Here’s a perfect example of how convoluted our Middle East policy is: our Turkish NATO allies attacked our Kurdish anti-ISIS ground forces in Iraq and Syria this week, killing as many as 70 fighters. The Kurdish YPG fighters make up the bulk of the US-backed “Syrian Democratic Forces” who are leading the US fight against ISIS in eastern Syria. How will the Kurds respond to the fact that their chief sponsor’s close ally keeps killing them? And how does the US expect the Kurds to take over Raqqa once it’s “liberated” when the Turks keep killing them? And how will the Turks respond to the US at least tacitly pushing the Kurds toward de facto statehood? And…what is our Syria policy? Tune in to today’s Liberty Report:

President Trump has yet to provide any credible evidence that the gas attack in Syria earlier this month was carried out by Assad, and in the meantime very serious questions about the veracity of White House claims are arising from very credible experts. Yet the Administration seems ever more determined now that it has done a 180 degree turn and demanded regime change for Syria. Late last week the White House announced sanctions on 271 Syrian scientists who Trump claims are working on chemical weapons. The proof? None. How to explain this sudden embrace of the neocon line on Syria and elsewhere? It might be telling that according to recent press reports the architect of the disastrous Iraq war, Paul Wolfowitz, is lending advice on the Middle East to Defense Secretary Mattis and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster. They have all apparently been friends for years. More in today’s Liberty Report:

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday accused Iran of sending troops to fight in Syria and of destabilizing the region. He did not mention that Iranian troops were invited into the country while US troops are in Syria illegally. Tillerson condemned Iran as a leading human rights abuser while praising Saudi Arabia — the kings of head-chopping — as a great US ally. The Secretary of State vowed that the US would solve the Iran problem once and for all instead of leaving it to the next US Administration. Is Trump gunning for yet another major war in the Middle East? Will US allies follow Washington in new sanctions on Iran even as Trump has reluctantly admitted that Iran is living up to its end of the nuclear deal? This and more in today’s Liberty Report:

In late 2009, President Obama brought US troop levels in Afghanistan up to 100,000. This “surge” was modeled after the “successful” US surge in Iraq. Ultimately both failed, but the surge planners like General Petraeus are still being listened to as “serious” figures. Now, 16 years into the war in Afghanistan, we are witnessing a slow-motion surge. Some 300 US Marines are on their way to the “graveyard of empires” and the Commander of US troops in Afghanistan is on record requesting a “few thousand” more. Will another surge achieve what the previous surges have failed to achieve? We take a look at why the war on Afghanistan was lost long ago in today’s Liberty Report:

John Kiriakou remains the only CIA officer to be jailed over the Agency’s illegal torture program — and he was the whistleblower who exposed it! But the story of how the FBI was able to send Kiriakou to prison on a 30 month sentence is fascinating, shocking, chilling. We discuss this dark chapter in our recent history as well as Mr. Kiriakou’s fascinating upcoming book, Doing Time Like A Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison, in today’s very special Liberty Report:

President Trump’s National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster said over the weekend that North Korea’s behavior is “provocative and destabilizing” in the region. This while the US is in the process of parking an “armada” of warships off of North Korea’s coast. President Trump has shown that he will not hesitate to use military force as a first option when facing what he views as threats overseas and he shows little interest in involving Congress in the matter. But who is really provoking whom? We discuss in today’s Liberty Report:

After steadily-increasing tension under the Obama Administration, candidate Trump wondered why it was a bad thing to get along with Russia. Hillary Clinton promised more of the confrontational Obama approach. More conflict. The people chose Trump. What happened? President Trump has thus far brought us closer to war with Russia than at any time since the height of the Cold War. Does Trump have a Russia policy and if so what is it? We discuss in today’s Liberty Report:

President Trump sent 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria yesterday in retaliation for what he claimed was a chemical attack on citizens by President Assad. He sought no Congressional authorization and presented no evidence to either Congress or the American people to justify his actions. What happens next, as Trump opens wider the US military involvement in the Middle East. US Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) joins today’s Liberty Report in studio to discuss:

One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson went to Congress seeking a declaration of war on Germany. Thus started US involvement in World War One. More than 100,000 Americans were killed, but Wilson assured Americans that it was “worth it.” We were making the world safe for democracy. One hundred years later, the war is still being fought. More on this unhappy anniversary in today’s Liberty Report:

Would Syrian President Assad launch a chemical attack on civilians just as peace talks are about to be held and where government gains against ISIS and al-Qaeda rebels give him the upper hand? He would be literally committing suicide. Who benefits from the attack? Not Assad. But the rebels and the US neocons and the warmongers benefit a great deal. Are we about to be taken to war yet again based on lies? Tune in to today’s Liberty Report:

In a surveillance state, no one is immune from the government’s watchful eyes. Not even the government. It looks like the Obama Administration used the NSA to dig up dirt on the Trump people before and after the election. Possibly, the “Russia hacked the election” story was meant to cover-up for that real crime. But our concern is not the political implications of this potentially monumental scandal. Rather, we focus on the bigger picture: if we want to live in a surveillance state, this is the kind of society we will become. More in today’s Liberty Report:

Just days before President Trump is set to meet Chinese Premier Xi Jinping he let loose with a threat: either China “solves” North Korea or the US will do it. One way would be good for China, the other would not, he added. But how much sway does China really have over Kim Jong-Un and his nuclear policy? Could Trump be miscalculating? What’s at stake? We look at the possibilities in today’s Liberty Report: