for Bogota," an idea for which
they found enthusiastic support. The leaflet by the President of
the LaRouche Association of Colombia, Maximiliano Londono, laid
out the crucial role Colombia must play in LaRouche's grand
strategy to secure a peaceful passage from today's collapse to a
new world financial system, by nations uniting to build this
global railway for development.
Since it is the nation's capital, the Mayor of Bogota is
considered the second most important political post in the
country. Moreno insists that "each and every one of his planks
will be carried out," and the night of his victory, announced
that he would meet immediately with President Alvaro Uribe to
coordinate plans, despite Uribe and his Finance Minister's
hysterical insistence that there is no money to build a subway in
the capital, never mind railroads in the country. Moreno assumes
office on January 1, 2008. [mlp/ggs]

EUROPE

Railway Privatization Plans Blocked By Social Democrats

Oct. 29 (LPAC)-At their national party convention in Hamburg, the
German Social Democrats (SPD) voted in favor of railway
privatization, however along their own design for selling a
stategic minority of 25.1% of non-voting stock in Deutsche Bahn
to the public through the stock market. That effectively blocks
the government's plan to begin privatization with a sale of 25%
to private equity funds or similar "private" investors. The SPD
still has no positively formulated railway development policy of
its own, nor one that would favor maglev development, but railway
privatization is expected to be off the agenda, because of this
SPD vote, for several years.
The government's original plan for a full privatization and
an IPO of Deutsche Bahn has not received support previously,
because there was too much resistance (although rather
heteronomous) from the 16 German state governments and other
institutions, to allow that to get through. Instead, the
government designed a phase one privatization of 25% of the
railways, to prepare for the IPO in 2009. Since Chancellor Angela
Merkel and her Christian Democrats oppose the SPD design, it will
not be possible to push the 25% plan through, and that is, for
the time being, good news. (rap)

SOUTHWEST ASIA

More Charges of U.S. Backing Kurdish Terrorists

Oct. 29 (LPAC)--Echoing well-documented charges made by Turkish
officials of U.S. backing for Kurdish guerrillas, Iran Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki yesterday accused the U.S. of backing
Kurdish terrorists who are attacking Turkey and Iran.
At a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister
Ali Babacan, Mottaki cited three groups which the U.S. is
backing: the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party), PEJAK (Party for Free
Life in Kurdistan, the Kurdish-Iranian affiliate of the PKK), and
the MEK (Mujahideen e-Khalq, a Iranian exile group both labelled
terrorist by the U.S., and covertly backed by the U.S.).
"We do hope that the U.S. administration will take
corrective actions regarding clandestine and behind-the-curtain
support for the terrorist activities," Mottaki told reporters.
On July 20, then Turkish Foreign Minister (now President)
Abdullah Gul told Turkish TV that after some PKK terrorists were
captured, they were found to have weapons manufactured in the
United States. "U.S. officials told us those were the weapons
they handed over to the Iraqi Army." Gul went on: "1,260 weapons
captured from the PKK are American made. We documented it to the
U.S."
In August, the New York Times and other sources reported
that U.S. Defense Department officials had confirmed that weapons
provided by the U.S. to Iraqi police and military trainees in
2004 and 2005 had ended up being used by Kurdish militants in
Turkey.
During this same time, it was disclosed that the U.S.
Justice Department was investigating the private mercenary firm
Blackwater USA for smuggling arms to the PKK. Rep. Henry Waxman,
chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee,
notified State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard that
the committee is investigating him for interfering with ongoing
investigations involving private contractors in Iraq and
Afghanistan, including an investigation into "whether a large
security contractor working for the State Dept. was illegally
smuggling weapons into Iraq." It has been since confirmed that
the investigation pertains to Blackwater.
It is obvious that this is not just a case of a few rogue
contractors or soldiers smuggling arms, but that there has been a
systematic policy, going back many years, of covert U.S. (and
British and Israeli) arming and training of terrorist
organizations in northern Iraq, for use particularly against
Iran.
EIR reported as far back as April 4, 1997, that the Turkish
government had protested the decision by the British government
to allow the PKK to continue radio and television broadcasts from
London into eastern Turkey, which provided the PKK with marching
orders and military intelligence.
In a November 2006 {New Yorker} article "The Next Act,"
Seymour Hersh reported: "In the past six months, Israel and the
United States have also been working together in support of a
Kurdish resistance group known as the Party for Free Life in
Kurdistan. The group has been conducting clandestine cross-border
forays into Iran."
There are also a number of other reports of both U.S.
military personnel and private contractors being sighted at PKK
bases in the Qandil Mountains on the Iraq-Iran border. [ews]

Primakov: Independent Kurdistan "Put On the Line Now"

Oct. 29 (EIRNS)--Former Russian Prime Minister and top expert on
Southwest Asia Yevgeny Primakov, is warning that there is a new
drive gaining momentum to create an independent state of
"Kurdistan," with its core being the Kurdish area of Turkey.
Primakov, who is also an advisor to Russian President Vladimir
Putin, in a commentary in Moscow News (Oct. 25), reports that
according to the Turkish daily {Yeni Safak}, the Turks have
conducted cross-border raids already, including the use of
helicopters and F-16 jets and artillery.
In his analytical piece, Primakov points to the question of
the Kurds breaking away from Iraq to form a state that would
include chunks of Turkey, Syria, and Iran. "Iraq's territorial
integrity has been put on the line--now--not in some distant
future. The majority of its population and all neighboring
countries, as well as other countries, favor a single, unified
state. It is well known that the Iraqi Kurds have for many
decades been fighting for national self-determination. But prior
to the U.S. intervention, the prevailing formula was:
strengthening Kurdish autonomy as part of Iraq. Now the situation
is changing in favor of an independent Kurdish state that could
comprise not only Iraqi Kurds, but also Kurds from Turkey, Iran
and Syria. According to various estimates, there are between 20
million and 30 million Kurds in these four countries. So, for all
the importance of preserving Iraq's territorial integrity, should
the aspiration of millions of Kurds to create their own state be
endorsed?"
Primakov doesn't answer this question, and only writes that
he is "perplexed" by this development. Primakov's report confirms
Lyndon LaRouche's statements that Turkey and other countries in
the region are under attack as the British, and their chief tool,
Vice President Dick Cheney, implement a 21st century version of
the Sykes-Picot agreement which the British and French drafted to
carve up the Ottoman Empire after World War I. [dea]

Qureia: Failure at Annapolis Will Lead to War

Oct. 29 (LPAC)--Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia, speaking at
an event organized by the Israeli Meretz party, warned that the
so-called Middle East peace conference being organized by the
Bush Administration to be held next month at Annapolis, Maryland,
could lead to a new war in the region.
"If the summit fails, frustration will win out over
everything else and it will have a negative effect on the
region," Qureia is quoted as saying in today's Ha'aretz daily. "I
cannot predict exactly what will happen, but it may lead to more
wars. I warn you against failure there, which will open the door
for extremists and extremism -- and that door will be very
difficult to close."
He said that conference must come up with a clear timetable
for resolving the key issues between Israel and the Palestinians,
something Israeli Pirre Minister Ehud Olmert refuses to accept.
Qureia also called for the evacuation of Israeli
settlements. "But we need support from Israel, not with kisses,
but with the evacuation of settlements." [dea]

