Western European News Digest

Top CDUer: Collapse Not Within, But Of the System

July 8 (EIRNS)—Lothar De Maiziere, prime minister of the first freely elected East German parliament, who governed only for six months before German reunification in October 1990, surprised a press conference in Munich this afternoon, by echoing what until now had only been stated publicly by Helga Zepp-LaRouche ("The Missed Chance of 1989").

Speaking about the agenda of next week's Munich session of the regular German-Russian Petersburg Dialogue, De Maiziere said that the difference between eastern and Western Germans is that the Easterners view the present global economic-financial crisis as a crisis of the system, whereas the Westerners still view it as only a crisis like many before, within the system. De Maiziere explained that, having gone through the collapse of the socialist system in 1989, eastern Germans feel that what they are watching happen today, is something they know from 20 years ago.

Has David Kelly's Ghost Come Back To Haunt Blair?

July 6 (EIRNS)—British weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly was writing an exposé about his warnings that Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction, and about his work with anthrax, at the time of his death on July 17, 2003, according to the July 5 Daily Express, a British newspaper. His death came two days after he had testified to the House of Commons that a dossier which claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, commissioned by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair in order to justify the invasion of Iraq, had been "sexed up."

The allegations come from a new film about biological weapons being debuted in London on July 17, the sixth anniversary of Kelly's death, titled "Anthrax War."

The new report makes clear that Kelly was in the process of exposing not only that Blair's instigation of the invasion of Iraq was groundless, since Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, but also that Britain itself was involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, specifically anthrax.

The report says Kelly had several discussions with a publisher in Oxford about a book, and was seeking advice as to how far he could go without violating the British Official Secrets Act, the Daily Express reports.

Kelly's computers were seized after his death and it is still not known whether any rough draft was discovered by investigators, and, if so, what happened to it.

According to the Daily Express, Kelly intended to reveal that he informed Blair, weeks before the British and American invasion, that there were no WMD anywhere in Iraq, and was also intending to lift the lid on a potentially bigger scandal—Blair's secret dealings in germ warfare with the former apartheid regime in South Africa.

House of Lords Votes Down Pro-Euthanasia Amendment

July 8 (EIRNS)—After a passionate debate yesterday, the Lords defeated a proposed amendment to the Coronors and Justice Bill, put forward by Lord Falconer and Baroness Jay, by a 194 to 141 vote. This amendment would have protected from prosecution those who help a person seek assisted suicide abroad (it is outlawed in the U.K.).

Peter Saunders of the Care Not Killing Alliance responded: "What a relief, we have fought them off for another year," and said that the vote was "a bigger margin than the defeat of the Joffe Bill." Lord Joffe had proposed legalizing assisted suicide in 2004.

During yesterday's debate, Peers, including bishops, lawyers, and medical experts, argued that the wording of the amendment was unclear, and that it would effectively allow people to help others commit suicide. Many Peers pointed out that disabled people would be placed under pressure to end their lives in order to relieve the burden they place on families and the health-care system.

Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, who has spinal muscular atrophy, said: "By going with this amendment we turn the traffic lights from red to green on state-sanctioned assisted dying, albeit in another country. If this amendment were to succeed, I believe it will place a new and invidious pressure on disabled and terminally ill people, who think that they are close to the end of their lives."

Lord Elystan-Morgan, a former judge, warned: "This would inevitably lead to the legalisation of physician-assisted death."

Britain Calls for Italy's Expulsion from G8

July 7 (EIRNS)—On the eve of the G8 summit in Italy, the London Guardian attacked the Italian government, claiming that it had done nothing to prepare the summit, that there is no initiative on the agenda, and that "there is growing pressure from other [G8] member states to have Italy expelled from the group, according to senior western officials."

This a climax in the British media campaign which has gone on for weeks, whose purpose is to destabilize Italy, whose Finance Minister has opposed British bailout schemes for the bankrupt financial system. Italian Foreign Minister Frattini answered the Guardian allegations from Bucharest, saying, "The Guardian should be expelled from the [group] of major newspapers" (see below).

The British paper claims that Italy has no "substantive initiatives on the agenda" of the G8, and, therefore, "the US has taken control. Washington has organized 'sherpa calls' ... in a last-ditch bid to inject purpose into the meeting." The Guardian quotes an unnamed "senior G8 member state official" saying that "For another country to organise the sherpa calls is just unprecedented. It's a nuclear option. The Italians have been just awful. There have been no processes and no planning. The G8 is a club, and clubs have membership dues. Italy has not been paying them....

"The behind-the-scenes grumbling has gone as far as suggestions that Italy could be pushed out of the G8 or any successor group. One possibility being floated in European capitals is that Spain, which has higher per capita national income and gives a greater percentage of GDP in aid, would take Italy's place."

Then, the Guardian quotes a certain Richard Gowan, an analyst at "a New York center"—omitting to note that he is also a member of George Soros' European Council on Foreign Relations. "The Italian preparations for the summit have been chaotic from start to finish," says Gowan. "The Italians were saying as long ago as January this year that they did not have a vision of the summit, and if the Obama administration had any ideas they would take instruction from the Americans."

The British mouthpiece then recycles the rubbish that Italy has cut aid to Africa, and that "media coverage in the run-up to the meeting has been dominated by Berlusconi's parties with young women."

Frattini: Britain Fears Italy's Foreign Policy

July 9 (EIRNS)—Responding to the British media campaign against the Italian government, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini granted an interview to Il Giornale on July 8, in which he said that Italy is being attacked because it is a competitor of Britain in international politics. "The real target of certain British media," Frattini says, "is to oppose our role on the international scene ... a leading role in several contexts. Let me remind you of [Italy's] direct relationship with Russia, Turkey, Israel, and Libya." "Let us not forget the opening action towards Iran, which has been always attacked by the British press."

The line was confirmed by Obama's shift, Frattini says. "Who could really think that such a strong agreement [by Italy], for instance, with Russia on energy or Libya on gas, would not anger someone?"

Yesterday, the New York Times lead editorial joined the British line, claiming that Italy had failed to prepare a substantial agenda for the G8 summit, and that Obama should "take leadership." Berlusconi has displayed "showmanship" but no leadership. Obama should push the agenda: Iran, climate change, and aid to Africa. And pressure Merkel to increase Germany's financial stimulus.

Italian Journalist: Soros Behind British Attacks

July 9 (EIRNS)—Giancarlo Lehner, a journalist close to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, wrote in the Rome daily Il Tempo today, that the role of George Soros in the current British attacks against Italy, is reminiscent of the 1992 Britannia coup, when the Italian currency was attacked by the British agent Soros, the political system was overthrown, and the national economy was looted. An Italian gossip site, Dagospia.com, had written the day before that Soros has sent emissaries to Italy to prepare the ground for a "landing," in order to launch a campaign against the increasing power of the "right wing."

Without quoting EIR, under the headline "Financial Lobbies Against Our Future," Lehner wrote that "George Schwartz, alias George Soros, [is] a generous moneybag for all promoters of drug legalization and euthanasia, apparently because of liberal ideals, but the suspicion is strong that in these battles it is destabilizing aims are prevailing."

In June 1992, "the attack against our family jewels was elaborated on the Britannia yacht.... There, Soros coordinated the group of Italian, American, British, and Dutch bankers and managers aiming to destroy our state capitalism, in perfect synchrony with the destruction of the first republic," Lehner writes, recalling that three years later, former Prime Minister Romano Prodi gave Soros an honorary degree at the University of Bologna. With Soros on the scene, Prodi might not be far behind, Lehner writes.