New Era News and Global Intelligence

NEW ERA NEWS AND GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE  was created to (1) report on global developments indicative of a perceptible New Era dawning on humanity, an Era of Peace  as promised by Our Lady of Fatima and (2) to provide Intelligence Reports containing political, economic, historical-cultural, philosophical and theological analysis-synthesis indicative of the current international shift away from Global Liberalism toward a universal Era of Peace, an Era of Cooperation away from the conflict and inordinate economic development that has favored a few while working to the human detriment of many, something Saint John Paul II referred to as a “degradation” and “pulverization” of the human person perpetrated by the ideologues of hedonistic and atheistic materialism.

New Era has been reporting on international developments indicative of an emerging global shift since its inception; this little recognized intelligence perspective is catching on. At once perceptible only to the trained eye, changing world events have gained such magnitude that other news and intelligence agencies are NOW reporting the same things (albeit from different  perspectives). Thus, on November, 17 the LaRouche PAC released an Executive Intelligence Report entitled: “Trump Visit Launches New Era in U.S.-China Relations”. Just a few days later, November 20, Covert Geopolitics released a follow up article entitled “Chinese Ambassador Sets the Record Straight on Importance of Xi-Trump Meeting” in which they embedded the LaRouche pronouncemento: “Trump Visit Launches New Era in U.S.-China Relations”. 

President Trump, despite relentless attacks within his own country and within his own party, despite the unprecedented animus aimed at him by liberals and ultra-conservatives alike, despite these things, the president is gaining strength in the international arena.  This is a rapidly changing arena in which many countries are looking for an alternative to liberal democracy and hedonistic capitalism, a new way forward, a way of shared cooperation, a way of prosperity and peace for all nations, not just a few, a way that Our Lady referred to as an Era of Peace from which our own intelligence agency took its name: “New Era News and Global Intelligence”. 

New Era forecast a bludgeoning of the new president until such time that he would enter the international arena, an arena in which he would become more deeply exposed to, and informed about, global developments, developments antithetical to the liberalism that is smothering him at home. Once the President of the United States moved beyond the confines of domestic politics and waded into international waters, once he began to rub shoulders with his international peers, once he got out from under the barrage of crippling criticism, once he did these things, he would acquire strength from his relations with other newly emerging leaders from Poland-Hungary to the Philippines, China and Taiwan, a unique group of men and women offering a new anti-liberal perspective, an anti-liberal perspective that is being unsuccessfully opposed by liberal leaders like George Soros in Hungary and in the broader international arena by the same people who are successfully opposing the president at home.  These Neocon war hawks and advanced Liberal ideologues remain committed to an outdated program of economic-political-moral liberalism, the liberalism that is bankrupting any nations both financially and morally as well as spiritually; in fact, John Paul II indicated that the etiology (origin) of this liberalism is more spiritual than moral:

“This evil is even much more of the metaphysical than of the moral order.” 

This, most likely, being the case, its cure rests more on a spiritual movement than on a moral or political movement; nonetheless both the spiritual and temporal are integral to the new frontal assault against the gates of hell that is emerging, a new offensive against which the gates of hell cannot prevail:

“And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).

The SLAVIC LEADERS OF EASTERN EUROPE AND THE ASIAN LEADERS OF PHILIPPINES, CHINA AND TAIWAN ARE SUCCESSFULLY OPPOSING LIBERALISM AROUND THE GLOBE thereby setting off a delirious liberal assault of unprecedented proportion (see video below) including a vicious attack on Pope Francis in Argentina and by Neocon Conservatives, Radical Traditionalists and frenzied Liberals worldwide:

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Despite the frantic frenzy that has agitated and united opposition legions, despite this broad panoply of evil arrayed against Christianity, President Trump, other newly emerging world leaders, and men and women of goodwill, are rising to the occasion. Despite this onslaught of distraught liberalism, something new is on the horizon; it is being forwarded by emerging leaders beginning with the rise of Catholicism in Poland as Our Lord foretold  to Saint Faustina early in the twentieth century.

The political forces that Mr. Trump faces falsely present themselves as adamantine conquerors; however, in reality, they are being defeated all over the globe as one fed-up leader after another rises up to the challenge.  These men and women are drawing spiritual strength from prayer and political strength from each other; these newly emerging world-leaders share a vision similar to that of the American President: a vision of international peace, of global cooperation, of more broad spread prosperity, respect of religion, a commitment to cultural traditions and indigenous values and broad scale human development, while mutually opposing the stranglehold of globalism favored by the ideologues and adepts of left-over liberalism. 

Although Mr. Trump does not appear to be as instructed or politically adroit in these matters as his contemporaries, he appears to be learning fast and gaining strength through his association  with them. Donald Trump, like Vladimir Putin, might soon have to watch what he eats and drinks. Like other emerging leaders, Mr. Trump is in danger from many forces, forces that are disturbing his presidency; nonetheless, he has recently spoken about their unconstitutional endeavors to sideline him.  The president recently spoke up in wake of his his impromptu meeting with President Putin while traveling in Asia; his words came just days prior to his three day visit with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping. New Era felt that the American President would draw strength from his encounter with world leaders; apparently he has; nonetheless he still faces stiff opposition at home, an opposition that is weakening and resorting to increasingly ineffective fake news narratives, funded protests, and by now old and worn strategies that are less and les convincing to the American people.

It is no longer New Age alone that is reporting the emergence of a broad group of newly minded world leaders opposed to liberalism; below are excerpts from the article released by LaRouche and then also ran by Covert Geopolitics,  “Trump Visit Launches New Era in U.S.-China Relations.”

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 Trump Visit Launches New Era in U.S.-China Relations.