ElBaradei Says IAEA Has No Evidence of Iran Nuclear Weapon
Program

Oct. 29 (LPAC)--The International Atomic Energy Agency has seen
no evidence that Iran is working on a secret nuclear weapons
program, IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said yesterday.
During an interview with ElBaradei on CNN's "Late Edition,"
CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked him, "Do you believe there is a
clandestine, secret nuclear weapons program right now under way
in Iran?"
"We haven't seen any concrete evidence to that effect,"
ElBaradei responded. "We haven't received any information there
is a parallel ongoing active nuclear weapon program."
Blitzer pressed on: "So, what you're saying is the United
States government has not provided you hard intelligence evidence
that Iran is secretly working on this kind of nuclear weapons
program."
ElBaradei said there is information that there may have been
some studies about possible weaponization. "But have we seen Iran
having the nuclear material that can readily be used into a
weapon? No. Have we seen an active weaponization program? No."
The IAEA head stressed that he is concerned about the rising
level of rhetoric and the building confrontation with Iran, and
he was specifically asked about President Bush's "World War III"
comment. "My fear that if we continue to escalate from both sides
that we will end up into a precipice, we will end up into an
abyss," ElBaradei stated. "As I said, the Middle East is in a
total mess, to say the least. And we cannot add fuel to the
fire.... And I would hope that we should continue to stop
spinning and hyping the Iranian issue because that's an issue
that could have a major conflagration, and not only regionally
but globally."
When he was asked about claims that Israel had bombed a
suspected nuclear facility in Syria, ElBaradei said that he is
very distressed about the Syrian bombing. He pointed out that
there has been "chatter" for years about a possible Syrian
nuclear program, coming from, for example, John Bolton. But yet,
he said, the IAEA has not received any information about any
clandestine nuclear activities in Syria, and now, there has been
a bombing in Syria. "That to me is very distressful because we
have a system. If countries have information that the country is
working on a nuclear-related program, they should come to us. We
have the authority to go out and investigate. But to bomb first
and then ask questions later, I think it undermines the system."
[ews]

********************************************
- IBERO-AMERICA OPERATIONS REPORT -
- Oct. 29, 2007 -
********************************************

ARGENTINA: The LYM has a Double Celebration with Powerful Plans
for Upcoming Cadre School

This week, for the first time, we were able to print and
distribute 1,000 {Prometeos}, and this has now become a weekly
necessity, since we're having our greatest impact at the School
of Economics (at the University of Buenos Aires), where we
distributed 600!! Another 200 were distributed on Florida--a
pedestrian-only street--and 200 more at the School of Exact
Sciences.
During this quarter, with the financial crisis on the verge
of a total explosion, we've focussed several {Prometeos} from
different standpoints, with reports on the "International
financial bankruptcy," the wise words of "Jose Lopez Portillo
before the UN," and the "Importer of Last Resort," with which
we've bombarded the School of Economics, characterized by the
coldness of students as well as professors.
Initially, we used to only get out between 70 and 100
{Prometeos} at best. But now we have regular student readers who
seek us out or come up to get their Prometeo for that week, and
even give us advice. One very funny response came from a young
woman who said, "I always read what you say and I think it's very
interesting, but, as a suggestion, you shouldn't always say that
LaRouche is the only solution, because you sound like a cult, and
someone reading it for the first time might get the wrong
impression and stop reading it."
One thing that has been extremely important in the
deployments over the past two weeks, and which we are celebrating
internationally, is that Gaston has been recruited, and Fe. is
about to be, and they have both unleashed a series of geometrical
changes in our local. For example, last Thursday, we had eight
(!!) organizers on the deployment, and two in the office doing
fundraising and preparing the class, something that had never
happened this way before.
We've reorganized our deployments as well as our group
reading activities, with Plato's {Republic}, the Kepler work on
Wednesdays, and both individual and group choral work with
rehearsals on {Ave Verum}, in order to maintain a very high level
of intellectual work in the weeks leading up to the cadre school.
This, by the way, will be the second one this year, which we
expect to be even better than the previous one in every way. Our
new recruits are already involved in working on pedagogical
presentations on science and on Prometheus Bound, in
collaboration with other LYM members.
And now, we are very happy with Cristina Kirchner, who is
our new President, and with our new young recruits (now the
youngest are 19 and 20). So, we are moving forward, celebrating
and working even harder in order to, this time, organize at least
30 youth for our cadre school.
On to recruitment!!
--Betiana for the LYM.

*** END OF BRIEFING ***

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