EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR FRIDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2023

Making a Choice in History Today

Feb. 16, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—This is not a time in history to stand on the sidelines, waiting for an opportune or comfortable moment to enter the fray. The supply of weapons to Ukraine becomes increasingly unpopular among the people of many NATO nations. Seymour Hersh’s exposé of U.S. guilt in the destruction of the Russia-Germany Nord Stream pipelines looms as the elephant in the room. The major pro-peace events to be held in the capitals of many NATO nations over the next two weeks demand a response. Will you join the efforts, now, while there is still a chance, to prevent the escalation of conflict to a level from which a return may not be possible?

The “Rage Against the War Machine” event on February 19 in Washington and elsewhere is becoming a lightning rod for activism, and for criticism. The potential of its organizing principle is evident in the way the event is breaking down left-right and other supposedly contradictory barriers to bring together a broad coalition of forces devoted to ensuring that the world is not destroyed in global war. That potential is terrifying to those forces attempting to crush Russia and China through manufacturing support for military action against those nations, or at least to draw people into apathy on the issue, such as by creating bickering on other topics.

The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation has directly attacked the event through Telegram, claiming that it is full of Russian narratives and seeks to deny support to Ukraine. A fake, imitation website has been set up to denounce the rally as “a Russian influence campaign” full of speakers who are “anti-peace.” It even denounces the very idea of the deep state as a Trump-QAnon-January 6 invention. The Washington Free Beacon, of Russiagate infamy, denounces the rally under the headline “Anti-Semite Replaces Pedophile at Rally Protesting Aid to Ukraine.” Less notable attacks came from such outlets as the Daily Kos.

Rick Sterling, writing at Antiwar.com, notes that “having women, people of color, and nonconforming-gender individuals in key positions does not threaten the system.” What does threaten that elite “is the possibility of a mass movement demanding a change in U.S. foreign policy.... What threatens the ruling class are demands for improvement in the lives of all working people.”

These demands come together in the LaRouche movement’s work for a new international security and development architecture, to set in place a lasting and prosperous peace, with a mission for all nations. Global Times mentions China’s Global Security Initiative as what that nation can bring to the table at the Munich Security Conference this weekend, a “security concept that is common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable is a fundamental solution to solving” security concerns, including those in Europe.

As weapons supplies falter, popular support for supplying arms to the combat zone declines, and as the physical economic needs of the world become more pressing, the time for a change in paradigm is upon us.