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The Lead

Pull Back Now Before the Fuse Is Lit!

by Stewart Battle (EIRNS) — Oct. 21, 2023

Saturday saw the convening of an emergency peace conference in Cairo, aiming to halt the rapid escalations in the Israel/Palestine theater. Heads of state and other government representatives came from across the world to add their voice for peace and call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The host of the event, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, in regards to the unfolding events, asked: “Where are the values of human civilization that we have built over long millennia and decades? Where is equality of human souls without discrimination or segregation or double standards?”

As far as slowing the developments on the ground, however, no let-up has been seen. Israel is apparently continuing with its plans to launch a ground invasion into Gaza, and at the same time is doubling down on its right to starve residents in the northern part of Gaza of water and humanitarian aid. As Israel’s Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi said: “It is very simple why it [water] is not being provided to the northern part. You remember, we suggested that all the residents of the northern part relocate to the south. Therefore, we decided to supply water there so that no extra problems would emerge.…” Never mind the reality that evacuating nearly a million people from their homes without anywhere to go is a death sentence, and will never work. In addition, daily bombings continue to exact a horrific toll in Gaza, which, if not stopped, are threatening to ignite a much larger and rageful explosion throughout the region—sure to evoke the worst aspects of mankind.

This danger was usefully pointed out by former Col. Douglas Macgregor (ret.), who is certainly no peacenik, but who sees the obvious danger of this situation spiraling out of control. In interviews over the last few days, Macgregor said that the Southwest Asia region, which is now “armed to the teeth,” is “on the threshold of total war.” “Israel is on the path of suicide,” Macgregor stressed, and said that the only way out of this thing is through negotiations.

What Macgregor didn’t mention was the context in which this conflict exists—namely as an element of the U.S. and NATO war against Russia and China. This is not an isolated war between Israel, Palestine, and implicitly Iran, as the pundits want you to conveniently to believe, in the same way that there is no Ukraine-Russia war. Rather, these conflicts only exist as expressions of a dying imperial order, along with all the outbursts of insanity that comes with that.

The world’s major powers now sit between two major conflicts, waiting only for the smallest trip wire to trigger a larger conflict. Add to this the dangerous rhetoric coming out of Western nations, such as a demented Joe Biden, who last week called to “put down” Russian President Putin; or similarly, the report that the State Department has ordered that diplomats cannot use the phrases “restoring calm,” “end of violence/bloodshed,” or “ceasefire/de-escalation.”

Not surprisingly, this is leading to a surge in resistance from within staff throughout the U.S. and Europe, including a letter from over 400 Muslim and Jewish congressional staffers urging their bosses to push for a ceasefire, while at the same time admitting they might lose their jobs if found out. Will this kind of opposition be enough? Don’t count on it. A broader mobilization from within every element of society is needed.

As Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s Schiller Institute has laid out, only a resolution to these conflicts based on a higher principle will work—anything less will fail. If moved on, even if hinted at from enough leading voices, the shift to an entirely different orientation—one of optimism and human creative growth already taking place around the world—can take off. The visible failure of Western neoliberal policy is evident for all to see, from the current situation in Palestine and Ukraine, to the two decades of failed wars throughout Southwest Asia, to the upheaval against colonialism throughout the Global South, to the blowout of the Wall Street/City of London financial bubbles—humanity is looking to move on. What is needed now is strong and decisive action that resists the “thought police” of perpetual war and fear of the other, and instead puts its trust in the truthful principle of the goodness of mankind.

It has been said: “There is a limit to the tyrant’s power.” Now you must decide to actually believe that.