EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2021

How Close We Are

May 11, 2021 (EIRNS)—In the latest revelation of how close the world has come to nuclear war, Daniel Ellsberg—of Pentagon Papers fame—revealed for the first time last week that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had prepared plans for nuclear war in 1958 during the Taiwan Straits Crisis, well aware that the outcome could be the total destruction of Taiwan itself. He warned that precisely such calculations were occurring today in the halls of power, pointing to the statement from the Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command Adm. Charles Richard, that nuclear war was a very real possibility. “I do believe this is the month we have to be addressing the issue in public of whether we should go to nuclear war over Taiwan or Ukraine or Syria,” insisted Ellsberg.

Speaking to the power of individuals to change history, Ellsberg said that it is right to be a whistleblower “when lives are at stake” and that “I think had Ed Snowden or Chelsea Manning been at a high level—and I’m not talking about a cabinet secretary—had they been an assistant, had they been with access to these documents, there would be in 1990, 1991, no Iraq War. We would not have spent 20 years in Afghanistan. These catastrophes can be changed by individuals putting the truth out. ... Individuals can tell the truth. And that can be very, very powerful....” Who will stand up today?

Other potentially explosive situations exist, as the tense situation in Jerusalem shows. Removal of Palestinians from their neighborhoods, the clearing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque through the use of rubber bullets and tear gas within the holy building, rockets, and air strikes are building in intensity not seen for some years. Jordan’s Foreign Minister, speaking diplomatically in his meetings in Washington, D.C., was more direct in his remarks to the Arab League on May 11, where he warned that Israel is playing with fire.

And the attacks on China and Russia continue, as they will continue until geopolitics is defeated, or nuclear war breaks out. Hypocritical attacks on China in the name of “human rights” ring hollower and hollower, but they repeat, nonetheless. The ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline is being blamed on Russia with the same level of evidence (essentially zero) that was presented for attributing the SolarWinds hack to that nation.

As the creative, most beautiful species, we inhabit a universe without limits. The beyond-stupid Malthusian dogma which states that population growth will unavoidably outstrip limited resources, recast in supposedly scientific form by the risible 1972 book Limits to Growth, and now serving as a religious-like axiom to “green” movements around the world, does not apply to any culture committed to scientific advancement, infrastructure development, improved powers of productivity, and advancing culture.

Crushing war, sanctions and geopolitics, and establishing, around the world, platforms for health, energy, transport, water, education, and culture, will ensure that we can rise to new challenges, and make this planet—and others!—a habitation in keeping with the dignity of its inhabitants.