Monday 22 August 2016
Photo, left: Buffalo in a US national park.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes
Hour One
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 1, Block A: Bill Roggio, Long War Journal senior editor & FDD, in re: Looking at a Taliban transition to second-gen Taliban fighters. It’s a money-making operation in a country that’s been at war for 10,000 years. Head of Tora-Bora front, Anwar ul Haq Muhajedid: father was instrumental in getting ObL from Sudan to Afgh, died in 2006 as an important person; as the world looks at ISIS, Taliban is growing and growing more powerful. As a transnational threat: is connected to IS, to some extent; provides a safe haven for groups, and very close alliance with al Qaeda. Fifteen years of war wit the US. Zawahiri steps in and throws some shade on IS by praising Taliban. Al Qaeda has gone to war with IS, who says it’s our ay or the highway. Hafiz Sayyed Khan was emir, killed in Nangahar. There’ll be a vacuum for a while. Zawahiri warns that whoever follows IS risks being held responsible for the crimes committed under Baghdadi. Recall that IS was calling the debate, but after being under attack in Iraq and Syria, not much sound. Al Q smells blood in the water.
Ansar Dine claims multiple attacks across Mali
THREAT MATRIX
The Tuareg jihadist group has recently claimed a spate of attacks, mainly against French forces, across Mali. Jihadists who attacked Russian police appear in Islamic State video
Amaq News Agency has released a video purportedly showing the two jihadists responsible for attacking Russian policemen in Balashikha yesterday. The video is consistent with the pattern followed after small-scale attacks in Germany and France in July. In each case, the assailants recorded themselves swearing allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi prior to their assaults.
The battle for Sirte, Libya continues THREAT MATRIX
The US has launched 62 "precision" airstrikes against the Islamic State in Sirte, Libya since Aug. 1, according to data provided by US Africa Command earlier today. The jihadists have lost significant ground, but continue to conduct suicide attacks using vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) inside the city.
READ MORE →
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Hamza bin Laden calls for regime change in Saudi Arabia
Hamza bin Laden, Osama's son, criticizes Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen in a newly released audio message. Hamza claims that the Saudi campaign has aided Houthi rebels by interfering in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's war against them. He calls on Muslims to overthrow the Saudi government.
Russian warplanes to reportedly use Iranian air base for refueling
for inserting text based on category THREAT MATRIX BY BEHNAM BEN TALEBLU & AMIR TOUMAJ
Senior Iranian government officials have defended Russia's use of an air base in Western Iran to launch strikes in Syria, despite concerns within the policy elite. A high-ranking parliamentarian claims that Russia will use the base primarily for refueling.
An alleged ‘agent’ of Iran transferred from Guantanamo to the UAE
A leaked Joint Task Force - Guantanamo threat assessment describes Haji Hamidullah, who was recently transferred from Guantanamo to the UAE, as an "agent" of Iran. The Long War Journal first profiled Hamidullah in 2011. The leaked JTF-GTMO file contains numerous intelligence reports tying Iranian intelligence to the Afghan insurgency.
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 1, Block B: Josh Rogin, WaPo in re: Evan McMillan, former CIA, cd have been a threat to Trump as a GOP nominee.
The family’s entertainment budget consisted of renting VHS tapes from Blockbuster. In middle school, he saw “Three Days of the Condor” and decided he wanted to be a CIA agent. He reached out to the CIA recruiter in high school and was already working with the agency in college, when the attacks of 9/11 happened. After spending two years in southern Brazil on his Mormon mission, McMullin joined the CIA full time and began working overseas on counterterrorism operations.
After about a decade of service, he decided he wanted a shot at a normal life. He returned to the United States, went to business school and got a job at Goldman Sachs. He volunteered to help out with the Romney campaign part-time. Those connections eventually led to a job working for House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.).
While in Congress, McMullin’s passion was Syria. Frustrated by what he saw as America’s tragic neglect of the suffering of the Syrian people, he was doing everything he could to raise awareness of the Syrian conflict and push Congress to take action. McMullin was instrumental in bringing to Congress a Syrian defector nicknamed “Caesar,” who fled his country with more than 55,000 photographs showing evidence of mass torture and murder of more than 11,000 civilians in custody in Bashar al-Assad’s prisons.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/08/22/the-story-behind-evan-mcmullins-run-for-president/
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 1, Block C: Gordon G. Chang, Daily Beast & Forbes.com, in re: Japan Times: In June, before the 12 July Hague decision erasing the Nine-dash line (damage to envt, et al); China threatened Japan in the East China Sea. . . . G20 meets in China in early Sept; is that why Abe wants to be seen (recall him as SuperMario at the end of the Olympics). G20 ends on 4 Sept; thereafter China will try to make permanent its act of aggression in taking over Scarborough Shoal. China has actually told India, its neighbor superpower, to keep quiet about Chinese aggression; a good bet it’s said he same thing to smaller neighbor. Essential that the US open this matter. Singapore: PM spoke of how rules are critical to small nations like Singapore; absent rules, small states have no chance of survival. “Rules and treaties mean everything to us.” China wants countries worldwide to increase domestic consumption so China can sell more to them. Won't be in a mood to help China after all this predatory action. Replacing all the men on the Standing Committee in the XIX Party Congress: five are slated to require because of age, and the sixth may be tossed off. They just had their annual mtg at BeiDaHa.
