Photo, left: 
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Co-hosts: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com & Daily Beast. Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show.
 
Hour One
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 1, Block A: Henry Sokolski, Nonproliferation Policy Education Center exec dir, & author, Underestimated: Our Not-So-Peaceful Nuclear Future; in re:  Bruce Blair proposes the US commit to no first use of nukes.   Currently, US reserves the right to use nukes vs nonnuclear conventional forces: began this because the US thought that the USSR had many more men under arms (armored divisions) than we did. Counterarguments: If we don’t have to use them first, then we can use strategic/long-range missiles and bombers and subs would not have to be on hair-trigger.    Our land bases increasingly become more vulnerable to Russia are stuck in silos.  In 60 hours Russia could take over all the Baltics.  US has no means of stopping that.  “Dark diplomatic shadow over those countries.” Current Warsaw mtg.  NATO has caves in Norway, practicing dropping bombs in the Baltic.  The problem of launch on warning: super expensive to harden and disperse our missiles, protect the C2 centers.  But it’s worth expanding on the debate.  We always discuss how to modernize the warheads; need instead to discuss the former. As accuracies improve, we need to talk now because the lead time is long. Want to be forced to launch on four minutes’ notice while unsure if it's a true warning or not?   http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/barack-obama-nuclear-weapons-213981
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 1, Block B: Gordon Chang, in re:   Why are we talking about nukes?  . . .  Putin has referred to using nukes in the Baltics.  North Korean nukes:  sat imagery of China/DPRK border: 2015 to 2016 pix show a shard decrease in border traffic as China tries to discipline DPRK for its nuclear escapades. Josh Rogin refers to a Center for Intl and Strategic Studies study.  David Albright has been watching: China allows cylinders of U hexafluoride for bombs, and vacuum pumps and other nuclear eqpt. This Kim is an unpredictable and detached human being; “immature” doesn't express the problem.  We saw North Korea’s top dip visiting Beijing; now that DPRK acts like vassals, China will loosen trade restrictions.   Profiteering and warlords?  Yes – lots are doing bz freelance in North Korea
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 1, Block C:  Aaron Klein, Breitbart Middle East Bureau Chief, in re:  EXCLUSIVE – Islamic State Showing Signs of Desperation as Western Counterterrorism Improves / TEL AVIV – Islamic State has faced significant difficulties in enlisting Western recruits, an Arab intelligence official has told Breitbart Jerusalem.  New Shock Reason for Lack of Security at Fated U.S. Benghazi Mission  Ambassador Stevens’s unusual arrival in Libya. (1 of 2)
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 1, Block D:  Aaron Klein, Breitbart Middle East Bureau Chief, in re:  EXCLUSIVE – Islamic State Showing Signs of Desperation as Western Counterterrorism Improves / TEL AVIV – Islamic State has faced significant difficulties in enlisting Western recruits, an Arab intelligence official has told Breitbart Jerusalem.  New Shock Reason for Lack of Security at Fated U.S. Benghazi Mission   The Hebron terrorist attacks.
Ambassador Stevens’s unusual arrival in Libya.
In June 20112 of acquired “Villa A”, then two others, which became the US Mission. Turns out the landlords of A and B were adamantly opposed to specific alterations that State wanted to make; e.g., no razor ribbon on existing walls nor shadow tape on windows, nor to make the villa car-resistant.  Why did State ever rent these three villas and acquiesce to the landlord’s most unhelpful demand?  The US special mission was not set up with even the knowledge of the Libyan govt; the Vienna Accords require informing the host country. In Benghazi, Americans needed diplomatic immunity, so they told the Libyan govt that the people in Benghazi (404 miles away) were working in Tripoli.  In Benghazi, no US markings on the buildings, most certainly not an American flag.
A flap between Washington and Jerusalem on housing:  John Kirby of State says that Israeli building housing in East Jerusalem on empty lots where some archaeology has been occurring is undermining the peace process and constitutes land seizures; a foreign govt interferes in zoning. Even Resolution 242 of the UN speaks of  “territories” (2 of 2)
 
Hour Two
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:  Gordon Chang, in re:  China Warns US; pending a decision at The Hague on 12 July concerning Filipino land, rocks barely above the water, Scarborough Shoal*, which China has stolen.  Court has been asked by Philippines to arbitrate.  Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, called the US Secretary of State: Hsinhua says [America, just butt out].   Decision under Convention under the Law of the Sea, which US asks China to abide by while China refuses. By this, China repudiates its commitment to the pact. Wang says the decision is “a farce.”    With 197 days left to the Obama Administration, will the US bring out he Big Stick? We have a defense treaty with Philippines.  US so far has [cowered] esp in 2012 when this problem became evident, allowing Beijing to expand extensively and aggressively.  When the US ducked its responsibility, China concluded that the US is toothless. If China declare an ADIZ over the South Chine Sea, there’ll be a really big problem and possibly regional  conflict. The Second Thomas Shoal in South China Sea: Philippines took a WWII ship, beached it and put Marines on it.  Everyone knows it’s Filipino; Chinese now are there constantly, trying to prevent the resupply of the ship, very aggressive as they want to seize it.  New Filipino president as of 30 July, Duarte, makes Trump look sane.  He said, e.g., that people must “Kill drug addicts!”  Not dealers; addicts.  He said, “Americans won’t die for us so we should ally ourselves with China,” which in turn may make a deal with Duarte to have him withdraw the case before the decision is handed down. Recall EP 3 in 2001; and challenging  . . . China always challenges a new American leader. Set your watch by it.
* Shoals conspicuously are Filipino:  124 miles to Subic Bay.
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 2, Block B:   Cleo Paskal, Visiting Trudeau Fellow, University of Montreal and Associate Fellow, Chatham House, in re: Kiribati, the Kiri Bas Republic/Islands, a small collection of atolls, incl Tarowa from WWII.   The  “we’re going to make China’s life miserable” pact.
An add-on to the Abe-Modi friendship: Abe tried to launch an Indo-Pacific concept years ago.   Beijing sees Japan and India collaborating, now including Iran, and bringing in Afghanistan.  India helped bld a road through Afgh into Russia, an economic and strategic corridor that constrains China and Pakistan
In Western Pakistan: a port that China is bldg. into a naval base; only 70km away is an Indian-Iranian- Japanese port.  For China the big prize is to get into Central Asia (incidentally, major problems with Baluchis).  The Indian port, by contrast, has complete support of the state.
China: go back 15 years to when China put ships in the Indian Ocean in a provocative way; so India saw the South China sea as somewhere it should go with Australia and Japan.
China helped to create and support the terrorist state of Pakistan; what will it do now?
India's relations with Japan and India's role in the South China Sea . . .  http://thewire.in/47617/india-japan-cooperation-on-chabahar-could-be-a-game-changer-for-asia/
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 2, Block C:   Ethan Gutmann, author, The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China's Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem, in re:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/report-alleges-china-killing-thousands-of-prisoners-to-harvest-organs/article30559415/
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 2, Block D: Andrew Erickson, Naval War College, in re:  Despite the fact that the Impeccable incident and other such encounters have been widely publicized, the militias are strikingly deceptive about their activities. Earlier this month, an Al Jazeera reporter visited the township of Tanmen on Hainan, where she saw a contingent of fatigue-clad militiamen drilling by the village's harbor. Asked what they were doing by the reporter, a local official said that the men were members of a film crew. A man who said he was a local fisherman but was later identified as the Tanmen militia's deputy commander went further: he knew nothing about the men drilling by the harbor, he claimed, apart from the fact that they were fishermen wearing military uniforms for the innocuous purpose of protecting themselves from the sun.
