Photo, left: The Battle of Gaugamela (Greek: Γαυγάμηλα), also called the Battle of Arbela, was the decisive battle of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Even though heavily outnumbered, Alexander emerged victorious due to his superior tactics and army. It was a decisive victory for the Hellenic League and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire. This dispositive battle between West and East is still mourned in parts of the Levant and well remembered in Iran.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Co-hosts: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board & host of OpinionJournal.com.  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents.
 
Hour One
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 1, Block A: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board & host of OpinionJournal.com; in re: The shooter today. AEI Critical Threats Project Director Frederick Kagan on how the nuclear deal will reshape the Middle East. The author Mike Malone on his new book, Team Genius, co-authored with Rich Karlgaard, and how its lessons apply to presidential campaigns: Teams need to be composed of persons of opposite or conflicting ideas –contentious yet in collegiality - to the candidate's. Both Mrs Clinton and Jeb Bush fail in this.  "Mr Trump is bringing heat to a campaign that needs more light." Mrs Clinton can now link Mr Trump's excesses to the GOP. He was a registered Democrat till 2009. . .
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 1, Block B:  Edward W Hayes, criminal defense attorney par excellence, in re: current New York City policy concerning vagrants, visibly mad people, very uncomfortable homeless people (many mentally ill) – all now left alone to wander mad or urinate in the middle of the sidewalk or attack passers-by, untouched by police at the behest of the mayor.
DeBlasio and Bratton and the Commons under assault by disorder.  The city’s first lady is planning to unveil a “very bold plan” that will change how New York handles mental health problems, de Blasio said.  “Let’s face it, a lot of our street homeless have very serious mental health issues and substance abuse issues and we intend to treat this situation very differently,” he said.   [more]
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 1, Block C:  Lara M Brown, George Washington University, in re: Mrs Clinton has too few small contributors, a big burn rate, and only now is rebuilding her damaged mailing list (send 2.5 mil emails, find only 100K are good) – very bad preparation. These days, expenses are front-loaded as a campaign builds digital capacity. She probably was obliged by events to declare early.  She may be a poor manager. All the talk of "inevitability" may cause her to think she should be running an incumbent's campaign.  . . .  Her approach looks like, "If we just stay on track we'll be fine" – but that's dangerously inflexible in the real world. Bernie Sanders won't be the candidate, but he's garnered a lot of support.. She's done better on the hard-money front than are most GOP candidates.  She's counting on John Podesta to win the election and run the White House; she could not fire him – Center for American Progress, et al.  . . . Mrs Clinton's speeches couldn’t excite a snail. Does she have any words besides "growth" and "fairness"?   Who'll deliver the millennials?  MK: "Clinton campaign is narrow, data-driven."
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 1, Block D:  David Grinspoon, Planetary Science Institute, Baruch S. Blumberg Chair of Astrobiology, Library of Congress, in re: Pluton (small planet)  and Charon in binary orbit. See NASA new pix of Pluto. Missions where we se a whole new word for the first time are few and far between, but this planet is mysterious with unexpected features.  A lot of new planetary science will emerge from this.   There are a few craters; but one, of a range 200 mi across in great detail: zero crater there. Very surprising, This is a young and active surface.  Most Solar System bodies have craters; if not, erosion or tectonics or vulcanism is erasing them.  On the surface of Charon, a mountain coming out of a mole. Looks like an impact crater, but (probably) isn't.  Mt Sharp on Mars is a pile of sediment laid down by water and wind, but Charon has only a wisp of an atmosphere. Absent gravity, the crust can tolerate more [weight]. Recall the high-res image of Pluto – one of a mosaic covering a big swath of Pluto.  because this spacecraft is small, has a small antenna, is so far away –it'll take long to download all the pix. Heat source?  --radioactive??  [more]
Hour Two.
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 2, Block A: Orde Félix Kittrie, professor of law, Arizona State University, in re: international law, especially nonproliferation and sanctions, anent the Iran deal. China has supplied 90% of Iran;' illicit nuclear materials, incl routing US materials there.  White House claims that there's no evidence that North Korea is involved in such thing, but it clearly acknowledges that China is.  North Korean-Syrian project was well known.  . . .   China has an interest in distracting the US from the Far East, so China makes money and deflects Western displeasure. Iran can easily circumvent the just-announced deal, which best covers existing/known sites. To what degree is China thinking long-term, but one broker, Karl Lee, a China-based nuclear supplier ($5mill reward for him from State), and US has been complaining about him since 2004 but China wont touch him.  The breathtaking US passivity is, in fact, complicity by  the White House. Chinese govt is subcontracting the sales of illicit nukes to Karl Lee and his colleague Shihai Cheng
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The China-Iran Nuclear Pipeline: How to Shut It Down  President Barack Obama has said that the final nuclear deal with Iran will “cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon.” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has likewise said that the deal “shuts off the four principal pathways to a bomb for Iran”—the Natanz uranium facility, the Fordow uranium facility, the Arak plutonium facility, and covert Iranian attempts to produce fissile material. The Natanz, Fordow, and Arak pathways would involve Iran building a bomb mostly through work at known locations, with technology and materials that it already possesses. So long as the deal is in place, keeping these three pathways closed will depend largely on the vigor with which the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitor known locations and respond to readily detectible violations.
