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JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 1, Block A: Tom Joscelyn, FDD and Long War Journal, and Bill Roggio, FDD and Long War, in re:  FDR's radio address, ____1941, on facing a new and unfamiliar kind of war in places with which Americans had no familiarity. Tom: The story is a little more complicated that ISIS claimed.  Does the president still holds that al Qaeda is defeated?  That shifts from day to today. ISIS gets enormous media attention, but al q pursues he opposite strategy and strikes back at ISIS in a hard way, incl in Somalia, Libya Mali.  Bill:  Afghan and Pakistani officials are spotty in reporting the deaths of senior Taliban leaders.  The fellow reported dead is not.   The fewer assets we have on the ground, the harder it gets for us to get useful info; as the US withdraws, Taliban takes over 30 districts, and 40 hotly contested.  JB:  A vast canvas. The struggle ahead will take a long time, lots of sacrifice, lots of learning. 
Taliban emir denies reports of his death  In a new audio message, Taliban emir Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour denies that he was killed in a shootout in Pakistan. Afghan officials and other sources recently said that the Taliban leader was slain by a rival commander. But Mansour dismisses these reports as mere "propaganda." READ MORE →
Islamic State issues first official statement on San Bernardino terrorist attack  The Islamic State's Al Bayan "news" bulletin describes the San Bernardino terrorists as "soldiers" of the "caliphate" in English, but as "supporters" in Arabic. The group has not claimed that the shooters received any operational direction or assistance. Federal authorities are still investigating that possibility.
Islamic State-affiliated ‘news’ agency praises San Bernardino shootings  The 'Amaq News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic State, issued a statement saying the San Bernardino shootings were the work of the jihadist group's "supporters." However, the message is not an official claim of responsibility and didn't include any details that were not already available in the Western press.
Why the Islamic State tells supporters to swear allegiance before dying  Tashfeen Malik, one of the two San Bernardino shooters, reportedly swore allegiance to the Islamic State's Abu Bakr al Baghdadi as the attack got under way. This is consistent with what the Islamic State tells its followers to do and other terrorists have done the same in the past.
Female suicide bombers continue to strike in West Africa  At least 75 women and girls have carried out suicide attacks in northwest Nigeria, northern Cameroon, and southwestern Chad since the beginning of June 2014.
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 1, Block B: Tom Joscelyn, FDD and Long War Journal, and Bill Roggio, FDD and Long War, in re:  From the Atlantic Ocean to the Hindu Kush.  Southern Yemen as al Q takes over: controls a vast contiguous territory along he southern coast, grabbed from Houthis and others.  Sometimes executes a bombing, but it also actually captures capitals.  Recently took Zinjibar and Jarr; from ____ to Aden.  AQAP has a massive war against he Houthis (who are backed by Iran) – where Houthis destabilized Yemen and made sure that there was no local partner to the US.  Then a lQ blds its own coalition and takes advantage of chaos to claim territory.   . . . We can identify at least ten guys we've replaced the al Q leaders whom the US has "taken out."  Note that Boko Haram also uses female fighters. . . . Routine suicide bombers. Nigerian mil claims this and that, but the Boko Haram threat has not at all abated.  Eastern Nigeria, esp in the Chad Lake Region. 
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 1, Block C: Michael Rubin, AEI, & Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: Lajes!   Airfield in the middle of the Atlantic has been crucial through a number of wars. Can hold a few thousand personnel, but it's a ghost town, school shuttered (in perfect condition), and houses and apt bldgs are empty. A huge waste of a fantastic asset. Portugal wants the US to keep its base there; Washington is drifting off; China is snooping around and about to lease the place the US built: both a sophisticated air field and a good port.   The chairman of House Intell, Devin Nunes, raised this matter; what's the pretext for leaving?   . . . [Not much.]  What'll happen if we leave?  [Not good.]  DOD plans to move this to London – where it's not only vastly more expensive but nit nearly as useful. Can be 23400 mi closer to the IS, and control the mouth of the Med. Will also have a base in Walvis Bay, southern Africa. US is giving China the chance to take over a tip-top facility.  Whenever a US strike facility leaves, it has to pass by the Azores; also, the Azores are the divert area for out aircraft if anything goes wrong. IF Chinese are there. this becomes very, very dangerous.  US is fighting freedom-of-navigation issues in southeast Asia – and now we turn over a massive airfield and port to Beijing.   What is this?? Not a strategy – it's a case of bureaucratic blinders.  Does the US not regard China as a military power? Thinks that China doesn't have  a fleet?  When China starts staffing up Walvis Bay in Namibia, the Pentagon will wake up. We don't want Chinese panes flying within twelve miles of the Continental US. Our  major problem is self-inflicted wounds.  Sometimes a short-term investment can head off a huge, long-term expense.    this is the gateway that Xi Jinping needs to make Africa take noticed.  China will be in the Gulf of Aden [and Djibouti].  The head of Africom could be in the Azores instead of in Stuttgart! Azores have always been critical in transferring eqpt from the US to Europe. 
