JOHN STOCKWELL [former CIA official and author of THE PRAETORIAN GUARD:]
These corporations that are taking our capital and leaking it out
of the country are happy to do this to the United States because
they are TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS. The tradition of this goes
back into history. In World War II .... Remember -- read the book:
TRADING WITH THE ENEMY, by Charles Higham[sp], Dell Press, 1982,
based on documents gotten out of the Government under the Freedom
of Information Act, about how the major corporations in the United
States were trading with Hitler's Germany throughout the war; how
Standard Oil [of New Jersey] supplied him with more oil at a better
price than they sold it [at] to the United States, for example.
So you have these multinational corporations SUCKING UP CAPITAL 
from the United States to build these things that are poured into
the desert or put in holes in the ground, while, in fact, they are
investing in the production of cars and trade goods in countries
overseas, as part of the World Financial Order.                  

The four-and-a-half trillion dollar debt that is double-compounding:
I'm sure you've wondered why is it that our Government is not more
upset and concerned, viscerally, with such a staggering debt which
probably can never be repaid? And talking to Admiral Carroll at the
Center for Defense Information -- he and I came up with a key to
understanding this thing: their contempt for the American People and 
for America itself [by] the people who essentially spent this money.
The multinational corporations are part of the same World Order, 
the World Financial Order that holds the paper on this loan, which
means that the interest that's being paid is exactly like taxes to
them, if you will, or at least, [this interest is like] enforced
debts and loans where it's guaranteed by law that they will be 
paid at the interest rates that are fixed. And that's why they're
not afraid of this debt. Because they're making money off of it,
from US!  The second or third line item on the budget now is the
interest that we're paying to them on this debt for building up 
this military thing for their own profit and policing of the World.

Now, what we have is the United States rendered into a position,
because of these policies -- because of the Cold War and the arms
race and Reagan and Bush's policies -- into a position where we're
no longer in control of our economic future. However, we still are
the World's military superpower. And even the Soviet Union, in its
state of semi-collapse, is the World's second military superpower.
But we're still going strong while they're imploding and lapsing
into chaos. The World Financial Order can't move us too far, or at
least, it can't move without us because we're still a major player. 
But also we have the might. It's a symbiotic relationship of money
and might.

And so then you come up with an understanding of what we're doing 
in the Persian Gulf. The United States has now become the Praetorian
Guard of what George Bush calls the "New World Order", policing the
World for the people who own the World, effectively, of today and
tomorrow.                                                           

Now, in closing, let me point out that this New World Order will
clearly NOT be more peaceful. That would not suit them economically
for it to be peaceful. It will NOT bring greater freedoms. To the
contrary. It will bring continuing repression and forfeiture of our
basic freedoms that we've enjoyed for so long. It will certainly 
NOT bring a greater equity in the distribution of wealth. To the
contrary. The wealth will continue to flow from the poor and the
middle class to the ultra-rich. And it certainly will NOT bring
greater social services in this country because the New World Order
is letting us go to the Persian Gulf to fight this war for them, 
and they are letting us bear the lion's share of financing this
thing, as we fight the war in their interests over there right now.

Now to close .... and I won't go on for long. But just on a note of
motivation and hope -- and I hope some of the questions will get
into what we can do .... I want to remind you of what I said the last
time I was here. Admiral LaRocque, when I went to ask him: "Admiral,
what can I tell people to do about these problems."  And he said:
"This is a wonderful question. Tell them that you know what you're
capable of, what your skills are, what you can do."  He said:
"I tell people, if they can write, to write letters. Write articles.
Write books. Write telegrams. If they can travel, go to Nicaragua.
Go to Germany. See for yourself. Understand the World so that you
can witness and discuss this intelligently."                      
He said he tells people:
"If you feel comfortable lying down in front of trucks with bombs
on them, do it."  But he said: "You've GOT TO DO WHAT YOU CAN DO 
EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE, BEGINNING TODAY, BECAUSE"
(He didn't say this, but this is what he was concerned about.) 
the course that we are on will definitely lead, eventually,
to rendering this planet UNINHABITABLE.  Now, it won't happen in
five years or ten years. But eventually, unless we profoundly 
change what we are doing, there will BE NO MORE warm-blooded life 
on this planet. Sooner or later, we MUST change or we will destroy
ourselves.

So you have to GET ENGAGED. And Helen Caldicott, that wonderful,
wonderful speaker who tells us so beautifully, she says:        
"Get involved. You'll feel better than sitting back in frustration."
Get out and work on this problem -- what she calls "the public
health problem of this planet."  And she points out that "if you 
WILL get involved, you'll feel better, and you can -- if the thing,
or when the thing, finally blows apart --if there's a few minutes
before the bombs land on your town, you can turn to your loved ones
and hug them and say: `Honey, at least we tried.'"

Now we'll discuss some specifics in the question and answer period
which is coming up right now. But for openers, I urge people --
because of the frustration and the anger and the fear and the
anxiety that we're subjected to -- I urge people to remember to hug
someone every day of your life. And hug some animal every day of
your life, because they share this dilemma with us. Now, I've
noticed, at the end of rallies and lectures, in some confusion, a
lot of people like to hold up the "V" for victory. And I reject that
because I don't think there will every be a victory over evil, or a
victory of peace, at which time the World will be okay -- 
in addition to which, I don't like the concept of victory because 
I don't think that would be a peaceful solution in and of itself.

I give you the open hand of peace, and thank you very much for
hearing me out.   Thank you.

                   ~  ~  ~  END OF SPEECH  ~  ~  ~