Portrait, left: Napoléon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte as a youth
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 1, Block A: Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, & Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, in re: Baiji is on the main road between Baghdad and Samara to Mosul. The refinery is destroyed; ISIS is fighting viciously there, using vehicular assault.
The Islamic State has publicized a number of photos that show suicide bombers that were used against Iraqi forces in and around the central city of Baiji on June 13. The foreign suicide bombers are part of what the jihadist group is dubbing “The Battle of Abdul Razzaq al Mashadani,” which is its name for the ongoing fight against Iraqi troops and Shiite militias for control of the city.
The Islamic State deployed seven suicide bombers, including jihadists from England, Germany, the Russian Republic of Daghestan, Kuwait, Palestine, and an Uighur, which is an ethnic group native to China’s western Xinjiang province. One suicide bomber, identified as Usama al Daghestani, detonated near the barracks of Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Shiite militias. [more]
Sixty to 70% of ISIS suicide bombers are foreigners.  / Druze murdered: Nusrah Front wants to be perceived as leading the fight against Assad and without totalitarian dreams (which is inaccurate).  Until this incident, Druze villagers have not arisen against Assad of Nusrah.  Al Q: "We do not fight those who do not fight us." ISIS< however, barges in, says "We're the caliphate," and do anything. 
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 1, Block B: Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, & Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, in re:  Shia militia pretty much are the Iraqi army – humvees, tanks, et al., now supported by Iran. US bugged out in 2011; never reconciled with these groups -  the League of the Righteous, Mookie al Sadr, many other groups led by US-listed specially designated terrorists. Every time these militias target ISIS, the US helps the militias and Iran. / Libya: al Qaeda advancing on Derna? No, is entrenched there.  IS killed an ancien jihadist, setting off a long spate of grave fighting.  . . .  
Veteran jihadists killed by Islamic State’s ‘province’ in Derna, Libya  Earlier this week, one of the Islamic State's "provinces" in Libya assassinated a veteran jihadist in Derna. The act sparked intense fighting between Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's followers and al Qaeda-allied jihadists in the city.  [more]
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 1, Block C: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re:  Concept of a free people who can speak openly terrifies a Communist dictatorship – I'm shocked.  Recall 1930s when fascism was the wave of the future. Then communism became the wave of the future. Business Daily: "Shu says the one nonnegotiable factor in these color revolutions is the [  ] of Western ideas."  Xi forcing officials to study the Chinese classics in an effort to cut off Western notions.   Just before T'ien An Men, China was much free-er than it is today. Regime has become more coercive and repressive under Xi Jinping. China telling Japan to leave the South China Sea – China wants to deal with claimants one-to-one, as divide and conquer.    This diverts Chinese people's attention away from the very poor economic situation; resort to militant nationalism. China turns its back on the West entirely; in Ming Dynasty, after voyages of Zheng He [Wade-Giles: Cheng Ho], the court and officials burned his fleet and destroyed his charts.   Now, predatory attacks on foreign businesses; think that Chinese enterprises both can serve China without Western interference, and then go on to export and bring in a lot of money.  China closes its mind.  Xi moves backward in economy, geopolitics, everything. XI is not asking us for patience or to  lend a hand; rather, Xi  is shutting the door.
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It's hard to think of a sector changing faster than China's retailing scene.  /  Xinhua: South China Sea row not a flashpoint in US-China relations  The rift over the South China Sea between Beijing and Washington has heightened tensions in the region, but dispute over this body of water is . . .  / China to Japan: Stay Out of South China Sea (The Diplomat)   As The Diplomat has noted, Japan has become more active on the South China Sea issue this year. Whether it's exploring the idea of joint . . . 
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 1, Block D: Sarah Westwood, Washington Examiner, in re: Who is Pat Kennedy [Under-Secretary for Management at State]   and why does his name come up in all the State inconsistencies?
Harold Geisel was Acting Inspector-General meaning, he had inadequate or motivation to conflict with the leadership. US amb to Belgium accused of soliciting sexual favors fro prostitutes, incl minors.   Bureau of Diplomatic Security interviewed only one guard, never the ambassador, and Patrick Kennedy intervened to change this to a management issue, not  a criminal one. Geisel's role was to continue the cover-up, did not include it in his final report. Kennedy seems to have risen so high by protecting information on his [betters].  Did  Kennedy know about Mrs Clinton's private server? He was in charge of State record- Impossible for him not to have known. What Truman calls "the striped-pants boys" – nightmare.   the Bureau of Diplomatic Security "circled the wagons" to protect ambassadors and everyone they chose to; saw them as above the law. 
 
