President Obama’s trip to Cuba is making history: it has been nearly a century since an American president set foot on Cuban soil. But if the trip is to lead to a real normalization in relations, both governments need to back off and let people-to-people diplomacy take over. Today’s Liberty Report on the good news and bad news of Obama’s Cuban visit:

Yesterday’s surprising announcement by Syrian Kurds that they consider themselves in an autonomous region is either a bold move to solidify their self-determination before the fog of war clears, or perhaps it is John Kerry’s “Plan B” to break up Syria if the US cannot overthrow Assad. Or perhaps it is a reaction to US insistence that the Kurds do not deserve a place at the Geneva table where a political solution to the war in Syria is being discussed. Whatever the case, it adds a hugely significant variable to the already complicated situation. For example, how long before Turkish president Erdogan pounces on “autonomous” Kurdish Syria? We try to connect the dots in today’s Liberty Report:

Beltway “conservatives” are a fraud. They pretend to be in favor of smaller government but are unwilling to cut a dime from the trillion dollar budget for the US empire. The current budget battle among Republicans ignores that big elephant in the room. More today in the Liberty Report:

Yesterday’s surprise announcement that Russia was beginning a military withdrawal from Syria caught Washington off guard, as usual. With a political process beginning in Geneva and ISIS and Nusra severely degraded, Russian president Putin announced that Russian military goals have been for the most part achieved. Meanwhile, the US House passed a resolution yesterday accusing Syrian president Assad and Russia of deliberately targeting civilians and infrastructure. The quagmire that Obama promised was awaiting Russia in Syria did not transpire. Why did Washington get it so wrong? And can the US finally leave Syria alone already? Watch today’s Liberty Report:

Violence and the threat of violence let Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to cancel his scheduled rally in Chicago recently. Organized groups, some funded by “regime change” donor George Soros, have vowed to prevent Trump from holding rallies at all. Meanwhile Trump has used inflammatory rhetoric at rallies, urging supporters to use violence against disruptors. The other presidential candidates have blamed all the violence on Trump, but their admonishments ring hypocritical. For example, while Hillary Clinton condemns Trump’s words that may have resulted in a few punches being thrown, her own words — in particular her tireless advocacy for a US attack on Libya — resulted in tens of thousands being killed. Which is worse? Likewise, Ted Cruz condemns Trump’s rhetoric while at the same time he openly speaks of using nuclear weapons against the people of the Middle East. What is worse? The others are no different. We cover this difficult topic in today’s Liberty Report:

Suggesting that hawk politicians are out of touch with the American people, a new non-partisan poll conducted by the University of Maryland showed that Americans would on average like to see the military budget decrease by $12 billion. Democrats and independents wanted even deeper cuts, but not even Republican voters wanted to see more money spent on the military. Could this by why the neocon-favored uberhawk Marco Rubio is going down in flames in the presidential primary? What is the lesson for other politicians? Finally a good news story today in the Liberty Report:

You won’t read in the mainstream media that the US government has been trying for ten years to break Apple’s encryption. You also won’t read that they unsealed the case against the San Bernardino attackers to terrify the American public into supporting FBI demands that Apple be forced to break its own encryption and hand the keys to the US government. The privacy-hating federal government wants Americans to believe this is simply about a benevolent government entity trying to protect us from terrorism. Don’t believe it for a second. It’s about prompting Congress to pass legislation regulating encryption — and taking away our Constitutional right to privacy. Today’s Liberty Report is joined by former State Department official and writer Peter van Buren, who tells us why we should care a lot about this case even if we do not use Apple products:

Neocons like Robert Kagan are having panic attacks over the possibility that their preferred presidential candidate may not end up the nominee. They are writing strong letters and threatening to take their toys and leave the Republican Party if Trump, who they don’t trust, is selected by the American voters. Who are the neocons and why do they continue to have a stranglehold on US foreign policy? Today’s Liberty Report is joined by Philip Giraldi to deconstruct the neocon crack-up:

According to a recent New York Times series of articles, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the key Obama Administration figure arguing for a US attack on Libya back in 2011. She promised it would be a triumph of “smart power,” but with billions wasted, tens of thousands killed, and a country in ruins, it looks more like “dumb power.” Now the US and its allies are readying a new military force to go back into Libya to fight an ISIS that was not present before the US “liberation.” Score another defeat for interventionism. The full story today in the Liberty Report:

Will Hillary Clinton be indicted for storing classified materials on an unsecure server in her house while Secretary of State? Will President Obama call off the Justice Department and risk making it look like there is a different set of laws for the elites? Or will he allow the investigation to continue and risk the Democrat Party frontrunner in the presidential race facing jail time. The issue is more a political one at this point. But, as Ron Paul says in today’s Liberty Report, why isn’t Hillary facing prosecution for war crimes over her role in the Libya debacle?

This week a judge in New York ruled in a case similar to the San Bernardino case that Apple should not be compelled to do work for the government against its will, in these cases providing a back door to its encrypted products. Both the FBI and Apple were on the Hill this week to present their sides of the case, and Congress will likely soon step in to try and settle the dispute. Does anyone think Congress will come down on the side of privacy over government snooping? Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-IL) has given us a clue which side Congress will come down on when he told Apple’s lawyers, “I warn you, you won’t like what comes out of Congress.” What to expect from Congress? Tune in to the Liberty Report:

Greece is wracked by financial meltdown but is hosting tens of thousands of migrants who are blocked from their intended journey northward. Calais in France is home to makeshift refugee camps where thousands hope to travel to the UK. The EU social welfare system attracts migrants from poorer regions, but Brussels following Washington’s policy of destabilizing the Middle East has resulted in a perfect storm of hundreds of thousands seeking a better life in relatively rich Europe. Brussels is demanding that all EU Member states take in tens of thousands of migrants to share the burden equally. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban is resisting such demands and has called a referendum to let Hungarians decide if they want to take in migrants. Brussels is furious. Will this migrant crisis be the final undoing of the European Union? Tune in to today’s Liberty Report: