The way out of crisis starts with cooperation

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24 July 2019
Vol. 21. No 30

Those gunning for a new regime-change war against Iran are exposing themselves with the escalating situation in the Persian Gulf. The latest incident follows the same pattern as the provocation on 10 July, when empty oil tanker the British Heritage, which had turned off its transponders and was shadowed by British Royal Navy frigate the HMS Montrose, narrowly averted confrontation with Iranian ships. This time around, the Iranians reached British-flagged tanker the Stena Impero before the HMS Montrose. The Stena Impero reportedly also had its transponder switched off and was moving in the wrong traffic pattern, allegedly running into a fishing trawler which reported the ship to authorities. According to Iranian authorities, the ship was escorted to the Ports and Maritime Organisation for further investigation.

Whether it was Iran’s retaliation for the 4 July Royal Marines’ seizure of the Grace 1 tanker carrying Iranian oil to Syria, or not, the British are getting exactly what they desired: a flashpoint which could draw the USA into another grinding war. As in the South China Sea, they are invoking the “freedom of navigation” chestnut, with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt pontificating that “These seizures are unacceptable”, and insisting “that all ships can move safely and freely in the region”. Speaking in the House of Commons on 22 July, Hunt announced the UK will organise a European-led maritime security mission for the Gulf.

On the other side of the Atlantic, US Defence Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley told the Aspen Security Forum on 19 July that Iran is not looking for war, but is pushing back against the pressure they have been put under. Neither do Russia or China—nations labelled threats to the USA—want war: “The outcome would be very horrific for all”, he added.

The neoconservative masterminds of the genocidal Iraq war, the Libya and Syria fiascos, and now a showdown with Iran, think differently, however—to them, war is a geopolitical tool.

With one-fifth of the world’s oil passing through the Straits of Hormuz every year, a shock could send the world financial system into a spiralling disaster. As Michael Snyder on The Economic Collapse blog wrote about Deutsche Bank, “a bank with US$49 trillion in derivatives exposure is melting down before our eyes”. The bank’s derivatives counterparties have been pulling out a billion dollars a day. In the face of this, the world’s biggest central banks are again revving up their money-pumping, interest rate-cutting collusion. “Central banks are in sync on need for fresh stimulus”, blared the 21 July Wall Street Journal. They “are poised to unleash some of the most aggressive monetary stimulus since the financial crisis a decade ago”. One week earlier the paper demanded emerging market central banks follow suit.

Only cooperating to change the system, rather than colluding to prop it up, will work. A global commitment to Glass-Steagall bank separation will rein in speculation and protect vital bank functions ahead of a crash, while public banking will direct credit into rebuilding the real economy. The best way to do that is with a high-technology science-driver exemplified by the crash-program approach of the 1960s Moon mission.

The 50th anniversary of the Moon landing provides a unique moment to launch such collaboration. At an 18 July Washington, DC event, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin said America, Russia, China, India, Japan and the European Space Agency should form a “united space alliance” to return to the Moon, develop its resources, and send human beings to Mars. Clearly China, with its Belt and Road Initiative and cutting-edge space program, is open to this, and just two weeks ago Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed similar collaboration on fusion power development to transform human activity. These prospects are an opportunity for humanity to collaborate on the common challenges of raising living standards and mitigating natural threats through technology and infrastructure, rather than self-destruction through war.

In this issue:

• Politicians who deny economic reality destroy their constituents
• Separation would be good for the banks—independent experts
• Water traders suck agriculture dry
• Fixing the economy requires a banking sea-change
• Central bank collusion must end!
• Hedge funds’ pullout prelude to collapse of Deutsche Bank?
• JP Morgan’s cocaine ship: hedge against the next crash?
• Muslim countries reject claims of ‘cultural genocide’ against Xinjiang Uighurs
• ABC whitewashes terrorism to smear China
• Journalists targeted in surveillance state—you’re next!
• Denial of Mandurah crisis backfires as coverage goes global
• Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11!
• ALMANAC: Science and beauty in exploring the Moon

Click here for the archive of previous issues of the Australian Alert Service