Photo, left: Bandiagara Cliff Dwelling in Mali
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Guest-host: Francis Rose, francisrose.com
Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes
 
Hour One
Monday 28 December  2015  / Hour 1, Block A: Tom Joscelyn, LongWarJournal & FDD; Bill Roggio, LongWarJournal & FDD; in re: It took seven months, but, the Iraqi army has retaken a chunk of Ramadi city center. Iraqi army includes a bunch of (Iranian-backed) Shia militias, of course, including groups designated globally as terrorists. US air strikes, militias operating under the aegis of the Iranian military, but better trained.  Ramadi is in the heart of Sunni Anbar; good luck, fellows.   . . .  Yemen: Bitter dispute between some of the fighter-leaders and the emirs/overall honchos.  Fissures within ISIS.  Al Q formed an international committee to hunt down anyone who was going to defect to ISIS.  Problem – al Q strikes back w vengeance, incl in Libya, AfPakia, Yemen, Somalia.  ISIS advertises its notions by al possible methods, whereas al Q quietly rounds people up and kills them 
Monday 28 December  2015  / Hour 1, Block B: Tom Joscelyn, LongWarJournal & FDD; Bill Roggio, LongWarJournal & FDD; in re: Mali.  Moktar bel-Moktar, an al Q loyalist, runs Al Murabitoon in northern and central Mali.  Fifty peacekeepers have been killed there in the past year.  France and Chad have sent the main peacekeeping contingents. AQIM and its predecessors have been threatening France since 1994. The recent upstart effort by ISIS is backfiring and failing; this is why Al Murabitoon and AQIM rejoined.   . . . Eulogizing a man killed by Russians on Christmas Day (New Christmas). / Ansar Dine, a jihadist group which operates in Mali and is a front for Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), claimed responsibility for three attacks in northern Mali over the past few days. The attacks were claimed by AQIM on behalf of Ansar Dine. 
In a statement released online by AQIM yesterday, the Al Qaeda branch claimed Ansar Dine targeted a military barracks “of the agents of France” on Dec. 24 in the remote northern village of Talhandak, according to the SITE Intelligence Group. The jihadist group said it targeted a “local agent of the Crusaders known as Trawa Trawa,” who heads the so-called “internal security cells” funded by France in northern Mali to fight Islam and the Muslims.” AQIM also said the jihadists were able to kill 11 MNLA fighters and free “a number” of its prisoners held by “Trawa Trawa.” It is unclear who this “agent” is, but the town of Talhandak was controlled by the Tuareg separatist movement the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA).
According to Sahara Media, Ansar Dine was able to take control of Talhandak in the assault. In coordination with the larger attack in Talhandak, AQIM also claimed Ansar Dine ambushed a convoy of MNLA troops near Kidal. The MNLA forces were reportedly on their way to Talhandak to provide reinforcements to the besieged forces there. The ambush resulted “in the elimination of four agents, including the commander of the movement,” said AQIM.
However, before these assaults, AQIM reports that Ansar Dine targeted Chadian and French military vehicles with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) near Tessalit. The jihadist say the blasts “destroyed them completely,” however neither the UN nor France has released a statement confirming this attack. Part of the statement is also directed to the MNLA. “You know very well that the Crusaders and with them . . .  
Monday  28 December  2015 / Hour 1, Block C: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com; in re: What the Japan/South Korea agreement on “comfort women” dispute might mean for the future of their relationship.  Seoul still looks to Beijing to rein in North Korea, and has critical trade relations. Recall 600 years of history between the two, much of it unhappy.  Note also that Korean laborers were impressed into service in the colonial period; Japan claims this was all settled but no one agrees.  For Korean sex slaves, $8 mil is paltry; culturally, it's the apology that may be more important.  An unexpected event, cheering to observers, and Washington deserves much credit even though the South Koreans have been sandbagging the agreement.  The females who were enslaved are still enraged. Can't blame them. At least Pres Park hasn't poured kerosene on the flames.  Next: defense cooperation – South Koreans have blocked this for years.  It looks as though Japan and South Korean have noticed that for physical security reasons, they probably need each other.
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 1, Block D: David Hawkings, Senior Editor, Roll Call; in re: Why the Senate doesn’t have a Freedom Caucus (15% of House GOP), and why it might not need one. / Senate Republican Steering Committee: 26 of the 54 GOP Senators have some affiliation, and many are Board Members.  . . . A Senator has many ways to slow down or stop things by himself (the system is structured to make that possible) , so doesn't need a Freedom Caucus.  Mr Rubio has missed one-third of votes; Mr Cruz, similar; Mr Paul, excellent record.  Mike Lee is chair of Steering C'ee; long- time ally of Cruz. http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/a-senate-freedom-caucus-no-need/?dcz=
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The House Freedom Caucus has shown conservatives the far right can have an impact on the legislative process. But don’t expect a similar group to spring up in the Senate; they already have one. Sort of.
It’s not that senators are less conservative — Republicans such as Ted Cruz of Texas, Jim Risch of Idaho or Jeff Sessions of Alabama would attest to that. And it’s not that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) is so much better liked than his former counterpart who was chased into retirement by the Freedom Caucus, Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio.
Perhaps the main reason a Freedom Caucus is less likely in the Senate is attributable to the institution itself: Senators need to work together to get things done, but unlike House lawmakers, senators don’t need a coalition to block things. If a key power of the Freedom Caucus is veto power over legislation, senators can erect procedural hurdles on their own.
But the other, less recognized reason conservative senators are unlikely to form a Freedom Caucus-like group is because the Senate Republican Steering Committee already performs some of its functions.
“It’s an important part of the process, at least it’s been important to me,” said the committee’s chairman, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. “It’s been a means by which we can help empower individual senators.”
Unlike the House Steering Committees, which doles out committee assignments, the Senate Steering Committee has no such official function. Its most visible manifestation is its popular Wednesday lunch, which is open to the conference and has been a staple of Senate life since 1974.
Like the Freedom Caucus, the Steering Committee is not an official committee, and membership is loosely defined. In fact — and this may sound familiar — no official roster is ever made public.
While an official count of the group is kept under wraps, there are about a dozen “executive committee members” who pay mandatory dues to fund staff for the organization; other senators make voluntary contributions for access to committee services.
Twenty-six senators, including McConnell, made salary contributions this year to the committee’s executive director, James Wallner, according to LegiStorm. Around a dozen of those made higher contributions and are assumed to be executive committee members — the members who direct discussion and select the chairman. Roll Call confirm the following executive committee members: Marco Rubio of Florida, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania, David Vitter of Louisiana, Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas and Cruz and Sessions.
Lee told Roll Call the staff keeps an eye on unanimous consent requests and makes sure members of the group know “their procedural options, their procedural rights.”
As chairman, Lee also attends Republican leadership meetings, even though he’s not a member of GOP leadership. One member of leadership, Cornyn, has  been on the executive committee for years, he said, and together with Lee, both help keep an open dialogue between the committee and leadership. In addition, other leaders attend the Wednesday lunch.   . . .
 
