Biofuels Production Will Expand World Hunger

April 4—In an article to appear in the May/June 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, professors C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer provide a cogent argument as to how the production of ethanol, which will take "a larger and larger share of corn production," will so increase the price of corn that many poor countries will be unable to buy the mainstay commodity for their populations. They expose the deadly economics of speculation in the bio-foolery schemes, and, rightly, single out Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) for its role in the cartelization of U.S. agriculture and its profiteering in creating the ethanol market since the 1970s.

Runge and Senauer point out from their own 2003 study of global food security, if "agricultural productivity improved" enough "to keep the relative price of food constant," then it would be possible to reduce world hunger by 23%, or by 625 million people, by 2025. But, as their article shows, "if, ... the prices of staple foods" such as corn "increased because of demand for biofuels" then the number of people who will go hungry "would rise by over 16 million for every percentage increase in the real prices of staple foods." Under these conditions, "1.2 billion people could be chronically hungry by 2025..." So, they argue, "Realistically ... resorting to biofuels is likely to exacerbate world hunger."

But the authors' criticism fails to tell the truth as they compromise with this biofuels craze, calling for "reforming" the insane biofuels system with more crop diversification for ethanol production and energy conservation. To find out how biofuels are destroying the economy, lives, and cost more energy than they give back, see:

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Cheney Running Illegal Terrorist Operations Against Iran

April 4—ABC's "Nightline" reported last night that the U.S. is advising and supporting a Baluchi guerrilla organization, Jundullah, which is running raids into Iran from Pakistan, killing and capturing Iranian military and intelligence personnel. It was Jundullah, for example, which claimed responsibility for the February attack on a bus in Zahedan, Iran, in which members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were killed. The group's leader, Abd el Malik Regi, has posted videos on the Internet showing him killing Iranians.

Regi is described as "part drug smuggler, part Taliban, and part Sunni activist," by Nixon Center senior fellow Alexis Debat. Analyst Vali Nasr compares this to U.S. support for the Afghan mujaheddin, out of which al-Qaeda emerged.

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh wrote. in a widely-noted article in the March 5, 2007 New Yorker , "The Redirection," confirming what EIR had already been advised by intelligence sources: that the Bush-Cheney Administration was conducting a re-orientation of its Middle East policy into support of Sunni groups and governments against Iran and Shi'ites in general. Hersh also reported that this involved cooperation with al-Qaeda sympathizers in covert operations aimed at Iran, and he specified that Vice President Dick Cheney was running the clandestine side of the these operations.

Citing Pakistani and U.S. intelligence sources, "Nightline" reported that U.S. funds Jundallah indirectly, through Iranian exiles, to avoid legal requirements for a Presidential "finding" and Congressional oversight. "Nightline" also reported that Cheney specifically discussed the Jundallah operation when he met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in February.

Other sources have told EIR that Musharraf refused Cheney's request to expand the Jundullah operations — one of a number of reasons for which the Bush Administration is reportedly withdrawing its protection for Musharraf.

EIR Investigating Cheney's Role in the Present Ukraine Crisis

April 4— EIR is following indications that Vice President Dick Cheney may be personally overseeing a "Ukraine portfolio" involving destabilization of Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych's government or even split-up of the country.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on March 5 that during her meeting with Cheney in Washington in early March, Ukraine's Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who was dismissed as Yushchenko's first Prime Minister in 2005, discussed three points: "The possible loss of Ukraine's economic sovereignty as a result of the pro-Russian orientation of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych; plans for diversifying Europe's energy supplies; and the consequences that Mr. Yanukovych's moves may have for the development of democracy in the countries of the former Soviet Union."

Kommersant added that it had learned that Tymoshenko presented Cheney with documents "concerning Mr. Yanukovych's plans to expand the activities of the company RosUkrEnergo in the wake of last year's gas war between Moscow and Kiev." Kommersant claimed that Tymoshenko told Cheney that Yanukovych is considering handing over control of a significant portion of Ukraine's energy sector to RosUkrEnergo.

Meanwhile, in Kiev, the opposing forces remained at loggerheads. President Yushchenko ordered dissolution of Parliament on April 2 night, for fresh elections on May 27. Prime Minister Yanukovych has rejected the proposal and has appealed to the 18-judge Constitutional Court.

Tymoshenko, however, called Yushchenko's decision "courageous" and insisted that refusal by Yanukovych and his coalition, defying the Presidential decision, would have no impact.

Lavrov Calls for Cooperation Between CIS and NATO on Missile Defense

April 4—Speaking at Yerevan University in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for conducting a joint assessment of potential missile threats in cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia, and NATO. "Any unilateral moves in the sphere of missile defense should be seen as attempts to split Europe," said Lavrov, according to RIA Novosti from Yerevan today.

Expressing grave concern over the U.S plans to deploy elements of the missile shield in Central Europe (Czech Republic and Poland), which would cost an estimated $1.6 billion over the next five years, Lavrov said that "we agree that we need a thorough and joint assessment of technological, strategic and political issues related to European missile defense."

On March 28, the U.S. and Russian Presidents had discussed the issue on the phone, with President Bush saying that his country was ready to discuss U.S. plans in detail.

Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, also called on March 29 for broader talks on the issue, saying that all EU states should be involved.