Photo, left:  Wildly-blooming Kansas crabapple tree. Photo by Gene Countryman, consummate Kansan.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes; and author, Liberty Risen.
Hour One
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 1, Block A: Devin Nunes, CA-22, in re: Chairman Nunes made a quick tour of the Middle East: Started in Jordan, met with King Abdullah; then to Kuwait, then Baghdad (met with new PM), then Riyadh – met with defense and interior minister – then Israel: Bibi & his top advisors and the defense mi njsnister.
Overarching sense: Pres Obama has accomplished something unique: by supporting Iran, he's got the Israelis and all the Arabs on the same page all at once, at least for the time being.  Growing civil wars all across the Middle East, then ISIS in the ME and North Africa. Plenty of fires Just when you think it can’t get worse – it does,
Jordan and Saudi on the borders of two civil wars at once: Iraq and Syria. As for Jordan – between Iraq and a hard place (Israel) – there aren’t a lot of resource in Jordan; it relies on support from the US as well as Gulf states.  Have 1.5 million refugees in camps in Jordan, constituting 20% to the population; the king is dealing with Palestinians and ISIS/al Qaeda moving in and out of the country.  Growing problems in Yemen, and the long-rage  [medium-range] problem of Iran getting nuclear weapons. King Abdullah is in and out of DC several times a year, is in constant lobby mode to be sure everyone knows what's happening in Jordan. I imagine they’re disappointed by Pres Obama's "red line" in Syria, which came to nothing. 
If Jordan fell, it'd become a lawless – wholly chaotic – area. 
TGM: This Administration fell mute as Iran had a Green Revolution where the Iranian people struggled to breathe free.  DN: I got no sense that Iran is negotiating in good faith; same as the US Congress. Pres Obama's strategy seems to be hope.  TGM: Absence of trust from Washington . . . DN: Best example is the DC call for regime change in Egypt – a disaster – and taking out Gaddafy. 
Sen Corker:  In Mr Obama's policy, evident that the Adm holds that to extract ourselves from the ME we need to move away from Israel and close to Iran.
ISIS & al Qaeda are competing for recruits;  Kenya action was al Shebaab in alliance with al Qaeda showing the they don’t need ISIS.
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 1, Block B: Devin Nunes, CA-22, in re: Sen Corker's quotations is more damning than even the Cotton quotation.  Sen Corker just scorched Pres Obama's strategy in the Middle East.  TGM: Did you find anyone who agrees with negotiating with the terrorist regime that calls for death to America?  DN: No, no, no, no, no. A lot of folks are talking about "the deal."  This is a deal to get a framework to get a negotiation for a deal.    JB: Foreign policy is, "Yes we can."  DN:  Saudis see the Houthis as being a lot like Hezbollah, supported by Iran in Lebanon, so Iran controls the Lebanese govt by proxy.  What was fascinating was how fast the Houthis took over the country. Saudis can’t afford tot have a Lebanon on heir border; considering the Strait of Hormuz – if one thing goes sour, it devastates the whole region and global economy  Second, the NW point of Yemen is close to Mecca; if Iran put in enough weapons, it could get to Mecca. Israelis say: if you take off he sanctions, Iran ends up with more money and more international investment (and thus can finance ever more terrorism globally); and it very swiftly becomes truly impossible to revert to sanctions, Also, the so-called deal: it's a difference of from three months to a year in which Iran could weaponize nuclear material. As for Yemen, the Saudis have called in every chip they have for help:  this is their Waterloo, they have to be sure that Iran doesn’t get a foothold in Yemen. 
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 1, Block C: Reza Kahlili, The Daily Caller, & author, A Time to Betray, in re: There are Iranian, EU and US statement . The Iranian statement put out by Zarif:  will it open Parchin or Fordow to inspectors?  Clear that defense industries will not by be available for inspection, and there'll surely be no snap inspection, and the Iranian interpretation of the deal is that sanctions need to be removed immediately.
Iranians say that the US agreed to this.
Framework:  1. Inspection; 2. Sanctions;  3 Strategies.   (1)If no inspections, what use?  (2) if sanctions are removed, then at that time there's no way  to re-place the sanctions: it takes over a decade to put sanctions in effect –  after the influx of investments from companies even now waiting with bated breath to work with the mullahs, and impending contracts for billions of euros – no way to return. (3)  Strategy: Iran expands its power throughout the region. The Reagan Administration succeeded in keeping it somewhat in check, but thereafter funds came in to the Twelvers and Iran began its expansion through Lebanon, Bahrain, South America.  "Our negotiation is over only the nuclear program; our strategy is different." With sanctions relieved, Iran will have billions.  They've conceded to having started with 6,000 centrifuges in 2008 – and today are now back to about 6,000, but of course it’s unknown if they have other, secret sites. The Iranian military apparatus: Lavizon site; IAEA demanded to inspect, Iran refused, eventually razed the whole site and turned it into a park. And still no Parchin inspection.  A year ago we put up a video of the site with [[00]] underground missile silos.  I believe this Adm will lift the embargo and oil sanctions, and Europe will invest.  It's baked in the cake: there will be no inspection and the sanctions will be lifted.   Laser technology for U enrichment; nuclear warheads and delivery system. They will not change their behavior because that's their ideology.  I doubt that there will ever be a red carpet for Pres Obama in Teheran, which the president has sought since Day One of his presidency. Au contraire, the ayatollahs will continue their tease.  Valerie Jarrett's trip to the Middle East in 2011 when she went to see her childhood friend Velayati, advisor to Khamenei and a leader of the attack in Argentina; Jarrett went to set up a meeting between Pres Obama and Ali Hosseini Khamenei, but it's not likely that the Supreme Leader wants to be photographed with the head of the Great Satan.  Why would he be seen with the person he's just humiliated?  Islam will conquer; all the Iranian forces believe this. 
Parchin, Quds, are military sites; Fordow  was supposed to be protected as a military site, but after it was outed the regime eventually gave up, [made it over into a relatively innocent space] and let it be inspected. Once something is revealed, then it’s void, worthless.  They work out of other places. 
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 1, Block D:  Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: China kept the economy going by pouring money into ghost cities and real estate nationwide; prices 'way, 'way down in the last year. Unsold inventory going up. No end in sight.   Citizens font have the money to absorb the overage. Meanwhile, Beijing is buying apts by the hundreds to keep appearances up, but eventually will run out  of cash.  CloudLive has 1/3 of its money to honor its obligations tomorrow.  Another bond default?  Will Beijing rescue it?  China looking to its bond mkts to save the economy. If it doesn't, people won’t have confidence in the bond mkt and it'll get a lot worse.  In five years Beijing created more debt than that held by the entire US banking system. When tools fail, the whole thing collapses in a moment.  Megacities of the future along h Yangtze.  Also combine Tienjin and Beijing; also HK, Macao, Shenzen, et al. – maybe 260 million people in one megacity. Forget GDP growth - not in a command economy. It's exhausted. Might'a worked a decade ago, but not now.
Hour Two
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 2, Block A:  John Fund, National Review Online, & David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, in re:
Rand Paul and Rick Perry are both taking direct aim at Obama's incompetence. Foreign policy feeds into a general sense of instability.  . . .  Security of the US is paramount to enjoy the fruits of liberty.  Disastrous job report: How will Mrs Clinton explain zero GDP? – She remains a sphinx. 
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 2, Block B: John Fund, National Review Online, & David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, in re: Charles Schumer is strongly endorsing Kirk-Menendez law opposing Pres Obama's position Iran. Also, Sen Corker:
“It’s become very evident as to what the administration is doing relative to the Middle East,” Corker said. “The administration’s view is that in order to extract ourselves in the Middle East, we need to move away from our relationship from Israel and we need to more fully align ourselves with Iran, so we create this balance in the Middle East between Iran and its influence and the Arab Sunni influence in the region.” He added: “That seems to be our strategy. And that’s what’s creating all of this turmoil in the region.”
If Pres Obama thought this was a meritorious treaty, he'd submit it to the Senate. Someone will have to blink.   Mrs Clinton would be wise to side with the Senate.  "The server remains private."