“The three-day visit of President Donald Trump to the People’s Republic of China for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping has laid the basis for an entirely new type of relationship between the United States and China, and built the framework for cooperation for a policy of global development.

Before President Trump left on his 11-day trip to Asia, the media and the pundits were filled with articles claiming that the President was going to create a provocation against the DPRK (North Korea), give a dressing down to the South Korean President for being soft on the DPRK, and wrangle on trade issues with the Chinese President.

But none of that happened. On the contrary, in his encounters with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and most decisively with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump proved himself an eminent statesman, leaving each leader with the clear feeling that this visit by the U.S. President had been a tremendous success.

While President Trump’s task on his lengthy Asia tour was in part to reassure allies that the United States was not turning its back on this all-important region of the world, he did not come in as the belligerent leader of some threatening coalition, but rather as a friend and collaborator with each leader. While he minced no words in speaking to the South Korean National Assembly about his disdain for the policies of the North Korean leadership, at the same time he pointed out that there could be a “brighter path for North Korea,” if it were willing to relinquish its nuclear ambitions. More important, he came to Asia with the understanding that the rising importance of China in the world community was not a threat but an opportunity—an opportunity to change the direction of politics, toward a more peaceful and prosperous world for all peoples.

What the media and the pundits also ignored in their ominous predictions, was the fact that the U.S. President had already established a substantial and close relationship with the Chinese President, as a result of their four personal meetings and numerous phone calls and messages. President Trump had sent congratulations to President Xi after the 19th Party Congress accepted Xi’s new direction in policy with his proposal for a “New Era” in China’s foreign policy, and had incorporated the goals of President Xi’s seminal Belt and Road Initiative into the Communist Party’s constitution. And President Trump’s unusual invitation earlier this year to President Xi and his wife to visit him at his home in Mar-a-Lago, provided an extraordinary personal touch, the significance of which did not go unnoticed by the Chinese leader.

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More Than a State Visit

The Chinese President more than reciprocated this kindness in the welcome he gave to President Trump and his wife, Melania, in Beijing. It was labeled a “state visit-plus” by the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, and a “state visit-plus-plus” by President Xi! Neither level of welcome has ever occurred before.

In an extraordinary gesture, the historic Forbidden City, previously the home of the Chinese emperors, was entirely closed, and it was prepared as the venue for a private dinner with a foreign dignitary Nov. 8. While many major foreign guests, and in particular heads of state, often visit the Forbidden City when they first come to Beijing, this was the first time since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 that a foreign dignitary was invited to dine in a palace of the Forbidden City.

The guide for the President and his wife on a tour of the Palace Museum located in the Forbidden City, was none other than President Xi himself. Both President Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, took President Trump and his wife, Melania, on a tour through the Forbidden City. And what better guide for such a tour than the Chinese President, whose keen sense of the history of the Chinese people is so much a fabric of his own being. More than a tour through a famous monument, this was undoubtedly an extremely important exposure for the U.S President to the long arc of Chinese history and culture—a culture which most profoundly shapes the attitudes and the policies of China today.

President Trump in turn showed President Xi and his wife a videotape of his 6-year old granddaughter, Arabella Kushner, who started learning Chinese when she was 18 months old. Arabella had already performed for President Xi and his wife when they visited President Trump in Mar-a-Lago in April, and has become quite a celebrity in China ever since. The couples viewed the video on an IPad while in the Forbidden City. Arabella greeted “Grandpa Xi” and “Grandma Peng” in Chinese, characterizing the closeness and respect exhibited by Trump family members toward the Chinese couple following the Mar-a-Lago visit. She then sang several songs and recited from a number of Chinese poems which she knew by heart—to the delight of her audience.

The next day, President Trump and the First Lady arrived at the Great Hall of the People for President Trump’s formal meetings with President Xi. He was greeted at the bottom of the steps by President Xi and Madame Peng, and was then escorted by the Chinese President to a reviewing stand outside the Great Hall where he reviewed military formations assembled there in his honor and received a 21-gun salute. The two presidents then individually greeted all the members of both delegations lined up before the Great Hall, before proceeding into the building for the formal discussions.

The major issues to be covered, and those most reported on in the media were: trade, the DPRK nuclear program, and the future development of U.S.-China relations. But they also touched on the Middle East, Afghanistan, counterterrorism, anti-drug cooperation, non-proliferation, and nuclear security. The two presidents committed to make the most of the four high-level dialogue mechanisms: the diplomatic and security dialogue, the comprehensive economic dialogue, the social and people-to-people dialogue, and the cyber-security dialogue, in order to achieve greater results in their cooperation.

In remarks to the press conference following their meeting, President Xi underlined the importance of the enhanced economic cooperation between the two countries.

“It is necessary to formulate and launch an economic cooperation plan for the next phase to have continued in-depth discussion on trade imbalance, export, investment environment, market openness, and other issues, and work to support practical cooperation in energy, infrastructure, the Belt and Road Initiative, and other areas.”

Following the meeting, the two presidents signed agreements and memoranda of understanding worth $250 billion. China agreed to purchase 300 aircraft from Boeing. China has also signed an agreement to purchase natural gas from Alaska. In this agreement between the State of Alaska and Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, on the one side, and Chinese Sinopec, China Investment Corporation, and the Bank of China, on the other, China will invest $43 billion, which is expected to create 12,000 new jobs in the U.S.A. There is also an $84 billion plan for China to invest in shale gas and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia. A memorandum of understanding was signed to that effect. Another deal involves China purchasing Liquified Natural Gas from Louisiana. All in all, over 37 major deals were signed, including deals by three companies heavily involved in the Belt and Road Initiative—Caterpillar, Honeywell, and General Electric—and Dow Chemical Company.”

According to the LaRouche Intelligence Report:

“During the meetings, President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump “held an in-depth exchange of views and reached an important consensus which set the tone and the direction for the relationship.”

“The two leaders agreed to stay in close contact with each other and to provide strategic guidance for the bilateral relationship. And the two sides decided to enhance high-level exchanges and make best use of the high-level dialogues established. The two also agreed to increase mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and manage possible differences on the basis of mutual respect. The two also agreed to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples and to promote even better cooperation at a sub-national level,”

“…will never seek hegemony, nor will we pursue expansionist policies.” China’s foreign policy “aims at a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation. China is ready to make greater contributions to world peace and development.”

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Partnership and Dialogue of Cultures

But far more important than the individual trade deals coming out of these negotiations, was the strengthening of the personal relationship between the leaders of two of the most important countries in the world. In his comments to the press following the meetings, President Trump underlined the real significance of the visit:

“The United States, working with China and other regional partners, has an incredible opportunity to advance the cause of peace, security, and prosperity all across the world. It’s a very special time, and we do indeed have that very, very special opportunity. A great responsibility has been placed on our shoulders, President—it’s truly a great responsibility—and I hope we can rise to the occasion and help our countries and our citizens reach their highest destinies and their fullest potentials.”

In his comments at the banquet, President Xi himself compared Trump’s visit to the visit of President Nixon 45 years ago, noting the tremendous importance of that visit in re-establishing U.S.-China relations:

“President Trump, the state visit to China is another event of historic importance. Over the past two days, we have had in-depth exchange of views on how China and the United States should seize the opportunity, rise up to the challenges, and open up new grounds in our relations. Together, we have mapped out a blueprint for advancing China-U.S. relations. We both agree that China and the United States should remain partners, not rivals. We both agree that when we work together, we can accomplish many great things to the benefit of our two countries and the whole world.”

President Trump iterated the emerging anti-liberal global vision:

“This moment in history presents both our nations with an incredible opportunity to advance peace and prosperity alongside other nations all around the world…. I am confident that we can realize this wonderful vision, a vision that will be so good and, in fact, so great for both China and the United States.”

Take time to reflect upon these statements by the two presidents. “The implications of what we are witnessing are historic, and contain the potential to change the life of every person on this planet for the better. It is a potential for moving the entire world into an “Era of Peace” and economic development.” 

President Trump wants to collaborate with China and with Russia in order to begin to tackle those world problems that can only be resolved through such collaboration.” Will President Trump be an instrumental agent in bringing about political peace.  The congressional elections this coming November will be instrumental in his plans to do so.
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Watch US Media Try to Discredit Foreign Policy Initiatives of President Trump who Prefers Peace rather than Aggression of Neocons and Liberals

New Era World News

LIBERALISM HAS ENTERED A PERIOD OF GLOBAL decline. Since it inception, Newera has reported on the eclipse of liberalism occurring in places diverse as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, France, Philippines, Taiwan, Russia, Nigeria, Bulgaria, Moldova et al; now it appears that South Korea is following the global trend, but in a less obvious way. For decades Korean students (students steeped in the Confucian tradition of elevating scholars as defenders of morality) have risen against authoritarian rule and self-serving elites, elites who, in the name of private property and individualism, have contributed to the dehumanization of the human person and to economic injustice.  Together, these phenomena have contributed to the rise of liberal parties committed to freedom and equality resulting in the eventual acceptance and toleration of immoral behaviors that were once thought criminal.  As a result of excessive toleration, liberal education and a broad media campaign supported by One World Globalists, just about every moral aberration is now being claimed as a human right.  Recent events, however, indicate that change is taking place in the Korean atmosphere as it is elsewhere around the globe as an increasing number of people are turning toward the right and voting conservative.

Over a million People Gather in Seoul to Protest President Park Geun-hye

Over a million people gathered in Gwanghwamun Square and in cities throughout South Korea in late November, 2016 calling for President Park Geun-hye (the daughter of former president Park Chung-hee) to retire from office. Park’s approval rating plummeted from around 90% to a new low of 14% following reports that Park’s long-time confidant and cult leader, non-appointed and non-elected, Choi Soon-sil has been charged with fraud and coercion for using spiritual manipulation that enabled her to use the relationship she cultivated with President Park to garner over $60 million in donations for her foundations. Some have referred to Choi as “Rasputin”, as a covert  “puppet master” who is the real power behind “the throne.”

Choi Soon-sil’s father, Choi Tae-min was a Christian cult leader who was married six times before his death in 1994. Choi established the “Church of Eternal Life” and referred to himself as the “Maitreya”, a Future Buddha, a claim that he used to ingratiate himself to Park Geun-hye following her mother’s death in 1974 after which she became the First Lady of South Korea. In that year, Tae-min presented himself to Park and said that her mother had appeared to him in a dream and asked him to assist her daughter.

Like his daughter, Choi Soon-sil (who succeeded her father as leader of the Eternal Life Church), Choi Tae-min used his relationship with Park to bribe both businessmen and government officials. According to WikiLeaks, the American Embassy in Seoul reported that

Choi “had complete control over Park’s body and soul during her formative years and that his children accumulated enormous wealth as a result.”

Choi Soon-sil, picked up where her father left off. CNN describes Soon-sil as “a deviously persuasive figure outside government”, a persuasive figure who used her influence to tell the president how to run the country, “in exchange for favors”.

Consequently, up to 1.7 million people gathered in Seoul in sight of the presidential residence to demand the president’s expulsion. According to the Washington Post,

“Park is accused of letting a longtime friend with no official government role, Choi Soon-sil, see classified documents and improperly influence government actions. In turn, Choi has been charged with using her relationship with the president to shake down the nation’s biggest companies for donations to her companies, personally enriching herself.”

