CounterCurrents: The US-Directed Assault On Mosul Underway

Dear Friend,

The long planned assault on Iraqi city of Mosul has begun. Mosul has a civlian population of 1.5 million, including 600,000 children. Behind-the-scenes, the US military is monitoring and effectively commanding the onslaught. American, British, French, Australian and Jordanian jet fighters and helicopters are providing air support to the disparate government forces.

"Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks."

In a major shift to geopolitical alliances in the region Gwadar Port in the Balochistan province of Pakistan became operational and the first Chinese ship docked in the port on Sunday. It's a major breakthrough for China geopolitcally as well as strategically. Now China can't be isolated by closing the Malacca straits. It also opens a pathway to oil rich Central Asian region. Gwadar port will punch a big whole in USA's pivot to Asia strategy. India won't be amused to see Pakistan inching closer to China, especially with PM Modi's recent Balochistan remarks. 

Documentary filmmaker and journalist Deia Schlosberg was arrested and charged with felonies carrying a whopping maximum sentence of up to 45 years in prison—simply for reporting on the ongoing Standing Rock Sioux protest. It's more than what Edward Snowden could get! Democracy Now's Amy Goodman faces arrest allegedly for "participating in a 'riot' ", also for reporting the Standing Rock protest. What happened to the first Amendment?    Today a  similar story emerged    from UK as well, where Russia Today's bank accounts were freezed. 

Seed Freedom faces another threat. The proposed trade deal between EU and Canada – the Comprehensive Trade and Economic Agreement ( CETA) embeds a controversial commitment to push for more corporate control of seeds.

When corporates are taking more and more control of our agriculture what we really need is an agroecological revolution writes, Kirtana Chandrasekaran.  Thousands of small producers are already practicing agroecology. Yet to ignite the global shift in farming practices we so desperately need, governments need to step up. 

Carolyn Baker  writes  a review of Michael Brownlee's book “The Local Food Revolution: How Humanity Will Feed Itself In Uncertain Times”. In this book,  Brownlee is inciting a local food revolution, and this revolution is far more expansive, far more radical, and far more life-altering than creating a few farmers markets and promoting one’s local economy. A true counter revolution to the plans of the agrochemical coporations.

Why do we become environmentalists? Is it because of love of a living earth, or out of fear of losing what we have, Asks Charles Eisenstein.  

And also more stories from around the world. 

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In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org




The US-Directed Assault On Mosul Underway
by James Cogan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/the-us-directed-assault-on-mosul-underway/

The long-planned, US-directed offensive to recapture the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has begun. On Monday morning, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared on national television: “Today, I declare the start of these victorious operations.”





Pakistan’s Gwadar Port Is Now Operational As First Chinese Ship Docks
by Abdus Sattar Ghazali 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/pakistans-gwadar-port-is-now-operational-as-first-chinese-ship-docks/

First Chinese ship, named Tianfu, finally docked on Sunday (Oct 16) at Pakistan’s Gwadar port that is center of $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project between Beijing and Islamabad.





Filmmaker Faces 45 Years In Prison For Reporting On Dakota Access Protests
by Nika Knight 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/filmmaker-faces-45-years-in-prison-for-reporting-on-dakota-access-protests/

In an ominous sign for press freedom, documentary filmmaker and journalist Deia Schlosberg was arrested and charged with felonies carrying a whopping maximum sentence of up to 45 years in prison—simply for reporting on the ongoing Indigenous protests against fossil fuel infrastructure.





German Think Tank Warns Of Growing Nuclear War Danger
by Peter Schwarz 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/16/german-think-tank-warns-of-growing-nuclear-war-danger/

In September, the German pro-government think tank “Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik” (SWP) published a study on the implications of US policy towards Russia and European security.   The 28-page document is aimed at a professional audience and is written in political and military jargon that couches the annihilation of millions of human lives in matter-of-fact terms, as if dealing with the solution to a technical problem.






Debunking “El Comercio” On Syria
by Daniel Espinosa Winder 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/16/debunking-el-comercio-on-syria/

The most prestigious newspaper in Peru is no more than another mouthpiece for power. But this shouldn´t surprise anyone familiar with mainstream media and its propagandistic role in our society. Let´s imagine ourselves taking half an hour of our busy lives to seek information in MSM regarding Syria, in order to learn what’s been happening there for the last five years. What could be better than an article titled:“Seven questions to understand what is happening in Syria”?(elcomercio.pe, 09/24/16)






Covering, And Exposing, Atrocity: Australian Commandos Come Forward
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/16/covering-and-exposing-atrocity-australian-commandos-come-forward/

Kevin Frost, a special forces sergeant in the Australian Army, has done something unusual. He wishes, even demands, to be tried for his role behind the summary execution of an Afghan prisoner in his captivity during a tour of the country.






CETA’s Threat To Seed Freedom
by Heidi Chow 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/cetas-threat-to-seed-freedom/

The proposed trade deal between EU and Canada – the Comprehensive Trade and Economic Agreement (or CETA for short) is hurtling towards completion. CETA has attracted as much opposition as the more widely known TTIP (EU-US trade deal) as it shares the same problems of undermining democracy and threatening public services. But buried on page 164 of the CETA agreement in legal jargon is clause 20.31 which embeds a controversial commitment to push for more corporate control of seeds.






Fear Of A Living Planet
by Charles Eisenstein

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/fear-of-a-living-planet/

You are not an environmentalist because you are afraid of what will happen if you don’t act. You are an environmentalist because you love our planet. To call others into environmentalism, we should therefore appeal to the same love in them. It is not only ineffectual but also insulting to offer someone a venal reason to act ecologically when we ourselves are doing it for love






We Need An Agroecological Revolution—So Why Are Governments Investing In Agribusiness?
by Kirtana Chandrasekaran 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/we-need-an-agroecological-revolution-so-why-are-governments-investing-in-agribusiness/

Thousands of small producers are already practicing agroecology. Yet to ignite the global shift in farming practices we so desperately need, governments need to step up. They must move away from a role of simply managing and facilitating corporate investments. Instead,states need to make a courageous comeback, implementing and financing the policies needed to encourage smallholder food production.







Review: “The Local Food Revolution: How Humanity Will Feed Itself In Uncertain Times”
by Carolyn Baker 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/review-the-local-food-revolution-how-humanity-will-feed-itself-in-uncertain-times/

“We are being ranched,” says Michael Brownlee, and what is more, most of us are living in one kind of food desert or another. In this book, author Michael Brownlee is inciting a local food revolution, and this revolution is far more expansive, far more radical, and far more life-altering than creating a few farmers markets and promoting one’s local economy. According to Brownlee, our industrial food system “has itself become the greatest threat to humanity’s being able to feed itself.” 






Demonising Wind Energy In Australia: The South Australian Blackout
by Dr Binoy Kampmark

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/demonising-wind-energy-in-australia-the-south-australian-blackout/

After all, South Australia is something of a golden boy in the renewable revolution in a country often hostile to it.    The figure of 41 percent of the state’s energy generated from renewables, much of it drawn from wind, was condemned as a feature of irresponsibility rather than praised as a matter of foresight






Propaganda By Deed And The Glory Of Self-Sacrifice: The Case of Peter Kropotkin
by Milan Djurasovic 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/17/propaganda-by-deed-and-the-glory-of-self-sacrifice-the-case-of-peter-kropotkin/

This article is an attempt to provide an explanation of why Kropotkin occasionally participated in violent acts and why he backed those who went even further. We have also seen that violence was meant to inspire the demoralized masses to do away with those who oppressed them, but we have not yet fully explored based on what moral ground were the acts of violence justified. I believe that a more comprehensive answer to this question ought to be looked for in Kropotkin’s stance on morality and human nature, which is going to be the topic of my next article.





New Technology Is Torturing The Commuter
by Vidyadhar Date 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/16/new-technology-is-torturing-the-commuter/

Despite advances in technology, life is getting worse for users of public transport . This is at least partly because of the callous way the technology is being handled.





Release Khurram Parvez! Permit UNHRC To Visit Kashmir!
by People’s Union for Civil Liberties 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/10/16/release-khurram-parvez-permit-unhrc-to-visit-kashmir/

People’s Union for Civil Liberties condemns the ongoing attack on civilians by Indian security forces in Kashmir which has resulted in the killings of more than 80 young people, causing injuries to nearly 9000 people and the loss of vision of more than 500 people. PUCL condemns the impunity exercised by Indian Security Forces in perpetrating large-scale human rights violations which have caused a deep crisis, including a humanitarian crisis of the Kashmiri people.