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Date Posted: 18:50:43 11/17/07 Sat
Author: part 2
Subject: Re: November 17, 2007
In reply to: part 1 's message, "November 17, 2007" on 18:49:22 11/17/07 Sat

China Loses Money in Postmortem Financial System

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--China could be hit harder than ever predicted, by
the effects of the subprime crisis on world finance, and the
impact of the crash on Chinese finance needs to be revalued, the
weighty China Securities News warned today. Even more important,
China's huge foreign reserves of $1.43 trillion are in danger,
with the dollar weakening as the U.S. Federal Reserve lowers
interest rates. Already the dollar has fallen over 5% against
China's international currency, the renminbi, to now about 7.45
RMB to the dollar.
* The China Investment Corporation just lost about US$741
million on the books, right after buying $3 billion in the
morally disturbed Blackstone Group.
* On top of this, other Chinese investors are losing money
fast on their international investments. Of the $10.9 billion
invested overseas under the Qualified Domestic Institutional
Investors (QDII) program, launched in April 2006, four QDII funds
alone have already lost some $847 million.
* The crash in yields on U.S. treasury bonds will also hit
China's financial earnings.
While the China Securities News casually reports that it is
the subprime crisis that is having an effect on world finance,
Lyndon LaRouche made the following clarification on this tragic
error in a Nov. 14 statement:
To call the presently ongoing economic collapse a subprime
crisis, or a housing crisis "is a fraud," Lyndon LaRouche said
yesterday. "It's an overall systemic crisis."
"If you want to look for a cause, the Senate should look at
the way it showed contempt for China," LaRouche said. That didn't
cause the crisis, but it precipitated the crisis. It determined
the timing of the crisis--that the Senate showed imperial
contempt for China, LaRouche said.
The Chinese retaliated, as they had warned the Senate
through LaRouche that they would do, he said. And that's what
precipitated the timing of the outbreak of this general breakdown
crisis.
This is what is behind the large-scale Chinese sell-off of
dollar holdings now ongoing.

U.S. crash Will Hit Chinese Exports

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--The U.S. economic crisis will have an especially
big effect on China's exports and overall economy, because of
their close economic ties, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce
warned in a new official research report, {China Daily} reported
yesterday. Already Chinese exports to the United States dropped
"sharply" immediately after the sub-prime loan crash hit in July,
and if exports continue to fall "noticeably" in 2008, the entire
Chinese economy will slow down, the MOC warned.
In the first quarter of 2007, exports to the United States
had grown by 20.4% over the year before, but the rate of growth
fell to 15.6% in the second quarter and 12.4% in the third. China
sends 19.4% of its exports to the United States, second after the
European Union, and for every 1% slowing of the U.S. economy,
Chinese exports shrink by 6%, according to the Peoples Bank of
China.
While China's trade partners have been putting on the
pressure for China to cut its big trade surplus at a new monthly
record of $27 billion in October, Beijing is concerned about the
risk of the effects of a "sharp" decline in exports. (mmc)

China's Banks Pour Funds Into Nuclear

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--"Banks in China are active in pouring the funds
and there is no shortage of funds" for developing nuclear energy
in China, Kang Rixin, general manager of China National Nuclear
Corporation, told the World Energy Congress in Rome yesterday,
Xinhua reported. Kang told the Congress that China will double
its current nuclear power capacity by 2020, and is investing 400
billion yuan to build 16 planned nuclear units. At present, just
2% of China's total installed energy capacity is nuclear, and
that will go to 4%, to 40 million kilowatts, by 2020. China now
has 11 nuclear power generation units in operation, with eight
new ones already being built, and another eight units being
planned. (mmc)

UNITED STATES

Kucinich: Do Impeachment Now!