According to Forbes, Koreans are not only upset  with Park’s connections with the Church of Eternal Life but also because of the perception she cultivated of being above corruption. Park, elected in 2012 as South Korea’s first female leader, was purported to be from a new mold, expected to put her country before personal gain, a true public servant.

“Part of her appeal is the perception that she is not corrupt,” says Trinh Nguyen, senior economist with French investment bank Natixis. “Koreans thought that given that she had no family and was estranged from her siblings that her dedication to Korea’s future would be total.”

After assuming office on Feb 25, 2013, her first mission as Head of State was a trip to the US to meet President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State John Kerry. President Park predictably urged cooperative S. Korean-American efforts to contain North Korea and accepted the presence of 20,000+ US troops on South Korean soil. Park expressed her wish that beyond containment of North Korea, that the US-South Korean partisanship be “upgraded from a comprehensive strategic alliance to a global partnership.”  The parties agreed to a joint-statement pledging to establish a committee charged with communications and information technology and to pursue a comprehensive energy plan to assure continued coadjuvancy and on-going symbiotic growth of the two economies.

Nonetheless, on December 9, 2016, the South Korean Parliament voted to impeach their president on charges of corruption, thereby de facto terminating her executive powers. Since then, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has been invested with those powers as Acting President. This leaves the door wide-open to re-evaluate South Korea’s commitment to liberal trade, to its pro-US foreign policy and South Korea’s 2013 commitment to pursue a global partnership with the USA. Thus, according to USA Today:

“The pro-U.S. foreign policy of South Korean President Park Geun Hye is at risk now that she appears to be on her way out over a growing corruption scandal.”

Several of the at-risk trade and foreign policies validated by the Obama Administration include:

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North Korea

Following North Korea’s nuclear test on September 9, 2016, South Korea formulated a hard-line policy with its northern neighbor as well as rethought its relations with China and Japan. Park’s new approach was congruent with President Obama’s plan to treat North Korea as a pariah state and thereby slap it with additional economic sanctions. President Obama said that the imposition of new sanctions, on top of already existing sanctions, demonstrate to North Korea that there are “consequences to its unlawful and dangerous actions.” Now, however, according to John Delury, professor of International Affairs as Yonsei University:

“With the equally sudden demise of the president (Park), it puts into question the new hard-line policy.”

For example, following the North Korean missile launch, President Park ordered South Korean military units to withdraw from the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a cooperative venture reliant on South Korean expertise and yet provides significant funds to the North.  When Park leaves office, Delury believes that “doves” in the administration would reopen the joint-project. His prognosis is seconded by past US Ambassador to S. Korea, Kathleen Stephens, who recently indicated that parties in opposition to the President’s party are likely to drop Park’s hard-line stance and seek a rapprochement with Pyongyang.

It would be “a major project” to reopen relations with the North, but options would include a resumption of food and humanitarian aid, plus family reunions that took place in past years.

As USA Today points out:

“Such voices have already spoken out. Chung-in Moon, a foreign affairs adviser to South Korea’s opposition, in September called for suspending joint military exercises with the United States and for encouraging dialogue with the North. Such a move by South Korea would be seen as a step toward rejecting the U.S. security umbrella in the region that has existed since the 1950s, said Yun Sun, an analyst at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.

Missile Defense

As a further consequence of N. Korea’s nuclear test, Park permitted the United States to deploy THAAD (a $900 million Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile system, and to accept a further deployment of US troops in South Korea. China, South Korea’s major trading partner, interpreted the deployment as a threat to its own missiles and aircraft. The $900 bill has been picked up by the United States, but President Trump has indicated that he wants US allies to pay their fair share.  On top of that, there are political forces in S. Korea who would like to improve relations with China; Parks removal provides them with an opportunity.

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Conclusion

President Trump referred to the Obama brokered US-Korea Trade Agreement as a  “job-killing trade deal.”  By “job-killing”, Trump was referring to US jobs; Korea, like Japan and China, is the primary beneficiary, something Trump has vowed to rectify.  If S. Korea really wants to keep the agreement in tact, it will have to make concessions to the United States or find alternative trade with China and Europe, something made increasingly possible with the ongoing construction of the “Silk Road Project” linking Asia to Europe. As it stands right now, S. Korea’s trade with China exceeds its trade with the USA. In fact, trade between S. Korea and China is greater than its combined trade with both the US and Japan!

South Korea continues to improve its economic relations with China; the two nations have joined the newly created Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The AIIB along with BRICS is viewed by many as an alternative funding for infrastructure projects traditionally handled by the IMF and World Bank which have strapped debtor nations with neo-liberal fiscal and monetary requirements detrimental to both their indigenous culture and their economic growth, requirements not imposed by the AIIB.

The Real issue here is how Park’s removal affects relations between the United States and China and how it contributes to ongoing American-Korean relations and the exportation of neo-liberal economic and social policies with US satellites throughout Asia, satellites who, like the Philippines and Malaysia, have indicated a desire to increase trade relations (and military drills) with China and Russia. S. Korea desires a continued US alliance; however, S. Korea also has a significant and growing relationship with China. The question is which one will predominate as Southeast Asian nations appear to be moving toward more local and regional patterns of association.

