Western European News Digest
U.S., Poland Sign Missile Defense Agreement
Aug 20 (EIRNS)"The Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Poland Concerning the Deployment of Ground-Based Ballistic Missile Defense Interceptors in the Territory of the Republic of Poland" was signed in Warsaw today by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. The Polish cabinet approved it yesterday. The Polish parliament still has to ratify the Agreement.
The State Department media notice states that the agreement "will allow the United States to construct, maintain, and operate a facility encompassing ten ground-based BMD interceptors. The United States and Poland will negotiate a separate agreement to address the status of U.S. military forces to be deployed to the territory of Poland. U.S. and Polish military forces will cooperate in providing physical security for the missile defense interceptor facility." This would include "security" for the battery of Patriot missiles that the U.S. has promised would be moved to Poland, which battery is clearly intended to "protect" against Russia, not Iran or "rogue states."
Or, as Lyndon LaRouche suggested, perhaps the security at the missile site will be needed to protect it from angry Poles, when they realize their government's strategic blunder.
British Provocations vs. Russia
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)Her Britannic Majesty's government is leading the way in an aggressive anti-Russian policy, in advance of the NATO foreign ministers meeting Aug. 19. The London Times reports that Britain is pushing to suspend security cooperation with Russia, which has been at the center of the NATO-Russia Council. They also support Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's request for NATO monitors to oversee the ceasefire in Georgia. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced he will go to Georgia after the NATO meeting, to show his solidarity.
The Times quotes one unnamed British official as saying, "We don't want to leave the Russians in the cold but we want to make it clear to Moscow that it's no longer business as usual."
EIR Was Right on Georgia Events!
Aug. 17 (EIRNS)EIR was completely right about Georgia's Aug. 7 aggression against South Ossetia, being caused by Britain, from our first dispatch Aug. 8; every contrary account then and since, was misinformation or simple lying!
This is even confirmed by a Washington Post chronology by Peter Finn, published today. Through testimony of neutral observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and others, Finn confirms EIR's account of unprovoked Georgian aggression immediately following President Mikheil Saakashvili's lying television speech Aug. 7, which featured a supposed immediate ceasefire and full autonomy for the enclave. Georgian troops had been moving towards South Ossetia for a full hour before that television address started.
Saakashvili Discredited in Germany
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has lost backing by many leaders in the EU; notably, the German government is deeply upset with him. According to Germany's mass-circulation daily Bildzeitung, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who, in Tbilisi yesterday, stated support for Georgia's future membership in NATO, also harshly criticized Saakashvili for having created a problematic situation for all of Europe, with his adventure in South Ossetia.
Merkel reportedly is very angry, because Saakashvili, in one of his rage fits on Aug. 15, tried to blame the German government for having suppressed evidence of the planned Russian "aggression" before Georgia attacked South Ossetiathereby having prevented support from the West for Georgia in time to prevail against the Russians.
Bildzeitung also quotes Germany's former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, calling Saakashvili a "hasardeur"gambler, or risk-takerwhose aggression provoked the war, and has moved Georgia far from NATO membership for the time being. Schröder warned against confrontation with Russia, and especially rejected any deployment of German soldiers for whatever peacekeeping force the West may want to station in the Caucasus even against the protests of the Russians.
British Army May Redeploy into Northern Ireland
Aug. 19 (EIRNS)Police in Northern Ireland were attacked over the weekend by dissident factions of Irish Republican groups; this was the latest of seven attacks in the last year. Paul Leighton, deputy chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, reported that the attack involved an improvised rocket launcher and Semtex explosives that appear to have been part of the consignment smuggled into Northern Ireland in the 1980s. Tom Elliot, a member of the Fermanagh Ulster Unionist Assembly, suggested that if the situation worsens, the British Army might have to redeploy to Northern Ireland.
Lisbon Treaty Plotters Continue Quest
Aug. 21, (EIRNS)Although the Lisbon Treaty was formally defeated by the Irish referendum last June, the Euro-garchy is still looking for a way to implement it before the European Union elections next Spring. A propaganda piece inspired by Brussels was published today in the Italian daily Italia Oggi. The EU Commission considers the Italian ratification "the starting of a new momentum that could lead to an implementation of the Treaty within the timing wished by Brussels," that is, before next Spring's elections. No mention is made of how to solve the Irish problem. Interestingly, emphasis is placed on the fact that, through the Treaty, supranational police and judiciary cooperation will be immediately effective.
Real Estate Collapse Will Sink City of London
Aug. 18 (EIRNS)The collapse of Britain's real estate bubble is about to sink the City of London, with global ramifications, says the Daily Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, an assessment shared by some leading British bankers.
British housing prices have been dropping at the fastest rates since the real estate collapse of the 1970s. In London, where up until this month, prices have been stable, so far in August, prices have dropped on an average of 5.3%, and in some areas, as much as 7.9%. The Guardian reports that, across Great Britain, repossessions rose to 28,568 in the second quarter, up 24% over last year. Sales by estate agents are down by 40% from last year, and the number of transactions is the lowest since 1959. Housing starts are at their lowest level since 1945.
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