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--During the Nov. 15 debate of Democratic
Presidential candidates in Las Vegas, Congressman Dennis Kucinich
warned the audience that it would be folly to wait until after
the Bush Administration launched a military attack on Iran, to
begin impeachment proceedings.
Bush and Cheney are "out of control," he said. Speaking to
the audience member who had raised her fears about a potential
U.S. attack on Iran, and whose son had been deployed to Iraq, the
Ohio Democrat emphasized that there is only one appropriate
response: "It's called 'impeachment.' You don't wait. You do it
now. Impeach them now." CNN moderator Wolfe Blitzer tried to cut
Kucinich off at that point, but the Congressman kept repeating
the word "impeachment" to the thunderous applause of the audience
which was on its feet.
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden also raised the impeachment issue
during the same debate, but argued that impeachment proceedings
should begin against Bush and Cheney "if they were to take the
country to war in [Iran] without a vote of Congress, which will
not exist." [crr]

Conyers Says Impeachment Resolution "Under Active Consideration"

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Michigan Rep. John Conyers, Chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee, has stated that the impeachment resolution
against Vice President Dick Cheney is "under active
consideration." He wouldn't specify any timetable for action on
the resolution before his committee, however, given that this is,
in his words, "the most sensitive matter before the nation."
According to Scoop Independent News, Conyers made these
remarks following a Nov. 14 discussion organized by the
Congressional Out of Iraq caucus, headed by California Rep.
Maxine Waters. Participants on the panel included former Sen.
George McGovern, journalist Bob Woodward, and authors Ron Suskind
and Michael Isikoff. All were asked by Rep. Stephen Cohen if,
"politics aside," they thought impeachment were warrented.
The only one of the panelists who responded was Sen.
McGovern, who said that "misleading Congress to get into the war
is impeachable... the grounds for impeachment are stronger than
the ones we had against Nixon." But he added that he didn't think
"the mood of the country would carry it very far." Isikoff
declined to answer, and Woodward punted, saying that a reporter's
job is to present facts "in a neutral way." Suskind didn't have a
chance to respond.
Indicative of the kind of pressure he is under from
constituents, and how hot the impeachment issue really is in the
country, Conyers pointedly challenged the four panelists: "Why is
it all but one of you chose not even to speak to the issue? Every
member here is being besieged by people demanding an impeachment
action be begun." This, he said, "is the subject that governs
what happens in 2008. This is the subject that people are coming
to us asking, 'if they don't apply now, when will they ever
apply?'"--referring to impeachment provisions. [crr]

Drug Cartel Hitmen, Video Game Kids, and the Revolution in
Military Affairs: A Case Study from Texas

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--"We have to understand, these weren't murders
being committed by illegal immigrants. These were executions,
committed by American kids. They speak English, they play video
games and they look just like any kid you'll see in the mall.
They just chose to get into the life the cartel offered of money
and drugs and violence," Webb County, Texas, Assistant District
Attorney Jesus Guillen told the Dallas Morning News, after
successfully prosecuting a 17-year-old contract killer who had
carried out 30 murders for the drug cartels on both sides of the
U.S.-Mexico border.
Guillen's report to the {Dallas Morning News}, published on
Nov. 10, on the case of Rosalio Reta, an American youth from
Laredo who carried out his first murder for the cartels when he
was 13 years old, demonstrates just how close Britain's evil
Revolution in Military Affairs project has brought us to Hell.
First: Reta and other adolescents in Texas were hired as
contract killers--members of several three-man cells were paid
$500 a week each just to standby for orders to kill when
needed--by the drug cartel's enforcement arm, the Zetas. The
Zetas themselves are a creation of the perversion of national
armies: a former Special Forces anti-drug unit of the Mexican
military, trained at Fort Benning in the United States, which
switched loyalties, to join the drug cartels.
Second: the adolescents described by the prosecutors were
turned into narco-terrorist killers by playing video games.
For example: Reta, who carried out his first contract hit
when he was only 13, told prosecutors there was no thrill in it,
because his victim was tied up and kneeling, and he only had to
pick up a pistol and shoot him in the head. "He told us that
wasn't his style. There was no challenge. He preferred to run
surveillance on a victim, pick the right moment and surprise him.
Like he was playing Grand Theft Auto, Guillen told the DMN.
"We talked to him for hours about what he had done, and he
never once showed any remorse. The funny thing is, as you talk to
him, you start liking him. He's just a 5'3", scrawny little kid.
He's bright, engaging, and funny. He comes from a good,
hardworking family of nine kids. Nothing in his background
screams out 'criminal.'
"Half of you thinks, 'What a tragedy at so many levels this
kid is.' But the other half looks at what he's done and you think
there's something evil at work, that somehow, the morality switch
never got turned on."
"He told us he liked the killing. It didn't make him sick.
He liked it," Guillen said. [ggs]

War Supplemental Spending Bill Blocked in Senate as Democrats
Continue To Hide Behind Pelosi's Mask

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Senate Republicans blocked action on a House
Democrat-authored $50 billion bridge war supplemental bill on
Nov. 16. The bill, as passed by the House on Nov. 14, provided
$50 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,
significantly less than the $193 billion that the White House has
asked for, and included language instructing the president to
begin the orderly withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, in
conjunction with a comprehensive regional stability plan. It
provided a goal of Dec 15, 2008 to complete the withdrawal except
for certain anti-terrorism, and other, missions stipulated in the
bill. Senate Republicans not only forced a cloture vote on the
House-passed bill, but also brought up an alternative funding
bill that provided $70 billion but without the withdrawal
language. The GOP bill failed cloture on a 45 to 53 vote, and the
cloture vote on the Democrats' bill was 53 to 45.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said after the
vote, that the reason why President Bush did not have a bill "is
because he doesn't want accountability." He vowed that the
Democratic-led Congress would not pass any funding bill for the
Iraq war without some accountability in it. The next step remains
unclear, however. Reid indicated that, even though the Congress
will be in session for two weeks in December, the war
supplemental bill could wait until after the first of the year
for further action. [cjo]

U.S. Ad-hoc Policies Created a No-Win Situation in Pakistan:
Fuller

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Writing in the {Global Viewpoint}, Graham E.
Fuller, a former vice-chairman of the National Intelligence
Council at the CIA, said the United States is now confronted with
an essentially no-win situation in Pakistan. He writes: "Today
the U.S. military presence is perhaps the single most
inflammatory element in politics across the region. The American
military response to this regional challenge only serves to
exacerbate it. Sadly, Pakistan is now swift on the heels of Iraq
and Afghanistan in heading toward increased civil strife and
bitter anti-American emotions.... The region will only calm down
following a withdrawal of U.S. forces."
Fuller, who served 20 years in the Foreign Service, mostly
the Muslim World, working in Germany, Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi
Arabia, North Yemen, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong, for nearly 17
years, pointed out in this article that Pakistan's governments
were never democratic and they are still heavily influenced by
powerful feudal rural landholders with regressive social and
economic policies. The country desperately needs agricultural and
social reform. But reform will undercut the powerful feudalists,
a key pillar of power. Former Premier Benazir Bhutto, for all her
Western polish, herself represents those very landowning powers
in her native Sindh region. The kind of deep social reform
required is not in the offing, neither with Musharraf nor with
Bhutto. She has been tested twice and found wanting.
Fuller claims that the Pakistan situation is inextricably
linked not only with the war in Afghanistan but also to broader
convulsions across the Middle East. [RMA]

