The John Batchelor Show

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Air Date: 
September 18, 2012

Photo, above: Kabul City, Afghanistan, where a young woman under pressure to commit suicide strapped on an explosive belt and succeeded in killing eight travellers.

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-host: Larry Kudlow, The Kudlow Report, CNBC, and WABC Radio

Tuesday 905P Eastern Time:   Michael Boskin, Hoover,  in re:  the mess we're in.  This Administration has experimented in [economic] social engineering at a worst-possible time.  MSNBC/Wall Street Journal's surprising poll: people feel better about the economy.

 

In the painting the USS Cleveland is going to the aid of the USS Norman Scott DD 690. The Norman Scott just received six hits from 6 inch shore batteries in just a few seconds. Minutes earlier the USS Norman Scott was moving in to draw fire away from the USS Colorado BB 45, which was being attacked by the same shore batteries. While the USS Colorado was moving out of range the USS Norman Scott took six hits in just a few seconds killing the captain along with 22 of his ship mates, 57 were wounded.

Tuesday 920P Eastern Time: Allan Meltzer, Carnegie Mellon and Hoover; author, Why Capitalism? in re: the Fed and QE3 – where the Fed will buy $40bil of MBS in perpetuity. The banks and others buy the bonds, ride them up in price, the when the Fed actually makes another decision they sell. This is nonsense, and has no effect whatsoever on the economy we do not have a monetary problem. The Fed shd recognize that e have real, long-term problems, but not monetary Ample liquidity Now Fed hasa$1 trillion in excess reserves; soon will have $2 trillion.   Everyone has been to B-school; but you don’t know what future costs will be, only that they'll be higher; or what the Administration will do about labor unions. Investment now going into labor-saving eqpt – with 8% unemployment. Bz has no idea how these problems will be solved – neither does anyone else.  When we have a  monetary problem, prices rise, more capital is pumped in, generating more investment. But now we do not have a monetary problem. Ben Bernanke is a well-trained man, so he must know [that what he's doing can't reduce the unemployment rate]. Let's say he gets it down to 7.9%. Improvement?  No. The long-term problems remain – you’d have to be blind not to see them – enormous deficit, unsustainable cost for Medicare in the future – and they’re doing nothing about that. Is the Fed captured by the big banks? Yes: it's a combination of pressure from the Administration and from the banking system. When the June rate came out, you heard the shrieks from Wall Street.  QE2: went into two designated areas and the banks bought up the remainder . . . and the dollar has depreciated. Bill Gross, PIMCO, recommends buying Italian. "A dumb move!" Kennedy-Johnson tax cuts and the Reagan tax cuts both produced real growth.

Tuesday 935P Eastern Time:  Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover, in re: Arab Spring: We seem to have learned nothing from 9/11.   The brother of Abu al Yahya al Libi is a capo in the Cyrenaica gang in Libya, and was central to the assassination of Chris Stevens. Our president seems ot think that foreign anger at the US is aimed at an earlier America – under Bush, for example. He's oddly separated from current reality.  Protestors and rabble rousers n the Arab world cling to a status . . . . looking for reasons to be angry.  Is the US perceived as weak? Yes – they wouldn’t have don it if they didn’t think they could get away with it. . . .  Netanyahu makes res Obama take a real position, which the president doesn’t like at all. Are we dong anything about security for our ambassadors? No. They’re all at risk. Because Obama has told everyone he's on the side of he Arab Spring, more security not needed.  This is almost step by step a replication of Carter.  The first narrative abt Amb Stevens was false. Secy Rice said there was an ongoing investigation; the details will probably be embarrassing. LK: We're in a war and Pres Obama won’t acknowledge that.  VDH:  Add up [all the dreadful history,]  incl Hillary horse-laughing: "We came, we saw, bin Ladin died."  We should cut aid immediately, revoke travel visas and put up a travel ban, and put two or three carriers in the Med. What's truly radical is the status quo.

Tuesday 950P Eastern Time: Larry Kudlow, in re: remains of the day. The entitlement vs the opportunity state.   Pollsters: how confident that each candidate has e right answers?  Obama vastly leading, even though Mr Obama has no such professional experience whereas Mr Romney has an enormous amount of experience in this. LK: Romney and Ryan ever speak of tax cuts. If they made the case that lower rates and entitlement reform will give people more pay, that'd change public perception.  At the Republican convention. they nicely spoke of personal  matters but wholly left out any discussion of [free enterprise}; citizens must see the choice in order to make it. JB: I've  heard that the essential question is growth.  LK: There were moments during primary season when Romney was good on growth, but now it’s dropped.  If you average the polls, it’s a dead heat of a race.  Need to ask the electorate: Do you want a nanny state like Europe, or a pro-growth free-enterprise system?; voters always choose the latter.  Bernanke is very worried abt the economy; has 1,000 PH.D. economists at the Fed feeding him info; I do not believe people think things are getting better.  Romney needs to explain that he has the skill set to make good deals. Reagan: "If I get 70% of a deal, that's good enough; I can run after the 30% later."

Afghanistan police and officials investigate the site of a suicide attack in Kabul on September 18, 2012. PHOTO/ AFP

Tuesday 1005P (705P Pacific Time):  Bill Roggio, Long War Journal, and Arif Rafiq, the Middle East Institute &   , in re: Bill Roggio, Long War Journal, and Arif Rafiq, the Middle East Institute &   Intl Herald tribune in Pakistan, in re: the false narrative that the US is responsible for the video; passionate, self-destructive reactions.  Before the protests, the Taliban was re-awakened to attack.  This was probably one of the most successful Taliban ops vs an ISAF base: destroyed eight Harrier jets, plus refuelling stations, and so took down a Marine squadron.  This seems to be alliance f Taliban, al Q and various jihadi groups around Afghanistan and Pakistan.  They're honing their tactics and getting pretty good. Also, They're going up against the A Team  - the US. What happens when they go against the Afghans?  They use the crazies – the jihadists – who'll come back to challenge Pakistan, later.  Recent attacks  by RPGs and at an airbase. If I were a Pakistani military officer, I’d wonder if there were a convergence. Playing a hedging duplicitous game; used vs American forces.  Blue on green attacks - ISAF has stopped joint patrols: below the battalion level, from eight to 100 men is where the bulk of the fighting occurs. Couldn’t have a greater impact on training Afghan forces. Panettta says, "This is the last gasp of the Taliban."  [Insane.]  Taliban to go after Pakistani nukes? In one scenario, probable. US is vulnerable because of he failure of its strategy; Pakistan is vulnerable because it's inseparable from Afghanistan. This is ultimately what keeps people off their back: having nuclear weapons.

ISAF confirmed that six AV-8B Harrier strike aircraft "were destroyed" and two more "were significantly damaged." Although ISAF did not state which country owned flew the aircraft, the US Marine Corps is the only military branch flying Harriers in Afghanistan. The aircraft cost an estimated $30 million each.

Bombing Kills 14 in Kabul; Insurgents Tie Attack to Video - The attack on Tuesday killed 14 people, including 10 foreign workers, most of whom were employed as flight crew members with the American government.

Coalition Cuts Joint Operations with Afghans - The shift comes after a spike in attacks on international troops by Afghan soldiers and police officers.

Tuesday 1020P (720P Pacific Time):  McKay Coppins, Buzzfeed, and Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, in re: The long, strange leak of Mitt Romney's 47% video. Obama now favorable at 50-45; 62% of respondents feel that the economy is improving.   Mr Obama apologizes to the world for America; Mr Romney apologizes to America for what he did yesterday; Romney's regular apologies. "I'm sorry for what is said/did yesterday." 

Tuesday 1035P (735P Pacific Time): John McLaughlin and Patrick Cadell, McLaughlin & Associates, in re:   Romney needs Florida and Ohio; Obama needs at least one of them.  When we ask Americans how concerned they are about natl security issues: 7 of 10 say it's important, so citizens are ahead of the leaders.   Muslim Brotherhood: continue giving them [pots of money,] should e demand they treat women fairly, et al.?  Ten to one: no more money unless they [clean up their act].   Americans DO care about Iran and defense, above all. Each has the possibility of being decisive in this election, along with the Middle East. A lot of natl security issues are bipartisan.  In Florida and Ohio, people say that intended defense cuts are too deep. Among women in Ohio (the critical demographic): even higher than men in opposing defense cuts. These are voters whom conventional wisdom has discounted Women day, it’s not just the jobs – it’s our security. In Florida, esp, the issue of Iran.  President's sanctions working or not? No – almost 3 to 1 that the sanctions are not stopping Iran's nuclear weapons efforts. Would Iran attack the US? In both Florida and Ohio, 0% [roughly] say yes.  Citizens overwhelmingly say that if Israel struck Iran, it'd be a favor to the US and the world.  President spending too much time appeasing multinational coalitions, or doing a good job? Overwhelmingly say that there's too much appeasement. Finally: 60% and 65%, respectively, say that Pres Obama has underestimated the threat of the PLA Navy. 

Tuesday 1050P (750P Pacific Time):  Reza Kahlili, author, A Time to Betray, in re: Iran. "If Jews don't leave Israel, there'll be no choice but to bury all the inhabitants," explains an aide to the Supreme Leader Khamenei anent policies of confrontation by the Islamic state.  So many years of clear threats; he speaks candidly and sincerely of his eschatology; says in effect the West's concepts of containment, negotiation -are insane. He directs his contempt esp at ​Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski.  "IAEA has been infiltrated by terrorist," says Iran, which is frustrated and alarmed by the many attacks on their nuclear project.  This is not an Arab Spring; it's an Islamic awakening.

 

 

A column of Marine infantry and vehicles push through the street of a Tinian town, reduced to rubble by the fighting. July-August 1944.

 

Tuesday 1105P (805P Pacific Time): BATTLE FOR TINIAN, THE: Vital Stepping Stone in America's War Against Japan by Nathan Prefer, 1 of 2  In July 1944, the 9,000-man Japanese garrison on the island of Tinian listened warily as the thunder of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, Army and Air Corps, descended on their neighboring island, Saipan, just three miles away. There were 20,000 Japanese troops on Saipan, but the US obliterated the opposition after a horrific all-arms campaign. The sudden silence only indicated it was now Tinian's turn.By the time the US 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions switched their sights to Tinian, the island had already been bombarded for a month; meantime both sides had learned their lessons from the previous island-hopping invasions. The Americans had learned the arts of recon, deception, plus preliminary firepower so as not to suffer the huge casualties they'd suffered at Saipan, Guadalcanal, and Tarawa; the Japanese, for their part, had learned not to contest US strength on beaches but to draw it further inland where terrain and bomb-proof fortifications could assist.When the battle for Tinian finally took place the US acted with great skill. Historian Samuel Elliot Morrison called it "the most perfectly executed amphibious operation of the entire war." Nevertheless, the Japanese resisted with their usual stubbornness, and the already decimated US Marines suffered hundreds of more casualties.During the battle Japanese shore batteries were able to riddle the battleship Colorado, killing scores, plus make multiple hits on a destroyer, killing its captain. On the island itself the US used napalm for the first time, paving the way for Marines painstakingly rooting out strongpoints. One last Banzai attack signaled the end to enemy resistance, as Marines fought toe-to-toe with their antagonists in the dark.In the end some 8,000 Japanese were killed, with only 300 surrenders, plus some others who hid out for years after the war. But those Japanese who resisted perhaps performed a greater service than they knew. After Tinian was secured the US proceeded to build the biggest airport in the world on that island-home to hundreds of B-29 Superfortresses. Among these, just over a year later, were the Enola Gay and Boxcar, which with their atomic bombs would quickly bring the Japanese homeland itself to its knees.

Tuesday 1120P (820P Pacific Time): BATTLE FOR TINIAN, THE: Vital Stepping Stone in America's War Against Japan by Nathan Prefer, 2 of 2  On the morning of 24 July 1944 two Marine divisions commanded by Marine Major General Harry Schmidt landed on Tinian, opposed by 9,162 Japanese. 415 amphibious vehicles were used to bring the troops ashore. A diversionary feint landing at Tinian Town fooled the Japanese and split their forces while the Marines actually came ashore in mass at White Beach. Against light opposition, the Marines established a beachhead two miles wide and a mile deep by the end of the first day. A Japanese counterattack failed, costing them 1,241 men in an attempt to push the Marines off the beach.

Tuesday 1135P (835P Pacific Time):  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack, in re:  ISS and Soyuz problems; astronaut achieves triatholon in space; sequestration and space engineering.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Expedition 32 flight engineer and commander of the International Space Station's Expedition 33 crew, poses for a photo with her spacesuit ahead of an Aug. 30, 2012, spacewalk.

CREDIT: NASA

Tuesday 1150P (850P Pacific Time): Jed Babbin, American Spectator, in re: Leading from behind and the Obama Administration

 

Tuesday/Wed 1205A (905 Pacific Time): Michael Boskin, Hoover,  in re:  the mess we're in.  This Administration has experimented in [economic] social engineering at a worst-possible time.  MSNBC/Wall Street Journal's surprising poll: people feel better about the economy.

Tuesday/Wed  1220A (920 Pacific Time): Allan Melzer, Carnegie Mellon and Hoover; author, Why Capitalism? in re: the Fed and QE3 – where the Fed will buy $40bil of MBS in perpetuity. The banks and others buy the bonds, ride them up in price, the when the Fed actually makes another decision they sell. This is nonsense, and has no effect whatsoever on the economy we do not have a monetary problem. The Fed shd recognize that e have real, long-term problems, but not monetary Ample liquidity Now Fed hasa$1 trillion in excess reserves; soon will have $2 trillion.   Everyone has been to B-school; but you don’t know what future costs will be, only that they'll be higher; or what the Administration will do about labor unions. Investment now going into labor-saving eqpt – with 8% unemployment. Bz has no idea how these problems will be solved – neither does anyone else.  When we have a  monetary problem, prices rise, more capital is pumped in, generating more investment. But now we do not have a monetary problem. Ben Bernanke is a well-trained man, so he must know [that what he's doing can't reduce the unemployment rate]. Let's say he gets it down to 7.9%. Improvement?  No. The long-term problems remain – you’d have to be blind not to see them – enormous deficit, unsustainable cost for Medicare in the future – and they’re doing nothing about that. Is the Fed captured by the big banks? Yes: it's a combination of pressure from the Administration and from the banking system. When the June rate came out, you heard the shrieks from Wall Street.  QE2: went into two designated areas and the banks bought up the remainder . . . and the dollar has depreciated. Bill Gross, PIMCO, recommends buying Italian. "A dumb move!" Kennedy-Johnson tax cuts and the Reagan tax cuts both produced real growth.

Tuesday/Wed  1235A (935P Pacific Time): Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover, in re: Arab Spring: We seem to have learned nothing from 9/11.

Tuesday/Wed  1250A  (950P Pacific Time): Exeunt.  Michael Winerip, NYT, in re: the boomers and the millennials: who's at fault?  Are the boomers stealing from the Millennials?

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Music (using New York City broadcast times)  

9:00 hour:    Knight and Day; 10:00 hour:   The Eagle; Spartacus; 11:00 hour:    Snow White & The Huntsman; Star Trek; midnight hour:  Knight & Day; Snow White & the Huntsman

 

 

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Photo below: Afghan terrain

 

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