Tuesday 15 October 2019
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Hour One
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 1, Block A: Josh Rogin, Washington Post, in re: Syrian Kurds [in Rojava], and the fundamental regional shifts incurred by Pres Trump’s precipitate and unheralded withdrawal of US troops not only from the border but from all northeast Syria.
Russian troops on the border of a NATO country [Turkey] as US troops flee with only what they can carry. Not only is a Russian-run Mideast not in the US interest, but it dooms millions of suffering people to a tyrannical and cruel governance—creating a cauldron for extremism that eventually the US will have to clean up, one way or another.
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 1, Block B: Patrick Tucker, DefenseOne technology editor; in re: It’s not clear where the [maybe one thousand] US troops pulled out of Syria will go, although about a thousand US troops will soon be sent to Saudi. It’s the Kurds in Rojava who most substantially contributed to the defeat of ISIS. The bug-out is considered a betrayal. Further, the US loses a lot of intelligence sources; US has not spoken extensively with ISIS fighters to debrief them, and now they're literally running away in the sands of Syria. In the chaos of the Syrian civil war was when ISIS first arose; today, northeast Syria is fertile ground for a resurgence and we’re seeing early signs of that. This was highly predictable.
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 1, Block C: Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re: Alexei Leonov* has just passed away.
* The Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, Who Was First to Walk in Space, Dies at 85 The Soviet-era cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who in 1965 became the first person to walk in space before co-leading the first joint mission between Russia and the United States, has died at the age of 85.
Leonov died on Friday (Oct. 11) at the Burdenko military hospital in Moscow after a long illness. "One of the first cosmonauts of the world space era, forever devoted to his country and his work, he inscribed himself in golden letters in the world history of space," said Roscosmos, Russia's federal space corporation, in a statement. "With Alexei Arkhipovich a whole era has gone." Selected alongside Yuri Gagarin among the first 20 Soviet Air Force pilots to train as cosmonauts in 1960, Leonov flew twice into space, logging a total of 7 days and 32 minutes off the planet.
SpaceX extends deadline, reappraises Boca Chica properties. Elon Musk meets with village landowners and has a successful discussion.
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 1, Block D: Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re: Comet form another solar system; Oumuamua was somewhat unexpected. Will see more asteroid-type objects as well as comets. Comet Borisov. Kruger60, 5.7 LY away. Drilling on Mars; 16 feet deep? Heat sensor. Europe: Mar2020, turned to NASA for parachute help. Fearfully short timeline, deadline approacheth. Lavatube.
Hour Two
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 2, Block A: Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria, by Sam Dagher
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 2, Block B: Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria, by Sam Dagher
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 2, Block C: Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria, by Sam Dagher
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 2, Block D: Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria, by Sam Dagher
Hour Three
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 3, Block A: Aaron Klein, Breitbart, at the Democratic debate; in re: No plan among Democrats advocating withdrawal from Syria. Biden spoke very strongly against Trump – “American betrayal” – and prognosticated an ISIS resurgence. Recall that it was Obama/Biden who began this problem, setting the stage to create ISIS in the first place.. ISIS fighters escaping from prisons. “We have an erratic and crazy president who knows not a damned thing about foreign policy.” – Joe Biden. How’d he respond to a question about Hunter, whose income vastly mushroomed from China and Ukraine while his father was in negotiations with those two governments? Democratic candidates repeatedly attacked Elizabeth Warren, suggesting that she’s pretty much the frontrunner right now.
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 3, Block B: Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution Area 45 blog; in re: The CNN-New York Times production, Democratic debate this evening: “It was Warren’s night.” However she spent much of the time on the defensive. Buttigieg in Realpolitik. Not a good night for Kamala Harris or Bernie Sanders. Raffle for an AR-15 [at a previous gathering]. “My son’s statement speaks for itself.”—Biden. Whoops? He did manage to say that he wanted to eliminate capital gains taxes.
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 3, Block C: Stephen F Cohen, NYU, Princeton emeritus; and author, War with Russia; in re: After the Democratic debate – mind-numbing — and imagine the poor souls in the Kremlin who were tasked to watch it through the middle of the night.
Russian senior security officials moving to take over Syrian oil and gas, esp from Raqqah to Turkey. Hypersonic weapons: the old missile defense system is shattered. A new cold war ‘twixt Russia and the US has unfolded; not a word about it in tonight’s debate. Klobuchar bashed Russia a lot. Russia has now become the ultimate arbiter in the Middle East; no discussion Warm relations between Russia and Israel; a national security matter. For the first time in my memory of the cold war , no discussion of what candidates would do about the new cold war. Some [Robert O’Rourke] claimed that Putin is “still invading America, meddling in our election.” Zero evidence of this. I know and like Tulsi Gabbard; her voice is important. She tried to put this forth in the debate, but it was shut down by the moderators.
Biden kept saying “My son’s statement speaks for itself”; he gave no indication that his administration presided over the initiation of these problems, above all with Ukraine. Obama put Biden in charge of dealing with Ukraine. The overall policy was a disaster — first, endorsing an illegal coup. America’s hope was that constitutionalism would take root, should not have endorsed a street mob’s removing Yanukovich.
Putin asked Obama if he’d respect Yanukovich’s position, Obama said yes. Thirty-six hours later, Obama and Biden endorsed/sponsored a coup. Tacit agreement among TV producers that this would not be discussed.
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 3, Block D: Stephen F Cohen, NYU, Princeton emeritus; and author, War with Russia; in re: How did the Moscow Kremlin hear this: “We have an erratic and crazy president who knows not a damned thing about foreign policy.” – Joe Biden. We saw Russiagate playing out tonight. When occasionally Russia came up, Beto or Corey said, “Trump is partnering more with Putin than with our allies” – a discredited narrative that does not bode well for the country. Looks like people not ready for the seventh grade in foreign policy. Under Putin, Russia developed a foreign policy philosophy: “We want good relations with any country that wants to have good relations with us.” In other words, Russia has abandoned political ideology in this.
Hour Four
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 4, Block A: Zumwalt: The Life and Times of Admiral Elmo Russell "Bud" Zumwalt, Jr., by Larry Berman
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 4, Block B: Zumwalt: The Life and Times of Admiral Elmo Russell "Bud" Zumwalt, Jr., by Larry Berman
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 4, Block C: Zumwalt: The Life and Times of Admiral Elmo Russell "Bud" Zumwalt, Jr., by Larry Berman
Tuesday 15 October 2019 / Hour 4, Block D: Zumwalt: The Life and Times of Admiral Elmo Russell "Bud" Zumwalt, Jr., by Larry Berman