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JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Devin Nunes, chairman of the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes
 
Hour One
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 1, Block A: Tom Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor & FDD, and Bill Roggio, Long War Journal senior editor  & FDD, in re: The appointment of Gen H R McMaster as national security advisor.  The plan to destroy ISIS: need a complete re-engagement in Iraq and troops on the ground in Syria.  Cannot focus solely on ISIS, must include al Qaeda. Premature withdrawal from Iraq opened the door for ISIS expansion and brought in troops from Iran. Must work with tribes in western Iraq to build a coalition.
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 1, Block B:  Tom Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor & FDD, and Bill Roggio, Long War Journal senior editor  & FDD, in re: “The National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s intelligence service, confirmed that its forces killed Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a top Pakistani al Qaeda leader, during a raid last month in the southern province of Ghazni. Akhtar’s involvement with jihad spanned four decades, and he has been directly linked to Osama bin Laden and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI-D).”
Also, al Q training jihadist in Libya and across West Africa. Boko Haram asked for support and training, and materiel. Info found in bin Laden’s compound. McMaster asks American public to inform themselves. Libya: al Q grew there then ISIS moved into Sirte.  Jihadists entrenched across the country.  ISIS small but active in Afghanistan.  Will Iraq stay as separate countries?  Probably, but tribes in western Iraq do not accede.
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 1, Block C:  Gordon G. Chang, Daily Beast & Forbes.com, in re: North Korea.  Apparent assassination of Kim Jong-nam, Eun’s elder brother and a Chinese asset, in Malaysia at KL airport.  He was about to travel to Macau, where he would have been under Chinese security and thus his murder there would have angered Beijing.  As it was, China was incensed at the disrespect. China claims it’ll stop importation of DPRK till the end of the year.   USS Carl Vinson to the South China Sea in international waters.  China announces it abjures its commitment to the Law of the Sea treaty. Increasingly lawless – ignored 12 July arbitral ruing, nuclear nonproliferation treat, many. No use signing a treaty with China.  Hotspots in Ukraine, around China, North Korea.  See if all erupt simultaneously.  US needs to reassure allies and stand strong against foes as the situation starts to look really, really dangerous.  Meanwhile, China is taking on vast debt to bolster the RMB, but this is not sustainable.  Ergo, a useful confrontation with the US would distract everyone from the story of the crumbling economy. Further, many Chinese generals and admirals are eager to go to war with the US.  “Asia looks chaotic – that’s on purpose.”
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 1, Block D: Debra Saunders, San Francisco, in re:  VP Spiro Agnew chez ______ in Nevada; he railed against leaks and was brought down.  Leaking is powerful in DC, a weapons system.  Gen Michael Flynn.  American intelligence agencies were leaking tales, put out by Buzzfeed, saying that there are nefarious ties between Trump and his people and Putin and his. This is thoroughly unverified. The Buzzfeed dossier has been discredited.  The White House has no system to turn off leaks.  The first leak, even if wholly inaccurate, is soon followed by a corroborating one, building a tissue of lies.  Motives of leakers? 
 
Hour Two
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 2, Block A: David M Drucker, Senior Congressional correspondent, Washington Examiner, and John Fund, NRO, in re: From Mar-a-Lago, Gen H R McMaster (three stars) appointed national security advisor. Most highly regarded. Problem: the post is highly political within DC, needs very capable management skills as well as requiring exceptionally accurate intelligence advice. Needs to be an honest broker, no idees fixes, such as Flynn evinced. Reince Priebus as chief of staff.
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 2, Block B: David M Drucker, Senior Congressional correspondent, Washington Examiner, and John Fund, NRO, in re:   Executive Order, part 2, on the seven countries.  In the end, the courts will have to accede or else future presidents will be hamstrung.  . . . When the debate is on policy, Trump wins, When it shifts to Trump’s idiosyncrasies, he loses.   . . . Layoffs in Washington? Can cut programs that benefit left constituencies and steer funds toward infrastructure of the sort that Trump voters want.
