Photo: The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 ,of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Gordon Chang, Daily Beast.
 
Hour One
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 1, Block A:  Bob Collins, 37-year veteran adviser to the Department of Defense and author of Pyongyang Republic: North Korea's Capital of Human Rights Denial, in re: the latest on the Korean peninsula; and including these:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/south-korea-tamps-down-hopes-for-peace-declaration-at-north-korea-summit-1528119675    /   http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/06/04/2018060401489.html
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 1, Block B: Maochun Yu, professor of East Asian and Military History at the United States Naval Academy, in re:  https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/01/asia/james-mattis-singapore-shangri-la-intl/index.html
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 1, Block C:  Josh Rogin, Washington Post, in re:  Singapore Shangri=La Dialogue, huge conference;  Sen Perdue: “When we’re up against China Inc which thinks in terms of millennia, . . . [we need to] cover defense, diplomacy and economics.”  . . . . In comes Secy Jim Mattis with the US Indo-Pacific strategy. Asians are not convinced that the US will follow through; we see Chinese aggression, pressure, coercion, and would love the US to lead, but not convinced.  . . . Do they see The Quad as substantial? Yes, but not all four agree, leaving the other nations ambivalent about who’ll do what. Note that Chinese aggression is clearest against India, as it claims all of Arunachal Pradesh and parts of many other provinces.  You’d think the ASEAN countries would all be afraid of China, but some are, some aren’t.  US needs to take a position, tell everyone what it’ll do – and then do it! Unpredictability can be an asset against adversaries when it’s done intentionally; but no way good for allies. Our current level of disruption has our allies unnerved.  Meanwhile, China is clever about using this. 
Wednesday 6 June 2 018/ Hour 1, Block D: Veronique de Rugy, Mercatus Center, in re:  Larry Kudlow mentioned that the US insists that when US companies operate in China they maintain 51%, 55%, or 100% ownership.  Chinese have crossed their arms and turned their back. . . . Gordon: When China steals hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of IP, what does the US do?  If not tariffs, what?
Vero: The way we dealt w Japan was a mix of negotiation (cliffhangers) and other.  Tariffs tend to hurt Americas, and are unlikely to work with a dictatorship.  Better to revert to TPP and put China in a position where it must [oblige]. 
 
Hour Two
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 2, Block A: Bruce Bechtol, professor at Angelo State University and author of the upcoming North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa: Enabling Violence and Instability, in re:
The original CBS report on 6 June 1944: “Columbia Listening Station has picked up a Berlin shortwave report of a landing in the Somme estuary” – which was a feint. Hitler was fooled; the German High Command was fooled.
In DPK there are no hardliners or softliners; there are only Kim-liners.  He’ll make zero mistake because he has reason to be paranoid about events in Pyongyang while he’s in Singapore.
The army, the party and the security svcs  - Kim has consolidate his power in the party by killing his uncle and all his friends; but is still working on consolidating power in the army.
Does Kim have six months?  He needs money; US can pressure only by putting economic pressure on him. Might work if first Kim denuclearized. Otherwise, we have zero leverage on him. 
It takes longer than a few months o complete this; we’ve already got African countries to slow down, but longer with Syria and Iran.  Need to [step on] banks; its whack-a-mole.    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-military/north-korea-shakes-up-top-military-brass-ahead-of-trump-summit-us-official-idUSKCN1IZ0XY   /   Bruce Bechtol's latest Foreign Affairs article here:   https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-korea/2018-06-06/north-koreas-illegal-weapons-trade
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 2, Block B: Alan Tonelson, independent economic policy analyst who blogs at RealityChek and tweets at @AlanTonelson, in re:  The trade issues.  Decades of inequity in trades with Asia.  ZTE talks but no facts, China buying more but no facts; all discussions: no facts.  When US first announced punishment of ZTE, that the Washington wdn’t let US semiconductor firms sell chips to ZTE, ZTE swiftly announced “In that case, we’re going out of business.”  US has extraordinary leverage. How shd we use it?  Trump Adm seems to be trying to change China’s behavior (q.v., Mnuchin). I don't see that happening. Even if China promised change, how cd the US monitor it? The Chinese program is run by a powerful and highly secret bureaucracy. US needs a much more coherent strategy, even though  this Administration is already light years ahead of its predecessors.  China 2020 – disengagement.  Proven that it’s not possible for China and the US to trade in mutually beneficial ways. Trump has begun to put in effect one aspect: curbs on Chinese investments n US tech firms.  [This is the] only mode that’s remotely feasible.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/04/china-trade-talks-indicate-impasse-1334995
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 2, Block C: Bill Whalen, Hoover, in re: 
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 2, Block D: Monica Crowley, London Center for Security Studies, in re:
 
Hour Three
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 3, Block A: Mary Kissel, WSJ editorial board, in re: Europe and the JCPOA negotiations
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 3, Block B: Salena Zito, CNN, New York Post, in re:  Primaries!
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 3, Block C: Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re:  Caves of Mars.
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 3, Block D: Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re:  New Horizon awakens on its way to the Kuiper Belt.
 
Hour Four
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 4, Block A: The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach, by John C. McManus
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 4, Block B: The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach, by John C. McManus
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 4, Block C: Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc-the Rangers Who Accomplished D-Day's Toughest Mission and Led the Way across Europe, by Patrick K. O'Donnell
Wednesday 6 June 2018/ Hour 4, Block D:  Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc-the Rangers Who Accomplished D-Day's Toughest Mission and Led the Way across Europe, by Patrick K. O'Donnell
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