CounterCurrents: Beware of War Propaganda, Warns John Pilger, The Injustice At Standing Rock Is An American Story,

Dear Friend,

CNN reported that a Russian fighter jet and a US military plane flew dangerously close to each other while flying over Syria earlier this month. US Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, who commands US air operations across the Middle East, characterized the incident as a "near miss." What a miss! The whole world should heave sigh of relief. 

Yes, we are closer than ever, after the cold war, to a nuclear war. These 'near misses' must be an 'Act of God'! Eminent journalist and documentary maker John Pilger concurs with us in his address at the Sheffield Festival of Words. He says "Today, the greatest build-up of American-led forces since World War Two is under way – in the Caucasus and eastern Europe, on the border with Russia, and in Asia and the Pacific, where China is the target." He points his finger at the colluding media in spreading the imperialist propaganda. 

US-backed Islamist rebels, dominated by the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, launched a counter offensive against Syrian government troops Friday in Aleppo breaking the 10 day self-imposed ceasefire by Russia and Syria. The offensive was preceded by the indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas in government-controlled western Aleppo. Russian General Sergei Rudskoi reported that 43 civilians were killed and 96 wounded in the days prior to the offensive in rocket and mortar attacks.  Vladimin Putin has refused, at least for now, to be drawn into this provocation.He turned down a Russian military request to restart    air strikes in East Aleppo.

In an all out war against the Standing Rock Sioux protesters police arrested 141 people in North Dakota on Thursday. Police moved in with pepper spray and armored tanks on Native American water protectors and other activists who for months have waged resistance against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

And also more stories from around the world. 

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Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org





Inside The Invisible Government: War, Propaganda, Clinton And Trump
by John Pilger 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/inside-the-invisible-government-war-propaganda-clinton-and-trump/

Today, the invisible government has never been more powerful and less understood. In my career as a journalist and film-maker, I have never known propaganda to insinuate our lives and as it does now and to go unchallenged. Imagine two cities. Both are under siege by the forces of the government of that country. Both cities are occupied by fanatics, who commit terrible atrocities, such as beheading people. But there is a vital difference. In one siege, the government soldiers are described as liberators by Western reporters embedded with them, who enthusiastically report their battles and air strikes. There are front page pictures of these heroic soldiers giving a V-sign for victory. There is scant mention of civilian casualties.





US-Backed Islamist Rebels Launch Offensive In Syria
by Jordan Shilton 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/us-backed-islamist-rebels-launch-offensive-in-syria/

US-backed Islamist rebels, dominated by the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, launched a counteroffensive against Syrian government troops Friday in Aleppo. The offensive was preceded by the indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas in government-controlled western Aleppo. Russian General Sergei Rudskoi reported that 43 civilians were killed and 96 wounded in the days prior to the offensive in rocket and mortar attacks.






Putin Rejects Russian Military Request To Restart Air Strikes In East Aleppo
by Dr Vivek Kumar Srivastava 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/putin-rejects-russian-military-request-to-restart-air-strikes-in-east-aleppo/

In a military-diplomatic move Russian President Vladimir Putin has not accepted the advice of his military staff that attacks on Aleppo be restarted which have been stopped by the Russian forces





Domestic U.S. Politics Of War With Russia
by Eric Zuesse 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/domestic-u-s-politics-of-war-with-russia/

Nuclear war is the likely outcome if Hillary Clinton becomes elected President of the United States. It would be practically unavoidable, if she is elected. The domestic U.S. politics that are associated with this shocking but clear fact are complex, but are likewise clear: The American public simply don’t know or understand these facts; and the reason they don’t is that these facts are hidden from them





The Injustice At Standing Rock Is An American Story
by Mark Trahant 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/the-injustice-at-standing-rock-is-an-american-story/

This morning, politics is crowded out by injustice. Every preposterous and painful image from North Dakota is another reminder of injustice: The massive military-style police occupation of Standing Rock treaty lands, the rush to protect the frantic construction schedule for the Dakota Access pipeline, and the brutal law enforcement march against people who are fighting for the simple idea that water is life. I’m angry. How shall I say this without ranting? Tell stories.





