ICLC Call with Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Monday, November 18, 2024
Helga Zepp-LaRouche: I guess you all are acutely aware of the fact that the Biden administration decided to in quote “give permission” to Ukraine to use the ATACMS for strikes into the territory of Russia, which is obviously a euphemism, because everybody knows that Ukraine is not technically capable to either use the ATACMS or the (German) Taurus or the (British) Storm Shadow missiles, and that this does require the technical aid of NATO, respective U.S., German, British forces, which means, de facto, NATO is entering the war against Russia, or, by the decision has done so. It is extremely dangerous, and absolutely insane, and I think we must go into a complete mobilization warning against it, which I’m sure many other forces will do so likewise.
This is a short-term thing, because according to various reports, in the New York Times, the French media, and others, Germany, the first such attack on the region of Kursk is supposed to occur in the coming few days. Just to mention a few initial voices against it, the son of Donald Trump said the military-industrial complex seems to want to be sure that they get the Third World War before my father has the chance to create peace.
Now, there is enormous propaganda. German media, like Deutschlandfunk, trotted out all kinds of experts who say, “Oh, Russia will do nothing against it, because they will not use nuclear weapons, because they’re not capable of fighting an all-out war with NATO.” Absolutely irresponsible blather! But Newsweek already this morning quotes Marjorie Taylor Greene also saying this is Biden trying to start World War III—by the way, the official response from Zakharova and Peskov was not commenting much, just saying Putin had said everything about what is necessary about this in September. Now, Newsweek refers to this, namely, that Putin changed the Moscow nuclear doctrine in September, to include potential responses to an attack that poses a critical threat to the sovereignty of Russia carried out by a non-nuclear power, with the participation or support of a nuclear power. Quote, this is Putin: “The updated version of the [Basic Principles] document is supposed to regard an aggression against Russia from any non-nuclear state but involving or supported by any nuclear state as their joint attack against the Russian Federation. ... We will consider such a possibility once we receive reliable information about a massive launch of air and space attack weapons and their crossing our state border. I mean strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, UAVs, hypersonic and other aircraft. We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression ... Including the case when the enemy, using conventional weapons, creates a critical threat to our sovereignty.”
So, I think that should be kept in mind. And we should remember that the Kursk operation had two military objectives: One, the occupation of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, and secondly to force the Russian military to divert forces away from the Donbass front.
Obviously, neither of those objectives has been met. The Kursk NPP was not occupied or hit, and the Russian military did not divert much of its forces away from the Donbass: to the contrary, there are presently 50,000 Russian troops in the Kursk region, supposedly supported by North Korean troops—which could be true or not; I don’t know. In any case, the Ukrainian front within Donbass is collapsing massively. I will come back to that. But therefore, this is an absolutely sign of desperation.
Scott Ritter posted on X yesterday afternoon: “It should be noted that the US, together with NATO, helped plan and execute the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk. Now, with Ukrainian forces being pushed back in the Kursk region by Russian forces, the decision to allow Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles in Kursk leaves no doubt that the US is a direct party to the invasion and occupation of Russian soil by NATO-proxy Ukrainian forces.
“In short, the US is now at war with Russia.”
And later he says: “The decision by the Biden administration reflects a growing sense of desperation on the part of Ukraine, NATO and the US that the war with Russia is reaching the breaking point, where a decisive Russian victory is all but guaranteed. The Ukraine/NATO/US axis is likewise concerned about the election results in the US which saw Donald Trump win decisively on a platform that seeks to end the war in Ukraine and avoid escalation with Russia....
“Russia will not accept this escalation by doing nothing. Russia’s response will be decisive and possibly include hitting targets outside Ukraine.”
Now the reactions to Biden’s decision are dividing the people between sane people and morons, and I think for future political battles, this is a very important separation. For example, Daniele Ganser, a Swiss historian, says “This is leading one step further to a direct confrontation of the nuclear powers.” German Economy Minister Habeck (Greens) says, now Scholz should follow with sending the Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. The cover story of Bildzeitung today is “Putin Escalates.” Can you imagine? We’re clearly in George Orwell’s 1984! And naturally, all the typical ones, Baerbock, Kiesewetter, Strack-Zimmermann, all of these people are jubilant, saying this decision is coming not one minute too soon.
On the other side, there are obviously a lot of people in the United States reacting to it. I don’t know what Trump may have said, already, but his son said what I quoted. Elon Musk is condemning it very sharply. As I said, Peskov and Zakharova said, referring to Putin’s Sept. 25 statement, which is clear. Zakharova also said, ”It’s not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It’s about deciding whether NATO countries become directly involved in a military conflict or not.” So we are clearly possibly days away from World War III, and I think that’s what should be gotten out.
Now, the French daily Le Figaro had also reported it, and they did not mention that there was any limitation to the Kursk region, and some other reports say it’s Kursk for now, but it could be expanded pretty soon.
Now, obviously, this is a complicated matter, because the ranger of the ATACMS is about 300 km, and there are many targets—ammunition depots, command centers, all kinds of launching pads and whatnot within that range—which is obviously not the full 300 km because the systems cannot be directly at the border. They cannot reach St. Petersburg from Moscow, as such, but what they could do, is create some kind of a corridor, through which then other military hardware is sent, like drones and other such things, which could then reach much more deeply into the territory, like ammunition factories and all kinds of things. So it is definitely breaking the dam.
Now, it also is reported that there have been apparently detailed discussions about possible targets between Kiev and Washington, other than the Kursk region.
Now, the situation on the front is becoming absolutely desperate for the Ukrainians. There are several places along the front line, where the Russians are moving ahead relatively quickly, near Kupyansk, then more in the south near Kurakhove, then in the Zaporozhye region. And one aspect of what Russia is trying to do to amass these large numbers of troops in the Kursk region, they want to take it back in order to eliminate the option that there could be in future negotiations some exchange of territory. What had been mooted was one of the motives, but in any case that argument has been made.
There are many, many losses among Ukrainians and in general, the number of people fighting on the front is being reduced day by day, because those who either die or are wounded cannot be replaced at the same rate by those who are newly recruited. And in any case, the means by which the Ukrainian army is trying to conscribe new recruits is quite desperate. They grab people out of their cars, out of concerts, and they even allow now people who have AIDS, people who have recovered from tuberculosis. Then also only 10% of the package of $61 billion promised by the U.S. has arrived. Also there are unexpected difficulties in the delivery of drones, because the U.S. producer Skydio made an agreement to deliver drones to Taiwan, whereupon Beijing slapped sanctions on the firm, which had been getting batteries and other supplies for the drones from China, and now that production has stopped.
So there are all these kinds of difficulties, and in general the situation is absolutely desperate, and one can say without exaggeration that the Ukrainian people, soldiers, army, economy, entire country is being slaughtered and sacrificed, that obviously the war parties want to have Ukraine as a protectorate, but they are not ready to protect it. So it’s very disgusting: It may be justifiable from a purely narrow, military calculus, but from a moral standpoint it is absolutely disgusting, and it will keep as a state in the history of war practice.
So, the sane faction and the insane faction—the insane faction is for sure Anne Applebaum, who turns out to be one of the absolutely worst warmongers. She’s the wife of Radek Sikorski, who had praised the U.S. for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, saying, “thank you” to the United States. She is raving, fantasizing that Putin will lose the war and one has to fight all the way until that happens.
Now, that will not happen for the simple reason that there will be World War III before Russia loses the war. Now, even in the German Protestant military chaplains, they now have a Spiritual Operation Plan Germany for the expected case of war: Can you imagine that? They’re trying to make everybody war-ready including the chaplains, who are supposed to care for the wounded in the war. There is a whole paper, which we should get hold of, saying what chaplains should do in the “defense case” (quote).