DECLASSIFIED  Corker: 'Obama Doctrine' Means Abandoning Middle East    By Josh Rogin    President Barack Obama finally got his framework nuclear deal with Iran, and now has to convince Congress to back off its demand for an up-or-down vote on the final package. Its going to be a tough sell: As of now, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee doesn’t even agree with Obama on what the deal will mean for the region and the world.
In an interview with me last week, before the Obama administration announced the breakthrough between Iran and six major world powers, Republican Senator Bob Corker said he had figured out the overarching objectives of the president’s various moves in the Middle East, including not just Obama’s drive to get a deal with Iran but also his reluctance to get involved in Syria and his treatment of Arab allies and Israel. Corker said Obama just wants to get out of the region.
“It’s become very evident as to what the administration is doing relative to the Middle East,” Corker said. “The administration’s view is that in order to extract ourselves in the Middle East, we need to move away from our relationship from Israel and we need to more fully align ourselves with Iran, so we create this balance in the Middle East between Iran and its influence and the Arab Sunni influence in the region.” He added: “That seems to be our strategy. And that’s what’s creating all of this turmoil in the region.” 
According to Corker, the Iran deal is the lynchpin of Obama’s drive to change the balance of power in Iran’s favor and then remove America’s role from the region. But he said Obama’s plan was fatally flawed because Iran has no intention of reforming.  “The P5+1 discussions are central to that,” Corker said. “The problem with that today, the fact is, Iran hasn’t changed its behavior. That’s why you see so much of what’s happening in the Middle East.”
Obama and Corker have been trying to work together as the Iran negotiations enter their final phase. Corker plans to move forward with his legislation that would mandate a 60-day review period before any deal Obama signs with Iran could go into effect. The White House has promised to veto that bill, but Obama said in an interview with the New York Times’s Thomas L. Friedman that he was open to working with Corker on a rewrite that would allow Congress to express its views but that would not impinge on the presidential prerogative to make foreign policy.
In the Times interview, Obama said that the Iran pact, if it materializes, will be a good deal even if Iran doesn’t change its behavior. But he added that he hopes a deal will turn the page both inside Iran and in the U.S.-Iran relationship. “I’ve been very clear that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on my watch, and I think they should understand that we mean it,” Obama said. “But I say that hoping that we can conclude this diplomatic arrangement -- and that it ushers a new era in U.S.-Iranian relations -- and, just as importantly, over time, a new era in Iranian relations with its neighbors.”
Obama defined his own doctrine as: “We will engage, but we preserve all our capabilities.” American core concerns in the region no longer include oil or territory or strategic interests, the president said. “Our interests in this sense are really just making sure that the region is working,” he said. “And if it’s working well, then we’ll do fine.”
In regard to Israel and the Arab states, Obama denied that he is moving away from them at all. He did say that Sunni Arab countries have to do more to reform politically and respond to the concerns of their people. “When it comes to external aggression, I think we are going to be there for our friends,” said Obama. “But I think the biggest threats that they face may not be coming from Iran invading. It’s going to be from dissatisfaction inside their own countries.”
Corker has been more moderate on the Iran talks than most of his Republican colleagues. He declined add his name to the letter that 47 of them sent to the Iranian regime promising to scuttle any deal after Obama leaves office. He has been working with Democrats including Robert Menendez and Tim Kaine to craft legislation that will get broad bipartisan support.
But Corker and Obama fundamentally disagree on the impact a nuclear Iran deal will have on the region; Obama thinks it will be helpful, Corker thinks it could be catastrophic. Before Obama will be able to convince Congress to trust him on a deal he says will prevent Iran from getting the nuclear bomb, he will have to convince the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that their views of how the deal will affect the world can mesh.
To contact the author on this story:
Josh Rogin at joshrogin@bloomberg.net  To contact the editor on this story:
Tobin Harshaw at tharshaw@bloomberg.net
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 2, Block C:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Charles Schumer is backing Corker-Menendez, saying that the Senate is involved in [anything like a treaty]. Sen Corker's statement of some hours ago has realized that the policies pursued and how they're perceived  is critical. The interview with Tom Friedman [didn’t accomplish much].   When US-Israel relations are seen as fractured, that's a security issue for Israel.  Sen Gillibrand's absence.  If here’s an override of a presidential veto: legislation will be voted out of committee on the TGM:: What influence does the president have that Iran won’t one day overcome Sunni? Sounds like Chamberlain's advocating support for Nazis to countervail other enemies.    . . .  We see 18 tones of weapons to Houthis, and Sudan and other countries. Khamenei: We will never allow them to deal with anything but the narrow issue of the nukes, never with Iran's broader engagement in the region and worldwide.  "We do not negotiate with America on that; America's interest in the region are the opposite of ours."  The averred "fatwa" against nuclear weapons: it’s been bogus from the beginning; scholars who’ve read every single fatwah issued by Khamenei – about 500 - have found zilch.    Khalilzad, who was US amb to Afgh, said to use a so-called fatwah is a mistake: Shia are completely allowed to dissimulate. 
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 2, Block D: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Palestinians wasn’t a UN resolution backing an independent Palestinian state: a time framework and outline for Palestinian statehood.  Avoiding discussions. French threatening to  . . .  Security Council resolution with Venezuela, et al.,  will need a US veto.  Obviate the possibility of true negotiations; Israel can’t agree to a suicidal approach; "IAEA will have  . . . enhanced access . . . "  No one knows what this means in a practical sense. None of what the president spoke of is clear from the various texts.   US says that sanctions lift after Iran is in compliance; Iran completely disagrees.  As for "snap-back" – reverting to sanctions – this cannot be done except over years.   Nowhere in the framework – the more you look, the more contradictins you see,
Hour Three
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 3, Block A: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, in re: Islamic State releases photos from Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus  THREAT MATRIX  . . . camp, including beheading two members of Aknaf Bayt al Maqdis, a group loyal to Hamas.   READ MORE →
Al Qaeda takes control of eastern Yemeni city   Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula took control of Mukallah as President Hadi continues to lose his grip on the country.  READ MORE →
Islamic State releases photo report from Syria’s Hama province THREAT MATRIX  of Al Salamiyah in Hama province. The Islamic State was able to seize a nearby town, as well as release a video showing the execution of several regime soldiers. In the south, the jihadist group was able to enter the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp but is now fighting for control against Jaish al Islam and a group loyal to Hamas. 
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 3, Block B: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, in re: Shabaab massacres dozens in attack on Kenyan university   al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Al Nusrah. ISIS. AQAP storms Yemeni prison, frees jihadist leader   Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) launched a coordinated attack in the coastal city of Mukallah, freeing 300 inmates from the city's central prison, including AQAP leader Khaled al-Batarfi. The old-line established A teams have remained loyal to al Qaeda, which is telling.  Its power has not been usurped by the Islamic State.  . . . Crowd-funding with terrorism.
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 3, Block C:  Josh Rogin, Bloomberg View, in re: DECLASSIFIED  Corker: 'Obama Doctrine' Means Abandoning Middle East / http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-04-06/corker-obama-doctrine-means-abandoning-middle-east
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 3, Block D:   Herb London, London Center for Public Affairs, in re: On the day parameters were reached on a nuclear deal with Iran, President of the London Center for Policy Research Herb London authors a column at The Hill critical of the Obama administration's declassification of a document detailing Israel's nuclear program.
Hour Four
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 4, Block A:  Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Wall Street Journal, in re: WSJ EDITORIAL: THE AMERICAS  Peru Is Chavismo's Next American Target
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 4, Block B: Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Wall Street Journal, in re: WSJ EDITORIAL: THE AMERICAS   Iran and Argentina: The Defectors’ Tale  Three former Venezuelan insiders say Hugo Chávez brokered a cash-for-nuclear-technology deal.
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 4, Block C:  Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution via Defining Ideas, & Chicago Law, in re: Wanted: A Color-Blind Voting Rights Law (1 of 2)
Monday  6 April 2015  / Hour 4, Block D: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution via Defining Ideas, & Chicago Law, in re: Wanted: A Color-Blind Voting Rights Law (2 of 2)
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