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Date Posted: 12:37:49 11/16/07 Fri
Author: part 2
Subject: Re: November 16, 2007
In reply to: part 1 's message, "November 16, 2007" on 12:36:19 11/16/07 Fri

FURIES REVENGING THEMSELVES ON HEDGE FUND CERBERUS

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Cerberus, the aggressive buy-out firm named
for the dog guarding Hell in Greek mythology, has backed out of
its $7 billion takeover deal of United Rentals, of Greenwich,
Connecticut, because of turmoil in credit markets. In backing out
the day before the deal was to take effect, Cerberus is likely to
be sued, and to lose its reputation as a reliable deal maker.
Cerberus agreed to buy United Rentals on June 22, and lined
up the capital from Credit Suisse, according to letters made
available to the Wall Street Journal. When Cerberus raised
backing out of the deal because of turmoil in the credit markets,
United Rentals replied that market turmoil was specifically
excluded as a reason the deal could be cancelled, and that there
were no material adverse changes since the deal was signed.
United Rentals' shares dropped 31% on Nov. 14 after the Cerberus
cancellation was announced.
It is as if Greek mythology's revenge-seeking Furies have
been chasing Cerberus ever since the firm led the way in
destroying the U.S. auto industry. Cerberus took over General
Motors Acceptance Corp. -- GM's financial unit worth more than
$200 billion -- on Nov. 1, 2006, buying 51% of its shares. Since
then, its losses have totalled over $4 billion, all of which, and
more besides, were losses of GMAC's residential mortgage unit,
ResCap. Six months ago, the hell dog bought Chrysler Corp., only
to have it lose money in both of the quarters since its takeover.
And, today, one of Japan's biggest banks, Aozora, 37% owned by
Cerberus, announced a drop of 31% in its profit for the first
half of 2007.
It is expected that United Rentals will not allow Cerberus
to walk away by simply paying the $100 million break-up fee, but
rather sue Cerberus in Federal Court in Delaware. The hell dog's
prospects are not made any brighter by the losses reported by
Blackstone and Fortress hedge funds, since they have gone public.
[agg]

GERMAN ENERGY CEO: ELECTRICITY DEREGULATION DESTROYS!

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Wulf Bernotat, head of Germany's major
energy producer, E.On, called the European Union bureaucrats
headquartered in Brussels, a bigger threat to Europe's energy
market than Gazprom, the Russian group, in a Nov. 14 statement.
What could be more dangerous to power generation than the
big bad Russian Gazprom? Electricity deregulation, Bernotat says.
And given what dereg has done in the United States -- where
states since California 2000-01 have seen doubling and tripling
of electricity prices -- only an idiot or a Brussels
globalization bureaucrat could doubt him.
Bernotat said the European Commission's proposal to break up
Europe's electricity behemoths -- separating, and thus
deregulating, transport and distribution from power generation,
as was done in 17 U.S. states -- is misguided, and would weaken
Europe's electricity sector.
Indeed, experience in some EU countries also makes
Bernotat's point: In the Netherlands, authorities regret they
ever broke up the system in the first place; in Britain, a recent
survey shows that the deregulation of the power market has led to
higher, rather than lower, electricity prices.
Bernotat's attack on energy deregulation is covered
prominently on the Financial Times website Nov. 15. [rmo/rap]

Non-Investment in Infrastructure Costs Italy 14.2 Billion Euros

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--The failure to build necessary
infrastructure in Italy in the last three years has cost that
nation 14.2 billion euros (about $20 billion), according to a
study coordinated by Milan Economics Professor Andrea Gilardoni
at Bocconi University. By 2020, the cost will jump to 251 billion
Euros, according to Gilardoni's ongoing group which monitors "the
costs of economic inaction."
For power infrastructure, Gilardoni calls for nuclear
energy: "Italy has evident problems of [energy] source
diversification, which could get worse with the failure to
re-introduce nuclear energy. We really pay a lot for energy
dependence from other countries, and nuclear energy could put an
end to this problem," he explained to the daily Il Messaggero.
In the energy sector, Gilardoni's report computes the loss
caused by the failure to make the investments planned to close
the energy gap. The report's computations use gas and coal as
energy sources; had nuclear power been used, the losses would be
even bigger because of nuclear power's higher energy
flux-density. The report concludes that 1.1 billion Euros were
lost, because of the failure to build three re-gassifiers and all
the coal plants planned.
Failure to make planned investments in waste disposal have
cost 4.02 billion euros; delays in the high-speed rail network
have cost 3 billion; and highways, 4.6 billion. [ccc]

UNITED STATES

HOUSE PANEL TOLD ATTACKING IRAN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, BUT NOT TOLD
TO IMPEACH CHENEY TO PREVENT IT

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Yesterday, the House National Security
Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. John Tierney (D-MA), held its third
hearing on Iran, this time focussing on whether or not there are
any military options. The witnesses included: Col. Larry
Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell; retired Air
Force Col. Sam Gardiner; retired CIA analyst Paul Pillar; and
retired Marine Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper. The testimony of the four
witnesses added up to the point that if the U.S. launched
military strikes on Iran, the result would be a strategic blunder
much worse than the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Wilkerson said the result would be "disastrous," and argued
that such strikes would spur the Iranians to accelerate their
nuclear program, and would solidify the population behind the
government. The U.S., he said, would gain very little from a
military campaign against Iran and, instead "we would reinforce
strategic failure." Gardiner went through for the subcommittee
what the potential major military targets are in Iran, and
concluded that in every case, from Revolutionary Guard
formations, to alleged terrorist camps, to nuclear facilities,
the effectiveness of air strikes would be limited but would put
the U.S. on the road to a war it could not end.
In private discussion with LPAC before the hearing started,
Gardiner emphasized that once such a war starts, there's no way
out.
Paul Pillar warned the panel that "Iranians would consider
any action aimed at crippling Iranian nuclear capabilities as an
act of war," and that Iran could be expected "to respond
appropriately, in ways of its own choosing, and at times and
places of its own choosing." He said that the most likely Iranian
response would be in the realm of asymmetric warfare, and while
it is presently hard to attribute any one act of violence in
southern Iraq to Iran, "Tehran would have far less reason to
exercise restraint" following U.S. military strikes.
General Van Riper argued that the present leadership of the
Bush Administration has no comprehensive understanding of the
complexities of international relations or the complexity of
consequences that can occur when military force is used. "Our
nation's leaders should be more humble when forecasting the
results of specific actions in the international arena," he said,
including when they contemplate confronting Iran, or any other
nation, with military force.
Not brought up for discussion was the absolutely
pre-requisite action for preventing a U.S. war against Iran in
the first place -- the immediate impeachment of Vice President
Dick Cheney. [cjo]

U.S. OFFICERS: WE HAVE TO REVIEW IRAQ STRATEGY

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC) -- According to a Washington Post front page
article written by Tom Ricks, author of the book {Fiasco}, dozens
of U.S. military officers are expressing concern over the Iraqi
government's failure to capitalize on sharp declines in attacks
against U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians. Ricks quotes Army Lt.
Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the commander of day-to-day U.S.
military operations in Iraq, saying, "A window of opportunity has
opened for the government of Iraq to reach out to its former
foes, but it's unclear how long that window is going to be open."
This lack of political progress calls into question the core
rationale behind President Bush's troop surge announced in
January of this year. The surge was premised on the notion that
improved security would create space for Iraqis to arrive at new
power-sharing arrangements. And what if there is no such
breakthrough by next Summer? "If that doesn't happen," Odierno
said, "we're going to have to review our strategy."
Brig. Gen. John F. Campbell, deputy commanding general of
1st Cavalry Division, complained last week that Iraqi politicians
are out of touch. Some U.S. Army officers now speak more
sympathetically about former insurgents than they do about their
ostensible allies in the Shi'ite led central government. Army Lt.
Col. Mark Fetter said of the Sunni fighters who for years bombed
and shot U.S. soldiers, and now want to join the police, "They
have got to eat," he said, "There are so many we've detained and
interrogated, they did what they did for money."
Republicans are looking to dump Iraqi Prime Minister
al-Maliki to give the Republicans cover in an election year,
which alters the Administration policy without having to side
with the Democrats. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), who staunchly
supported Bush's Iraq troop surge startegy, said he is
disappointed with the political reconciliation efforts in Iraq,
and is considering alternatives to Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki's government if the country does not make strides
toward that goal. Senator Graham told The Hill, "If his
government has not delivered meaningful political reconciliation
by the end of the year,... I will consider Maliki's government a
failure, and then we look for other horses to support." (gbm)

NEW STUDY: VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES CAUSE AGGRESSION

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--The media is lying when when it reports
that there is "no proof that video games cause violence." Two
professors at Iowa State University will shortly publish a study
which found that elementary school students who played multiple
violent video games were 263% more at risk to become aggressive
than those who played only non-violent games. The study looked at
the behaviour of 430 elementary school students, 607 middle
school students, and 1,441 teenagers. The study, by Douglas
Gentile who is a professor of psychology and his father, a
retired educational psychology professor, will be published in
the upcoming issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence
according to CBC News.
The professors said, "We were able to show that students who
play multiple violent games actually changed to have a greater
hostile attribution bias, which also increased their aggressive
behaviors over prior levels." [ddp]

