THE LEAD
British Queen Ordered Schaeuble's Greek Crackdown; Here are Her Next Orders for Obama
July 16, 2015
It was Queen Elizabeth II personally, who ordered German Finance Minister Schaeuble's virtual murder of the nation of Greece in Eurozone debt-summit negotiations over July 12-13.
The Greek debt negotiations had been proceeding in June. Germany's demands against Greece were much more moderate at that time, according to an AP wire of today carried in the New York Times. But then, those negotiations were adjourned on June 26, to await the results of the Greek referendum which was held on July 5. (In that referendum, Greeks overwhelmingly rejected the austerity demands of Germany and the Eurozone countries.)
Now during just the same period the negotiations were interrupted, Britain's Queen Elizabeth made a rare state visit to Germany over June 23-25, and met there with Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others. It is not known at this time whether she also met with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. But on June 25, the last day of the Queen's visit, Chancellor Merkel complained that Greek negotiations had "lost ground," and Schaeuble warned that the sides were moving apart.
Then, last Saturday, July 11, on the eve of the summit which resumed the broken-off negotiations, Schaeuble and the German delegation showed up with new demands, the "toughest ever," which even their allies said "came out of the blue," AP reports. One summit participant "said that the extra demands were immediately perceived as provocative."
Schaeuble had received and carried out the Queen's orders. He even demanded that Greece be thrown out of the eurozone. Although Greece was not thrown out at that time, the violations of sovereignty and genocidal conditions were so brutal that they amounted to Greece's murder.
"This makes it very clear," Lyndon LaRouche said today. "Schaeuble is barking for the Queen."
Yet Schaeuble was still insisting on a Greek exit from the Euro today, even after Greece had signed on to to his diktat. "And he's going to get the exit he wants," said LaRouche.
"It's obvious he's going to get an exit. And that's when Greece will go to Russia. And once they go to Russia, at that point, what will happen is that the European continental region will go into a spin-dive downward. And that will then shape everything.
"This is where the British are counting on Obama, to set forth a casus belli, which will actually be a British casus belli. Saving the situation will be the pretext for the war. Russia will get an ultimatum: either you submit to us, or we will go to war with you. The British will create a confrontation between Russia and the Presidency of the United States, and Obama, the President of the United States, will go to war with Russia.
"That's the scenario. And the game against China, is part of the same pattern. The case is clear. The question is: who's got the guts to face the reality? And there are very few people who have the guts to face that reality. Because, what's going to happen, is that suddenly the institutions of the United States government, will then launch war.
"What Schaeuble has done on the Queen's orders, will be part of the pretext. The British Empire's policy will be, then, to get the United States to launch warfare against Russia. For which Russia will be prepared. It means the extermination of much of the human species, but the British Empire wants to reduce much of the human population anyway.
"But that's the reality. Let's see what kinds of guts and brains people may have. Because there's nothing else we can do beyond that. We've got to make that the challenge,"
LaRouche concluded.
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
Railroading of Greece Is Moving Fast, To "Save Eurozone"
Following the Greek Parliament's vote to approve the EU's draconian bailout agreements, frantic steps are being taken to save the Eurozone. Yesterday began with a statement by Klaus Regling, the head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), i.e., the bailout fund, that if a bailout is not worked out, the Greek banking system could collapse with serious consequences for the entire Eurozone.
The European Central Bank (ECB) in fact created the Greek banking crisis when it cut Greece off from normal liquidity operations as soon as the new government took power last January. It then exacerbated the crisis by extending only emergency liquidity at levels below what banks needed to function; and finally, it cut them off completely when the government called the July 5th referendum. In a statement to German broadcaster ARD, Regling warned that not only could Greek banks collapse without a third bailout, but that if "the four biggest, systemically relevant banks in a country no longer work, this has grave consequences not just for Greece ... but also for the whole Eurozone."
Shortly afterward, the Eurogroup issued a statement welcoming the Greek Parliament's vote approving the loan agreement. They pointed out that another vote will have to take place on July 22 to pass another set of agreements.
The Eurogroup gave its approval for a "bridge loan" of EU7 billion to be doled out by the ESM. This three-month loan, which Greece could only pay back with more bailout loans, will be used to make payments on July 20 and again in August on Greek bonds held by the ECB. It will also be used to pay the IMF.
Also yesterday, ECB President Mario Draghi announced that emergency liquidity to Greek banks will restart with a miserly EU900 million, almost the lowest amount in six months. Draghi had the nerve to claim that the ECB had been overly generous to Greece. As for debt restructuring, he said, "It is uncontroversial that debt relief is necessary." He also confirmed that the bank will receive the EU4.2 billion payment on July 20, as would the IMF.
Nonetheless, he continued to criticize Athens, saying that doubts remain concerning the willingness and capacity of the Greek government to push through the economic reforms demanded by creditors. Draghi's statement was made after the Greek Parliament's vote earlier yesterday. In a not-so-subtle threat he said, "No matter whom you talk to, there are questions about implementation will and capacity,"
adding that it was up to Athens to assuage such doubts.
Who Will Implement the New Greek Program?
The big question now on the table, is, who will implement the bailout deal just worked out... or not worked out? The issue is not which Greeks will implement it, but who among the creditors? On the Greek side, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras lost his coalition's majority in Parliament on the issue, which could mean a cabinet reshuffling or early elections as soon as September or October.
The Greek Parliament passed the bill titled "Emergency Regulations for the Negotiation and Conclusion of Agreement with the European Stability Mechanism (ESM)." A majority of 229 of a total of 299 deputies voted yes, with the main opposition New Democracy, To Potami, and Pasok voting in support of the government. Sixty-four deputies voted against it, 32 of whom were Syriza members, and the rest from the fascist Golden Dawn and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Another six MPs from Syriza abstained.
Voting no were former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, Deputy Labor Minister Dimitris Stratoulis, and the President of Parliament Zoe Konstantopoulou.
Responding to rumors that he was among several ministers who could be reshuffled out of the government, Lafazanis said he remained loyal to the government, but was ready to offer his resignation if asked. "We support Syriza in government and we support the Prime Minister. We don't support the bailout,"
he said after the vote.
Speaking in Parliament, Konstantopoulou said Parliament should not approve the bill or give in to the blackmail. She referred to the IMF report on the unsustainability of the public debt and underscored that the Greek Parliament should take advantage of it. She said:
"We should not allow the blackmail to be complete. We should inform the Greek people on the extent of this blackmail; we should ask our partners to implement their commitments, to respect democracy. No Parliament should legislate under such tight deadlines."
In a radio interview, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tried to justify the agreement, and took full personal responsibility, going so far as to say:
"I personally feel proud because we selflessly fought a difficult battle against the established interests, and against powerful adversaries at that...despite it all, we are leaving behind us a heritage of self-respect and democracy in Europe. This planting will bear fruit in Europe at some point."
He said he was subjected to real blackmail which aimed at the government's collapse, and said the only choice he had was between disorderly bankruptcy and the acceptance of the "Schäuble plan" for Grexit.
He said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble had first suggested a Grexit "in March or April," but explained that Greece did not have the necessary foreign exchange reserves to support a return to the drachma, and as such, would be facing a disorderly bankruptcy. In his meetings in China and Russia he did not receive support to pursue such an option.
Even ahead of a reshuffle of the cabinet, resignations have already taken place. Deputy Finance Minister Nadia Valavani, who was in charge of taxation and privatization, resigned on July 15 over opposition to the agreement. The General Secretary of Social Insurance also resigned, telling ANT 1 television: "I will not stick around to implement things that I do not believe in ... I will not remain in my post just to collect EU4,750 each month."
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