The John Batchelor Show

Monday 8 December 2014

Air Date: 
December 08, 2014

Photo, above: A slave market in Khartoum, Sudan, c. 1876.  See Hour 3, Block B, Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, on Iran's heavy presence in Khartoum. 

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes, and author, Liberty Risen.

Hour One

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 1, Block A: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor,  & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD (1 of 2) in re:   Representative of Ayman al Zawahiri reportedly captured in Turkey  Abd al Baset Azzouz, an al Qaeda operative who served as Ayman al Zawahiri's representative in Libya, was captured in Turkey in mid-November. Azzouz is reportedly being investigated for his possible ties to the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi.       AQAP murders 2 hostages, including an American, during US rescue attempt  Forty special operations troops assaulted an al Qaeda compound in the southern province of Shabwa in an attempt to free American photojournalist Luke Somers.       Pakistani army kills senior al Qaeda commander tasked with attacking the West  Pakistan claimed it killed Adnan Shukrijumah in a raid in South Waziristan. Shukrijumah, who was wanted by the US, was al Qaeda's operations chief for North America.      Caucasus Emirate attacks police, press in Chechen capital of Grozny  Dozens of fighters fanned out across the Chechen capital and attacked police and other government targets. The Press House was set ablaze.

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 1, Block B: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor,  & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD (2 of 2), in re:

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 1, Block C: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, in re:

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 1, Block D:  Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: China Arrests Former Security Czar in Major Political Purge China's former Politburo Standing Committee Member Zhou Yongkang . . .  Chou Yong-kang has been arrested; rumors that the Chinese PM will not get a second term at the XIX Party Congress  all this suggests that China is partially going off the rails. Two opinions: it’s going to crash; or, nah it'll recover. Chinese gamblers are not spending much – they're no longer allowed to use real estate to borrow against for gambling.  The narrative is that Xi quickly consolidated power when he arrived; I think there are factions in the Party and they’re slugging it out.  Because Xi has broken the rule of not prosecuting former members of the Standing Committee. "You can use the state police power against the people but not against the elite." Xi returns to the Maoist era of doing in your enemies. This could rip the Party apart.  Formerly, "If you lose, you can go away quietly" – which restored tranquility to the Party.

The Sony hack.  North Korea denies 'righteous' hack attack on Sony

In October, gamin revenue in Nevada was down 4.3% year-on-year, according to the State Gaming Control Board. The Las Vegas Strip saw a decline of 5.6%. Without baccarat, the casinos would have been in good shape. The state as a whole would have been up 1.2%. The Strip? Up 5.6% without the card game. On the Vegas Strip, baccarat revenue plunged, down a stunning 35.5% during October. What happened? Brent Pirosch, a CBRE analyst in Las Vegas, has the answer: Chinese gamblers stayed away. There are empty baccarat tables in Singapore too, but nowhere are the problems more evident than in Macau, a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. In October, gaming revenue there was off 23.2%.  China's economic difficulties are now hitting Las Vegas

Hour Two

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 2, Block A:  David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent; John Fund, National Review Online, in re: Govt runs out of money this Thursday at midnight. Chromnibus:  fund the govt in FY 2015 until only February to GOP can have leverage over the president's authorization for 4.1 million immigrants.   Harry Reid is about to become Minority Leader with no prospect of becoming Majority Leader again – and he blames Pres Obama as feckless. We know this from Reid's aide.  Mr MConnell iwll attack EPA overregulations; thinks he can break a filibuster, send the bill to president's desk to force him to veto. Jeb Bush for president? How bad do you want it – you almost have to be willing to sell your family to get it. I think he'd like to be there, but not that he'd like to run. "The white sheep of the Bush family" – but he's prickly, doesn't want to placate the base.  TGM: I think the GOP is looking for someone to lead and to challenge them.

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 2, Block B: David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent; John Fund, National Review Online, in re: Democrats. Mrs Clinton.  Greg Sargent in WaPo: "Do the Dems Have a Plan B" (no).   He thinks the GOP will control the House through 2020, and thus during the next Census.   Mrs Pelosi has asked for a big data reed to determine their new direction; are in despair.  Do the Dems have a vision? Have to go through what the GOP went through.  GOP has worked partly through the process; Dems are starting to grapple with the question but that issue was concealed by the fact that they have the White House.  Mrs Clinton hovers over the party – she's safe but boring; has no answer to the central question: the average American family has seen its income decline $2300 since 2008. Neither party has an answer to the middle-class angst. How can you run these days while embracing govt?  Her tenure as Secy of State – cannot be defended right now.  . . . from blue collars all the way to the peacenik wing that wants to [cousin up] to the groups that want to kill us.

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 2, Block C: John Nicolson, Scot; reporter and political analyst (1 of 2); in re:  http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/i-saw-the-immigration-lies-a-mile-off--and-now-nobody-can-deny-it-9888641.html      
Former Leader of Scottish Government Seeks Return to Politics Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former first minister and a champion of Scottish independence, said on Sunday that he would seek election to the British Parliament in May, opening another chapter in a career marked by political comebacks.