IBERO-AMERICA

INFRASTRUCTURE SPARKS OPTIMISM IN DEPRESSED COLOMBIA

BOGOTA, Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Colombian politicians are suddenly
tripping over themselves to prove who's more for building a
subway/metro line in the nation's capital, in the wake of the
victory of the subway champion, Samuel Moreno, in the Oct. 28
Bogota mayoral elections. In a nation targetted as a guinea pig
for the "Revolution in Military Affairs" permanent war doctrine,
this is a revolution, the LaRouche Association of Colombia
happily reports.
They should know: the LaRouche Youth Movement campaign
had a lot to do with creating it.
A Bogota City Council committee representing several
ideologically-antagonistic parties is being put together to
travel to Caracas, to seek financing from the Chavez government,
it was announced this week. With one of his coalition parties
publicly pleading with him to stop attacking the metro and get
behind it, President Alvaro Uribe has gone from dismissing the
project out of hand; to grudging talk of how financing might be
scratched up after 2010; to saying currently that {of course} the
national government will help put the financing together for it!
With this turn, comes a stronger impetus for South American
integration, and major infrastructure investment through the
Banco del Sur (Bank of the South) being launched next month.
Colombian daily La Republica headlined its Nov. 13 article on
the various metro discussions: "Bank of the South: Option for the
Metro." [mlp/ggs]

EUROPE/RUSSIA

COVERAGE CONTINUES OF LAROUCHE SCHILLER INSTITUTE CANDIDATES
AFTER DANISH ELECTION

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--The Schiller Institute in Copenhagen
reported today that the four Schiller Institute independent
candidacies have created such an impact in the Danish election
period, that the press is writing still about them after the
elections despite their small vote. Led by Tom Gillesberg, the
candidates and their organizers in the LaRouche Youth Movement
campaigned for action to protect the economy from the ongoing
financial crash, and notably for development of magnetic
levitation rail and high-speed rail corridors across Denmark, to
spark similar development into Germany and Eurasia.
Articles have appeared today in Aarhus Stiftstidende about
candidate Janus Kramer Moeller; and another with a link on the
front page of the Internet version of the major Copenhagen daily
Berlingske Tidende about the four candidates. Berlingske
Tidende's article is entitled, "Maglev was not a voting magnet."
"|`After the financial crash: Maglev across the Kattegat,' was
the slogan of four candidates [who are named]. But maglev was far
from enough to garner votes for a ticket to the parliament. The
four candidates got 201 personal votes altogether."
The article about Janus in {Stiften}, was about Janus'
reaction to his vote total. He said, "We will continue the
campaign to get attention to our issue, the financial crash and
the solution to it. It will not be run exactly as an election
campaign, but we will continue to create a basis to mobilize
people. We will also recruit people...." Asked if he is a
defeated man today, he said, "No, it is continuing. My political
engagement is a one-way ticket, and does not just stop. I am not
thrilled today, but it has been the best election we have had.
The attention has made the whole thing worth it...." [mr_]

SPREAD OF FRENCH STRIKES MAKES SARKOZY GOVERNMENT START TO
NEGOTIATE

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--The anti-labor French government of
Nicholas Sarkozy has changed its stance and agreed to negotiate
with striking French unions, because their strikes could
potentially merge into a general one, involving industrial
workers, civil employees, and students already demonstrating on
campuses.
The flexible national strike launched by the French unions
against the government plan to reform the "special retirement
regimes" -- retirement after 40 years of work and not 37.5 as
now -- started yesterday with a massive mobilization. Some 61% of
the railway workers, which are the {fer de lance} of the
movement, participated in the strike yesterday. This is less than
the 73.5% that participated in the one-day strike launched by the
unions to prepare this movement. But the decision to be able to
resume the strike every day, was voted by a record number of more
than 60% of the railway unions.
What led to the negotiations is a freak-out from both sides.
The government freaked out because the big banner which lead the
demonstration yesterday, was calling for unity on the issues of
"wages, unemployment, and special retirement plans." The
government feared very much that between the students on strike
over unemployment (with most universities blocked), and the
entering of the civil servants into the mass ferment next week
with a strike of the their own on the 20th, the risk of an
extension of the movement to all categories of discontent was
quite large.
The decision to ask for negotiations came, however, from the
CGT which must have made a deal with the government. They
proposed last week that negotiations be held between companies,
unions, and also the government. While the government rejected
this last week, it has now accepted negotiations. The CGT
accepted that negotiations are carried out company-by-company and
not on a wide "class" front. [rap]

ONE GERMAN RAIL UNION STRIKES, ANOTHER TURNS AGAINST
PRIVATIZATION OF RAILROADS

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Another strike of railway engineers began
yesterday in Germany, this time lasting for 62 hours until
Saturday morning, and affecting both freight and passenger
transport, with several hundred trains coming to a standstill.
The main focus of the strike is in eastern Germany, where the
GDL, the railway engineers' labor union, has most of its members:
there, 85%, of all trains are blocked.
As the engineers strike, pressure is increasing from among
members of the other, general railway workers labor union
Transnet -- whose leaders are hostile to the GDL -- to change
views on privatization. Now Transnet has done so, with its
leaders deciding Nov. 14 to now oppose the government's plan for
railway privatization.
Earlier this year, Transnet favored privatization, opposing
the view of the national labor union federation DGB which voted
against it. This earned Transnet the characterization as the
"poodle of management and government." In late Spring, Transnet
chairman Norbert Hansen claimed he never had been for
privatization, but then he wrote a letter to the Social Democrats
urging them to support privatization. Because of this back and
forth, the latest Transnet vote against privatization is seen
with skepticism: Is it real, or will it be dropped again, at the
next best occasion?
Transnet leaders are also vehemently opposing the Transrapid
magnetic levitation railroad proposed from Munich. (rap)

SOUTHWEST ASIA

IAEA ISSUES POSITIVE REPORT ON IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

Nov. 15, 2007 (EIRNS)--The IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program
issued today said that Iran has been cooperating and truthful
about its nuclear program, and this has Vice President Cheney and
his war party faction frantic to accelerate a propaganda drive
for war, based only on the fact that Iran has not stopped its
nuclear enrichment program -- as the hoked-up UN Security Council
resolutions of 2006/2007 demanded.
The Nov. 15, 2007 IAEA report (GOV 2007/58), which EIR has
reviewed, found that there is no evidence whatsoever that any of
Iran's nuclear facilities that the IAEA inspectors reviewed, are
connected to weapons development, nor is there any evidence that
any nuclear materials have been diverted. However, the summary
of the report has IAEA Director General Mohammed El Baradei
reiterating his previous request that Iran return to the
"Additional Protocol" that it had voluntarily accepted from
2004 to 2006 which allows the IAEA greater access to inspections.
According to statements tonight at a forum of the World
Affairs Council of Washington, D.C., the report establishes that
Iran {does not have a nuclear weapon} and the speakers, Barbara
Slavin, Trita Parsi, and Robert Litwak -- all authors of recent
books on Iran -- concurred that Iran is four to seven years away
from having the ability to build a bomb. The IAEA report also
notes that there is no evidence of {program} to build a bomb.
The World Affairs Council speakers, who have been prominent
participants in Congressional events on Iran -- opposing any
military attack -- also emphasized that the August 30 Work
Agreement between the IAEA and Iran, the cooperation that Iran
has given since Aug. 30, are a major opportunity to seek
normalizing relations, and ending the sanctions threats.
PressTV said the IAEA report found Iran to be "generally
truthful" about its work, and stated that "Iran's statements
are consistent with ... information available to the agency." It
added: "The agency has been able to conclude that answers
provided on the declared past P1 and P2 centrifuge programs are
consistent with its findings. We will, however, continue to seek
corroboration and to verify the completeness of Iran's
declarations."
In the report, ElBaradei also said that "Iran has provided
sufficient access to individuals and has responded in a timely
manner to questions and provided clarification and amplifications
on issues raised in the context of the work plan." It also
praised Iran for progress in responding to questions about its
past nuclear activities.
Iran's new chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said: "For
those who had doubts about the Iranian nuclear program, the
report is very clear and indicates that the basis upon which the
nuclear case was referred to the Security Council has
collapsed." The report shows, again, that diplomacy works, and
that the August agreement between the IAEA and Iran, detailing a
procedure for settling unanswered questions, is viable.
The report's conclusions were not welcomed by the
Bush/Cheney White House. CNN immediately interviewed the Iranian
ambassador to Vienna Ashgar Soltanieh, trying to bait him, by
saying that after all, Iran was still refusing to ratify the
additional protocol, etc. Soltanieh pointed out that over 100
countries have refused to sign such a protocol. U.S. Ambassador
to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad, meanwhile, was shown calling on China
to join in pushing for stronger sanctions against Iran.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said that the report
sadly makes clear that Iran seems uninterested in working with
the rest of the world and that the U.S. will "work with our
partners on the UN Security Council and Germany as we move
towards a third set of Security Council sanctions." (mlm,mjs)


Iranian Factions: Former Iranian Negotiator Charged With Spying

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Hossein Mousavian has been charged with
spying for the U.K., according to an Independent report today.
Intelligence Minister Gholan Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, said
Mousavian's crime "from the point of view of the Intelligence
Ministry is obvious and provable." Mousavian was the negotiator
under the government of President Mahmoud Seyyed Khatami. He was
earlier ambassador to Germany, under President Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani.
The charges follow statements made by President Ahmadinejad
on Nov. 12, that there were "traitors" in Iran whose names would
be revealed once the nuclear issue had been settled. Ahmadinejad
stated: "We even have a recorded speech of one of them telling
the enemy, `Why should you give up?.... Step up pressures to make
them [Iran] retreat.'" He also said that he had been pressured by
critics "to acquit a suspect for spying," perhaps a reference to
Mousavian. Mousavian was arrested in May, then released on bail.
Mousavian reportedly appeared in public on Monday, Nov. 12
with former President Rafsanjani.
In other news related to the nuclear issue, reportedly IAEA
director Mohammad ElBaradei is going to report progress and
cooperation with Iran in his upcoming report to the IAEA, but
will say that some questions remain open. The Iranian news
service IRNA reports that, according to a diplomat speaking on
condition of anonymity, the report will be "positive," and that
"If the dossier on P1 and P2 centrifuges are closed, it will be
clear that accusation levelled by certain Western countries are
`baseless.'" He said the U.S. was putting pressure on ElBaradei
to alter his evaluation. (mlm)

ASIA

PAKISTAN ARMY CRITICIZES U.S.; REJECTS MILITARY SOLUTION OF THE
CRISIS IN TRIBAL AREAS

Nov. 15, 2007 (LPAC)--Holding a press briefing before a select
group of journalists for the first time since 9/11, Pakistan's
Directorate-General of Military Operations (DGMO) at the General
HQ at the garrison city of Rawalpindi, stated that containment of
the militants' groups in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering
eastern Afghanistan, had failed. The DGMO said this was due to
the over-militarization of Pakistan's counter-terrorism strategy
under American influence.
Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, the Vice-Chief of Armed Services
(VCOAS), who will take over the command of the Pakistani army
from President Musharraf by the end of this month, attended the
briefing.
Ayesha Haroon of the daily The News International, one of
the journalists who attended the briefing at the GHQ, said in her
detailed report published Nov. 15, "The journalists were told
that the VCOAS stressed that 'military solutions must be
politically acceptable' and 'only minimum use of force must be
resorted to.'|"
Army officers refrained from accusing Benazir Bhutto, for
mouthing the British/American sentiment of using even NATO forces
from Afghanistan to eliminate the militants in the tribal areas.
But it was pointed out that Islamabad is aware, that there is
strong resentment developed among the tribal personnel of the
Pakistani para-military forces, who feel that "Musharraf, under
U.S. pressure, is not only making Muslims kill Muslims, but also
Pushtuns kill Pushtuns, in the name of the so-called war on
terrorism." [RMA]

ALARMING PENTAGON STATEMENT POINTS TO WORSENING OF PAKISTAN
DESTABILIZATION

Nov. 15, 2007 LPAC--In what cannot be interpreted any other way
than one which is alarming Pakistani military officers, the
Pentagon, through its announcement of Nov. 14, has made clear
that the United States sees Pakistan's security situation
deteriorating in the near future. Speaking to the media, Pentagon
spokesman, Geoff Morrell said: "The U.S. military is looking at
alternate routes to send supplies to troops in Afghanistan in
case the political crisis in Pakistan makes current supply lines
unavilable."
The American military sends 75% of its supplies for the
Afghanistan war through or over Pakistan, including 40% of the
fuel sent to troops, the Defense Department said.
This statement of Morrell is paritcularly intriguing in
light of the fact that the number two of the State Depoartment,
John Negroponte, arrives in Pakistan on Nov. 16. His mission,
perhaps the toughest one he has experienced so far, is to
persuade Pakistani President Musharraf to lift the emergency, and
hold free and fair elections, among other things.
It seems Morrell did not put too many eggs in the Negroponte
basket, when he said: "In light of the fact that there is civil
unrest in Pakistan, in light of the fact that there is a state of
emergency in Pakistan, we feel it is responsible, given the
importance of the Pakistani supply lines to our operations in
Afghanistan, to have a contingency plan." [RMA]

*** END OF BRIEFING ***

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