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 2, Block C: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: IS launches rockets at Israel from Sinai, also into Egypt. “Christians are our best target.” It uses Internet well; has struck inside the US.  The new IS leader in Gaza is a wholly-owned asset of Iran.  Morocco is flourishing under good leadership, with an expanding economy and political integration. Concerned about Polisario and Iran. Russian influence: bldg a base in Libya with forces opposing the UN- & EU-supported faction.  Have just visited Morocco, Egypt, elsewhere; all leaders ask informed questions about the new American administration’s policies
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 2, Block D: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Indiana Hoenlein and the newly-found additional cave whence come the Dead Sea Scrolls. Found a twelfth cave.  Storage container is traditionally a large jar.  Expect to find more caves. Found a stamp seal of carnelian, and evidence of prehistoric Man from much earlier.  Israeli archaeologists researching as fast as possible.  Iran: brags it can wipe out Israel and the US fleet in Bahrain in moments.  Networks to train terrorists in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon.  Rapid expansion pad for by the eye-watering sums sent there by Pres Obama at the end of his term. People calling not for an abrogation of JCPOA, but obliging Iran to adhere strictly; deal with the violations.  Will we ever know all the codicils n the Iran deal?? Many Middle Eastern rumors, assumption that there are secret codicils we don't know of.  Rockets out of Sinai perhaps the result of internecine competition among various factions.  Iran supplies them materiel trying to plough forward the western end of the great Shi’a Crescent extending from Iran to the Med.
 
Hour Three
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 3, Block A: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board & host of Opinion Journal on WSJ Video; in re:  John Bolton on Russia and Korea.  Holds that Putin is testing the Trump administration: violating ballistic missile treaties, war in Ukraine, atrocities in Syria, and blandishments to Europe – wooing the left while funding the European far right. He’s made deals with two previous US presidents, never complies.  He does not share out values. Bolton emphatically supports NATO.  Five of NATO nations pay the 2% of GDP they're sworn to; need t pay their share rather than always expect the US to do so.  Bolton proposes to unite the Korean peninsula: strategic patience is not working since China props it up and other nations trade with it. Bolton says the situation is becoming more dangerous (DPRK nukes can hit the US). Need to commit to unifying North and South, and to convince China that that’s in its interest, too. How much leverage does China actually have there, and could it force Pyongyang to cooperate?  South Korea is probably about to vote in an appeasement president.  Holman Jenkins on taxes:  Key beneficiaries are GOP on Ways and Means (lobbyists pouring in money) and the border-adjustment 20% tax on imports is not neutral, doesn’t make it more transparent.
Opinion Journal: NATO’s Wake-Up Call  American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Bolton on Gen. Mattis’s warning to alliance partners. Photo credit: Reuters.
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 3, Block B: Paul Gregory, Hoover, in re:   Democrats Heart Russia. @PaulR_Gregory, @HooverInst.  “…The media has focused not on K Street but on the Russian ties of President Donald Trump’s associates. They list the reprehensible Kremlin-associated figures for whom members of his inner circle worked, the most notorious being Viktor Yanukovich, the deposed president of Ukraine, and fugitive oligarch, Dymtro Firtash. But both of these “repulsive” figures were also advised by Democratic top dogs, who likely earned large multiples of what the “small fry” Trump associates took home.
In pushing its Manchurian-candidate-Trump narrative, the media fail to mention the much deeper ties of Democratic lobbyists to Russia. Don’t worry, the media seems to say: Even though they are representing Russia, the lobbyists are good upstanding citizens, not like the Trump people. They can be trusted with such delicate matters.
The media targeted former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, for consulting for deposed Ukrainian president’s (Yanukovich’s) Party of the Regions. He also worked for billionaire oligarch, Firtash, who stands accused of skimming billions in the Ukraine gas trade in league with Russian oligarchs. The media also singled out Trump’s former national security advisor, General Michael Flynn, for attending a dinner with Putin and appearing on Russia’s foreign propaganda network RT. Trump’s own Russian ties were the subject of intense media coverage of an unverified opposition-research report purportedly prepared by an ex-British spy, who remains in hiding. It seems no enterprising reporter has tried to find him.
The media’s focus on Trump’s Russian connections ignores the much more extensive and lucrative business relationships of top Democrats with Kremlin-associated oligarchs and companies. Thanks to the Panama Papers, we know that the Podesta Group (founded by John Podesta’s brother, Tony) lobbied for Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank. “Sberbank is the Kremlin, they don’t do anything major without Putin’s go-ahead, and they don’t tell him ‘no’ either,” explained a retired senior U.S. intelligence official. According to a Reuters report, Tony Podesta was “among the high-profile lobbyists registered to represent organizations backing Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.” Among these was the European Center, which paid Podesta $900,000 for his lobbying.
That’s not all: The busy Podesta Group also represented Uranium One, a uranium company acquired by the Russian government which received approval from Hillary Clinton’s State Department to mine for uranium in the U.S. and gave Russia twenty percent control of US uranium. The New York Times reported Uranium One’s chairman, Frank Guistra, made significant donations to the Clinton Foundation, and Bill Clinton was paid $500,000 for one speech from a Russian investment bank that has “links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock.”  Notably, Frank Giustra, the Clinton Foundation’s largest and most controversial donor, does not appear anywhere in Clinton’s “non-private” emails. It is possible that the emails of such key donors were automatically scrubbed to protect the Clinton Foundation.
Let’s not leave out fugitive Ukrainian oligarch, Dymtro Firtash. He is represented by Democratic heavyweight lawyer, Lanny Davis, who accused Trump of “inviting Putin to commit espionage” (Trump’s quip: If Putin has Hillary’s emails, release them) but denies all wrongdoing by Hillary….” http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2017/02/18/no-one-mentions-that-the-russian-trail-leads-to-democratic-lobbyists/#15e1edee64f2
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 3, Block C: Larry Johnson, NoQuarter, in re: Russians Are Coming! Russians Are Coming! Fever. @LarryMJohnson Noquarterusa.net   “…I know that some of my friends (maybe former friends by now) think that I am compromised by Russia and just a stooge for Putin. Nothing could be further from the truth, but I believe that kind of thinking is a symptom of the anti-Russia hysteria that has seized the minds of many in the foreign policy and national security establishment. If you try to talk sanely about U.S./Russian relations you are labeled a stooge and point out that this is a two-way street and that the United States is doing some things that may appear threatening to the Russians, you are suspect.
What I see happening right now is that much of the tension in our relationship with Russia has stemmed from U.S. actions, some intentional and some unintentional. Let me give you a current example. By now we’ve all heard about the Russian “SPY” ship lurking 17 miles off the coast of the eastern United States:
Earlier in the week, some had seized on the Russian ship as a symbol. Representative Joe Courtney, a Democrat from Connecticut and a member of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, said on Wednesday on the House floor and in a statement that the presence of the Russian “spy ship” about 30 miles from the Groton submarine base was one of several “destabilizing” actions by Russia and its president, Vladimir V. Putin.
“This unacceptable, aggressive action, combined with the buzzing of U.S. Navy ships in the Black Sea yesterday, are clearly testing the resolve of a new administration,” Mr. Courtney said in the statement on his website. “While I have total confidence in our Navy’s vigilant, responsible readiness, the White House needs to move past their seeming infatuation with Putin and treat him like the serious threat to global peace and security that he has been for the last five years.”
I will give the NY Times some credit–at least they cited sources who admitted there was nothing unusual in the movement or activity of this ship. It is routine and has been happening for years.  The truth is we do similar things to Russia.