China Sets a "Red Line" for Japan in South China Sea China is prepared to do whatever it takes to write its own navigation rules in South China Sea, including the setting of “red lines” for ...
China 'threatened' military action against Japan if Tokyo waded into South China Sea row
NDR 2016: Singapore must choose its own place to stand on South China Sea issue, says PM Lee
Beijing's launch of a quantum-communications satellite is a triumph, but it also showcases China's weaknesses. And, in general, the prospects for China's tech sector are dimming by the month. http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2016/08/21/despite-quantum-leap-chinas-innovation-sector-in-distress/#3245d7ab359a
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 1, Block D: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes, in re: Three book reports: Detroit and the Black Legion in the 1930s: Terror in the City of Champions (1934-36) Sports teams all rising – Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, but the Black Legion, a secret society that was a variant of he Ku Klux Klan, from Ohio, killed a lot of people. Southern Protestant men without skills. Many arrived in Detroit to work for Henry Ford, but during the Depression, fear and animosity. They claimed to be anti-Communist, were anti-Catholic; secretly recruited – sometimes shanghai’d – and murdered their perceived enemies. Wayne County.
Also, events in the year 1956, fraught with revolution all directions: Hungarian revolution. Polish revolution, then Fidel and Raul crash on the shores of Cuba. Sir Anthony Eden, saw Nasser as eh Muslim Mussolini: asked MI6 to assassinate him then concocted to bring him down with a coup: Israel would invade from Sinai, France and England would invade, and Nasser be gone. France under threat from FLN in Algeria; USSR under threat from liberty movements in Eastern Europe; bombing of MKL Jr’s porch; books ends with the Granma thrashing around the Gulf of Mexico, then to begin the march to the mountains.
Hour Two
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 2, Block A: David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent; John Fund, NRO, in re: Yet more new campaign managers: Steve Bannon, and Kellyanne Conway, and experienced political operative. Under their tutelage, they become less definite about Mr Trump’s immigration policies. “Operation Wetback” under Eisenhower; Trump’s immigration speech scheduled for Colorado later this week has been cancelled. What they're worried about is white suburban women who want to vote with Trump but don't want to be associated with a mean guy. Immigration has been Trump’s defining issue. Fox’s O’Reilly: deportation “in a humane way”?; Trump: I just want to follow the law. . . . and more word salad. Trump’s only chance to win is to quit alienating moderate suburban woman. No one really believes that 11 million people will be forcibly deported. Trump is listening to his advisors, at least for the nonce. Trump will be so pugilistic in debates for Hillary . . . he’s stuck at 40-43% of the vote; has to take a calculated risk to reach specialize d voters. Rallies in Michigan, Minnesota. Mississippi, Texas, Oregon . . . These are not battleground states. . . . Trump went to Connecticut only for Manafort’s family; and then they fired Manafort. Trump will live in the Midwest and Fla, wherever the polls are creeping up.
• What If Trump Won’t Accept Defeat?
• GOP Holds New Voter Registration Edge In Key States
• Should Democrats Go Big?
• Quote of the Day
• 3 Attack Lines on Clinton That Trump Is Missing
• Giuliani Stokes Theory That Clinton Is Sick
• Is Trump TV the End Game?
• State Poll Roundup: Monday
• Clinton Reserves $80 Million In New TV Time
• Trump Begins Preparing for Debates
• Clinton Runs Against the ‘Vast Right Wing Conspiracy’
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 2, Block B: David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent; John Fund, NRO, in re: If you close down the Clinton Foundation, there’s “nothing else happening.” . . . Judicial Watch and Wikileaks. GOP doesn’t hae the power to decide what will come out – it's being leaked by independent players.
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 2, Block C: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Iran says it's built a defensive system as good as Russia’s S300 and in no way derived from it. . . . can hit a target at 17.3 miles - identical spec to the S300’s. Designing SLBM Cruise missiles, and PGMs. And said to have a homegrown turbojet, can fly to 50,000 feet; 14,000 parts. Incirlik has two fields: NATO and the other; US moving nuclear weapons to Romania. Zarif, who negotiated the Iran deal, will be visiting six countries in a week, starting Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, & & Chile. Big investment by Iran and Hezbollah in South America. Visits to Moscow; both deputy foreign ministers holding mtgs. The US is not party to any of this. Russia has opened scores of “cultural centers” in South America; doubled the number of dipl missions, Ignored by our govt to the peril of US security in short and long term.
