Saudi Arabia's desire to be a regional leader in the Middle East has led it to act as a primary conveyor belt of jihadists into Syria, where the Saudis seek the overthrow of the secular Assad government. When Saudi-backed al-Qaeda rebels get hurt in southern Syria, they are patched up in Israeli hospitals. But the head-chopping Saudis are facing slow-motion suicide. Assad did not melt away, and the Saudis' brutal war on Yemen continues to empty the Saudi coffers. The oil glut has shut off the welfare tap to keep its citizens at bay. Still the US continues to coddle the Saudi tyrants, this week announcing that it would sell them $1.3 billion more bombs to drop on the suffering Yemenis. More on the US/Saudi dysfunctional relationship on today's Liberty Report... read on...
As might be expected, the usual suspects are using the attacks on Paris to call for even more US intervention in the Middle East. Senator Ted Cruz said we need to stop worrying so much about civilian casualties. But none of them understand what motivates people to blow themselves up just so they can spread terror overseas. Why should we try to understand why the attacks on Paris happened? It is not to justify what happened. On the contrary. If we don't understand the motivation of the attackers we open ourselves up to more attacks. Today's Liberty Report takes a look at motivation beyond the usual bumper sticker "they hate us because we are free." read on...
While France and the rest of Europe -- not to mention Asia -- are busy signing trade deals with Iran for when UN sanctions are lifted early next year, US companies are hampered by myriad legal restrictions on doing business with Iran. Will these restrictions continue even after UN sanctions are lifted, keeping US companies out in the cold? That is what the real isolationists hope for. Who are they? Tune in to today's Liberty Report... read on...
After 14 years, more than a trillion dollars, tens of thousands of lives lost on all sides, the US/NATO mission in Afghanistan is more adrift than ever. Next month NATO member state ministers will meet to determine the next steps in Afghanistan. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg claims there will be no future combat mission for NATO, but NATO generals admit that if NATO leaves there will be an even swifter collapse. In today's Liberty Report, Ron Paul offers some advice to NATO leaders... read on...
As the US State Department goes around the world lecturing other countries about how they must adhere to the rule of law, the White House again proves it is one of the most lawless entities on earth. The Constitution is clear; the War Powers Resolution is clear: the president is not allowed to commit the US military to combat without a Congressional declaration or at least authorization. Yet the president has been bombing Syria for a year and now is sending in US ground troops with no legal authority to do so. Congress is the president's partner in crime and we are the victims - today on the Liberty Report... read on...
Hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Africa, even western Asia are pouring into western Europe through central Europe as Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has laid down a welcome mat. Meanwhile political pressure within Germany builds, as villages of just 100 or more residents are told they must house thousands of refugees who know neither the language nor the customs of the area. Parties like the Alternative for Germany are enjoying increased popularity and electoral success. Is Germany -- and the EU -- headed for a crack-up? More today in the Liberty Report... read on...
With creation of the Central Intelligence Agency came a secret government that was unaccountable to the American people. It assassinated foreign leaders, journalists, and others who it determined were enemies. It overthrew governments it felt were not toeing the US line to the required degree. There were minor smack-downs like the Church Committee in the 1970s, but in all the "secret government" has continued to amass power and defy the American people. What role did this secret government have in major events like the assassination of President Kennedy? Today's Liberty Report is joined by David Talbot, author of the explosive new book, "The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government." read on...
The apparent downing of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula over the weekend has, as could be predicted, produced no shortage of theories as to who or what is behind it. Was it ISIS-affiliated Islamist terrorists who control much of the area? They took "credit" for the attack but do not seem to have the technical means to carry it out. A bomb on board? Blowback for Russian bombs on Syria? Today's Liberty Report takes a look at the various theories and at the bigger picture... read on...
It's bad enough that the US government feels the need to back any state in the Middle East, but of all states to back why Saudi Arabia? This head-chopping champion state tells the US it must back head-choppers in Syria against a secular leader -- in the name of democracy which doesn't exist in Saudi Arabia -- and the US dutifully signs on. Iran is certainly no angel, but is its civil liberties record any worse than the Saudis? Our "allies" in the Middle East today in the Liberty Report... read on...
"I will not put US boots on the ground in Syria." That was President Obama's unequivocal statement to the American people just two years ago when he first planned to bomb Syria. He has repeated the statement several times, as he has also repeated his promise that he "will not pursue a long air campaign" in Syria.
This move encapsulates neocon-occupied Washington's response to foreign policy failure: if an intervention is failing, escalate.
The year-long US bombing campaign to "degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS" has produced little result; the "train and equip" program produced a handful of fighters who immediately were captured by or defected to al-Qaeda and/or ISIS; US airdrops of weapons ended up in the hands of ISIS eight times out of ten, according to University of Oklahoma Syria expert Joshua Landis.
The solution to this failed policy is not to abandon the US regime change plans for Syria and let the Russians mop up the ISIS and al-Qaeda problem for us. No! The answer is to put US boots on the ground! read on...
