EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2021

The War Drums Are Deafening, But There Are Signs of Sanity Which Must Be Expanded

Dec. 16, 2021 (EIRNS)—As the blatant insanity of the war party is increasingly apparent to anyone with an ounce of concern for humanity, the perpetrators are becoming even more reckless, but some courageous souls are stepping forward to sound the warning and demand a return to diplomacy to prevent a holocaust and a new dark age.

On the insane side: Sixty members of Congress have issued a letter calling on President Biden to recognize Tibet as a separate nation, invite the Dalai Lama to the White House, and treat him as a head of state. They assert that China’s insistence that Tibet is part of China is an “obstacle to dialogue.” Perhaps these Malthusian fanatics would prefer that Tibet be returned to its condition under the Lama’s rule, with life expectancy of 35 and illiteracy at 95%.

Then there is Tony Blinken, who toured Southeast Asia this week, giving a policy speech in Indonesia on his plan to NATO-ize the Indo-Pacific—perhaps he should say “NAZI-ize.” America is here to counter “Beijing’s aggressive actions,” he said to a nation whose vast majority of infrastructure developments are joint projects with China. He said that the U.S. will work “to connect our relationships in the Indo-Pacific with an unmatched system of alliances and partnerships beyond the region, particularly in Europe.... At NATO, we’re updating our strategic concept to reflect the Indo-Pacific’s growing significance, and address new threats, like the security implications of the climate crisis.” What happened to the “North Atlantic” in NATO? He also called for the further militarization of diplomacy, promoting “a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power—diplomacy, military, intelligence—with those of our allies and our partners.”

On the sane side: Senior U.S. diplomat and China expert Chas Freeman and former senior CIA official and Islamic expert Graham Fuller have stepped forward to conduct interviews with EIR and the Schiller Institute, both issuing extremely stern warnings, from a highly informed perspective, that emergency measures must be implemented immediately if we are to avoid global war and possible nuclear annihilation. Both assert that the U.S. must come to terms with the fact that it is no longer the “only superpower” which can dictate terms and policies globally. There is a new reality, as China and Russia are offering peace through development to the world, rather than the economic and social decay of the degenerating trans-Atlantic powers, through the Belt and Road and respect for national sovereignty, so long ignored under the British “responsibility to protect” doctrine used to assert a new colonialism.

Also on the sane side, a call was issued by President Sauli Niinistö of Finland for a new Helsinki Summit of the Organization on Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2025, the 50th anniversary of the 1975 conference which launched the institution. This was a key part of the détente process which kept the peace in Europe and allowed some level of cooperation between the Soviet Union and the Western nations. Following discussions with both President Biden and President Putin, Niinistö said this was a “good time to bring the spirit of Helsinki back to the world. Once again, a positive spiral is needed, a precious foundation of the OSCE,” posing this as a way to defuse what he sees as growing tensions among major powers such as the United States, China, and Russia. Beginning the negotiations now for such a conference can and must break through the madness.

Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche added a profound call for sanity in an panel on China’s CGTN TV “Think Tank” today. Asked to make suggestions for today’s youth in a moment of great peril, she responded that the fundamental issue is the image of mankind, with two opposite views being contested. The one is that of the Malthusian and oligarchical view, that man is a parasite, polluting Mother Nature, and the fewer people the better, a view most evident in those promoting the climate scare. The other view is that which perceives that every person is sacred, blessed with the power of reason, capable of making discoveries of new principles of nature which can be applied to enhanced production and higher standards of living for all. She said that it is time for all of humanity to unite behind this elevated view, to form a common party of mankind which unites citizens of all countries in a common mission, without contradicting the interests of the diverse and beautiful cultures of the world. To start such a process, she said, mankind must unite behind the urgent need to end the pandemic, and all future pandemics, by building modern health facilities in every country. That would create a potential branching point for the human race, building the basic infrastructure required for the health of all people, and ending once and for all the idea that poverty is an unavoidable part of civilization which can not be eliminated. In 100 years, she remarked, when we have become a space-faring species, national boundaries will be less important.