IBERO-AMERICA

Under Cristina Kirchner, Argentina Will Have Its National
Development Bank

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Speaking before the annual convention of the
Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) on Nov. 14, Chief of Staff
Alberto Fernandez, who will occupy the same post for incoming
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, announced that the new
President is committed to creating a national development bank,
to ensure long-term financing for industry at reasonable interest
rates.
The new bank will "serve those businessmen who are
interested in production ... the men of industry," Fernandez
said, to the enthusiastic applause of 800 business leaders in the
room.
The announcement of the bank's creation was also warmly
greeted by Armando Mariante Carvalho, the Vice President of
Brazil's giant National Economic and Social Development Bank
(BNDES), which many industrialists see as a model for an
Argentine development bank. BNDES was created in the early 1950s
by nationalist President Getulio Vargas, for the specific purpose
of financing industry and infrastructure.
Mariante, one of the invited speakers at the UIA conference,
told the daily {Clarin} that Argentina has "all the conditions
for long-term, sustainable development through the creation of a
development bank." There have been no official contacts, he said,
but "there is political will." Noting that President-elect
Cristina Kirchner will be traveling to Brazil on Nov. 19 to meet
with President Lula da Silva, Mariante suggested that the two
leaders might discuss the proposed bank there. "We would share
our knowledge with great pleasure," he said.
The Brazilian also remarked that there could be cooperation
between the Bank of the South, to be founded on Dec. 9, and
existing development banks, to finance integration projects
"among two or three countries." Such institutions can work well
together he said. "There is room for everyone." [crr]

EUROPE

Majority of Germans Back Railway Engineers' Strike

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Expectations on the part of the railway
management and government that the population would turn in
outrage against the train drivers' (railway engineers) strike
over the cancellation of several thousand trains, have backfired:
An opinion poll taken by the EMNID institute at the beginning of
the ongoing 62-hour strike showed 57% of the people in support of
the strikers, which is a remarkable increase from the 45%
reported at the end of October.
Interviews by television stations with average passengers
who have been "stranded" on the railway stations, reveal that the
passengers sympathize with the strong resolve of the train
drivers not to back down under the massive psywar waged against
them. One woman was shown on TV, as saying, "Finally, someone
does something in this country!" And, people are well aware that
the strike is mainly against the privatization strategy, which is
to blame for the mess.
The LaRouche BueSo party began e-mailing party leader Helga
Zepp-LaRouche's new statement to railway labor union offices this
afternoon, a statement calling on the population to take the
strike as a point of departure towards an in-depth debate on the
onrushing global financial meltdown and on the urgency of having
aan NBW-Firewall policy against that. The statement also makes a
specific reference to the 1931 Woytinski-Tarnow-Baade Plan (WTB
Plan), which, had it been turned into policy by the German
institutions then, would have prevented the Nazi rise to power
and led Germany out of the Great Depression with a German
equivalent of FDR's New Deal.
In addition to being put on the BueSo website and being
published in the Neue Solidaritaet weekly, the statement will be
distributed as a mass-circulation leaflet beginning tomorrow.
(rap)

After Belgium, Netherlands Becomes Target of Break-Up Scenario

PARIS, Nov. 16 (EIRNS)--Several polls were conducted in both
France and the Netherlands to profile populations and evaluate
if, in case of the break-up of Belgium, the Dutch population
would agree to reunite with the Dutch-speaking Flemings of
Belgium, and if Frenchmen would agree the absorption of the
Walloons into France. A poll done by IFOP for the French Sunday
paper {Journal du Dimanche} on Nov. 11 says 54% of all Frenchmen
would be in favor of accepting the Walloons, with 10% being very
favorable. The paper says the ratio of Frenchmen having Belgian
origins or family links is quite substantial.
The Dutch free daily {Dag} of Nov. 12 says 45% of all Dutch
would accept reunification with the Dutch-speaking Flanders. The
Dutch language is dying off in the Netherlands and is
occasionally replaced with English. {Dag} says that a larger
country with 22 million people would be stronger than the current
16 million living in the Netherlands and the daily even launched
a petition asking the members of the Dutch parliament to include
reunification on their agenda! 80% of all Dutch claim they "quite
like" Flemings. "It would bring an end to the savage competition
between two major ports of Europe: Antwerp and Rotterdam," writes
the paper and the "new" country could be called "Deltaland,"
"Orangeland," or "The Dutch Flemish Federation."
Today's {Liberation} reports the danger of even wilder
balkanization, noting that Steve Stevaert, the governor of the
Belgian province of Limburg made a statement asking to reunite
with the "sister" province of Dutch Limburg, with the perspective
of making Limburg a single "European" province. Liberation
writes: "as if a menace of balkanization floats over the heart of
the [European] Union." (kav)

Great Britain's Top Intelligence Chief Is a "Deadhead"

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--The new head of Great Britain's Joint
Intelligence Committee, the country's top intelligence body, Alex
Allan, is a "Deadhead" by his own admission. "Deadheads" are
better known as fans of the 1960s and '70s rock group the
Grateful Dead, which finally disbanded in 1995 when, gratefully,
most of the originally members had met their namesake. Allan
maintains a personal website devoted to the Grateful Dead where
one can find information on all their music, concerts etc.
Allan, who is 56 and a real Whitehall mandarin, has been
British High Commissioner to Australia and private secretary to
both Prime Ministers John Major and Tony Blair. On his website
Allen writes, "I first saw the Dead in the mud at Bickershawe in
1972, and was so knocked out I went to all the Lyceum concerts
after that. I have been a Deadhead ever since, and saw them
whenever they came to Europe, but sadly never managed a U.S.
tour." [dea]

AFRICA

South Africa and Zimbabwe Cooperating Against Britain's "Regime
Change"

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--A statement released at a meeting of the joint
South African-Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission on Defense and
Security held in South Africa said the two countries will work
together against the policy of "regime change" in the countries
of southern Africa. Released on Thursday, the statement said,
"The commission resolved to exchange information on those forces,
internal and external, which through misinformation and
disinformation are bent on undermining the process."
South African Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said Southern
African countries faced a "very real challenge" of regime change
encouraged by foreign powers, according to reports in the {Mail}
and {Guardian}.
Zimbabwean Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramayi accused
Britain of being the chief architect of the regime change policy
against his country.
Thanking South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has been
mediating the crisis between the ruling Zanu PF and the
opposition Movement for a Democratic change, Sekeramayi said, "It
would not come as a surprise if Britain, the chief architect of
regime change agenda in Zimbabwe, makes a last ditch attempt at
derailing the talks."
South African Defense Minister Lekota also called on the
countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to
use its influence in the African Union to address the dangers of
the newly established United States African military command,
known as Africom.
"We also have to manage Africom, which threatens our
sovereignty," Lekota said and also warned of the "growing danger"
of private security companies. "This is a complex area because
it's difficult to legislate against it. We need to share
information so that we can at least keep an eye on what these
companies are doing." [dea]

SOUTHWEST ASIA

UN Security Council Perm 5 Differ on Iran after IAEA Report

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Responses to the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) report on Iran, issued yesterday, range from
positive (in Iran especially) to livid and threatening. The
London {Guardian} has a piece entitled "Decision Time for U.S.
Over Iran Threat," which focusses on the news of the 3,000
centrifuges, which they say, represent a red line for the United
States. Now the Bush administration "will have to choose between
taking military action or abandoning its red line, and accepting
Iran's technical mastery of uranium enrichment."
The paper also reports that the IAEA report said the uranium
being enriched is only fuel grade, enriched to 4%. (Iranian
sources have told EIR in the past, that Iran is willing to cap
enrichment at 5%.)
Russian officials are cited, not by name, pointing out the
positive aspects of the report, and saying that an agreement
could be reached over the next weeks. "We are most concerned to
prevent Iran being cornered so that they walk out of the Non
proliferation treaty, and break relations with the IAEA," one
source said. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by PressTV
warning against pressuring Iran. Lavrov said Russia would move in
accordance with international consensus, and referred to the Iran
case along with Kosovo, etc. "If we state everywhere," he said,
"that the independence of Kosovo is inevitable, Iran will
inevitably punished, we will not achieve anything. The situation
will only escalate, he continued, "if threatening statements are
made." Lavrov was quoted by Interfax during a meeting in
Slovenia. He also said Russia would only back "collective legal
solutions" on Iran, on the CFE, the proposed U.S. missile defense
system, and Kosovo.
As for the Brits, a Foreign Office spokesman said, "If Iran
wants to restore trust in its program it must come clear on all
outstanding issues without delay."
A meeting of senior officials from the 5+1 group, scheduled
for Nov. 19, has been postponed because the Chinese were not
attending. (See accompanying news item.)
In Tehran, government representatives have all expressed
their satisfaction with the report. The new negotiator Saeed
Jalili remarked that no matter what kind of report were issued,
the U.S. would continue to threaten and complain. (mlm)

