Photo:   Headline of The New York Times, 15 December 1915
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, the Great Voice of the Great Lakes
 
Hour One
Monday 22 October 2018 / Hour 1, Block A: Tom Joscelyn, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; & Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal; in re: General Raziq’s assassin trained at a Taliban camp / The US military and Resolute Support have yet to identify Raziq's assassin as a member of the Taliban, let alone acknowledge that he trained in a Taliban camp . . .
Monday 22 October 2018 / Hour 1, Block B: Tom Joscelyn, Long War Journal and FDD; in re:  US offers reward for information on 2 senior AQAP leaders  The US State Department announced today that it is offering rewards for information on two senior AQAP leaders: Qasim al-Raymi and Khalid al-Batarfi. Both men attended al Qaeda's training camps in pre-9/11 Afghanistan before assuming leadership roles in Yemen . . .
Monday 22 October 2018 / Hour 1, Block C: Gordon Chang, Daily Beast, in re:
Two U.S. warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait, U.S. and Taiwan defense officials said Monday, a maneuver intended to signal to China that the U.S. could travel in any international waters.  The USS Curtis Wilbur, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, and the USS Antietam, a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser, completed the 16-hour transit on Monday, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said.”
Yes, an increase in tempo. US is not so solicitous of Beijing any more— change of four decades of policy that didn't work. In China’s mind, the Taiwan Strait is different from the Spratleys because China views Taiwan as part of its territory. Britain, France and Australia chip in to these efforts in intl waters; China sees that it's annoying not only the US but a coalition. Endgame? We’ll see more freedom of navigation and transits; we’ll see a formal or de facto agreement to protect Taiwan.  We've allowed the military balance of power across the Strait to erode in China’s favor. A more robust response from the Trump Adm. We’ve been far too ambiguous abt our relations with Taiwan; I’d like to see the president actually go to Taiwan.
When the US shows strength, China backs off. China can attack the US anywhere on Earth or in space – and they will do that. Xi Jinping owns this controversy with the US.  Whether he’s an aberration or the inevitable result of Communism, we've got him for a while. . . . Even if you believed their official number of 6.5% growth (and you shouldn't), he’s still piling debt on [monumentally].  The capital controls now are draconian – the official ones and those that are enforced. I think you’ll see a lot more money come out, A strong rebound in the Shanghai Composite only because of strong statements from the regime.  Will the renminbi go to 7? I think so.  What they should do is a one-time devaluation – go to 8 or 8.5 RMB to the US dollar, shock the market, and stabilize. Right now, the Central Bank spends foreign exchange reserves to no good end. Xi won’t do it because it’d be an admission that his policies don't work. 
Monday 22 October 2018 / Hour 1, Block D:  Claudia Rosett, Independent Women’s Forum, avows that inter-Korean diplomacy today is a disaster.  Moon Jae-in doesn't pay any attention to the real problems of the North.  South Korea has a president who’s undermining democracy and is paving the way for North Korea to take over the South.  It’d be bad for Kim to get his hands on the enormous treasure of South Korea. . .  US pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal means that Iran won’t be swimming in cash, no doubt some of which would have been spent on North Korean weaponry. 
However, what the US is able to do  [is exert ]  . . . greater pressure with sanctions, which at least are cutting off some of Kim’s resources. What's the endgame here?  There’s no solution to the threat from North Korea unless there's an end to the regime.  At least we've pulled out from the death trajectory that was going on under President Obama.  The regime in Pyongyang knows that happened to Qaddafi; decades of diplo deals have failed. Trump’s over-the-top policies began when he brought in Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, both of whom have said that the problem is the regime, itself.  In the middle of the happy video about the bright future is a clip of the three aircraft carriers that Trump sent to Korea last year. 
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/10/21/obama-left-crisis-north-korea-trump-just-might-able-clean
Obama left a crisis in North Korea that Trump just might be able to clean up   By Claudia Rosett; October 21, 2018  
Whatever comes next with North Korea, President Donald Trump can hardly be accused of having neglected diplomacy. At the Singapore Summit with Kim Jong Un this past June, Trump became the first sitting American president to meet with a North Korean tyrant. He has received an envoy from Kim in the Oval Office, dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on multiple trips to Pyongyang and is talking about holding a second summit with Kim. . . .
 
Hour Two
Monday 22 October 2018 / Hour 2, Block A:  David M Drucker, Washington Examiner, & John Fund, NRO, in re:  Pres Trump is widely unpopular in the same precincts where he was before  - but so are the Democrats.  According to polls, the Democrats don’t have a coherent agenda.  . . . For a while, local Democrats were held hostage to what the national party was doing [but less so now].  . . .  Nancy Pelosi today said, “This election is about healthcare.” The last thing they want it to be is about the economy, national security, or __________. The Laffer Curve.
Monday 22 October 2018 / Hour 2, Block B:  John Fund, NRO, & David M Drucker, Washington Examiner, in re: The Central American caravan marching toward the US border. The numbers have gone from two thousand to ______.   The president is making this a partisan issue, pointing to the Democrats. The GOP says there are “unknown Middle Easterners” in the caravan. . . . Democrats are almost paralyzed by this sea of brown and black faces; to criticize it is [politically dangerous].  “Abolish ICE.”   Dinner guest knowledgable on Hungary: “I believe this could do to the Democrats what immigration did to Merkel.”
Monday 22 October 2018 / Hour 2, Block C: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: In 1995 when Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty, one clause dealt with two pcs of property, one in the North, one in the South near Aqaba. The northerly one had a hydroelectric plant built buy a farmer; Jordan agreed that Israelis farmers could continue to plant but sovereignty would stay with Jordan. The agreement was for 25 years and Jordan called for an end to the treaty clauses.  The two properties have been very peaceful over the decades.
Monday 22 October 2018 / Hour 2, Block D: Indiana Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Another report on amazing discoveries in Biblical lands.
 
Hour Three
Monday 22 October 2018/ Hour 3, Block A: Abigail Shrier,  WSJ, in re: #MeToo
Monday 22 October 2018/ Hour 3, Block B: Chuck Ross,  ,  in re:  Russiagate
Monday 22 October 2018/ Hour 3, Block C: Andrew C McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy), columnist for National Review; served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; in re: Rod Rosenstein, deputy AG.
Monday 22 October 2018/ Hour 3, Block D: Andrew C McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy), columnist for National Review; served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; in re:  Rod Rosenstein, deputy AG — a guess as to how this will all turn out [satisfying to no one but the perps and the overpaid –ed.]. 
 
Hour Four
Monday 22 October 2018/ Hour 4, Block A: The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey, by Dawn Anahid MacKeen and Neil Shah
Monday 22 October 2018/ Hour 4, Block B: The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey, by Dawn Anahid MacKeen and Neil Shah
Monday 22 October 2018/ Hour 4, Block C: Hundred Days: The Campaign That Ended World War I, by Nick Lloyd
Monday 22 October 2018/ Hour 4, Block D:  Hundred Days: The Campaign That Ended World War I, by Nick Lloyd.  The Meuse-Argonne.