10 Days In October
by Richard Oxman 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/10-days-in-october/

The real polls (the ones the Democratic decision-makers have been paying very close attention to of late) have supposedly shown the race to be neck and neck, not the runaway Hillary supporters have howled about ever since the disrespectful Donald did his locker room dance.





Hillary, Trump, Sartre And Existentialism
by Dr Arshad M Khan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/hillary-trump-sartre-and-existentialism/

In the US, the political system has now disgorged two candidates the citizenry cannot be less enthusiastic about.  Driven by ambition more than a love of the people or a sincere desire to serve, one can be forgiven for wondering if they are just as trapped by their motivations as the public in its two-party myopia.  No authentic leader among the two …





Cyber Warfare: A New Frontier In Foreign Policy
by Dillon Aubin 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/cyber-warfare-a-new-frontier-in-foreign-policy/

Before our leaders start issuing nonchalant threats, we need to lay down some ground rules. A complicated and unexplored concept, cyber warfare leaves a wide spectrum of possibilities and severity. For an extensive period, there must be an international effort to identify these possibilities and design a protocol for acceptable responses. Because in the information age, there is a lot more at stake than a day without Netflix.






Anti War Group Protests Against Harold Koh On U of I Campus
by Hunter McKee 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/anti-war-group-protests-against-harold-koh-on-u-of-i-campus/

Protesters lined up outside the University of Illinois Law School Friday. An anti-war group who expressed their concerns about guest speaker Harold Koh, who they believe is an advocate toward violence. Koh served as a Dean at Yale Law School and spent four years as the 22nd Legal Advisor of the United States.





U.N. Rights Expert Urges Nations Not To Sign ‘Flawed’ CETA Treaty    

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/u-n-rights-expert-urges-nations-not-to-sign-flawed-ceta-treaty/

The trade deal set to be signed by the European Union and Canada is a corporate-driven, fundamentally flawed treaty which should not be signed or ratified without a referendum in each country concerned, a United Nations human rights expert says.




Egyptian Kangaroo Court Confirms 20-Year-Prison Sentence On Morsi
by Abdus Sattar Ghazali 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/egyptian-kangaroo-court-confirms-20-year-prison-sentence-on-morsi/

Amid mounting anger against the US-client government of Field Marshal Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi because of tax rises, soaring food prices, inflation and cuts in state subsidies, a kangaroo court in Cairo has confirmed a 20-year prison sentence against Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected President who was deposed by Al-Sisi in July 2013.





No Action On Ongoing Repression Of Myanmar’s Muslims
by Professor M Adil Khan

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/no-action-on-ongoing-repression-of-myanmars-muslims/

In one of its recent reporting the Guardian reports that at the entrance to Thaungtan village in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta a brand-new signasserts, “No Muslims allowed to stay overnight. No Muslims allowed rent houses. No marriage with Muslims.”





Kashmir And India’s Short Tryst With OIC
by Abdul Majid Zargar  

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/kashmir-and-indias-short-tryst-with-oic/

India has yet again denounced Organization of  Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) call to settle Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolution, a stand which the organization has consistently taken and  regularly    renewed . In the past also, India has treated such calls with disdain either by charging  the organization to act at the behest of Pakistan or on the ground of  it’s locus standi in the matter .





Why We Stand In Solidarity With The Kashmiri People’s Demand For The Right To Self-Determination?
by PUDR 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/29/why-we-stand-in-solidarity-with-the-kashmiri-peoples-demand-for-the-right-to-self-determination/

On 27th October 2016 several organisations in Delhi came together in protest at Jantar Mantar demanding restoration of civil liberties and democratic rights in Kashmir. People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) affirms its solidarity with the people of Kashmir who have been battling a state of siege for over 100 days.