China Pulled out of London Talks on Iran

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Moving quickly countering the attempts by the
United States, Britain, and France to reach a consensus on
further sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, China has
pulled out of London talks.
What has been interpreted by the pro-sanction nations as an
indication that China will not risk its economic interests in
Iran by supporting extra UN sanctions, it was confirmed that it
had called off its attendance at a meeting of officials from the
"P5+1" group, the five permanent members of the UN Security
Council plus Germany, which was scheduled for Nov. 19. A British
Foreign Office official told Times Online today that, unless a
"miracle" happened over the weekend, the meeting was now unlikely
to take place.Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi arrived in
Tehran on Nov. 13 ostensibly carrying a message that China
supports Irans right to nuclear energy and expects Iran to work
with the IAEA. "China also hopes all parties show flexibility and
make its due efforts to the peaceful resolution of the issue,"
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said.
The United States recently imposed its own unilateral
economic sanctions, and has not ruled out military action against
Iran. Britain has been pushing hard for a third round of UN
sanctions, including restrictions on energy and financial
investment in Iran. A group of British Members of Parliament
(MPs) led by the Conservative Party MP and a proponent of the
Iraq war, Mike Gapes, is in Tehran holding talks with the Iranian
officials.
The Nov. 19 meeting was planned to discuss a third round of
UN sanctions against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after it was
confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency that he had
reached a landmark 3,000 operational centrifuges. [RMA]

OTHER ASIA

British Moves to Create Unrest in Pakistan Now Out in the Open

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Having succeeded in re-activating the neo-cons in
Washington on the Pakistan issue, London is now out in the open
demanding unrest and chaos in Pakistan as a necessary weapon to
dethrone President Pervez Musharraf and weaken the Pakistani
Army. On Nov. 15, Jemima Khan, former wife of on-the-fringe
Pakistani politican Imran Khan, who has been detained following
the declaration of state of emergency on Nov. 3, has launched
what is styled as the "Free Pakistan Movement" (FPM) with the
active support of journalists, students, lawyers, doctors, other
professionals, civil society workers, businesspersons, and
prominent political persons of Pakistani origin living in the
United Kingdom.
Jemima Khan is the daughter of late Anglo-French businessman
and a cornerpost in the British establishment, Sir James
Goldsmith. It is evident that the Free Pakistan Movement, which
will be populated by big names of Britain, will provide the
British intelligence (MI6) a clear path to intervene in
Pakistan's internal situation.
In addition to the Free Pakistan Movement, British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown said on Nov. 14 that the British Government
will organize road shows at home and abroad, including in
Pakistan, to counter extremist propaganda. Announcing an
allocation of 400 million British pounds to fund the roadshow,
Brown said: "Building on initial road shows of mainstream Islamic
scholarship around the country, which have attracted over 70,000
young people, and an Internet site which has reached far more, we
will sponsor at home and abroad, including for the first time in
Pakistan, a series of national and local events to counter
extremist propaganda." [RMA]

