Category: News

A week after Secretary of State Tillerson made — then retracted — an offer to talk with North Korea without preconditions, President Trump’s National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, told the media yesterday that the US was ready to “compel” North Korea to give up its nuclear program. That means war. US policy seems to change almost hourly and depending on who you listen to, but does the US think its South Korean ally will green-light an attack on North Korea? And if not, then what? More in today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

US Ambassador to the UN made a big show of holding a press conference to demonstrate an “Iranian” missile that the Houthis in Yemen fired onto Saudi territory as an example of Iran’s violation of the JPCOA agreement. It was a scene reminiscent of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell’s “mobile Iraqi chemical weapons labs” demonstration at the UN. And about as truthful. Will President Trump re-purpose US troops in Syria to confront Iran and thereby grant the neocons their number one desire? We discuss in today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.

Specialists on North Korea have cited many reasons over the years for why China cannot be relied on to stop the DPRK from continuing its nuclear and missile buildup. The reasons are by now quite familiar, and have mostly to do with China’s fear that pressuring Kim Jong-un’s regime will destabilize it and produce a chaotic situation adverse to China’s security interests. Yet US administrations have consistently proposed that China is the key to resolving the standoff with North Korea – that if only Beijing would exploit its economic and political leverage with Pyongyang, Kim will be forced to knuckle under.

Today’s news that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had, perhaps unintentionally, revealed ongoing US efforts to coordinate with China on the removal of North Korea’s nuclear weapons in the event of a political collapse in Pyongyang further undermines the notion that China has usable leverage. North Korean experts read the newspapers! They have surely known for a long time – and today’s news only reinforces it – about US-China consultations on North Korean nukes. Now Tillerson has confirmed them, saying "We’ve had conversations with the Chinese about how that [removing the nukes] might be done." US sources may say that their Chinese counterparts have resisted reaching an agreement that would avoid a clash should both armies move into North Korea in the wake of a collapse. But the North Koreans have no reason to believe that, and every reason to think this is further evidence of Chinese-American collusion to undermine their regime and occupy their country.

Continue reading “An Unfortunate Revelation on Securing North Korean Nukes”

Got the return letter from Sen. Mike Crapo’s office – lots of data, lots of text. Impressed by the time it took to put together, if it was written just for me. Maybe it was. Nevertheless, the letter was a compilation of facts and views compiled to ignore the basis of my questioning. Hopefully I won’t be breaching a trust by reprinting my letter and Crapo’s but, to move forward, I’ll present both letters. I feel what I was going for in writing to him is an unachievable goal and that somehow discussing the letter of response will do some good. The moral questions I posed where not addressed.

My letter:

It has been argued that the United States’ sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia is a necessary part of satisfying our ally and, therewith, satisfying our strategic aims in the whole of the Middle East.

There was talk – in the form of Rand Paul’s S. J. Res. 39 – to slow the flow of certain materiel to the Kingdom – at least long enough to question the use of this weaponry in Yemen. You were against this. And now our practices are reaping misery on a broad scale in that country. The largest cholera outbreak in history (1,000,000 cases) is quite the feat. Cholera can be fought with having a supply of clean water and the US is at least seeking to ease the current blockade on this most basic human necessity.

Continue reading “The Crisis in Yemen: My Communication With Idaho Senator Mike Crapo”

The “European Defense Initiative” was launched after the US-backed coup in Ukraine to counter Russian “aggression” in the region. Its budget has quintupled to nearly $5 billion next year. Hundreds of millions will be spent to rebuild military bases in eastern Europe. What happened to making the Europeans pay for their own defense? On today’s Ron Paul Liberty Report:

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.