EIR Daily Alert

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2022

And Now, the Explosion on the Crimean Bridge

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—In a matter of weeks, the world strategic situation has plunged into the depths of massive infrastructural sabotage and other forms of irregular warfare—a new phase in the war being waged by Global NATO to destroy Russia. On Sept. 26, sophisticated sabotage ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines at multiple points. And then on Oct. 8, “a truck was blown up on the motorway section of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman Peninsula, which caused seven fuel tanks of a train traveling to the Crimean peninsula to go up in flames,” Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement. “Two motorway sections of the bridge have partially collapsed. The arch over the land part of the bridge has not been damaged,” they reported.

Both incidents are now under investigation.

At the same time, loose talk about the possibility of nuclear warfare has become epidemic in Western governments and media, which is in itself extraordinarily dangerous. This almost cavalier discussion of what, with near certainty, would mean the extinction of the human race, is designed to make “the unthinkable” thinkable, and thereby lower the threshold for actual war—a long-standing policy objective of British and American Establishment circles.

Growing political circles around the world are alarmed at these developments, and at the physical economic breakdown crisis driving them forward, and are urgently mobilizing to find answers, and put together the political forces necessary to pull the planet back from the brink. One such occasion was the Oct. 7 Schiller Institute seminar of current and former legislators from Latin America and the Caribbean, where a half-dozen leaders from the region engaged in a three-hour discussion and strategy dialogue with Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche. (Spanish is available at EIR’s Resumen Ejecutivo page.)

• Watch Harley’s Updates with Harley Schlanger on Monday October 10, 2022: Every weekday morning on The LaRouche Organization, Schlanger will give you the strategic briefing you need to start your day.

STRATEGIC SHOWDOWN

Crimean Bridge to Russian Mainland Hit by Explosion and Fire

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—In what appears to be another case of attempted sabotage of critical economic infrastructure, an explosion and fire hit the Kerch Strait Bridge linking Crimea to southern Russia’s Krasnodar region. “Today, at 6:07 am, a truck was blown up on the motorway section of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman Peninsula, which caused seven fuel tanks of a train traveling to the Crimean peninsula to go up in flames. Two motorway sections of the bridge have partially collapsed. The arch over the land part of the bridge has not been damaged,” Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement, reported Sputnik. The cause of the explosion is now being investigated. Suspiciously, the explosion, which security cameras caught on video, occurred just as a train that included tank cars carrying diesel fuel was passing on the railroad bridge going in the opposite direction.

Imagery of the incident shows the collapsed spans are only on one side of the motorway, leaving the other direction apparently intact, while several tank cars on the rail bridge were burning. So far, three deaths have been reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the formation of a government commission to investigate the incident and deployed Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov and Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev to the scene. “The commission will also include the heads of the Krasnodar Region and Crimea, as well as officials from the National Guard, the Federal Security Service and the Interior Ministry,” Peskov said, per the statement also on the President’s website.

The speed of the Russian emergency response is impressive. The fire on the railroad bridge was reportedly extinguished within two hours. The Transport Ministry announced that it was putting the Kerch Strait ferries back into service, with the first vessel to arrive in the terminal in Kerch for loading by 8:30 a.m. local time (05:30 UTC). The intact motorway was reopened to vehicular traffic by midday, although at reduced capacity, and a test train ran successfully over the railroad bridge, which apparently suffered no structural damage, sometime in the early evening.

The cause of the explosion remains to be determined, but the Kiev regime is not only gloating about it, since they’ve long hated the bridge, but is practically taking credit for it. “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a top advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, captioned a photo, in English, of the damaged bridge on Twitter. “Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled.”

“The reaction of the Kiev regime to the destruction of civilian infrastructure testifies to its terrorist nature,” Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel. And a second post reading: “Poland, through the mouth of former Foreign Minister Sikorski, thanked the United States for undermining the gas pipeline. Estonian Foreign Minister Reinsalu congratulated the Ukrainian special forces on the operation against the Crimean bridge.

“Murders, sabotage, destruction, provocations and staging—the criminal logic bound the NATO regimes with mutual responsibility.”

German Railway Sabotage Paralyzes North German Network

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—In what is officially being called sabotage, the railway network for long-distance traffic in northern Germany was paralyzed for three hours on Saturday morning, Oct. 8. The Deutsche Bahn said the damage was not a technical defect but was caused by the theft or destruction of cable connections of the radio system, in two separate locations.