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 2, Block D: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Hamas shoots missiles into Israel, which eventually responds by hitting Hamas infrastructure. Will no longer wait months and years in fear as rockets fall. Why? Has to do with upcoming municipal elections, also infighting amongst different factions. Election results look good for Hamas in the West Bank. Nablus, Jenin, Hebron, and other cities will go against the PA in favor of Hamas. Pitched battle in Nablus and Tularkem between Fatah factions. Now that the world knows that vast aid and charity monies went not to the people but to the leaders’s pockets and to war planning, it's clear that the volume of cash will be reduced. Egypt continues to blame Hamas for its support for IS. The anti-BDS front: California and New Jersey, and academic institutions, acknowledge that it's not an economic move but plain ol’ racism and fomenting hatred and violence on US campuses. In Libya al Nusrah (=al Qaeda) changed its name to JFS in order o get funds from Qatar and the US. Hezb is shifting to fight agains tits fellow jihadist.
Hour Three
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 3, Block A: Terry L Anderson, PERC Montana, in re: Loved as they are, however, our national park systems and monuments are not being well treated and adding more will only make matters worse. There is already a backlog of maintenance projects including deteriorating sewage systems, roads, and buildings that will cost $12 billion to fix. And each year the NPS begs Congress to fund its operating budgets, but almost always gets less than it requests. Between 2005 and 2015, the federal budget grew by 39 percent as the NPS operating budget grew by only 1.7 percent. Meanwhile park visitation increased to a record 305 million.
The 100th anniversary of the NPS is a good time to rethink how we fund our national parks, and a simple change would be to allow parks to charge fees that would cover operating costs. When the first national parks were created, they were expected to be self-supporting. Receipts for Yellowstone and Yosemite exceeded expenditures in several of the early years. Revenues from entrance fees prompted Mount Rainier’s superintendent to predict in 1914 that “park revenues will be sufficient to meet the expenses of an economical administration of park affairs.”
---Jay Cook looks at the fledging national parks and thinks, “Money!” On the NE corner of Yellowstone, the tiny town of Cook was named after him so he’d bring the railroad in, but didn’t. Natl Park Svc created in 1916 to fix problems, was supposed to break even financially. The rich guy who began was determined to make it pay for himself. In 1908 Mt Rainier let new cars in: 1594 auto permits then and what today would be $475. Today, the parks need $12 billion just to fix outstanding problems, not for operating expenses – fix sewers leaking into rivers and lakes; highways that are crumbling and have no guard rails, et al. Disney is $100 day and you don’t even get the real thing. Park Svc mayn’t charge a realistic entry fee because Congress sees it as “the Park Barrel” – we need to pressure Congress to free the Natl Park svc.
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 3, Block B: Harry Siegel, New York Daily News and Daily Beast, in re: He’s the third-generation Bronx politician turned prisoner at Schuylkill Federal Correctional Institution after pocketing envelopes stuffed with cash from shady Russians who needed his office’s help to create a regional monopoly on adult day-care centers. Stevenson, paid $22,000, kicked a $1,500 finder’s fee to fellow Assemblyman Nelson Castro who, it turned out, had been living a double life as a snitch for the feds to avoid prison time on his own set of perjury charges.
Stevenson was convicted back in 2014, which is practically ancient history given how many New York pols have gone down since. A backbench Albany lawmaker demanding “a nice little package” in exchange for helping crooks squeeze the profit out of New Yorkers’ golden years hardly stands out in this crop of “public servants.” . . .
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 3, Block C: Donald G. McNeil, NYT, in re:
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 3, Block D: John Tamny, Forbes, in re: The citizens of Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Hollywood may seem distant from America and aloof to lofty discussions about “the national interest,” but maybe because their focus on what they’re doing is so incredibly intense. Indeed, they’re not the regular people. Every day they go to work could be their last. They don’t have as many chances to be wrong, at which point we should maybe be more accepting of them just as they are. So should Peggy Noonan. Smart as she is, and as brilliant of a writer as she is, she perhaps doesn’t understand how cruelly brutal the already great United States would be absent the elites she’s increasingly so dismissive of. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2016/08/21/peggy-noonan-may-be-more-isolated-than-the-elites-she-dismisses/print/
Hour Four
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 4, Block A: Anatoly Zak, RussianSpaceWeb.com and author, Russia in Space: the Past Explained, the Future Explored, in re: Hotel Mars, episode n.
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 4, Block B: Anatoly Zak, RussianSpaceWeb.com and author, Russia in Space: the Past Explained, the Future Explored, in re: Hotel Mars, episode n.
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 4, Block C: Pat Tucker, Defense One, in re:
Monday 22 August 2016 / Hour 4, Block D: Pat Tucker, Defense One, in re:
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