Defense Secretary James Mattis was grilled before the Senate yesterday, with Sen. McCain expressing his frustration that there is no new strategy yet to “win” in Afghanistan. Mattis promised a new approach by July, but the real question is that after the 2009 surge of 100,000 US troops, what kind of victory might be achieved by yet another surge, this time of perhaps 5-6,000? In today’s Liberty Report we point out that victory is not possible because Washington doesn’t even have a clear view of what it might look like. How many more billions of dollars wasted? How many thousands more lives lost?

Shortly after President Trump returned from his Middle East trip, Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) broke diplomatic relations with fellow GCC member Qatar and established a blockade around the tiny country. The Saudi pretext was that Qatar supported terrorism and interfered in the affairs of other countries — something the Saudis do in spades. President Trump initially signaled support for the Saudi move, but his Secretary of State and Defense Secretary, likely understanding that the largest US military base in the Middle East is in Qatar, have urged the countries to patch up their differences. US interventionism has backed us into a corner in that corner of the world. We discuss options in today’s Liberty Report:

Will the Comey Senate testimony put an end to the “Russiagate” scandal and the issue of whether President Trump will continue to be hobbled by suggestions he pressured the FBI to drop investigations? Don’t count on it, but we break down today’s explosive hearing in today’s Liberty Report:

Yesterday marked the second time US military forces have attacked Syrian government-allied forces fighting ISIS inside Syria near the Iraqi border. The US government, which maintains an illegal base on Syrian soil, claims any Syrian encroachment within 50km of the facility will be met with US military force. The mostly Shia militia that the US attacked are the same groups fighting alongside the US in Iraq and in fact may Iraqi citizens allied with the Iraqi government (which the US is also allied with). Confusing yet? Add to this that the US Senate is passing new sanctions against Iran today for its completely legal ballistic missile program and to punish Iran for shipping weapons to militias in Syria fighting ISIS. We try to put it all together in today’s Liberty Report:

Memorial Day should not be a celebration of militarism. It is intended to be a day to memorialize those who have died in battle. What to memorialize? Watch today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report!

In October, 2016, the NSA was forced to admit that it had misused Sec. 702 of the FISA Amendments to spy on far more Americans than it should have. Even the normally very compliant FISA Court condemned the ramped up spying on Americans as raising serious Fourth Amendment issues. The NSA last month told us it would cease using Sec. 702 — which is supposed to be for foreigners — to spy in Americans. Should we trust the NSA to police itself? Today’s Liberty Report urges that Section 702 of the FISA Act be allowed to sunset at the end of the year. If the government wants to spy on us, let them get a warrant!

Western intervention in Libya opened the country up to radical Islamist gangs which had been suppressed under Gaddafi. Just as Gaddafi warned. Same in Syria, where western destabilization efforts have led to an al-Qaeda and ISIS presence that was not there before the west had decided on “regime change” for the secular Assad. Who benefitted from the rise of these radical groups? People like the Manchester suicide bomber, who travelled to both countries for training and radicalization. Western interventionist foreign policy has contributed to the Manchester bombing, a classic “blowback” action. The bomber is guilty, but so are those who endorsed the policies creating conditions for people like him to flourish. Tune in to today’s Liberty Report:

Yesterday’s tragedy at a Manchester, UK music concert reminds us that the threat of terrorism remains with us. ISIS claimed responsibility and governments will no doubt respond. But will their response make future attacks more or less likely? Also, we must look at the attack in the context of the emerging larger US/UK/allied war on Iran, Syria, and ultimately Russia. That is precisely what we do…in today’s Liberty Report.

President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia was perhaps one of the most bizarre spectacles of our time. Just months ago he accused the Saudi government of being behind the 9/11 attack on the US, yet over the weekend he stood on Saudi soil and discussed the virtues of religious diversity (something illegal in Saudi Arabia). Was it all about ” the art of the deal” — inking a hugely lucrative (for some) mega weapons deal? Or was it about calling for war on Iran and Syria (and maybe Russia)? We pick apart the trip and the speech in today’s Liberty Report:

Neocons and the pro-war mainstream media have nothing to lose when the wars they promote go terribly wrong. This is unique in history. After the predictable disaster, they return to their air conditioned Washington and New York offices while millions suffer and die. That is why why they are able to continue. In the words of today’s Liberty Report guest Nassim Nicholas Taleb, they have no “skin in the game.” The famous author of The Black Swan also lets us in on his thinking about the current state of the US economy and the actions of the Federal Reserve. Tune in to this very special Liberty Report:

In a surprise move, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to look into whether the Russian government interfered in the 2016 US presidential election and whether the Trump election team colluded with the Russians. Mueller is also granted sweeping and unspecified power to look into many related issues around the general topic. Many questions have arisen over the move. How will this affect President Trump’s foreign policy, particularly as the timing is suspiciously close to the recent successful meeting between Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. What does it mean for the rest of Trump’s agenda? Have the chances risen for his removal from office? If so, how and by whom? We take a look at all the disparate threads on the issue in today’s Liberty Report:

Ron Paul shocked the GOP at the May 15, 2007 South Carolina presidential debate. Our foreign policy of interventionism is the reason people overseas are angry with us and would like to attack us — and why they attacked us on 9/11. Frontrunner Rudy Giuliani exploded at Paul, demanding he take back his words. Paul stood firm. People expected it to be the end of the Paul candidacy, but a funny thing happened: the post-debate polls began to favor him. It was the beginning of the end of Giuliani…and the beginning of the beginning of Ron Paul’s worldwide peace movement. In today’s Liberty Report, Dr. Paul tells us how he felt at the time…and what can be done to continue the momentum: