For the past couple of weeks the CIA weapons smuggling operation to Syrian rebels has been on hold, according to press reports. Does this mean Trump’s sensible “we don’t know who these people are” statement during the campaign has become policy? We hope that is the case. However, the current Commander of the US Central Command said recently that Washington may be sending regular units of the US military into Syria, which would be a significant escalation. Which is it going to be: wisdom or folly? We discuss in today’s Liberty Report:

President Trump’s pick for National Security Advisor, Gen. H.R. McMaster, holds some views on Russia that seem to be at odds with the policy positions of his boss. He believes that Russian “aggression” began when the US began to withdraw from the world militarily, around 2008. He believes the US military needs to be more forward deployed. He has also stated publicly that Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, which is factually incorrect. What are his views on why radicals in the Middle East seek to do us harm? Join us for today’s Liberty Report:

After nearly 14 years of US military action in Iraq, significant parts of the country remain occupied by an ISIS that did not exist before the 2013 US “liberation.” The occupation that followed the 2013 US invasion of Iraq fueled the resentment that led to the rise of militants, which in turn led Washington to believe it needed to continue its military presence in Iraq, which led to the creation of more militants. It’s a never-ending cycle that it seems will be continued under President Trump’s new strategy to defeat ISIS. No one benefits from this cycle except the Beltway defense contractors and think tanks. More in today’s Liberty Report:

It looks like open warfare between the 60,000 member US intelligence community and their boss, President Donald Trump. According to numerous (non-sourced) articles recently, the nation’s intelligence officers are not even giving their president a full briefing out of fear that sensitive material may be leaked to the Russians. Is this a spook coup against Constitutional government or is it a thin layer of highly political elites at the top of these agencies leading a rebellion together with their allies on the outside? Is the target Trump, or his Russia policy? Today’s Liberty Report is joined by retired career intelligence officer Phil Giraldi who brings a valuable insider’s view to these questions:

Did the CIA conspire to undermine President Trump’s National Security Advisor, Gen. Michael Flynn, by leaking information about a phone call Gen. Flynn had with the Russian ambassador after Trump was the president-elect? The phone call was intercepted by the intelligence community and illegally leaked to the press. Why? Who benefits? What can we expect of President Trump’s stated policy of better relations with Russia now that Flynn, who supported the policy, has been forced to resign? We look at the winners and losers of this early shake up in the Trump Administration in today’s Liberty Report:

Gen. John Kelly, Director of the Department of Homeland Security, told Congress yesterday that the Administration is considering even more “extreme” vetting measures, to possibly include demands for passwords and information about web browsing habits. For now, these measures would only apply to those coming from the seven countries included in the temporary visa ban, but does anyone believe these requirements will not be expanded to include others…possibly even including Americans? More in today’s Liberty Report:

Hardline neocon Elliott Abrams is rumored to be under consideration for Deputy Secretary of State in the Trump Administration. He is meeting President Trump today. Abrams has never seen a war, intervention, or regime change that he hasn’t enthusiastically endorsed. Each of the policies he has endorsed has ended up in disaster. Libya? Afghanistan? Iraq? Syria? Ukraine? How could anyone so wrong be so right for a senior position? More in today’s Liberty Report:

Does President Trump’s National Security Advisor, Gen. Michael Flynn, realize that both his reasons for putting Iran “on notice” are completely bogus? Iran’s test firing a ballistic missile is not a violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the related UN resolution. And the Yemeni Houthi attack on a Saudi naval vessel had nothing to do with Iran. Does he realize his rationale is fabricated and presents it anyway? Or is he that ill-informed that he has no idea? With either case there is reason to be alarmed. Does Trump mean to start a war with Iran? How will Russia react? Tune in to today’s Liberty Report:

Should “settled” science allow dissident research? Or must all scientists conform to conventional wisdom? Today’s Liberty Report is not so much a debate about climate change, but rather about attempts to silence one scientist whose research led her to draw different conclusions. One could easily be in favor of the prevailing notion that climate change is human-caused and still be concerned about the tendency to silence dissenters. We speak with climatologist Dr. Judith Curry about what it’s like to deviate from the scientific orthodoxy:

Why is President Trump continuing the failed Middle East policy of President Obama? Last weekend’s drone strike on Yemen was supposedly aimed at al-Qaeda operatives, but it also killed a significant number of innocent women and children. And al-Qaeda? They are the greatest beneficiaries of the US-backed Saudi war against Yemen. We are supposedly fighting al-Qaeda while backing those who are helping al-Qaeda? Does it make sense? We discuss in today’s Liberty Report:

President Trump’s recent Executive Order banning entry to citizens of seven mostly-Muslim countries for 90 days has sparked protest and outrage. Lost in the din created by the protests is the fact that these seven countries have something in common: they have been targeted by the US for bombs or regime change. Where Iraq and Syria are now considered terrorist threats, for example, before US regime change and invasion there was no terrorist problem. Iran has never attacked or threatened the United States, but it is on the list of banned countries. Saudi Arabia was complicit in the 9/11 attacks on the US and 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudi citizens, however somehow the Saudis escaped President Trump’s notice. Is this really about protecting us from terrorism, or is it about politics? We discuss today in the Liberty Report:

How did the US empire begin? In his important new book, The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire, Stephen Kinzer tells the story of the nationwide debate in 1898 over whether the US should attempt to intervene in the affairs of the rest of the world. Is that debate over? Mr. Kinzer joins us to discuss in today’s Liberty Report: