LAROUCHE COMMENT
Solution Must Be Truly Comprehensive
On Dec. 6, 2006, economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche discussed the importance of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group bipartisan policy proposal, released that day to the Congress and to the Bush White House. This is a transcript of his remarks to his associates.The Baker-Hamilton proposal puts what it calls a comprehensive approach on the table. However, it does not address the actual underlying problem. It is a correction against what has been the destructive policy in Washington heretofore, but it does not solve the problem it addresses, because we are in the middle of the onrush of the greatest financial crisis in modern history. It's now in progress.
At the same time, there are other structural changes in the world which have to be taken into account. We not only have to put the world back into order from the standpoint of the financial crisis. We also have to realize we face new situations. We have over 6 billion people on this planet. We have requirements for fresh water which are acute in many parts of the world. Fresh water cannot be produced in adequate amounts without the use of nuclear fission as a power. Without the rapid development of nuclear fission programs, we cannot meet that need. We also have other raw materials management problems, which can be managed, but they require new technologies. We have some growth in some parts of the world, in terms of the economy, but it's not sufficient. And it requires a change in policy among nations.
I have defined Eurasia as essentially a unit. You have an essential relationship between Western and Central Europe, and then Russia, which is really a Eurasian country. And then you have Asia. The relationship among Germany, from Berlin, to Moscow, to Beijing, and to New Delhi, generally defines the character of Eurasia.
Cooperation Among Nations and Regions
We have before us a 50-year prospect of required development of Eurasia, which needs long-term credit for the development of the countries of Eurasia; which means long-term investment in infrastructure and things of that sort, upgrading the population skills, so that we can bring development in the territory with a growing population, with China probably over 1.3 billion people and India with over 1 billion people. There are many poor in Asia in various countries, great underdevelopment. We must correct that in the coming two generations, of about 25 years each.
This requires cooperation from Europe, which must re-orient itself to supplying the supplementary needs of Asian countries. We have new cooperation which is potentially emerging in the Americas. We have some unity developing among the countries of South America, tendencies toward cooperation. Mexico is still problematic; there's a conflict there. The United States must adopt a policy toward the Americas of cooperative development. The United States and the Americas must cooperate with Eurasia. And Eurasia and the Americas must cooperate in developing Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa as a long-term mission.
Therefore, what these gentlemen are dealing with, is not simply trying to fix the chessboard, to get rid of the implications of this crazy Iraq War. We actually have to realize the damage that has been done in that process. We also have to recognize that there are long neglected questions which have now become ripe, which must be dealt with. And therefore, we have to go from the comprehensive approach to the immediate crisis situation in Southwest Asia, to the longer-term crisis problem we're dealing with in Eurasia and in the world as a whole, as a result of the presently onrushing general breakdown of the present world financial system.
The Threat of a Dark Age
And that, of course, is what you see in Washington, and generally in the capitals of Europe. You see talk about the crises, about the economic crises, talk about the housing crisis, the danger of a 30% collapse in the value of the dollar relative to its current value, which could bring on a world depression. These things exist. But beyond that, for over two generations, we have been making terrible mistakes in our international policy. We have created a mess. We have created a mess of neglected problems, as well as created problems. And therefore, we have to think in more comprehensive terms of cooperation among sovereign nation-states on a global basis, with emphasis on the three centers of world cooperation—continental Eurasia, the Americas, and Africa.
So, I think the lesson of today's address is: I saw many flaws in what was proposed by Baker-Hamilton, but the idea of a shift to a unified comprehensive approach to that region, the region of Southwest Asia as a whole, that's positive. Cooperation in that with other countries in the area—positive. It must be comprehensive. It must cover all areas. Unfortunately, it does not address the crucial problem beyond war: the fact that the world economy is on the verge of disintegration.
We are now facing a potential new dark age. We must address that problem comprehensively and take the economic factors that portends into account.