Congressman Courtney, however, implied this was an unprovoked Russian provocation as well as the report that Russian jets were “buzzing” one of our ships in the Black Sea. This latter incident, boys and girls, should really attract your attention and raise the question, “What are we doing in the Black Sea?” The Black Sea is really a giant lake that sits on Russia’s souther border. And we are operating U.S. Navy ships, i.e. war ships, just off the coast of Russia. And these are not fishing trawlers:…”  https://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/79597/russia-really-aggressor/
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 3, Block D:  Lee Smith, Weekly Standard, in re: Obama’s Echo Chamber Targets Trump’s National Security Council. @LeeSmit @WeeklyStandard   -  At the Free Beacon, Adam Kredo reports that the chief purpose of the Flynn campaign was to handicap "Trump's national security apparatus and preserve the nuclear deal with Iran." Rhodes responded in an email to the Atlantic: "I don't know who the sources are for these stories and I don't even understand the false conspiracy theory—how would getting rid of Flynn be the thing that saves the Iran Deal? It's an effort to make the conversation about anything other than the actual story of what happened with Russia."
The reconstituted echo chamber makes no effort to hide the fact that their purpose is to protect Obama's legacy. The Russia aspect may simply be the best tool at hand with which to delegitimize a presidency that many Democrats maintain was won only because Russia "hacked" the election. The Russia theme also has the advantage of whitewashing Obama's own Russia policy and turning it into a liability for Republicans, most of whom are rightly appalled at the prospect of any arrangements with a kleptocratic regime that, among other depredations, slaughtered civilians in Syria as part of a campaign of sectarian cleansing.
In short, what we're watching is political warfare. It's not the most sophisticated campaign, but it doesn't need to be when the country's top newspapers and broadcast networks are already on your side.
One of the most alarming aspects of the Flynn case is the carelessness and amateurishness of the new administration. It's not just about Flynn—why for instance, given the very sensitive political nature of the Russia issue, didn't he have the sense to avoid it until after the inauguration? And why, after the story of his phone conversation with the Russian ambassador was leaked to the press, didn't he grasp the threat? http://www.weeklystandard.com/the-echo-chamber-strikes-back/article/2006879
 
Hour Four
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 4, Block A: Liz Peek, Fiscal Times and Fox News, in re: Turning the Trump Ship of State  What can Trump do to turn things around?
First, it may be that he should take a page from the Clinton playbook and bring in a time-tested barracuda chief of staff (think Rahm Emmanuel). Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media, says Priebus is over his head; it’s possible the former RNC Chair is simply too nice a guy to knock heads. It wasn’t until hard-knuckle Leon Panetta became Clinton’s Chief of Staff in July 1994 that the White House got its act together. Given the hostility arrayed against him, Trump can’t wait that long. An ideal candidate would look like Newt Gingrich without the ego, or Chris Christie without the ambition.  
Second, the president should get out of the Swamp Bubble every few weeks and go talk to the people. He is planning a rally-type event at the Orlando-Melbourne Airport this coming weekend; it’ a start. Trump is rejuvenated by his supporters.  Trump needs to remind people that he loves the United States and he is working day and night to shake up the system. They’re on his side, but both he and they could use a little love.  And yes- stick to the teleprompter.
Third, Mr. Trump needs to erect a speedbump in his Twitter feed.  Just one set of eyes, one person who has the authority to say “go” or “no-go” on the 3 am tweets. Trump is engaging, still, in too many petty battles, when there are big ones to be fought. However, he should not shut it down; his tweets have increased in popularity since his inauguration, being “favorited” on average 120,000 times, and retweeted over 40,000 times. Those who are irate over the mainstream media’s treatment of their president are delighted he can address them directly, and they can respond.
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 4, Block B:  Ken Croswell, astronomer and author, in re: The Trojan asteroid of Uranus.    https://www.newscientist.com/article/2121489-far-off-asteroid-caught-cohabiting-with-uranus-around-the-sun/
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 4, Block C: Joshua Partlow,  A Kingdom of Their Own, on the Karzai family (part I of IV), segment 1 of 2
Monday 20 February 2017 / Hour 4, Block D: Joshua Partlow,  A Kingdom of Their Own, on the Karzai family (part I of IV), segment 2 of 2