International Peace Coalition Meeting

We Must Not Lose Our Humanity

by Daniel Platt

[Print version of this article]

March 29—The 43rd consecutive weekly online meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) began today with an acknowledgment of the importance of the recent memo issued by Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), titled “The French Road to Nuclear War,” and it was noted that some of the authors of that report were participating in this IPC meeting, including Scott Ritter, former UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq; Ray McGovern, former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); and Coleen Rowley, former FBI special agent and whistleblower.

Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche opened the proceedings by recalling the film, Storm Over Asia, released by her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, in 1999. During its first ten minutes, this film describes the ongoing “Great Game” of conflict between the Anglosphere and the Asian powers, why it is happening, and who is doing it. At that time, the active conflicts were in the North Caucasus region, but we see the same dynamic going on in Ukraine now. French President Macron’s threat to deploy 20,000 troops to Ukraine is, said Zepp-LaRouche, “a very tricky situation,” and added that she thought it was of great importance to have members of the VIPS on the call to have dialogue with important speakers from France and elsewhere. The recent terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue, located in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, adds another dimension of danger: Russia has compiled substantial evidence that the attack came from Ukraine, including large amounts of money in cryptocurrency deployed to sponsor it.

Zepp-LaRouche reported a number of positive developments, including the decision of the Irish government to join South Africa in its action against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ); the resignation of Dr. Annelle Sheline from her State Department position in protest against U.S. support for the Likud coalition’s genocidal policy in Gaza; and the momentum to free Palestinian political prisoner Marwan Barghouti, the one figure who could unify all Palestinians.

Following Zepp-LaRouche’s remarks, a special statement from Dennis Kucinich was read, who was a U.S. Congressman from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, Mayor of Cleveland, and is now an independent candidate for Congress. Kucinich stressed his support for non-violent conflict resolution through diplomacy.

Scott Ritter, a signer of the VIPS memo on Macron’s threat to deploy French troops to Ukraine, said that such a move “would begin a ladder of escalation” that would lead inevitably to a nuclear confrontation. He described the mind-set of NATO leaders as a “Casino-based addiction,” which leads the afflicted party to follow up on the stupidity of his initial bet by mortgaging his house and spending his kids’ college fund. Russia does not intend to move on to Poland or the Baltics, Ritter said; Russia’s security is threatened by NATO’s “irresponsible expansion.” Russia proposed a new European security framework in 2021—Ritter advised Western leaders to go back and study it now.

Col. (ret.) Alain Corvez, former advisor to the French Defense and Interior Ministries, described himself as “totally aligned” with the views of Zepp-LaRouche and Ritter, and elaborated on his reading of French President Macron’s insane proposal to send French troops to Ukraine. Leader of France’s Solidarité et Progrès party, Jacques Cheminade, described President Macron as “puerile and dangerous at the same time,” noting that he has displayed photos of himself on social media showing his biceps, as well as hugging Brazilian President Lula da Silva: behavior that is “full of contradictions.” Cheminade asserted that the economic and financial collapse of France “explains the flight forward.”

Coleen Rowley, another signer of the VIPS memo, recalled that there have been 70–80 such memos, and they have all been correct. She said that it has been sad to witness continual lies that have led to unnecessary wars, noting that when leaders become desperate to maintain power, they become reckless, and lose their ability to reason. They start believing their own propaganda. Unlike Russians, Americans have not experienced the costs of war on their own soil.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche strongly agreed on this point; the present generation has no idea what war does. For them, war has been reduced to a video game in which you can simply re-start the game when you lose.

Ray McGovern began his remarks by reminding the participants that he has served in uniform, and he knows a bit about war. On the other hand, Joe Biden, Tony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, know nothing about war. Biden had “as many deferments as Dick Cheney—five, count them.” Because of the media, Americans have no idea how close we are to a three-front war. McGovern recalled, “I was alive during the genocide of Jews” during World War II. Was there anyone of moral standing who spoke out against it? Very few. He shared the story of Albrecht Haushofer, a German active in the anti-Nazi resistance, and quoted from Haushofer’s sonnet titled “Schuld” (Guilt), which was found after he was executed in prison. He concluded by saying, “It’s Good Friday…. I would just remind you that we are not to be discouraged…. There are enough of us.”

During the discussion period, people shared problems and successes they had encountered in their efforts to organize. A high point was a report on the previous night’s intervention by U.S. Senate candidate Diane Sare at the $25 million fundraiser for Joe Biden in New York, with guest stars Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Sare had devised an ingenious banner of super-thin material, which she was able to smuggle into the event under her clothing. It read “WAR PIGS ALL,” and she unfurled it directly in front of the podium. As she was dragged out, Sare was videoed shouting, “You’re all out of your minds; you’re going to take us to nuclear war with Russia.” This video has gone viral. Sare’s intervention was quickly followed by others, including by members of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Cliff Kiracofe, former Senior Professional Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, made an interesting observation about the Crocus City Hall attack, concerning the Tajik ethnicity of the perpetrators. Russia has suggested that Britain may have played a role in organizing the attacks. During the 19th century, the British were recruiting and manipulating Central Asians for their Great Game. The Islamic Renaissance Party, illegal in Tajikistan, has its headquarters in London.

A Connecticut peace activist, new to the IPC, said that many people she works with want to know if there is the possibility of sending UN peacekeeping troops to Gaza if Israel continues to disregard the ceasefire resolution. Ray McGovern responded by insisting that, contrary to statements by U.S. Government officials, the resolution is binding de jure. He said that the Israelis now admit that the 1967 war was launched without provocation, and UN Resolution 242 is also binding, though no one has enforced it. Things may be different now. It is certainly unconscionable to allow 90 Palestinian children to die every day. Coleen Rowley added that there are options and avenues for further enforcement of UN and ICJ measures. The strongest would be peacekeepers; before that, economic sanctions would be an option.

In closing, Helga Zepp-LaRouche reminded the participants that Easter marches are an old tradition in Europe. She urged everyone to go out and leaflet them. In the U.S., activists can go to churches with leaflets. As an official in Bavaria recently reminded us, you can’t have both guns and butter, so there will be increasing austerity demands which will make people more desperate. We must not lose our humanity: the right to develop and become beautiful souls.