Another Glaring Failure of India's Manmohan Singh Government

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--India's business newsdaily, {Business Standard},
cited another glaring failure of Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh-led coalition government, United Progressive Alliance
(UPA). The report pointed out that despite talks of
much-ballyhooed progress under the present government,
power-starved India's peak power deficit touched a 10-year high
of 14.6% between April and October 2007. This shortfall was not
simply due to an added demand, but worse-than-usual capacity
addition.
Capacity addition of 3,765 megawatts in the first seven
months of the financial year to March 2008 was just 32% of the
target, {Business Standard} reported on Nov. 16, citing official
figures. Worst hit are industrialized states like Maharashtra and
Gujarat in western India where the region posted a peak shortage
of 26.6% in October, the paper said.
What is particularly disturbing, is that India, under the
present Administration, is being inundated with foreign money,
most of which is simply parked in Indian bourses for making quick
profits. India boasts of more than $250 billion of foreign
exchange reserves and a GDP growth rate close to 8.5%. And, yet,
when it comes to using the money to build such vital sectors of
physical infrastructure as the power sector, the Manmohan
Singh-led government chooses not to do so.
{Business Standard} pointed out that instead of allowing no
compromise on the power sector, the backbone of an
agro-industrial nation, the Indian government chose to scale down
its expected power capacity addition in the current year to
12,000 megawatts from 17,000 megawatts. "We may actually add no
more than 10,000 megawatts this year," the newspaper quoted an
unnamed power ministry official as saying. [RMA]

A Vicious Cyclone Kills More Than 500 in Bangladesh

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--At least 500 people were killed and thousands
injured in 22 districts of Bangladesh, as the powerful cyclone
Sidr lashed the country's southern and south-western regions last
night. The powerful tropical storm, which packed speeds of up to
150 miles per hour, made landfall in the southeastern
Barisal-Khulna belt last night, flattening tens of thousands of
houses and uprooting numerous trees. "The hurricane crossed the
coast at 3:00 am early today [Friday], and was now lying over the
southern and central parts of Bangladesh as a land depression
this morning," a latest meteorological office bulletin said.
Power supply suffered massive disruptions since yesterday
evening, as the hurricane started whipping the coastal areas,
tripping the local electricity grids of the districts, officials
said. Bangladesh Power Development Board chairman and other
senior officials were monitoring efforts to restore power
generation and supply system. Low-lying areas of many coastal
districts were inundated as storm surge whipped by

India, China Trade Grows Rapidly

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--India, China trade is developing at a much faster
rate than anyone had predicted earlier. In 2007, the trade has
exceeded $27 billion, and is expected to top $30 billion mark by
the end of this calendar year. According to the Chinese envoy in
Delhi, Sun Yuxi, the $40 billion bilateral trade target set for
2010 is likely to be reached next year in 2008.
There are also indications of an overall attempt by both the
nations to develop security understandings. On Nov. 16, the
Indian and Chinese officials who met for the annual defense
dialogue in Beijing earlier this week announced that the Indian
and Chinese armies will conduct their first war games in China
next month but the dates for this are yet to be finalized.
The exercise, to be based on an "anti-terror scenario in a
mountainous region," will see the participation of about 100
soldiers from each side. China's mountainous Chengdu military
region has been mentioned as a possible venue for the event.
Bimal Jhulka, Joint Secretary in the Defense Ministry,
headed the Indian side at the talks. Qian Lihua, director of the
Foreign Affairs Office of the Chinese Defense Ministry, led the
host delegation. [RMA]

HISTORY

Book on Judge William Clark and Reagan's Diaries Give More
Accurate Description of the Fight for the SDI