Hour Two
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 2, Block A: David Drucker, Washington Examiner; in re: Presidential Follies, both Republican and Democrat. After the first of the year, the real fun – and voting – begins. New frontrunner: Marco Rubio.  The non-GOP press has a new "What's wrong with Rubio" story daily. If he comes in third in Iowa and second in NH . . .  A strong or distant second/Third? If he heads into South Carolina looking as though he might win, that'll be nerve-wracking as the third in the Big Three.
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 2, Block B: David Drucker, Washington Examiner; in re: the coming January primaries. Also, the "undercard":  will there be a breakout? Nothing obvious at present. 
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 2, Block C: Jim McTague, Contributing Editor, Barron’s; in re: the Christmas shopping season was great for consumers, but not so hot for retailers. http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/busy-weekend-christmas-unlikely-salvage-season-retailers-n484036
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 2, Block D: Jim McTague, Contributing Editor, Barron’s; in re: Americans are more optimistic about their own wallets than about the economy. http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2015/12/23/72-americans-believe-their-finances-will-improve-in-2016/
 
Hour Three
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 3, Block A: Michael Vlahos, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; in re: Comparisons of Gen. Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg and Barack Obama’s policy re: ISIS and Syria have a few things in common – but not much.
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 3, Block B: Michael Vlahos, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; continued.
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 3, Block C: John Hudson, Senior Reporter, Foreign Policy magazine; in re: Secretary of State John Kerry makes a major change at the top of the State Department. http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/inside-kerrys-leadership-changes-for-2016/
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 3, Block D: Brendan McGarry, Managing Editor, Military.com; in re: the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense response to troops and veterans suffering after exposure to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/12/24/va-ordered-to-report-to-congress-on-burn-pits-registry-findings.html?ESRC=eb.nl
 
Hour Four
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 4, Block A: Rachel Chase, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University; in re: the reasons vets and troops don’t seek care for traumatic head injuries suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan. There may be a limit to what DoD and VA can do. http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/9587167-74/veterans-brain-chase#axzz3vevlqxIX
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 4, Block B: Darren Heitner, sports and entertainment attorney, Forbes.com contributor; in re: daily fantasy sports becomes big business, and some states apply gambling law to the industry. http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2015/12/25/draftkings-and-fanduel-fight-for-survival-in-illinois/
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 4, Block C: Susan Ferrechio, Chief Congressional Correspondent, Washington Examiner; in re: 2015 was a year of compromise for and by Republicans in Congress, but 2016 is not likely to be the same. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/how-2015-became-the-year-of-compromise-in-congress/article/2579034
Monday  28 December 2015 / Hour 4, Block D: Susan Ferrechio, Chief Congressional Correspondent, Washington Examiner; continued.