Long-distance travel to or from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony and in the direction of Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia was affected. The ICE high speed trains, which are dependent on these cables, were unable to function. Most service has now been restored.

According Deutsche Bahn, what caused the disruption was a widespread failure of the GSM-R, or Global System for Mobile Communications-Railway, radio network used by the railroad in northern Germany. The network is not only used for radio communications between control centers and trains, but also for the digital transmission of timetable data. The GSM-R wired connections were cut which are “used for communication between the control centers that control the train traffic and the trains, and is therefore an indispensable part of smooth train traffic.”

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) told media: “Cables that are essential for train traffic were wilfully and deliberately severed,” he said. “Nothing worked without them.”

According to Der Spiegel, the cables were cut in two places: at Herne, where the cable duct on a railway line was cut at around 2 a.m. (CET; 00:00 UTC); then another near Berlin-Karow, which served as a back-up for the data line severed at Herne. So it is clear that the saboteur has technical knowledge of how the system works. Radical leftist groups had sabotaged the railway in the past, since these cables are not hard to reach. But in this instance, the way they were cut was beyond what these amateurs had done in the past. The Federal police are conducting a criminal investigation, but have released no indication as to whether they know who the perpetrators were.

German media are remarking the sabotage as occurring in the wake of the Sept. 26 sabotage of the Nord Stream submarine gas pipelines, and have started a debate on the vulnerability of Germany’s “critical infrastructure.”

The Trans-Atlantic Narrative on Danger of Nuclear War and Its False Axioms

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—President Joe Biden’s remarks about the threat of a nuclear Armageddon, made at a Democratic Senate campaign fundraiser in New York City on Oct. 6, were axiomatically based on the false narrative that the war in Ukraine is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war and that it is going badly for him. Associated Press, in a report posted yesterday, cites administration officials saying that Biden’s warning was designed to send an “unvarnished message” that no one should underestimate the extraordinary danger if Russia deploys tactical nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine. Biden’s claim “appeared to edge beyond the boundaries of current U.S. intelligence assessments,” AP confessed. “U.S. security officials continue to say they have no evidence that Vladimir Putin has imminent plans for a nuclear strike.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that “Russia’s talk of using nuclear weapons is irresponsible and there’s no way to use them without unintended consequences. It cannot happen.” She concluded her remarks on the issue: “Russia’s nuclear rhetoric has been reckless and irresponsible.  But if the Cuban Missile Crisis has taught us anything, it is the value of reducing nuclear risk and not brandishing it.”

The Kiev regime, meanwhile, has been backpedalling from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s demand, also on Oct. 6, for NATO pre-emptive strikes against Russia to allegedly prevent Russian use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Zelenskyy told the BBC on Oct. 7 that he was actually talking about “preventive kicks.” Zelenskyy said his earlier remarks had been mistranslated and Russia allegedly started to use his statement in a way that’s “useful for them, and began to retranslate it in other directions.” In the context of threats of using nuclear weapons, he said it’s dangerous “to even speak about it.” This followed a statement by Zelenskyy’s press secretary that the President was actually talking about the period before Feb. 24.

“I said you have to do preventive kicks, not attacks,” Zelenskyy told BBC’s John Simpson, who somehow managed to keep a straight face. In its coverage, BBC did have to report that the phrase that he used literally translates as “pre-emptive strikes,” with the word “udary” in Ukrainian meaning both “strikes” and “kicks.” How exactly the word could translate as “sanctions,” Zelenskyy didn’t offer to explain, however.

Russian Responses To Loose Talk About Nuclear War

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—The Russians aren’t buying any of the claims and backpedalling about recent remarks made by both U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, regarding the proximity of nuclear war. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in an address to a session of the United Russia party, said that Zelenskyy’s call for nuclear strikes on Russia justify the special military operation Russia is carrying out in Ukraine. “Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on his Western handlers to take a pre-emptive nuclear strike against Russia. This character actually gave the world further evidence of the threat emanating from the Kiev regime. It is to neutralize that very threat that the special military operation was launched. Any attempts Mr. Zelenskyy’s secretaries are making to assure us that he meant something different are just ridiculous. We all remember him saying as far back as in February that Ukraine desired to possess nuclear weapons. That means he deeply embraced this idea quite a long time ago.” Yesterday, Zelenskyy urged his Western overlords to deliver a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Russia. By doing so, this person essentially showed the entire world more evidence of the threats emanating from the Kiev regime and why the special military operation was launched to neutralize [that],” he said.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow wants to hear the assessments of Zelenskyy’s mindless call to carry out a “pre-emptive nuclear strike” on Russia from Western capitals. “We, of course, remain open for a serious conversation with the French side on the widest array of international and bilateral agenda, based on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests—security, first of all,” she said in response to French government spokesman Olivier Veran, who said on Oct. 7 that France maintains dialogue channels with Russia in order to rule out a nuclear catastrophe. “But today it is the West who irresponsibly speculates on the nuclear topic, accusing Russia of nuclear blackmailing. Meanwhile, on February 25 this year, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian noted that the ‘Atlantic alliance is also a nuclear alliance,’ hinting towards NATO’s readiness to use nuclear weapons. So who, I ask, is waving the ‘nuclear baton’?”

“Instead of conspiracy theories regarding Russia’s intention, we would like to hear Paris and other Western capitals provide principal assessments of Vladimir Zelenskyy’s mindless and irresponsible call to carry out a ‘pre-emptive nuclear strike’ on Russia,” Zakharova added.

“Yesterday the Kiev regime made totally inadequate and absolutely unacceptable calls to the NATO countries to carry out a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Russia. We will certainly monitor the reaction of Kiev’s Western curators, and take it into account,” Konstantin Vorontsov, a deputy director at the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department for arms non-proliferation and control, told the UNGA First Committee in New York. “It is important to understand whether he made those statements with their knowledge and consent,” he remarked.

Lavrov’s Diagnosis Is That  ‘Brain-Dead NATO’ Has Gone Too Far

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—Addressing a meeting of the United Russia party’s commission at an international forum on environmental policies and sustainable development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented: “The European Political Community, proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, held its inaugural summit on Thursday [Oct. 6]. Head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell proudly stated in its wake that the process of forming a security structure has been launched without Russia. They are dancing to Kiev’s tune and encouraging the insane fantasies of the people who are still in power there. The United States and its allies are taking on enormous responsibility for the dangerous ratcheting up of international tensions, pumping weapons into Vladimir Zelenskyy’s Ukraine despite his openly proclaimed nuclear ambitions.

“As you remember, French President Emmanuel Macron once diagnosed the North Atlantic Alliance with ‘brain death.’ Judging by the way NATO is nurturing the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, this ‘disease’ has gone too far.”

Donbass Annexation Is Legal, Italian General Says

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—In a long article published in Il Fatto Quotidiano Oct. 2, Italian Gen. Fabio Mini (ret.) rejects the narrative, pushed by Western governments and media, that “the Russian referenda in occupied territories in Ukraine are a farce, the annexation is illegal and violates international law.”

“Wrong,” Mini wrote: “Referendums (and therefore results) are automatically recognized when they are monitored by international bodies. In any case, such recognition is not necessary for validity. Any country can say and condemn whatever it wants, but it is the country that held the referendum that takes responsibility for it. The opinion of others is purely political and not legal.

“Of the Russian occupation and annexation in Georgia, Crimea, and Donbass we can deprecate the methods only by forgetting our own ‘occupations,’ but they are among the very rare examples where the occupier, through annexation, prior or without referendum takes full responsibility for military security, protection of civilians, and livelihood of the population. Indeed, by changing the status of the territories from ‘occupied’ to ‘its own,’ Russia has taken on even stronger responsibilities and commitments. Obligations that Ukraine itself has violated for eight years in a row by treating ‘its’ Donbass citizens as rogues.

“With the arrival of winter, Ukrainian vengeance and Western weapons, the population of the annexed provinces would not have a chance. Whether Russia then fulfils its obligations will remain to be seen but even in this we cannot lecture.

“With the annexation, Putin has placed himself in an irreversible situation: this is true, but it does not mean that the possibilities for negotiations have been exhausted, and it is surprising that those in charge of international diplomacy keep saying that there is no alternative. With the annexation, however, it was reaffirmed that negotiations must start from a new basis. It is now up to Western policy and diplomacy to find common ground. Giving up this modest effort only leads to world war. Perhaps the last one.”

False Intelligence Leaks Masquerading As Press Stories

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—A pair of articles appeared yesterday, one in the Washington Post and the other in Spiegel International, that are on different topics but are based in the same set of false assumptions, that this is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war, that he attacked Ukraine “without provocation” and that the war is going badly for Putin. The logic stemming from these false axioms leads to similar conclusions—conclusions dictated by the needs of psy-ops and not actual journalism.

Der Spiegel’s article, “Is Putin Serious? Berlin and Washington Play Out Nuclear Scenarios,” begins with a purported description of the allegedly poor execution of the partial mobilization to create the impression that it stems from the “military disaster” that is Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. From there it goes on to speculate on how this supposed military disaster might turn into a nuclear war. “For the first time in years, scenarios are once again being played out in Washington, Berlin and Paris about how a nuclear catastrophe might play out,” the article reports. “Western military officials are also discussing how Putin might deploy his nuclear forces. In ‘war games’ that are also being played out in strict secrecy at the German Defence Ministry in Berlin, strategists are largely ruling out an attack with strategic nuclear weapons capable of wiping out entire cities.” Instead, “The conceivable alternative would be for Putin to detonate a low-yield, tactical nuclear bomb in the Arctic or over the Black Sea. Or he could deploy one to take out a Ukrainian military base. Even if it didn’t turn the tide on the battlefield, such an operation could make it clear that Putin is determined to do anything—and strengthen the voices of those who are calling for negotiations with Putin at any price.” This is the madman theory applied to Putin.

The Washington Post story, “Putin Confronted by Insider over Ukraine War, U.S. Intelligence Finds,” is based on ostensible intelligence leaks claiming that an unnamed member of Putin’s inner circle has voiced disagreement directly to the Russian President in recent weeks over his handling of the war in Ukraine. “The criticism marks the clearest indication yet of turmoil within Russia’s leadership over the stewardship of a war that has gone disastrously wrong for Moscow, forcing Putin last month to order the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of troops in a desperate bid to reverse recent battlefield losses,” the Post claims. “The information was deemed significant enough that it was included in President Biden’s daily intelligence briefing and shared with other U.S. officials.”

This new intelligence, the Post goes on, “coupled with comments from Russian officials, underscores divisions within Putin’s upper echelon, where officials have long been loath to bring bad news to an autocratic Russian leader who is seen as more isolated that at any time in his 22-year rule.” It shouldn’t be surprising that if you wipe out the eight years of history from the time of the Nazi coup in Kiev, you would end up make such conclusions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the Washington Post story “absolutely not true.” Peskov told the Post that disagreement between Putin and his aides is “part of the usual working process.”

“There are working arguments: about the economy, about the conduct of the military operation. There are arguments about the education system. This is part of the normal working process, and it is not a sign of any split,” he said, adding that the information supposedly obtained by American intelligence is “absolutely not true.”

In covering Peskov’s remarks, RT cites NBC News reporting in April that U.S. officials boasted about waging an “info war” against Russia by leaking false intelligence reports to the media.

COLLAPSING WESTERN ECONOMIC SYSTEM

The EU Adopted Round 8 of Sanctions Against Moscow, Makes TKO against Brussels

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—The European Commission on Oct. 6 adopted an eighth round of sanctions against Russia, including the introduction of a price cap on seaborne Russian oil. They did this despite the fact that the first seven rounds, while admittedly causing important difficulties for Russia, have totally devastated Europe’s physical economy by removing its only secure supply of energy. Here is a snapshot of some of the other fallout:

Perhaps the bluntest criticism came from Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, who stated at an EU meeting in Prague the next day: “Implementing a price cap is not the only thing. Because, after, maybe we can’t get energy. So then, maybe we have a price cap but no energy.... We have to know we’re not the only customers in the world,” he observed. “So, we have to be very careful about decisions that we take that sound good on paper but where consequences can be problematic.”

Belgium, for its part, refused to back the latest round of sanctions by abstaining from the vote. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told reporters that “as the economic cost of sanctions becomes higher, it becomes difficult to show solidarity” to support Ukraine. “The sanctions have worked very well so far,” he lied, “but the further we go, the more we talk about sanctions that hurt our own economy more than Russia’s.”

Poland is increasingly turning to burning garbage as a major source of energy, after citizens were given a green light to do so by authorities. Prior to the suicidal sanctions, Poland imported 46% of its gas from Russia, 64% of its oil, and 15% of its coal.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated that a ban on seaborne oil supplies from Russia and pumping through Croatia would increase Serbia’s raw-material costs by 20%. Instead Serbia announced that it plans to build a new pipeline through Hungary in order to be able to connect to Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline.

The British National Grid ESO warned on Dec. 6 that Brits are likely to suffer blackouts this winter, given the self-inflicted shortage of natural gas.

Citibank Warns, Germany’s $200 Billion Energy Relief Package Could Trigger a Global Financial Meltdown

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—Christian Schulz, deputy chief European economist at Citibank, told CNBC on Oct. 3 that Wall Street is worried about a looming financial crisis throughout the European Union. The immediate cause of their concern, they claim, is a $200 billion energy relief plan that the German government of Olaf Scholz has announced, designed to mitigate the effect on consumers of soaring energy prices and dramatic shortages this winter. Germany would sell treasury bonds to finance the plans, which Citibank

The decision earlier this month of the new British Truss government to launch a similar, huge borrow-and-spend program, coupled with huge tax cuts for the rich, ended up blowing out the British gilt (Treasuries) market. Schulz told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” that Monday: “The risk is that others may follow that example citing the U.K.’s recent bond market meltdown after unfunded tax cuts by the government.... The risk is that this same dynamic [as seen in Britain] evolves on the continent as well now,” Schulz warned.

The underlying problem is that the captains of the foundering trans-Atlantic financial system are still trying to figure out how they can both slam on the brakes (raising interest rates, tapering out of QE), while slamming down on the accelerator (providing enough liquidity to prevent the banks and other financial predators from blowing out).

Quite a conundrum—which cannot be solved so long as the $2 quadrillion derivatives bubble continues to exist.

Desperate, Tottering Credit Suisse Announces Sale of Landmark Savoy Hotel in Zurich

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—One of Switzerland’s legendary and largest banks, Credit Suisse, is in big trouble.

The bank racked up billions of dollars in losses from the 2021 collapse of hedge fund Archegos and financial services firm Greensill, and in the last six months its stock dropped by 50%. Amid talk in the financial media about a new Lehman Brothers moment, the bank yesterday offered to buy back up over $3 billion of debt securities.

Now they are planning to start throwing the babies off the sled. They announced that they were putting the 184-year-old, five-star Savoy hotel on Paradeplatz in the heart of the city’s financial district on the market—which may bring in some $400 million.

NEW WORLD PARADIGM

Putin Discusses Trade in National Currencies with Commonwealth of Independent States Leaders

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin met informally yesterday, his 70th birthday, in St. Petersburg with the heads of state and government of the CIS countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in preparation for the annual meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council, to be held next week in Nur-Sultan. In his opening remarks, Putin emphasized the importance of “expanding bilateral cooperation and ensuring our technological sovereignty, among other things.”

He added: “I am certain that a proactive transition to settlements in national currencies in transactions within the Commonwealth will inject further momentum into these positive trends. In fact, we have been doing this for many years, so it has nothing to do with the current political situation. Overall, this will reinforce financial sovereignty for our states, develop internal capital markets, and deepen regional economic integration.”

Glazyev Asserts, U.S. Repeating Blunders of British Imperialism, as a New Order Emerges

Oct. 8 (EIRNS)—The official Belarus news agency BelTA reported on Oct. 7 about Sergei Glazyev’s remarks at the Eurasian Business Forum “Integration” of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which he said has passed the test of the pandemic and is successfully developing today, despite the sanctions against Belarus and Russia. According to him, the work to implement the strategy for Eurasian economic integration development until 2025 is proceeding strictly according to the plan.

“Our integration association has proven to be effective as it has the competitive advantages of the participating countries,” said Glazyev, who is Minister in Charge of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission. “Our mutual trade is gaining momentum. Trade with countries outside the EAEU is also on the rise: last year, exports grew almost 1.5 times, we expect the growth trend to remain in place this year. Despite the sanctions, foreign trade has not dropped so much this year, we are rapidly increasing trade with our southern and eastern neighbours, especially with China and India.”

Earlier this week, Glazyev also published his new book, What’s Going On? in which he said that the winners in the battle between the U.S. and Russia will be third countries, while Washington will inevitably lose its status as international hegemon. Telekanal reported on Oct. 4 that Glazyev thinks that the U.S. is now repeating the policy of Great Britain, which unleashed the world wars about a hundred years ago, hoping to maintain its leadership by pitting rivals Berlin and Moscow against each other. But London’s attempts were unsuccessful. Washington, a minor party to the conflict, emerged victorious. But now it, too, will repeat the fate of its predecessor, Glazyev said.

China and India, not participating in the conflict, will win, having already formed the core of the new integral world economic order and are rapidly developing on the wave of growth of the new technological order, Glazyev stated.

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