Thursday 11 September 2014
Photo, above: Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (NY-15) visiting Israel, praying at the Western Wall (in Hebrew: Kotel) for his daughter's engagement. Later at the Kotel, along with Chief Rabbi Lau and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, he offered comfort and support to Gilad Shaer's father and Naftali Frenkel's mother, pledging, "I will not allow your sons' deaths to be in vain." See Hour 2, Block D, below.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board & host of OpinionJournal.com. Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents.
Hour One
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 1, Block A: Rich Lowry, National Review, in re: Interluk air base in Turkey not available t the US; UK won't participate in attacks in Syria Scotland and Germany hold back; US turns to the Gulf for support. When Bush ordered the surge, he spoke plainly to say it hadn’t worked; Pres Obama's hands-off strategy has failed.
The notorious interview with the New Yorker calling ISIS "jv." What I think we heard last night as maybe a strategy to degrade ISIS and conceivably a chance to destroy it. The graf near the end that stuck out like a sore thumb: auto, tech industry, tech matter, American being best-prepared – a poll-driven section of he speech in response to his numbers, which are in the toilet; trying to sound hawkish with out any commitment. Calling Somalia and Yemen as counterterrorism successes is totally bats. AUMF = authorization for the use of military force. Pres Obama would like to lead from behind – but no one will be out front if we aren't.
Half-hearted measures won’t destroy IS. 'Nothing ruled out' over Syria - UK UK air strikes against Islamic State in Syria have not been ruled out, Number 10 says, after the foreign secretary earlier said Britain would not take part. Obama: US to pursue IS in Syria Will Obama's anti-IS strategy work?
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 1, Block B: Edward W Hayes, criminal defense attorney par excellence, in re: Ramzi Yousef. 9/11. Mayor de Blasio: New York Post broke the story that the New York City mayor has never applied for federal security clearance, so his police commissioner can be given information that the mayor cannot. Mayor has gone to Cuba, and visited the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Commissioner Bratton requested 1,000 additional police officers; de Blasio refused. He'd rather spend the money elsewhere – he's just not that against crime. You see a lot more disoriented people wandering, panhandlers in the subways. The largest number of officers now training in the police academy are Hispanics. Mehdi Nemmouche, the killer in the Brussels museum who also tortured journos in Syria, is relevant after Pres Obama's speech last night. Mosque surveillance troubled me; do they need a lot of intell by one means or another? Yes.
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 1, Block C: Conrad Black, historian, publisher, author; in re: from Pres Obama's speech last night: I found his performance stylistic outrageous – "American leadership at its best" anent several ghastly favors, but when he said he'd use the military to interdict ISIS I was much encouraged. I wouldn’t count on our allies – they’ve gone beyond an "alliance of the willing" – glad to have an American guarantee but doubtful. Not really allies. If the US actually leads and attacks from the air, it’ll shape [events]. This is beyond a hopeful interpretation, it’s prayerful. MK: It was only after the second beheading that the President began to move. . . . CB: We're dealing with the extremely odious ISIS, they don't have any significant antiaircraft capability - can’t shoot down F16s from [30,000? feet] with sophisticated [guided bombs]. I'm like a drowning man grasping for a straw. . . . A sustained American air assault will make a [huge difference]. They terrorize the Jehovah out the people they overrun, but can’t take shelter among them. They’re so abominable and evil, they’re not even like Stalin or Hitler.
Foreign-Policy Crisis Today’s weakness threatens the West.
. . . The guidelines of American and strategic policy for 60 years were laid down by Franklin D. Roosevelt in two addresses he gave to the Congress in January and December, 1941. In his State of the Union message in January, he said that “we must always be wary of those who ‘with sounding brass and tinkling cymbal’ would preach the ‘ism’ of appeasement.” And in his war message following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he said that “we will make very certain that this form of treachery never again endangers us.” The determination of the United States not to be an appeasement power and to retain sufficient deterrent strength to discourage any other nation from attacking it has been generally followed and has been successful. America’s most fanatical enemies thought they had found a method of evasion, with the terrorist attacks launched from failed states and without direct identification with any national government. But the country has been generally safe from such attacks since September 2001, despite the verbose threats of the late Osama bin Laden to send suicide attackers to revisit and torment America. Advertisement But in more conventional international relations, the current administration has effectively adopted a policy of appeasement. Candidate and President-elect Obama promised transformation. And this is the principal transformation he has wrought, and the consequences of this policy about-face, if it is not reversed, will be extremely grave. Since the rise of the nation-state in the 16th century, there has been a discernible pattern to world affairs that established and confirmed the countries that in each era advanced the Western ideas, at first embryonic but broadening fairly steadily, of respect for human rights and free-market economics as the most influential states in the world. Western civilization has spread from the time of Queen Elizabeth I and the . . .
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 1, Block D: Gene Countryman, KNSS Wichita, in re:
Paul Davis, Dem Candidate for Governor, meeting with Sebelius?? Democrats now want to take their candidate's name off the ballot; case will go to the Kansas Supreme Court right away. "Up until last week no one has done any research on Ormond or how he's made his money." That'll change now. "When Kansas is in trouble, the horses come running. Just like 1856."
Democrat sues to get name off Kansas Senate ballot
Hour Two
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 2, Block A: Uzi Landau, Israeli Minister of Tourism, is MK for Yisrael Beiteinu; MK, served as Minister of Internal Security from 2001 to 2003; in re: Protective Edge, Israeli economy, security concerns. ISIS. Ramallah streets named after notorious terrorists. We're waiting for a [partner] in the Palestinian Authority. Abu Mazen's terms was up in 2009; he just keeps extending his term. Were he sure of being elected, he's hold an election. Last week a famous Palestinian group published: If Abu Mazen ran against Haniyah, he'd lose. {Summary: Abbas is a political terrorist; it's he whom John Kerry deals with routinely.]
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 2, Block B: Andrew J. Tabler is a senior fellow in the Program on Arab Politics Washington Institute, where he focusses on Syria and U.S. policy in the Levant; in re: Syria, Visit to Golan, Islamist Groups up North, ISIS
. . . capture of UN forces indicates the overall weakness and lack of legitimacy of the frontier. Al Nusrah: takfiri jihadists largely of foreign nations, e.g., Chechens. A threat to the people of the region, driving out the Syrian refugees. External intervention, probably Qatar, got the soldiers released – who, once free, immediately went to Israel! Israelis went in to help the Irish soldiers get out. Some Israelis are getting nostalgic about the days of Assad. Only frontier attacks are Hezbollah or ____. Is the Islamic State a direct threat to Israel right now? Not exactly; it demonstrates its ability, and some persons pledging obedience to it.
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 2, Block C: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: In is closing remarks, res Obama spoke of Yemen and Somalia as successes. Yikes! Somalia has been a failed state for two decades. Al Sebaab is the local al Q affiliae=te; theyre gansters, nothing torecommend htem except theyre a translnational scourge of the region, The north of Somalia is cut off. A failed, state filled with frightened refugees. Yemen is at he edge of clidff; theHouthis. Situation deteriorating so rapidly that citing it as good is incomprehensible, Tribal divisions, north-south divisonl Sanaa has huge demos demanding the overthrow of the govt, backed by Iran (the proxy war 'twixt Saudis and Iran). Yemeni troops tried to rout Houthis with ltd success; natl survival is a matter of days. Controls the straits, through which passes a great deal of the Middle Eastern oil – and Somalia is one ht other side, A major religious leader this weak asked his followers to support ISIS. The UAE is scared for cause. Iraq, Syria, Somalia Yemen - the West is losing l these; heading to collapse of the region. Estimates that 60 to 80% of Syrian chem. weapons continue; breathtaking that the president called that successful, as te weapons are still being used. Iran now has operating a new 300-km range missile – game-changer, extremely dangerous. Iran accuses the US of creating ISIS and Taliban to fight Iran. Russian Minister there speaking of amplifying trade tenfold. Will meet in Vienna with P-3 – not including the US. IAEA accuses Iran of withholding essential nuclear information. Not possible to obliterate ISIS from air – need ground forces deeply involved. ___ satellites come at a different angle. Membership of ISIS? maybe 30,000. Long War Journal cited IS presence in 32 countries, incl 11 European nations. beheading in many countries now because it’s a successful recruiting tool! These are all gangsters.
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 2, Block D: Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (NY-15), on Foreign Affairs Committee, in re: Thirteen years after the attack on New York it feels like yesterday. Just back from visiting Kazakhstan, Israel, and _. Kazakhstan is a key US ally: the center of the Earth between Russia and China, near Afghanistan and Pakistan; were very helpful to US in Afgh, allowing access through their borders. Now, helping with ISIS. US seems not to recognize the help it's provided, even in face of much pressure from Moscow. Wants to join the WTO. In Israel, just after the end of the conflict: Israelis are resilient – what they’ve gone through just trying to live in peace. The general public hadn’t earned where Hamas had placed its weapons: in schools and hospitals. Thank God for the Iron Dome, which shot down almost 6,000 missiles. Hamas uses every dollar it's got to figure out how to attack Israel. [Congr Meeks visited the tunnels.] At least 100 feet underground; how sophisticated they re – could stand up in them and walk through; had wires for electricity, took two years to build them. Finding them is like looking for a needle in a haystack; cost of building 33 tunnels is $80 to 100 million.
Hour Three
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 3, Block A: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Hamas has several thousand rockets (from Iran) left in their defensive tunnels . Egypt keeps border closed. Hamas has done naught toward reconstructions. Tens of thousands of Hamas employees expecting to be paid by Abbas have not been paid. Hamas says "If no change by 25 Sept, rockets will fly." Iran says it'll provide more eqpt" Abbas wants the UN to negotiate, not the US – because he doesn't want negotiations. Hamas says, "Give us the West Bank from which to rocket Israel." Egypt sees Hamas as a threat; Sis has declared war on it, has worked to pacify the Sinai; play mischief in the UN but are cooperative on the ground. Arab countries are weary of all this – have to pay lip service because of h "Arab street" [which the Arab leaders have long whipped up in order to divert public attention from the leadership's massive shortcomings]. Syrians and Iranians are furious that they’ve been left out of the anti-ISIS coalition. Iran was first to give weapons to Kurds to fight ISIS. If Iran and Hezb control Syria completely, and even eliminate ISIS, that leaves . . . In France, anti-Jewish attacks have doubled in several months, incl physical assaults; fivefold increase in the UK. Greek govt has courageously moved against anti-Jewish activity; esp since Golden Dawn has parliamentary member. Warning in UK that anti-Israel boycotts are in fact merely anti-Jewish. France is [the worst]: in Many places in France, Jews and Christians can’t live. The reverse Nazi salute is dreadful; not only against Jews by North Africans, but far left and far right are joining. IS appeals to them.
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 3, Block B: Jonathan Spyer is a Middle East analyst, author and journalist specializing in the areas of Israel, Lebanon, Syria and broader issues of regional strategy. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum; in re: basing US air in Erbil, among the Kurds, constitutes a reversal of US policy and shows how staunch the Kurds are in their support of the US. Also shows huge changes in US relations with Turkey. The Kurds lack everything but courage. ISIS got with in a few dozen miles of Erbil, were stopped only by US air help. Baghdad's policy of starving the Kurds of everything incl decent weapons. Senior peshmerga commanders all stress that they care to defend their territory, not in a campaign southward to defend the Arab parts. US officially favors territorial integrity of Iraq rather than an independent Kurdistan, whose emergence was somewhat pushed back by the poor performance of pershmerga a few weeks ago. Kurds have maintained three cantons is Syria. The YPG militia in Syria, lightly armed with Kalashnikovs and machine guns, have not been displaced – but they're associated with the PKK, called terrorist. Profound sadness of all life in Syria having been stopped by the war. "We know that Syria is gone, but we don’t know what's coming."
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 3, Block C: Daniel Henninger, WSJ, in re: http://online.wsj.com/articles/dan-henninger-the-humbling-of-a-president-1410390751
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 3, Block D: Fred Burton, Stratfor.com, in re: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Fire-Untold-Attack-Benghazi/dp/1250041104
Hour Four
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 4, Block A: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, & The Libertarian, in re: The Libertarian: “Confronting ISIS” (1 of 2)
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 4, Block B: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, & The Libertarian, in re: The Libertarian: “Confronting ISIS” (2 of 2)
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 4, Block C: Eli Lake, senior national security correspondent, Daily Beast, in re: In a stunning turnaround, the Obama administration is arguing that a law authorizing a war on al Qaeda be used to justify strikes on al Qaeda’s foes
Thursday 11 September 2014 / Hour 4, Block D: Seb Gorka, Marine Corps University & Breitbart, in re: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/09/11/The-Gipper-Declares-War-on....