Is President Trump pushing America’s allies in SE Asia into the Chines camp and into closer regional cooperation among each other? Is the ouster of Parks a signal of an ongoing Asian shift toward increased regional autonomy, toward new trade opportunities with China, Russia and Europe?  Newera believes that these events are occurring but not as a result of President Trump’s policies or executive agenda for America. No, these events were in motion before Trump ever assumed office and they will continue in motion as they are regularly propelled forward by unforeseen and unexpected events such as the ouster of South Koran President President Park Geun Hye. These are not events or knee-jerk reactions to anything Mr. Trump is doing or has done. Rather, they are events indicative of something happening to Mr. Trump and to America, something unforeseen by any geopolitical forecaster as more and more nations (either consciously or inadvertently) move to shake off the divisive economic, political, and social aspects of global liberalism and move toward an “Era of Peace”.

The United States must wake up to the fact  or find itself on the back-side of history as the nations move on without it. The US can maintain a global leadership position if it slowly, yet consistently, relinquishes its liberal economic-political-cultural agenda and sincerely reaches out to developing nations with disinterested helping hands as well as extending cooperative hands toward Russia and Europe in the mutual battle against terrorism. If the US gives up its liberal policy of forced regime change, learns to respect the sovereign political rights of other nations, puts a halt to its liberal sexual agenda, and cooperates for the economic global common-good of all nations, if it can do these things, the United Sates will be admired as a peace-maker and perhaps regain its status as a “great nation under God.”

.New Era World News

ON DECEMBER 30, PRIOR TO THE NEW YEAR, New Era reported that the Russian, Turkish, and Iranian foreign ministers gathered in Moscow to discuss the situation in Syria. As a result of the meeting, the three announced their willingness to facilitate future negotiations between Damascus and Syrian opposition groups.

As a result of the meeting, the Troika issued a document referred to by the New York Times as “The Moscow Declaration”. Among its eight articles, the “Declaration” states:

• Iran, Russia and Turkey express their readiness to facilitate and become the guarantors of the prospective agreement being negotiated between the Syrian Government and the opposition. They invited all other countries with the influence on the situation on the ground to do the same.

Consequently, On December 30 the Assad government and the main Syrian opposition groups agreed to a nationwide cease-fire. Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency, reported that Russia and Turkey agreed to act jointly in order to guarantee implementation of the ceasefire agreement; they have been actively monitoring violations since that date.

The Russians, Iranians, and Turks decided to act without the United States. Under President Obama, the United States neocons suffered a humiliating defeat, an international debacle far from their vision for a New American Century – The US was being taken out of the game and placed on the bench by the Russians.

“Russia (however) said the United States could join a fresh peace process once President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20” (Reuters, Dec 30, 2016).

Russian Secretary of State Sergey Lavrov stressed these sentiments in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin:

“I would like to express the hope that as soon as the administration of Donald Trump takes office, they will also be able to join these efforts [to settle the Syrian crisis] so that we could jointly work in this direction”  (CNN News).

Russia has in fact extended an invitation to the Trump administration to send a representative to attend the talks in Astana.  Now that he is president, he will face opposition from neo-conservative and neo-liberal statesmen and from ranking officials in the Pentagon and intelligence community, men and women opposed to any cooperation with the Russians.

We will soon find out what the United States under President Trump is going to do – the Astana meeting began yesterday (January 23) in Kazakhstan as scheduled. It is the first time, since the conflict began six years ago, that high officials from the Syrian government have sat at a negotiating table with high officials representing the armed opposition to discuss cessation of a war that has claimed over 400,000 lives.

At the outset of the meeting (being held at the Rixos President Astana Hotel)  Iran, Turkey, and Russia welcomed the various delegates including representatives of the Syrian government and members of armed opposition groups opposed to the Syrian government.  The Syrian government is being represented by Bashar Jaafari (Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN) who voiced extreme difficulty sitting down with countrymen who have helped ravage Syria supported by, an cooperating with, an overwhelming influx of foreign terrorists backed by an immense amount of foreign aid and assistance:

Delegates stressed the situation cannot be solved by military intervention.  Although the military is necessary to assure adherence to the cease-fire-peace initiative, the imbroglio must be revolved diplomatically, a process that will involve the United Nations.

“There is no military solution to the Syrian conflict…it can only be solved through a political process based on the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 2254 in its entirety.

The cooperating powers all agreed to the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Syrian nation, implying that they will uphold the right of Syria as a sovereign nation, a nation entitled to determine for itself who its leaders will be and who will be invited to fight alongside it against common enemies.

“The delegations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey, in line with the Joint Statement of their Foreign Ministers made in Moscow, on December 20, 2016 and the UN Security Council resolution 2336…”reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian and democratic state”

It appears as forecast in our earlier report that the Syrian High Negotiation Committee (HNC) the umbrella group for Syrian opposition groups has not been invited. The  “HNC is a Saudi-backed and formulated umbrella organization.” Given the fact that the HNC is headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, home of Sunni radicalism, of Shariah Law and Wahhabi and Salafist ultra-extremism led by Saud monarchs who rule their country with a tight fist, it seemed clear that they would not be invited. For centuries the Sauds have been locked in deadly combat with Shiite Iran and have been the prime supporters of jihad and terrorism in Syria.  It is hard to imagine a group supported by the Sauds involved in a peace process that will strengthen the hands of its enemies viz., Iran, Russia and Turkey. Moreover, the HNC, supported by Great Britain has insisted, that President Assad must be removed from office within six months of any transition. This is contrary to the Syrian initiated democratic process envisioned by the Russians and the Syrian people themselves who voted overwhelmingly in Assad’s favor in 2014.

Moreover, according to Aljazeera News

“The HNC would reject any agreement struck by Russia and the US if it largely differed from the HNC’s terms.”