Mr. Salmond relinquished the post of Scotland’s first minister, and the leadership of his Scottish National Party, after a referendum in September that rejected independence. But few expected Mr. Salmond, 59, to retire quietly, and there was widespread speculation that he planned to return to the British Parliament, where he held a seat from 1987 to 2010. Addressing supporters in the Scottish town of Ellon on Sunday, Mr. Salmond said that he wanted to contest the Gordon constituency in northeast Scotland in next year’s general election. If elected, Mr. Salmond could find himself at Westminster during an important time for Scotland and for the rest of Britain. Legislation is due to be passed next year that would give more power to the Scottish Parliament, including over areas such as income tax and welfare spending. Most opinion polls predict that the Scottish National Party, or S.N.P., will make gains in Scotland during the general election, which could give it influence over who forms the next British government.

On Sunday, Mr. Salmond said he would fight to ensure that the greater power promised to Scotland by Britain’s main political parties in the run-up to the independence referendum was “honored and delivered” if he were elected. He also said that in the event of an unclear election result in May, his party would not support the Conservative Party, which is now led by Prime Minister David Cameron. “We are not going to deal with the Conservative Party formally or informally in any shape or form,'’ Mr. Salmond told the BBC. “They are not trusted in Scotland.” “But that leaves a number of other permutations in which the S.N.P. can exert a decisive influence,” he added. Mr. Salmond said that a formal coalition with the opposition Labour Party was “unlikely” but did not rule it out.

Regarded as one of the most assured politicians of his generation, Mr. Salmond became leader of the Scottish National Party in 1990. He stepped down as party leader in 2000 only to regain the position four years later. During his career, he has also represented two constituencies in the Scottish Parliament, and in 2007 he became Scotland’s first minister at the head of a minority administration. He then led his party to a big victory in Scottish elections in 2011. Though the Scottish voters ultimately rejected independence in September’s referendum, the campaign appears to have energized supporters of the Scottish National Party. Its membership has surged

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 2, Block D: John Nicolson, Scot; reporter and political analyst in Glasgow (2 of 2).

Hour Three

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 3, Block A:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  Syria.  Israeli air force raided near Damascus. Last time: it was to stop the transfer of missiles from Iran to Hezbollah. "Israel will not allow Iran to provide Hezbollah, internationally designated as a terrorist organizations, even ore deadly weapons.  Estimated 100,000 missiles in their arsenal in Lebanon, plus many shoulder-fired missiles.  The Hezb newspaper said: Israel hit weapons "that were able to tilt the " [power balance in the region]. Even Syrian TV and Hezb TV reported that Israeli attacks caused NO casualty A pinpoint strike n a very well-planned attack.  the IRGC still tries to smuggle these weapons through Syria into Lebanon. King Abdullah of Jordan said, Russia has replaced Iran as the major guarantor in Syria. 

Sudan was divided in half in 2011, Before that, many reports of Iran smuggling weapons into Khartoum, which now is one of its client capitals – along with Baghdad, Damascus, Sanaa.   The Egyptian govt under al Sisi is working sedulously to stop Iranian weapons on its 1600 km border with Sinai – and also has 1600 km border with Libya.   Permanent presence of IRGC battalion, and a permanent air base for its use; prepositioning of weapons and munitions in Sudan.   Sergei Lavrov visited Khartoum next week.  . . . Heavy-water research in reactor in Iraq.  [?]Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari is now so well known for screaming loudly in international negotiations that security guards rushing in have become used to the problem.

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 3, Block B: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Yemen hostages killed – American and South African.  Yemen has collapsed into the hands of the Houthis, Iran's surrogates.  Failed state in the Arabian peninsula.  Two weeks ago several hostages were freed.   tensions escalate; little being done to rout the Houthis or their ability to control hte Straits.  ICC give Palestinians observer status, so it can raise an issue on its own – a prelude to actions where, if Pal is rejected by Security Council in any matter, they’ll go to the International Court. Note that Palestinians are also liable to trial for [atrocities].  Both UK and Canada have evacuated their embassies in Cairo out of fear of a Muslim Brotherhood attack. 

Yemen.  Iran now a permanent force in Sudan.  Designating Muslim Brothers as a terrorist organization: why the US won’t.  Sanctions against Israel. Hamas delegation in Iran today: "to normalize relations."  Iran succeeds in having the US cooperate in Iran's regional predation. Now finding Chinese in Iraq and Syria. 

Cement and Gaza. Israel has been sending huge amounts – 1760 tons of cement went from Israel into Gaza on last Sunday (44 truckloads) – and Hamas is rebuilding tunnels and building missile emplacement.  ICC Palestine. GOP leader said:  Dems are taking a stronger line than the GOP.

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 3, Block C:  Paul Gregory, Hoover, in re: http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2014/11/26/berlin-and-washington-the-political-battles-that-could-decide-ukraines-fate/

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 3, Block D:   Reza Kahlili, author, A Time to Betray, & The Daily Caller, in re: Iran: We Will Get the Bomb

Hour Four

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 4, Block A: North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era: A New International Security Dilemma (Palgrave Pivot. . .) by Bruce E. Bechtol (1 of 4)

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 4, Block B: North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era: A New International Security Dilemma (Palgrave Pivot. . .) by Bruce E. Bechtol (2 of 4)

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 4, Block C: North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era: A New International Security Dilemma (Palgrave Pivot. . .) by Bruce E. Bechtol (3 of 4)

Monday  8 December  2014  / Hour 4, Block D: North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era: A New International Security Dilemma (Palgrave Pivot. . .) by Bruce E. Bechtol (4 of 4)