Today’s 65th weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) placed a major focus on the fact that the world is poised at the very edge of a U.S./NATO-initiated nuclear war, and that this threat must be met by both mass demonstrations around the world to stop the madness, and a drive to lift the quality of thinking by the population and its leaders to adopt solutions which are clearly possible.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche, initiator of the IPC and founder/chairwoman of the Schiller Institute, opened the meeting with what she described as an “extremely disturbing report” that, even though the Permanent Five members of the UN Security Council have reiterated that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” there is now a drive for just such a war coming from the U.S. and NATO. She urged listeners to read an article by nuclear weapons expert Ted Postol, reporting on the (still not publicly released) new nuclear posture document adopted by President Biden in March 2024, according to David Sanger’s story in the New York Times on Aug. 20. The U.S is preparing to fight a three-front nuclear war, against Russia, China and North Korea, by taking out all the ICBMs in silos in Russia and China with the use of “super fuse” improvements in the accuracy of the U.S.’s existing nuclear warheads.
Postol characterizes this as total insanity, especially given the fact that Russia has Poseidon drone submarines capable of launching nuclear weapons from harbors of major U.S. and European cities. Zepp-LaRouche concurred that the concept of fighting and winning a nuclear war is both false and clinically insane, as it could end civilization. She added that Germany’s acceptance of the U.S. decision to deploy long-range ICBMs in Germany starting in 2026, a decision made without any consultation, even with other NATO countries, is a virtual submission to the total loss of sovereignty. She stressed that the historic example of Germany acting unilaterally will cause profound concern across Europe, and urged an immediate and broad public debate on this decision.
Larry Johnson, a former CIA analyst and one of the co-founders of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), pointed to the myth that the deployment of F-16s to Ukraine would be the new Wunderwaffen which would win the war for Ukraine. One F-16 was just destroyed, and the pilot killed. That shows, he said, that “Regardless of the plans, the chance for the unexpected to happen is very high.” This is equally true with nuclear weapons.
Glenn Diesen, a well-known Norwegian analyst of strategic affairs, described the current crisis as “the most dangerous moment in history.” The unipolar world under Anglo-American domination has collapsed, he said, but they have no “Plan B.” There are no negotiations. This is a problem 30 years in the making, after the collapse of the U.S.S.R., when the West declared itself to be the unipolar rulers of the world, believing that military force could maintain the peace. The decision to expand NATO was opposed by wiser minds, such as former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry and former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Jack Matlock, but it went ahead anyway, with the belief that Russia could be forced to submit. But Russia will not be broken, and there is no alternative in the minds of these Western leaders other than escalation.
Mossi Raz, a former member of the Israeli Knesset and former secretary general of Peace Now, said that the crisis between Israel and the Palestine did not begin on Oct. 7, but has been around for a long time. If there is conflict, there must be negotiations, not escalation, and it must be international. He asserted that the Arab League peace plan is the best one on the table, and said it is conferences like this one of the IPC that are necessary to achieve peace. He said it is very difficult to get Israelis and Palestinians to work together, “but it is possible.”
Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and co-founder of the VIPS, addressed the fact that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has been in China for three days, fruitlessly trying to break China away from Russia. Chinese officials told Sullivan his demands were “absurd.” Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, McGovern said, are panicked that if the war in Ukraine is not won before the November 5 U.S. presidential election, that they will be out of office, and perhaps also “could lose their freedom.” The danger is that they want to box in Russian President Vladimir Putin, in order to provoke a response, to which the Biden Administration will then respond possibly with a “mini-nuclear weapon.” He said he thought there was a “50-50” chance that they will do so, but that Putin will not “go for the bait.”
Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter provided a video message warning that Ukraine Kursk invasion was failing. The Ukrainians will eventually all be killed or driven out. The even greater problem for Ukraine is that the winter will be pure hell, without adequate power as a result of the war. The imminent danger of escalation to a nuclear exchange is the greatest threat.
Irene Mavrakakis, a medical doctor and leading organizer of the Rage Against the War Machine (RAWM) rallies, reported on the upcoming RAWM demonstration at the Washington Memorial on Sept. 28, followed the next day by a second demonstration sponsored by Rescue the Republic. Sept. 28 will also be an international day of action against nuclear war. IPC moderator Anastasia Battle encouraged participants to organize parallel demonstrations everywhere. Scott Ritter is organizing anti-war demonstrations in New York State and elsewhere on Sept. 28.
A professor in Geneva, a former UN official, said that the world’s leading media are all on the same line, the one narrative. He added that NATO is not a defense institution. It has long since become an enforcer of the unipolar domination by the Western leaders and fits the Nuremberg Code’s definition of a criminal organization, citing the atrocities against the populations of Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and more. NATO’s existence is inconsistent with the UN Charter.
An African IPC participant from Mali noted the horrendous continuing wars in several African nations, and that the Ukrainian Ambassador in Senegal admitted active Ukrainian support for the insurgency in Mali. We are all human, he underscored. We cannot let this war spread all over the globe.
An Argentine participant, disturbed by the implications of the Postol article that Zepp-LaRouche had cited, called for a large international meeting to address the mounting danger of nuclear war.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche concluded the meeting looking to the importance of the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, and the revival of the “Spirit of Bandung” and the Non-Aligned Movement. The West must give up confrontation, and cooperate with the Global South. Instead of complaining about migrants, the solution is to create 4 billion new productive jobs across the Global South. People will want to remain in their own countries. Pessimism can be countered, she said. Her proposed Ten Principles for a New International Security and Development Architecture are intended to spark optimism and open a broader policy discussion on real solutions. The growing censorship of dissenting voices should make clear to all that we are in a “pre-war” situation. The IPC’s strength is the understanding that Man, as the creative species, can resolve these problems.