Hour Two
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 2, Block A:  David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, & John Fund, National Review Online,  in re: Mrs Clinton on Roosevelt Island, event started at 9 AM; everyone there was a die-hard Clinton supporter and was told where to stand. Then the first day after announcement, in New Hampshire, the pool reporter was from the Daily Mail (largest circulation in English language) – and he was refused entrance. She's not running for president; she's running for duchess.  Note: the pool reporter is an aggressive questioner – would have asked about server, foundation, and her tenure at State.   One thing that makes access to press important is that if the pol treats he press shabbily, it'll be reciprocated later. Imagine Mrs C using these [extremely distasteful] tactics when she's in the White House – the press will attack.   Note also that pols need the traditional press much less than formerly – they have twitter, FB, and Medium. Maureen Dowd represents not only herself; some other press also have outright hostility for Clinton.  In Florida, 62-yr-old Jeb Bush:  he's an introvert.  Reagan, for example, was charismatic; Jeb is not a talented campaigner; is he doing it for dad? . . .  Entitlement? Not. Jeb Bush's question: the person who most fears the "dynasty" label would be Jeb, himself.
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 2, Block B: David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, & John Fund, National Review Online,  in re:  Was Mr Bush's forceful announcement an indication that "dynasty" will be  baggage throughout the election.?  TH real questions are, How will you be different from your brother? / How is Rubio mastering the deadpan joke?  He's the most gifted communicator in the entire race. All the press has dug up on him is that he got some speeding tix and bought a fishing boat. He's so tied to Jeb that . . .   We know he's talented – he destroyed Charlie Crist's campaign.  You’re born that way –you either like it or not.  Coaching can help only a little. Comedic timing!  Reagan channeled??   Oct 7, 1964 clip: "Those who'd trade our freedom for the soup-kitchen of the welfare state . . . " [Speech for Goldwater] Reagan's strength:  could speak in depth and over time. 
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 2, Block C: Lanhee Chen, the David and Diane Steffy Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, will discuss King vs. Burwell today on the following shows:
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 2, Block D:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  Sen Corker's letter to Pres Obama: How far you've gone from our original statement that Iran would never have The Bomb, to now, where its bomb will merely be managed. Parchin; the framework that State ballyhooed; "no military sites" – now that's off the table.  The PMDs – past military dvpts – that are essential as a measurement base: also taken off the table by Pres Obama.  The P5+1 all insisted on these.  Parchin and multiple red lines that everyone accepted as essential – we gave up virtually everything; the PMD, which was inviolable, is being slid off the table – and now Iran is talking about getting $150 billion for military dvpt.  Gaza: a research trip taken there by leading military experts worldwide – Germany, Spain, others: they issued a report saying that they've never heard of any other army that took as great care to protect civilians; some measures were so cautious that they not only didn’t hurt Palestinians but caused Israeli deaths. Note that Hamas military terrorists in mufti used human shields incl children to draw fire to them in order to increase the number of reported casualties.
 
Hour Three
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 3, Block A: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, Part I (of IV) (Segment 1 of 4)
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 3, Block B: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, Part I (of IV) (Segment 2 of 4)
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 3, Block C: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, Part I (of IV) (Segment 3 of 4) 
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 3, Block D: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, Part I (of IV) (Segment 4 of 4)
 
Hour Four
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 4, Block A:  Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board & host of OpinionJournal.com; in re: http://www.wsj.com/video/opinion-journal-carly-fiorina-why-im-running-for-president/046E26F8-60F0-4114-B686-18A940D680AB.html
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 4, Block B: Kori Schake, Hoover & Foreign Policy, in re:  "The GOP Is Not Going to Win This Election on Foreign Policy."
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 4, Block C:  John Authers, FT, & Patrick Chovanec, chief strategist at Silvercrest Asset Management, in re: Chinese whale could sink emerging markets (1 of 2)
Monday  3 February 2014  / Hour 4, Block D: John Authers, FT, & Patrick Chovanec, chief strategist at Silvercrest Asset Management, in re: Chinese whale could sink emerging markets (2 of 2)
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