By Ron Paul
The recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities by Yemeni Houthi forces demonstrate once again that an aggressive foreign policy often brings unintended consequences and can result in blowback. In 2015 Saudi Arabia attacked its neighbor, Yemen, because a coup in that country ousted the Saudi-backed dictator. Four years later Yemen is in ruins, with nearly 100,000 Yemenis killed and millions more facing death by starvation. It has been rightly called the worst humanitarian catastrophe on the planet. But rich and powerful Saudi Arabia did not defeat Yemen. In fact, the Saudis last month asked the Trump Administration to help facilitate talks with the Houthis in hopes that the war, which has cost Saudi Arabia tens of billions of dollars, could finally end without Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman losing too much face. Washington admitted earlier this month that those talks had begun. The surprise Houthi attack on Saturday disrupted half of Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas production and shocked Washington. Predictably, however, the neocons are using the attack to call for war with Iran! Sen. Lindsay Graham, one of the few people in Washington who makes John Bolton look like a dove, Tweeted yesterday that, “It is now time for the US to put on the table an attack on Iranian oil refineries…” Graham is the perfect embodiment of the saying, “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” No matter what the problem, for Graham the solution is war. Likewise, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – who is supposed to represent US diplomacy – jumped to blame Iran for the attack on Saudi Arabia, Tweeting that, “Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.” Of course, he provided no evidence even as the Houthis themselves took responsibility for the bombing. What is remarkable is that all of Washington’s warmongers are ready for war over what is actually a retaliatory strike by a country that is the victim of Saudi aggression, not the aggressor itself. Yemen did not attack Saudi Arabia in 2015. It was the other way around. If you start a war and the other country fights back, you should not be entitled to complain about how unfair the whole thing is. The establishment reaction to the Yemeni oilfield strike reminds me of a hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee just before the US launched the 2003 Iraq war. As I was arguing against the authorization for that war, I pointed out that Iraq had never attacked the United States. One of my colleagues stopped me in mid-sentence, saying, “let me remind the gentleman that the Iraqis have been shooting at our planes for years.” True, but those planes were bombing Iraq! The neocons want a US war on Iran at any cost. They may feel temporarily at a disadvantage with the departure of their ally in the Trump Administration, John Bolton. However, the sad truth is that there are plenty more John Boltons in the Administration. And they have allies in the Lindsay Grahams in Congress. Yemen has demonstrated that it can fight back against Saudi aggression. The only sensible way forward is for a rapid end to this four-year travesty, and the Saudis would be wise to wake up to the mess they’ve created for themselves. Whatever the case, US participation in Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen must end immediately and neocon lies about Iran’s role in the war must be refuted and resisted.
After Saturday's attacks on Saudi oil facilities, President Trump Tweeted that the US is "locked and loaded" and ready to do whatever Saudi Arabia deems appropriate to whoever the Saudis blame for the attack. Will Trump let the Saudis dictate when and where the United States goes to war? Who did it and why? Evidence? False flag? So many questions.
By Liberty Report Staff
Once again, President Trump has ripped into the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, the president isn’t criticizing the Fed for artificially suppressing interest rates, and creating the biggest debt bubble in the history of mankind. Instead, the president wants interest rates fixed down to zero (or even negative)! The president has embraced the idea that the disease itself is the cure. The colossal bubble that the American Empire lives on is running out of air.
The last straw that broke Trump's back with Bolton appears to be the latter's vehement opposition to any kind of opening toward Iran. Suddenly a French proposal for a way out of the stand-off is being talked about by Trump and Pompeo. Will Trump find a way to ease tensions and open a new chapter with Iran, or will the whole thing fizzle in bluster?
Bolton may be gone, but Boltonism lives on. Those believing that the end of Bolton would signal a return to the foreign policy of candidate Donald Trump, however, may be disappointed. President Trump has appointed Charles Kupperman to temporary fill in for John Bolton as National Security Advisor. Kupperman is one of Bolton's closest friends and allies in Washington. Plus - What have we learned since 9/11?
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By Liberty Report Staff
Ron Paul joins Rick Sanchez to discuss the John Bolton firing. Ron Paul's interview begins at the 8 min 28 sec mark: 
By Chris Rossini
There's never a shortage of people who want to force you to think what they want you to think, say what they want you to say, and even do what they want you to do. To them, other people are just lumps of clay that need to be molded "correctly." They, of course, grant themselves the responsibility of being the hands that will do the molding. In reality, other people are not lumps of clay, are not in need of being molded by anyone but themselves, and have the gift of Liberty as their primary and ultimate tool in doing so. Man is naturally free, with the ability to choose what to think, what to believe, what ends he would like to strive for, and how to act. This natural Liberty is a severe complication for the self-proclaimed "molders of men." This natural Liberty is the trump card that has foiled every single authoritarian scheme since the beginning of time. It will continue to foil every single authoritarian scheme until the end of time as well. Authoritarians and their "systems" come and go. Man's Liberty remains. Since man is free to choose, it means others are free to choose, and that means men are meant to cooperate with one another. We are necessarily different, with our own one-of-a-kind perceptions and interpretations of the world we live in and everything in it. Different beings are meant to cooperate, not dominate. Authoritarianism has no natural place in this world, and it has perpetually created nothing but suffering and pain. It's an error that is merely repeated over, and over, and over. Cooperation means no violent force to get what we want. At most, if violence has a place, it is only to defend one's life and property from someone that attempts to be a violent aggressor. If we are to get, we are to get voluntarily. Both parties must voluntarily say yes to an exchange of goods...or services...or ideas....or anything. The authoritarian hates the word "voluntarily" with a passion. He believes that he is molding you. So when he says something, you are to obey. Otherwise (in his perception) there must be something wrong with you. You must be a defective lump of clay. The authoritarian does not understand that man is not meant to be another man's master, nor is he meant to be another man's slave. Liberty is the antidote to mankind constantly acting like a dog that's chasing his tail. It's time to stop the chase. The dog will never catch his tail, and authoritarians will never abolish Liberty. Liberty is not "imposed" on others. It's not "legislated" into existence anymore than oxygen is legislated into existence. Liberty is not "brought" anywhere. You don't take Liberty and give it to someone else. They've already got it. Now don't get in the way. You don't "spread" Liberty around the world like some kind of authoritarian conquerer. Liberty is to be individually discovered, and then spoken so that others have a chance of discovering it for themselves.
Is America incapable of going back to the "good old days" where we understood what it means to live in a constitutional republic and defended our liberties against all enemies, foreign and domestic? A new article from Michael Snyder cites plenty of polling data suggesting a grim future for freedom lovers. But there may be hope for the future after all...
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