ADDRESS TO EUROPEANS
'October Surprise' Before U.S. Elections?
by Helga Zepp-LaRouche
Helga Zepp-LaRouche is the national chairwoman of the Civil Rights Movement Solidarity (BüSo), a German political party. She issued this leaflet on Oct. 3, with the subtitle "Is the Bush Administration Planning To Use Nuclear Weapons Against Iran?" It has been translated from German, and subheads added.
Dear Citizen,
If the representatives of the U.S. military, the intelligence services, and politicians are right in their warnings of a new military attack, this time using nuclear weapons against Iran, then World War III could still break out in October. In the U.S.A., a series of concrete warnings has been issued in recent days and weeks, that the military preparations for such attacks from the air have been finalized. In addition, there are indications that this time, the Administration will neither consult nor give prior notice to either the U.S. Congress or the UN Security Council.
An array of prominent personalities have appeared before the public with these warnings, including: Gary Hart, former Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate; Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration; Gen. William Odom (ret.), former Director of the National Security Agency (NSA); Gen. Anthony Zinni (ret.), former head of the U.S. Central Command; Gen. Barry McCaffrey (ret.), former head of the U.S. Southern Command and "Drug Czar" in the Clinton Administration; Col. Sam Gardiner (USAF, ret.); and Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski (USAF, ret.), to name only a few.
Some of these sources are warning that the most likely time period for this military strike could be as early as Oct. 4-18, but definitely before the U.S. Congressional elections on Nov. 7. The strikes are to be carried out, without forewarning, by long-range bombers and missiles, as well as from aircraft carriers, which are already located in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. So-called "bunker busters," i.e., tactical nuclear weapons, are to be used, to destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities allegedly buried deep underground. The sources also report, that mass resignations and retirements among top ranks in the military will take place, if such a strike were to occur.
If this were to happen, it would be the beginning of a global asymmetrical war and an actual war of civilizations: It would be a descent into a New Dark Age. Incomprehensibly, in Europe, the members of the national parliaments lull themselves into confidence that such a military strike will not take place, because the resistance of Europe, Russia, and other nations is too strong. Nothing is more foolish than this view. If the governments and parliaments do not now immediately openly declare that they will resign from NATO in the event of such an attack, in the shortest time, it could be too late.
Not a Foregone Conclusion
With the approval by the U.S. Congress of the fascist law that officially permits torture during interrogations, the U.S.A. threatens to completely lose its character as a constitutionally sovereign republic, and could turn into a fascist dictatorship. The intellectual leader of the Democratic opposition, Lyndon LaRouche, has now, therefore, called for a broad mobilization against this danger in the next five weeks of the hot phase of the election campaign. He is demanding immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney, and the firing of Rumsfeld. The lower 80% of the "forgotten men and women," i.e., the social strata discriminated against by the current system, must be mobilized in order thus to bring the Democratic Party back once again to the tradition of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The fact that various politicians and military representatives are appearing before the public with warnings about an immediately pending military attack on Iran, does not mean that this war is already a foregone conclusion. On the contrary, the warnings have the purpose of mobilizing the public in opposition to it. But only if this mobilization achieves the necessary strength, and the pressure on the members of Congress leads to the initiation of impeachment procedures now, even in the middle of the election campaign, can the catastrophe be stopped. In any event, Europe must openly say, that it sees the danger and the consequences that follow from it.
The actual dynamic for these insane plans—which does not at all revolve primarily around the Iranian nuclear program, but rather around the formation of a world empire—lies in the systemic crisis of the world financial system. The gigantic losses of the Amaranth hedge fund and other financial institutions, banks, etc., as well as the ever more dramatic collapse of the U.S. real estate market, are the beginning of the crash of the global dollar system. If now even the French representative of the Lazard Frères investment bank, Jacques Attali, warns of the breakdown of the world financial system, that speaks volumes. After all, with its policy of enforced monetary union, the [François] Mitterrand regime, for whom Attali was the top advisor, bears a not insignificant share of the blame for the crisis of the system.
Governments, Citizens Must Act
It is hardly comprehensible, but in the face of this twofold existential threat—the danger of war and the financial crash—there is at present no indication that any efforts are being undertaken by governments and parliaments to counter the war danger, or to arrest the process of the financial crash, or to solve it through a new financial architecture. Instead, they are engaged in useless schemes to solve partial problems, with senseless economic measures and personal intrigues.
Unfortunately, it is also the case, that the greater part of the population is not entirely without blame for the current developments. Not to vote at all, as over 40% of eligible voters did in the most recent elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Prepomerania, or to "go with the flow" and vote for the "lesser evil," plays directly into the hands of the financial oligarchy. The actual alternative were to participate in a real type of solution, as the BüSo presents it. Every citizen is now called upon to do exactly that.
The attempt by Lyndon LaRouche in the U.S.A. to resuscitate the Democratic Party and to activate it in the image of Roosevelt for the policy of the New Deal and a New Bretton Woods, is absolutely essential, if there is still to be a solution. At the same time, LaRouche and his international movement are attempting in these weeks, through a dialogue among the institutions of Eurasia, the Americas, and Africa, to put the issue of a new, just world economic order on the agenda.
The fate of mankind hangs by a silk thread. In the coming weeks, the decision about war or peace, about a systemic financial collapse or a new, just world economic order, will be made. Take an active part in this movement, which can make the difference.
Yours,
Helga Zepp-LaRouche