To bolster military operations to secure the cease-fire (in spite of opposition groups such as the HNC and other terrorists not invited to Astana), it was agreed yesterday (Jan 23) that (1) Iran will cooperate militarily with Turkey and Russia to assure the ceasefire and (2) that Syria’s indigenous opposition forces will be separated from the various terrorist organizations operating within the country (al-Nusra-ISIL-Daesh), organizations supported by Saudi Arabia and represented by the HNC.  The terrorist groups will be subject to the combined wrath of Iran, Russia and Turkey who reiterated their “determination to fight jointly against… them.”

This in itself is an extremely significant development.  In the past Saudi Arabia has brokered deals with Turkey to keep Iran in check; now, it appears that Turkey is switching allegiance. By Turkey now combining with Iran, it is Saudi Arabia that is checked and potentially threatened.  The Sauds are further feeling the heat due to Russia’s combining its forces with both The Turks and the Persians (Iran). Implicitly, Saudi Arabia is being warned. If tensions do not cease; it is highly likely that Saudi Arabia will find bombs dropping on the Arabian Peninsula and Trump might not be there to intervene, esp. if he is working with the Russians to bring peace to the Middle East.

It appears that the Astana meeting is intended to foster peace between the Assad government and Syrian opposition, that is with opposition from Syrian citizens (not imported terrorists) who have issues with the government. Once these issues are resolved, the UN can take up negotiations with the terrorists who are unruly even at a meeting.  In all likelihood, Syria is being united, internal grievances mollified and divisions healed before the Russians, Turks and Iranians begin pounding the terrorists into oblivion – as Trump has stated “I would bomb the shit out of ISIS”.

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https://youtu.be/KK79N5zOmZQ

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Before this can happen, bombing the “shit” out of ISIS, Assad wants to unify his country and mitigate any grievances to assure the full support of his countrymen in the war that is about to be unleashed on the terrorists unless the UN can somehow avoid the coming conflict, a conflict that will presumably involve the US aligning with the Russians, Turks, Iranians and Syrians against ISIL-Deash-al Nusra et al.

Tuesday’s meeting concluded with the three guarantors issuing a join-statement supporting the upcoming UN Geneva talks and the participation of Syrian opposition forces (not necessarily the terrorists) within them.

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Meeting Concluded but Not Over

The January 23 meeting was open to the press.  Today, Jan 24, participants are meeting en banc behind closed doors to engage in further discussions between the Syrian government and opposition forces. Apparently, President Trump has been contacted and responded positively; it is reported that the United States has a representative there. According to Sputnik:

“Damascus delegation is set to speak first, followed by the armed opposition, Russia, Iran, Turkey, the United States and the United Nations.

Kairat Abdrakhmanov,  Foreign Minister of host Kazakastan, is optimistic:

“I am confident that the meeting in Astana will provide the necessary conditions allowing to find the acceptable solution of Syrian crisis for all the interested parties in the framework of Geneva process under the auspices of the UN and will be a significant step forward to peace and stability in Syria. I wish you successful and fruitful negations….Kazakhstan believes that the only correct way to resolve the situation in Syria should be negotiations based on mutual trust and understanding.”

Abdrakhmanov also stressed his wishes for a successful start that will lead to a breakthrough opening the way to the diplomatic side of things to occur in Geneva under UN auspices on February 8, 2017.

“We are providing you with the platform and the conditions to start negotiations… The next few days are very important,” the delegates he said “should use this opportunity to ensure a real breakthrough.”

The Astana round involves representatives of the armed opposition whereas the Geneva round will be a political process involving diplomats.  The Astana round is primarily a military round involving maintenance of the ceasefire that will prepare the way for the Geneva Round in February.  Highly significant is the role Russia s playing in cooperation with the UN. It is Russian military might in cooperation with Iran and Turkey that the UN is relying on to bring the contending parties to Geneva to engage in higher diplomatic talks.  In the past, meetings were attempted in Geneva but armed opposition groups refused to participate. Astana therefore represents a breakthrough, and if the talks proceed well (along with a successful ceasefire) there is hope for significant progress in Geneva.

As a result the Astana talks will focus primarily on military issues. Strategies and agreements intended to enhance the volatile ceasefire are expected to be the main issue on the agenda. These agreements, if reached, will pave the way for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis in Geneva. Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia emphasized this point:

The talks in Astana are “an important contribution to… a comprehensive political settlement in Syria which will continue in wider activities in Geneva in early February.”

However, if neocon war hawks respond like the liberal robotons taking to the streets in various US cities, if the war hawks are as un-accepting of Trump’s Russian initiatives or of Russia brokering a peace treaty while the US plays second fiddle, disruption or attempted disruption of the new administration can be expected. If the neocon response is anything like the liberal response, further unrest can be expected in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. The fact that ISIL and Jadhat Fatah al Sham (al Nusra Front), who maintain control of large swathes of Syria’s oil fields, are not at the Astana meeting is indicative of a latent backlash waiting for Trump – these are forces who were, and have been, supported by neocons during the Obama administration. If Trump is unable to adroitly handle domestic opposition against Russia and Assad, opposition rising from war-hawks in his own party and from liberals on the left who will use the opportunity (who will do anything to put the new president in a quagmire) to disrupt his administration, the situation will grow worse, not better.

However, do not count the rising American majority out, the men and women who rose to put Trump in the White House. If the liberal neocon cohort has not learned its lesson, the same people who voted for Trump will themselves soon take to the streets in unprecedented numbers in support of their new president and of America’s new peace initiatives.  They are tired of war-mongering, of being lied to, of unpunished criminal acts, of disruption and constant belly-aching from hypocritical and spoiled extreme liberal leftists – they have simply had enough.  If things continue as usual, “same old-same old”, it can be expected that they will soon be heard from in a rising crescendo of support for peace and cooperation with Russia and other coopering nations throughout the world as the promised Era of Peace dawns upon humanity.