Xi in Africa: China Africa Trade: President Xi Jinping Commits $60 Billion in ...  Chinese President Xi Jinping made the announcement at the opening of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg ... ; Chinese president Xi Jinping began his African tour to discuss trade    http://www.businessinsider.com/china-may-be-trying-to-take-over-a-critical-us-air-base-in-the-atlantic-2015-11
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 1, Block D: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: China maintains close relations with Zimbabwe but plays that down out of embarrassment. GM builds cars in China and intends to sell them in the US.   GM's deliberate mercantilist plan to gut US mfrg. This is a specific car that can profitably be made in the US.  Beijing for the first time ever declared a red alert, about twelve hours ago till noon Thurs: air is 40 times worse than acceptable by the UN WHO. Can't tell day from night.; schools closed, offices shut down.  Also in Tienjin and neighboring provinces; covers a good portion of northeastern China. If they had democracy they  could have a popular voice from the bottom up. Jack Ma of AliBaba said, "Los Angeles cleaned this up; why can't we?"  -- because you don't have representative government!
 
Hour Two
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 2, Block A:  Devin Nunes, Chairman of House Intelligence Committee, in re:  a long, drawn-out investigation, can't rule out that this is part of a larger problem within the US.  San Berdoo was precisely the scale of attack we've been worried about – and more about people we don't know about. These two are exactly that. Bad actors embedded in the US.  Europe now has an impossible problem – so, so  many and their borders are so open. This is why it's critical that if you see something worrisome, call the police immediately. A coming attack could be as large at s 9/11. So many Al Q branches have opened from Iraq to the Philippines.  ISIS and al Q are the estranged sisters organizations. I know that it's tough for the president to contradict what he said in 2012, but he needs to address the fact that al Q is growing.   NYPD says clearly that as much of a concern as I SIS is, it's al Q that's the monster that wants to bring down New York.   ISIS has so much money that it can finance a big operation; not much info about San Berdoo – could lead back to a [large organization].  The president needs to be able to say that this is Islamic terrorism, plain and simple, and the ISIS and al Q are growing, All of us in Washington needsto work together, incl having a clear picture of the intelligence so you can target it accurately.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/06/heres-what-obama-said-in-his-sunday-night-address-an-annotated-transcript/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_obama-8pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
“I commend the FBI for acknowledging the San Bernardino killings as an act of terror. It is now time for President Obama to acknowledge this act was committed by the same Islamic jihadist movement – including al Qaeda and its estranged sister organization ISIS – that we have battled for fifteen years. Despite the President's statements that ISIS is contained and that al Qaeda is on the run, the events in San Bernardino show that the threat is real and growing. For the sake of the safety of the American people and our allies, the President must use every available resource to take the fight to the enemy.”  -- Devlin Nunes on Friday 4 December
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 2, Block B: John Fund, NRO, and David M Drucker, Washington Examiner, in re: ObL is dead but al Q is strong and growing.  President Obama anent major natl events esp terrorism, he wants to seem to be the antithesis of G W  Bush.  When the country is on edge, you want he president to get on TV to say it'll be OK because here are the steps I'm taking that are new and different; he already suffers from a public perception that he doesn't have a handle on this and his speech did nothing to alleviate that. The pres is whistling past a natl security graveyard hoping that the next 400-odd days wont bring yet another, worse event.  Hillary Clinton looks ill, being lashed to the mast of political correctness.  . . .  Pres Obama did not make the country feel as though someone is in charge. He seems to be trapped. I don't think he can think his way out of this.   . .  He doesn't have the skill set to lead the Congress, or the country when it doesn't know where it wants to go. His MO is to say, "Look, I'm smart and know what I'm doing; why doesn't the rest of the country get with the program?"  . . . Had the president said he was going to blow up the ISIS oil well, might've ruined his Paris summit.  [He can't do that: Pres Obama is hand in glove with Erdogan, who's making tons of money selling ISIS oil. –ed] We're a few weeks away form Mrc C calling for more aggressive action.
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 2, Block C: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: The people of Venezuela have turn on the Chavistas bullies and had a landslide in midterm/parliamentary elections.  How little attention the US press gave to this election, which could be the unraveling of the Chavista bloc and entire multi-nation empire. Might challenge Maduro. May release political prisoners. In 2015 had 100% inflation; all numbers of the economy are horrendous.   In 2016, growth will be -6% !    Chavez and his crew have extremely close ties with Iran, which mines uranium there, and blt a cement factory, extensive mil facilities; the flight from Venezuela to Syria to Iran; 30K to 40K gents the Iran has in Venezuela.  Bet that Maduro tries oppo tactics – look for violence.     Fireworks and Champagne in the street late at night. In France, Marine LePen's National Front won in regional elections, has become a mainstream party. Dec 13 will be the final round; Sarkozy and Hollande are scrambling, In some regions. Socialists pulled their candidates and urged their members to vote for the Conservative.  Across-the board appeals.   German courts were thinking of barring he farthest-Right party – National Democratic Party.  Finally, the Constitutional Court has agreed to have a March hearing to consider this. Yes, anti-Jewish events are much increasing, along with anti-Christian.  Egypt ordering F-16s?  Instead, Russian planes? Russia financing planes to the tune of $600 mil?  Also, a flight from Cairo to Damascus.  Delivering S300 (MU2) missile systems to Iran and using the S400 in Syria.
Kerry’s ‘one state’ comments cause consternation in Israel
 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry set off an uproar in Israel on Sunday after warning that the country, through its continued West Bank occupation, will become a “binational state.” Kerry’s words describe a scenario that would mark a failure of U.S. policy and end to Israel’s existence as a country that is both Jewish and democratic.
Deutch, Frankel election advantages: new districts, no challenger
 Ted Deutch avoided a potential political headache when a prospective primary opponent said Friday she wouldn’t run and endorsed his candidacy for a newly drawn, Broward-based congressional district. Stephanie Toothaker, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer with ties to former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and his family, said last month she was considering a congressional candidacy.
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 2, Block D: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Iran does a second missile launch since it wasn't punished for the [illegal] first one.
Ballistic missile from Iran: violation of the Vienna "accord."  IAEA report this weekend said Iran had continued nuclear dvpts till 2009, not 2003; and have made it impossible to set a baseline upon which the rest of the agreement can rest. Iran charging ahead and demanding money.  Mrs Clinton. 
Kerry – today passed Mrs Clinton as the most-travelled Secretary of State. Why did he say that dvpts on the ground in the Middle East could lead to a one-state solution. Abbas is tired, Israel might collapse the PA.  What he missed is that the PA has repeated failed to keep its basic commitments.  Both Palestinians and Israel reject a one-state solution. The problem is that the PA consistently runs incitement – brutal, racist, bigoted incitements to violence. TGM: It's a shame those million miles couldn't all have been in the same direction. PA urges Palestinian workers to quit working at their well-paying jobs in the West Bank (Palestinians and Israelis get the same wages).  
Hour Three
 
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 3, Block A: Arif Rafiq President, Vizier Consulting, (vizierconsulting.com), and Non-Resident Fellow, Middle East Institute ; in re: the San Bernardino shootings.  http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-bernardino-malik-pakistan-20151204-story.html
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 3, Block B: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board & host of OpinionJournal.com; in re:  It's difficult for the political left in the US today to admit the existence of evil.   Current president seems to be trying to [quash] a lot of actions and discussion and just pass the whole thing on to the next president.   Opinion Journal: France’s Far-Right Rises  The Editorial Page Writer Sohrab Ahmari on why voters are flocking to Marine Le Pen’s National Front.  Opinion Journal: The Gun Control Debate  The Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot on the Democratic policy priorities following the San Bernardino terrorist a . . .
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 3, Block C:   Josh Rogin, Bloomberg View, in re:  Administration policy hitherto has been to negotiate with Assad to get him to leave. That plan may no longer be feasible. Then that Assad needs to stay in charge [to keep everything from, in effect, blowing up].  Last night Pres Obama said not a word on the matter. In the interim, the policy looks muddled and incoherent.  What they're thinking about is, How do we advance this issue? Maybe to concede it all to Russia and Iran.  As they say, "Once you've lost, you've got nothing to lose."   . . .    Turkey, Qatar, Saudi, Jordan, have been supporting the rebels against Assad.  They also hold that there's no way to defeat ISIS with Assad in place.  Both Democrats and Republicans have been supporting the rebels; haven't been  consulted at all while the Obama Adm in effect has dinner with Assad.   http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-07/obama-no-longer-seems-sure-assad-must-go
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 3, Block D: Larry Johnson, No Quarter, in re: When It Comes to Fighting the Islamic State, Obama Is Lost  A fool in the wilderness. That is Barack Obama. His ridiculous performance last night exposed his buffoonery and delusion. Here was the critical take . . .    How Delusional Is Barack Obama?  We will find out tonight. Barack Obama is set to speak to the nation in between the end of the NFL Red Zone and...
 
Hour Four
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 4, Block A: Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, by Timothy Snyder  Part I of III (segment 1 of 4)
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 4, Block B: Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, by Timothy Snyder  Part I of III (segment 2 of 4) 
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 4, Block C: Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, by Timothy Snyder  Part I of III (segment 3 of 4)
Monday 7 December 2015  / Hour 4, Block D: Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, by Timothy Snyder  Part I of III (segment 4 of 4)
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