The Lead

‘Be Awake To What’s Happening’: Escalation toward Nuclear War; Escalation against the Truth

by Marcia Merry Baker (EIRNS) — Aug. 16, 2024

There is an escalation underway in the dynamic toward nuclear war. At the same time, there is an escalation—in a “pre-war” mode—of attacks on persons, agencies and nations who oppose the war paradigm, and insist on seeking and making known the truth. These were the opening points presented by Schiller Institute leader Helga Zepp-LaRouche at today’s 63rd weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition, and also taken up in the remarks by Scott Ritter, former Marine and UN weapons inspector. He said, speaking of defending a free press, that there is a “Duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people.”

Ritter said that he has been under attack by the FBI and related agencies, because, “They are afraid I am calling them out on the lies they are spreading,” about Ukraine and other points. “Nuclear war is an existential issue,” and he stated his commitment to make it the key issue of the Presidential elections. Ritter had his passport seized in June. On August 7, his house was raided in upstate New York. He is more committed than ever to his goal. On Sept. 28, he is organizing rallies against the nuclear war danger, to be held in several cities, including Kingston, New York.

There are updates on both the two related fronts: war danger, and repression. In the United States, there are ominous signs of preparedness to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, though no decision has been announced. The missile under consideration is the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, an advanced, stealthy cruise missile, built by Lockheed Martin, that would be used to arm the F-16s that are being supplied to Ukraine. Their operational range is up to 230 miles. The discussion of this adds pressure to Germany to OK providing its Taurus long-range missile to Ukraine, which so far it has not done.

Yesterday, Germany announced a big, new package of weapons to be delivered to Ukraine, including 30 Leopard 1A5 tanks, among many other types of arms.

These weapons flows continue while Ukraine is boasting of its invasion of Russia, which is a NATO provocation. Top Russian official Nikolay Patrushev Nikolay Patrushev stated, “The operation in the Kursk region was also planned with the participation of NATO and Western special services,” speaking in an Izvestia interview published today on many topics.

The propaganda fog in Germany is thick, that “war is inevitable.” Yesterday’s Die Welt ran an article on “Operational Plan Germany,” which is the blueprint for getting logistics—food, medical care, transportation, etc.—ready to support the transit across Germany of U.S. and NATO forces heading Eastward, when war breaks out in a few years. Col. Michael Giss, commander of the Hamburg military district, spoke of upgrading the readiness capacity, including the port of Hamburg, for “transferring 800,000 soldiers, including equipment, through Europe to the east in two months.…”

But an even wilder piece of narrative-spinning is the latest, concocted “revelation” of who perpetrated the Nord Stream pipeline bombing. A fanciful “exclusive” report was published by the Wall Street Journal yesterday, that the caper originated at a drunken gathering where Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a besotted order, which was then carried out by a team of six Ukrainians, using a rented yacht. The article is headlined, “A Drunken Evening, a Rented Yacht: The Real Story of the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage: Private businessmen funded the shoestring operation, which was overseen by a top general: President Zelenskyy approved the plan, then tried unsuccessfully to call it off.” This tall tale may serve the dual purpose of setting Zelenskyy up for ouster, and replacement by another NATO patsy, in addition to being a cover-up of the real perpetrator of the sabotage of the Russian-German Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.

Meantime, the attacks continue on those countering these lies and dirty operations. In the U.S., on Aug. 13, the FBI raided the Rappahanock, Virginia home of public figure Dimitri Simes, Russian-American analyst and author. They have been hauling away contents from the home, on its 132 acre property.

Other than being “court-ordered,” the FBI has so far stated no reason for the action. Simes has been living during the recent period in Russia, hosting a TV program “The Big Game,” on Russia’s Channel One. His long career included accompanying President Nixon in 1972 at the Moscow Summit, and serving from 1994 to 2022 as President and CEO to the Nixon-founded think tank, Center for the National Interest.

Today at the International Peace Coalition meeting, Helga Zepp-LaRouche gave a first-hand account of the Oct. 6,1986, four hundred-operative joint FBI and law enforcement raid on the Virginia residence of herself and Lyndon LaRouche. A short video was shown of LaRouche, at a 1995 testimonial, denouncing the “rotten permanent bureaucracy” that carries out “permanent civil injustice.” Had there been action to reverse the injustice against him, and implement the many development plans he proposed and conferred on, the world would not now face existential danger.

We are called to “be awake to what’s happening,” as Ritter put it, and take action. The International Peace Coalition networks are gathering strength, and every person counts.