The fourth pathway, in contrast, would include Iran creating a secret, parallel new nuclear program with technology and materials covertly procured from foreign suppliers. Even with the nuclear deal’s managed access arrangements and dedicated procurement channels, both the United States and the IAEA will have limited capacity to detect either secret nuclear facilities within Iran or the covert receipt by Iran of nuclear-related materials.  It is therefore critical to be able to deter or prevent foreign suppliers from sending nuclear-related materials to Iran.
Despite this, little attention has been paid to the longtime leading suppliers of Iran’s nuclear program: ostensibly private brokers based in China. Foremost among them appear to be Karl Lee (also known as Li Fangwei) and Sihai Cheng, who, according to U.S. federal and state prosecutors, have shipped vast quantities . . .
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 2, Block B: Robert Satloff, Washington Institute exec dir, in re:  Analysis of the terms of the Iran deal. Democrats are important because of the 60-day review process.  "Verification!"  "Don't trust but verify."  Predation.  "When will inspectors get in to suspect sites?" Candor?  Iran can delay inspection of any site for up to 24 days.  "Anywhere/anytime" –the "anywhere" is accurate; "any time" is inaccurate.  While a large, thousand-centrifuge site couldn’t be hidden in three weeks, a small, metallurgical process could be scrubbed in days.  "If Iran isn't lying, it'll be the first time in 30 years" – Olli Heinnen. Snapback – the reimpostion of suspended sanctions automatically - doesn’t  exist.  "When inspectors request access to a site, they have to name the bldg, say why, what they know they'll find, and how they know what makes them suspicious.  "Well, it comes from intell agencies . . ."
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 2, Block C: Eli Lake, Bloomberg View, in re: Obama’s Iran Strategy. Ship rocketed in Suez Canal today, probably from ISIS.  The structure of h Middle East collapsing, turmoil growing.  Pres Obama selling a realignment of US policy, has signed a major agreement with a major sate sponsor of terrorism without demanding an end to terrorism, and . . . .  A moment of abandoning American leadership in the traditional sense.  If Iran does not cheat, can have nuclear breakout in Year 13; if it does, . . . . As for training to cease sabotage: teach Iran to detect incipient sabotage??  Steny Hoyer, Minority Whip.  Lots of groups affiliated with Soros; also Natl American Iranian Council – threatening Democrats.  Crude.  Our system allows the Executive to conduct foreign policy – lots of precedents to this. Also, it's a political game: even if they win a 2/3 majority n the Corker vote – still, so much will go through anyway.  Revert tot the pix of the ship under attack in the Red Sea – Iran ahs been pouring money in to materiel to bad actors; Iran is an exporter of terror.   Soleimani. Three [no - more] Americans held by Iran. Next president can continue the deal, but not clear that this president can enforce the next Administration's compliance.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-14/iran-deal-is-obama-s-middle-east-exit-strategy  ;  http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-13/obama-counting-on-pelosi-to-defend-iran-deal  ; http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/07/15/morning-plum-do-republicans-really-want-to-block-the-iran-deal-in-congress/
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 2, Block D: Ron Prosor, Israeli diplomat & writer; in re:  Human Rights Issues and Security Council Resolution.  Repopening the Marmara flotilla matter?  This is madness. What about a flotilla to Latakia?  Gaza is the only country that every day receives tons of medicine, fuel, food from Israel, zero from Egypt, The flotilla is there only to provoke  . Palestinians think the UN is a personal vending machine – they can designate what they want and not even bother to put in a coin.  The day the COI presented its report, there was fire from Hamas into Israel.  The UN writes reports that don't even mention Hamas. Couldn’t find any reason for tunnels form Gaza to Israel.  Couldn’t say that the terrorist tunnels were built to send in terrorist groups to attack and kill Israeli civilians, definitely including women and children.  Today Samantha Pwer is suggesting that the Security Council approve Pres Obamas Iran deal.  Sanctions by EU, UN, and US Congress. Expect to see lifting of sanctions by next week.   The dawn of a new day for Khamenei and the mullahs.  Can lean back comfortably: $150 Bil coming in; but tomorrow, the rest of the world will pay the price. We're n the verge of looking at a terrorist stare that will operate not only in the Middle East but worldwide.
Hour Three
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 3, Block A:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  All elements of the Israeli political spectrum are amazingly allied to oppose the US-born Iran deal. "Iran is out of the cage and will become  the regional tiger."  Rouhani: "Our objective is to  have a nuke program and sanctions lifted; They said we could only . . . but now we have . . ." –and Iran will get $150 Bil; has already started sending more money to Hamas and Hezbollah. No restriction on how Iran can spend its windfall.  US now wants to go the UN Security Council before Congress can insect the deal; Senators Corker and Cardin are displeased.  Congress was furious today when it learned of this.  Even Democrats in Congress ill feel that they’ve been bypassed. Further, there's language to go before the UN that 's not available to Congress – so Congress won’t be able to have a voice in this.   White House is treating Congress as though it's a box to be checked off instead of an equal member of government. Canada refuses to sign this deal, considers that the deal is extremely poor. Khamenei still exclaims that'll obliterate the US.  Further, American citizens are forbidden to be on the inspection ream! "We trust the IAEA and the Iranians." said Susan Rice.
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Text of the letter is below
 
Dear Mr. President:
The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, a bill which 98 Senators and 400 Representatives supported and you signed, established a 60-day period for Congress to consider the nuclear agreement. We are deeply concerned that your administration plans to enable the United Nations Security Council to vote on the agreement before the United States Congress can do the same.
Doing so would be contrary to your statement that "it’s important for the American people and Congress to get a full opportunity to review this deal…our national security policies are stronger and more effective when they are subject to the scrutiny and transparency that democracy demands.”
We urge you to postpone the vote at the United Nations until after Congress considers this agreement.
Sincerely,
Bob Corker                                                                Ben Cardin
Chairman                                                                  Ranking Member
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Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 3, Block B:  Avi Issacharoff, Middle East analyst for The Times of Israel and its sister news portal Walla!; in re:  The future of Middle East politics. Iran has resumed funding of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Money will come in from sales of oil and gas more quickly than the $150Bil from the soon-to-be released sanctions. "Obama Adm has awarded Iran hegemony in the Middle East" headline.  Funds to Shiite militias in Iraq, to Houthis in Yemen. to Sunni rebel groups.  Will route money wherever possible to undermine Sunni regimes and against ISIS – the small devil – while the US deal is strengthening the big devil, Iran. Banking system trade, Europeans arriving, US Boeing planes arriving.. Hegemony for Iran. 
 
RALLY: Wednesday 22 July at Times Square: 5:30 to 7:30 PM
 
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 3, Block C: Curt Neibuhr, NASA program scientist, New Horizons, in re: Pluto!
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 3, Block D:   Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: Pluto!
 
Hour Four
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 4, Block A: Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman PART III of III (segment 1 of 4)
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 4, Block B: Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman PART III of III  (segment 2 of 4)
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 4, Block C: Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman PART III of III (segment 3 of 4)
Thursday  16 July 2015 / Hour 4, Block D: Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman PART III of III (segment 4 of 4)