President Trump and the United States have an opportunity to work with Russia and the global community toward world peace. But to be successful they must resign themselves to the reality that the neocon-neoliberal vision for a new American Century must be modified.  The age of liberal global hegemony is coming to an end.  Increasingly, the nations of the world are opting for national sovereignty and a restoration of traditional family values as the Era of Peace promised at Fatima continues to dawn upon the nations.

The United States can either adjust and cooperate or continue suffering one foreign policy embarrassment after another. It is either cooperate for peace or, as concluded in the previous article, a continued fall into irrelevance, something the Americans are unaccustomed too. If this happens, due to lack of cooperation with Russia et al, the liberals and their neocon allies who help make it a reality will have something real to cry about.

IN AN ABSOLUTELY SURPRISING MOVE REVERBERATING around the globe, Rodrigo Duterte recently elected president of the Philippines (May 9, 2016), and a leader who has an unusually high 85% approval rating, has announced his rejection of liberalism and his intention to newly align his country with China and Russia. On October 19, 2016 Duterte openly declared

1. “I will break up with America,” adding that he would rather “go to Russia and to China.”
2. “America has lost” and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin.” To tell him:
3. “There are three of us against the world, China, the Philippines and Russia.”
4. “In this venue, I announce my separation from the United States both in the military… but economics also.”

https://youtu.be/pObOVG2MPgc

Referring to the United States Duterte stated:

“Your stay in my country was for your own benefit” … “So time to say goodbye, my friend.”

“I will not go to America anymore. I will just be insulted there.”

Like other world leaders in Nigeria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, China and Russia et al, Duterte slammed the United States for the arrogance with which it imposes its unwanted liberal policies on sovereign nations around the globe as if it were the world’s moral police force.

Jonathan Kwitny authored a book entitled “Endless Enemies” in which he described the Philippines as “the Zaire of Asia,” a country in which the United States engaged in covert political activity to manipulate politics and the economy in its favor.

“Every anti-guerrilla campaign has been victorious, and every election, real or rigged, has produced the winner the US government desired.”

Manipulation such as this helps the outside observer to understand why Duterte recently told President Obama to “go to hell” and refereed to him as a “son of a whore”. In September 2016 Duterte stated that he was “about to cross the Rubicon” with the United States and announced his intention to distance himself from Washington and to turn the country toward China and Russia.

Despite all his rhetoric, Duterte plans to maintain relations with the West to benefit his country as much as possible.  According to Duterte’s Finance Secretary, Carlos Dominguez, and his Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, Ernesto Pernia:

“We will maintain relations with the West”…but we desire stronger integration with our neighbors. We share the culture and a better understanding with our region.”

Dominguez and Pernia indicated that the move is about improved business relationships and a desire for regional growth and integration. The Filipinos are also interested in Chinese capital investment and access to a regional  market of 1.8 billion people.The National Economic and Development Authority referred to Duterte’s actions as a move toward “economic regional re-balancing.”

Dominguez further explained that Duterte is not altering the country’s foreign policy but “recalibrating” it to open the country to Asian markets.

“The President has indicated to us that he’d like to strengthen and exploit opportunities…in countries other than our traditional trading partners.”

So after all the bluster and bravado, the statements by Duterte seem calculated to increase good relations with China in hopes of profiting the Philippines. During the state visit Dominguez signed several significant agreements with his new Chinese partners: two are Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) on Financing Cooperation, and an Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation.

According to the ‘Manila Bulletin“, The first MOU, is with the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM), which will permit EXIM to fund Filipino infrastructure, energy and agricultural projects.

The second MOU, was signed with Gao Hucheng, the Chinese Commerce Minister.  This MOU provides financial support to conduct feasibility studies for major infrastructure, agriculture and rural development projects. Dominguez and Gao also signed an Agreement for Economic and Technical Cooperation. According to this agreement, China will grant approximately $700 million for anti-drug efforts underway in the Philippines and to strengthen law enforcement and security cooperation between the two countries. In all, the Chinese government has made $6 billion dollars in development assistance available to the Philippines and another $3 billion dollars in credits from the Bank of China to boost infrastructure projects in the Philippines.

Interview with Phillipine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez

These business deals, seem to support Duterte’s political rhetoric. A warning flag has been raised that could point to significant changes in Filipino foreign policy. Duterte is in favor of new partnerships contrary to American wishes and also in favor of a new tranche of investments, which will presumably involve the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) rather than continue relationships with worn out international institutions such as the IMF and World Bank who have left a bad taste in the mouths of Third World political leaders.

Moreover, four days prior to his departure for Beijing, Duterte had an interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television during which he iterated his openness to joint military exercises with Russia and China and reiterated his intent to end war games with the United States.

Asked specifically  if he would consider joint military drills with China or Russia instead of the United States, Duterte stated:

“Yes, I will. I have given enough time for the Americans to play with the Filipino soldiers.”

Then, referring to joint military exercises with the US he stated:

“This will be the last. It has been programmed. I do not want my soldiers to be humiliated.”

Moreover, The Philippine leader has also manifested a keen interest in purchasing Russian weapons. According to the Washington Post, on October 5 Duterte addressed the White House and US State Department on the matter:

“Although it may sound shit to you, it is my sacred duty to keep the integrity of this republic and the people healthy…. “If you don’t want to sell arms, I’ll go to Russia. I sent the generals to Russia and Russia said ‘do not worry, we have everything you need, we’ll give it to you.’ And as for China, they said ‘just come over and sign and everything will be delivered’,” Duterte previously stated that he wanted “cheaper weapons with no strings attached.”

All this comes at a time when Japan is openly planning a Peace Treaty with Russia.  On Dec 3, Japanese Prime Minister Abe will meet with President Putin. According to STRATFOR (October 20, 2016):

“Both leaders see opportunity in cooperation; Russia, rich with energy but starved of foreign investment, is an ideal partner for Japan, hungry as it is for energy with money to burn. Trade between the two countries has quadrupled since 2006, reaching a record-high $34.8 billion in 2013.

“Russia has completed the infrastructure needed to handle 2.1 million barrels per day — nearly half of Russia’s overall oil export level of 4.8 million barrels per day. Of the 716,000 barrels per day that Russia exported in 2012, only 141,000 went to Japan — though now Russia has the capacity to send much more.

Russia is also looking to export natural gas to Asia as well.

Russian natural gas company Gazprom has announced it will build a 2,500-kilometer (1,553-mile) pipeline to the Pacific for the new natural gas supplies that it says will be online by 2016. Russia is now considering a liquefied natural gas facility at Vladivostok to handle part of the 25 billion-50 billion cubic meters that Gazprom plans to produce out of East Siberia. East Asia already receives small amounts of natural gas from Russia’s Sakhalin-2 project. Japan has increased its intake of Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas in recent years to 10 billion cubic meters annually compared to the 3 billion cubic meters it received before the Fukushima disaster.

The United States is not happy about these developments nor is it happy about the meeting between Putin and Abe that took place earlier this year in May.

“The (Japanese) prime minister has been bucking Washington’s pressure over Russia all year. U.S. President Barack Obama warned Abe not to visit Russia for a summit with Putin in May, but he did anyway” (STRATFOR October 20, 2016).

It seems that more and more people are bucking Washington these days. Deals such as these spell the political and economic death of liberalism in the South Pacific and Asia.

Our Lady promised an Era of Peace and She is keeping Her word. Liberalism, in the name of peace, is the world’s largest promoter of violence and war – so it has to become a thing of the past. Consequently we are witnessing its death around the globe in places such as the Philippines, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Nigeria while simultaneously witnessing the promised conversion of Russia.

TWO WEEKS AGO PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE of the Philippines announced his intention to say goodbye to the United States, his intention to halt all military exercise with the United States, and his intention to buy weapons from China and Russia. Now he has announced plans to withdraw from the 123 member International Criminal Court (ICC), the international war times court situated in the Hague, Netherlands.

Duterte is especially upset by the court’s interference with his war against narcopolitics. Any authentically real attempt to actually defeat drug lords necessarily entails violence. Duterte is serious about defending his people and putting a stop to drug trafficking in the Philippines.  Consequently, the drug lords, thugs, and narcopoliticians are feeling the actual pain of death carried out legally by the executive arm of the Philippine military and police under direct order of their president. Apparently the ICC does not appreciate strong arm tactics to end the evil of drug trafficking.  Duterte insists that the heavy hand is necessary against so immense an evil. Consequently, he announced his intent to withdraw from the ICC complaining that the international court is a covert hand of the global liberal elite for exploitation of developing nations.

Duterte is not the first to renounce the ICC. On November 16, 2016, Vladimir Putin signed an executive order withdrawing Russia from its jurisdiction. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement explaining that the ICC “did not live up to the hopes associated with it and did not become truly independent (of global liberalism).”  

Just a few weeks earlier, three African nations, Gambi, Burundi and South Africa, also announced their intent to withdraw from the ICC. The African nations are withdrawing because they perceive the ICC as a tool of Western imperialism. All three countries consider the ICC to be an “outside institution imposing its will on African nations without their input, perpetuating a history of Western intervention and African oppression.”

On October 19, Maite Nkoana Mashabane, South African Minister of International Relations formally withdrew his country from the ICC. Masganbane indicated that the ICC is overreaching its authority by forcing compliance on issues that violate the sovereign rights of the nation, specifically the ICC mandate to arrest Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan during a state visit to South Africa.

Interestingly, Israel and the United States did not sign to the “Rome Statute” that gave birth to the ICC. Some have speculated that this is due to the US being the military fist behind liberalism.  Since the US is not an ICC member, it cannot be brought before the ICC for any war crimes it allegedly committed in Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan.  Thus, nations like the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Burundi, and Gambi have had enough of what  they perceive to be unjust treatment, undue meddling in their internal affairs, and  unwarranted policing by Western politicians as if they occupied some type of “moral high ground” for accusing others of crimes against humanity, while getting away with crimes themselves (see video).

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, has threatened government leaders in the Philippines who she says condone killings and encourage police and military to act “with lethal force.”

“Let me be clear: any person in the Philippines who incites or engages in acts of mass violence including by ordering, requesting, encouraging or contributing, in any other manner, to the commission of crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC is potentially liable to prosecution before the Court.”

Nonetheless, Duterte insists that lethal force is absolutely necessary: Narcopolitcians and national and international drug lords have created a culture of death that must be met with lethal force if they are to be successfully combated and not battled with mere political lip service. Duterte has been accused of encouraging extrajudicial (vigilante) killings. His Communications Secretary, Martin Andanar,  insists that drug-related killings and vigilante killings are “not State-sanctioned.”

The Duterte administration has repeatedly denied condoning extrajudicial killings. According to Andahar,

“In any case, the President has articulated that he is willing to submit himself for an investigation before any body.” 

According to Duterte the ICC is useless:

“They are useless, those in the international criminal (court). They (Russia) withdrew. I might follow. Why? Only the small ones like us are battered”.

President Duterte is so upset with ICC accusations against his war on drugs that he has indicted total dissatisfaction with Western Liberalism and the need for new global leadership.

 “You know (he said), if China and Russia would decide to create a new order, I will be the first to join.”