Nov. 16 (LPAC)--Among all the crappy history books that have been
written about the President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense
Initiative (SDI), none of which mention the role of Lyndon
LaRouche, and most of them actually distort what Reagan intended
with this program, the recent biography of Judge William Clark,
entitled {The Judge}, while also not mentioning LaRouche, gives
something of the real picture. In the section on the SDI, which
affirms Reagan was fully committed to the SDI as a means of
bringing the Soviet Union to the negotiating table over a program
which would also defend them, it is also noted that Clark was
really the only point person for Reagan on this program from
within his Cabinet. Nobody else was informed about the
approaching speech on the subject immediately prior to him giving
it. Baker, Deaver and that crowd were flabbergasted. Shultz's
reaction was "What imbecile thought that one up?" Richard Perle
as claimed for decades a) that the SDI was intended to bring down
the Soviet Union, and it did; and b) that he was fully behind the
initiative. In the Clark book, it is described how Perle called
up George Keyworth, Reagan's science advisor, and tried to get
him to get Reagan to back off from the program, which he opposed.
As the author notes, the fact of Reagan following through on this
initiative, in opposition to all of his advisers except Clark,
and maybe Keyworth shows that Clark was really in charge of
foreign policy. That's probably when the knives really came out
to bring him down and the SDI program.
The reality is also underlined in the half-dozen passages on
the SDI that have appeared in the Reagan Diaries. Some of the key
passages follow:
Sept. 14, 1982: "Dr. Teller came in. He's pushing an
exciting idea that nuclear weapons can be used in connection with
Lasers to be non destructive except as used to intercept and
destroy enemy missiles far above the earth.
March 23, 1983: "I did the speech from the Oval Office at 8
& then joined the party for coffee. I guess it was O.K. They all
praised it to the sky & seemed to think it would be a source of
debate for some time to come. I did the bulk of the speech on why
our arms build up was necessary & then finished with a call to
the Science community to join me in research starting now to
develop a defensive weapon that would render nuclear missiles
obsolete. I made no optimistic forecasts said it might take 20
yrs or more but we had to do it. I felt good.
July 11, 1983: "Kase Bendtson, Bill Wilson, Jack Hume, Joe
Coors & Dr. Edward Teller came by to press me on setting up a
"Manhattan" type project to have a crash program on finding a
defensive weapon against nuclear missiles. I have to agree with
them it's the way to go.
June 11, 1985: "Later in my office one of the guests Dr.
Edward Teller reported on where we are on our Defense research
for a way to halt nuclear missiles. The bad news is that our
congressional advocates of lower defense spending are cutting our
research funds at a critical moment that will be very hurtful to
the program.
Feb. 3, 1986: "Then it was N.S.P.G. time (National Security
Prinicipals' Group) in the situation room re Gorbachev's proposal
to eliminate nuclear arms. Some wanted to tag it a publicity
stunt. I said no. Let's say we share their overall goals & want
to work out the details. If it is a publicity stunt this will be
revealed by them. I also propose that we announce we are going
forward with SDI but if research reveals a defense against
missiles is possible we'll work out how it can be used to protect
the whole world not just us.
June 17, 1986: "A meeting with John P(oindexter) and Don
R(egan) on my proposal treaty with the Soviets to share the
S.D.I. if and when it is a reality & to then do away with ICBMs.
John seems to want to sneak up on it in phases, etc. I'm holding
out for a simple plan yes or no.
Oct. 12, 1986: "[Rekjavik Summit with Gorbachev] Our team
had given us an agreement to eliminate entirely all nuc. Devices
over a 10 yr. period. We would research & develop SDI during 10
yrs. Then deploy & I offered to share with Soviets the system.
Then began the showdown. He wanted language that would have
killed SDI. The price was high but I wouldn't sell & that's how
the day ended. All our people thought I'd done exactly right. I'd
pledged I wouldn't give away SDI & I didn't but that meant no
deal on any of the arms reductions. I was mad - he tried to act
jovial but I acted mad & it showed. Well the ball is in his court
and I'm convinced he'll come around when he sees how the world is
reacting.
Feb. 10, 1987: "NSC [meeting] was about SDI & the ABM Treaty
getting ready for NSPG meeting at 11 A.M. The problem is how to
continue arms reduction dialog with the Soviets & at same time
eliminate any compromise on SDI. I have proposed a plan to seek
an agreement that we will when & if SDI is ready for deployment
put it in hands of an international force as a defense against
any & all nuclear missiles from wherever they are launched in the
World." [WCJ]

*** END OF BRIEFING ***

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