The measure of deniability afforded by its civilian camouflage is not the maritime militia’s only advantage. The militia units also provide China with an asymmetrical advantage and help it take the initiative in encounters with foreign forces: as foreign ships grapple with how to respond, the militia units can interfere with their operations while reporting their location and activities to other Chinese forces. And then there is the propaganda value: in the event of an encounter between the militia and foreign ships, Chinese outlets might flood the Internet with a selectively edited footage of apparently civilian fishermen being unjustly victimized. Of course, members of the maritime militia are not mere civilians, and their direct connections to China's military chain of command, from which they receive mobilization and operational orders, should disqualify them from being treated as such.
Getting in Front of the Problem    Observers should not expect the maritime militia to ease off its activities anytime soon. China's drive to coerce its neighbors in the South China Sea is growing, and its ongoing development and fortification of artificial islands in the region will provide the militia with plenty of support. At the same time, Beijing's efforts to streamline the People's Liberation Army by cutting 300,000 troops will provide plenty of fresh equipment and manpower for the militia: veterans are highly attractive recruits. Responding to signals from Beijing, local officials along China’s coastline are expanding existing militia units and establishing new ones. Consider Beihai, a city in China's southern Guangxi Province. In 2013, that city was home to two maritime militia detachments, with around 200 personnel. In 2015, it boasted at least ten detachments and more than 2,000 personnel.   https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2016-06-23/chinas-maritime...
 
Hour Three
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 3, Block A:   Oriana Pawluk, Air Force Times, in re: http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/07/05/russias-high-velocity-confrontations-present-risks-us-pilots/86719220/   ;  http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/06/02/b-52s-head-europe-summer-exercises/85290046/  ; http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/06/07/us-air-force-supports-major-exercises-europe-all-month/85561954/   ;  http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/06/09/b-52s-dropping-bombs-over-baltops-2016/85654242/   ;  http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2016/06/22/b-52s-step-up-airstrikes-against-islamic-state-iraq-and-syria/86232500/
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 3, Block B: Oriana Pawluk, Air Force Times (2 of 2)
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 3, Block C:  Bill Roggio, FDD & LongWarJournal, in re: The camp is named after Omar ibn Khattab, the second Muslim caliph who was a companion to the Prophet Muhammad. Under Umar’s rule in the seventh century, the caliphate took control of Persia and large areas of the Byzantine Empire.
The Afghan government has claimed it cleared Kunduz of a Taliban presence after the group overran the provincial capital of Kunduz City and several other districts. However, the Taliban has remained in the province and continues to run at least one camp there.
The Taliban has publicized several training camps in Afghanistan in recent years. In December 2014, the Taliban showcased a training camp in the Jawzjan district of Faryab Province. In January 2015, it highlighted a training camp in Kunar. Last June, the jihadist group advertised a “special forces” training camp somewhere in Afghanistan. Two months later, a training camp in the Zurmat district of Paktia Province was touted online. Last September, the Haqqani Network, a powerful subgroup of the Taliban, released a video from its Salahadin Ayyubi camp someplace in eastern Afghanistan.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/07/taliban-shows-omar-ibn-kh...
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 3, Block D:  Bill Roggio, FDD & LongWarJournal, in re: Obama to leave more troops than planned in Afghanistan/ Los Angeles Times: President Obama said today that he will leave 8,400 U.S. troops in place in Afghanistan at the end of his presidency instead of the more significant drawdown he once promised. "Afghan forces are still not what they need to be," Obama said. "I will not allow Afghanistan to be used as safe haven to attack our nation again.”
Taliban condemn suicide attack in Medina, Saudi Arabia  ; Taliban suicide bombers target police cadets, first responders in Kabul attack  ;  Taliban show ‘Omar ibn Khattab’ training camp in Kunduz
TWITTER: @BATCHELORSHOW
 
Hour Four
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam, by William Reeder Jr. (1 of 4)
Through the Valley is the captivating memoir of the last U.S. Army soldier taken prisoner during the Vietnam War. A narrative of courage, hope, and survival, Through the Valley is more than just a war story. It also portrays the thrill and horror of combat, the fear and anxiety of captivity, and the stories of friendships forged and friends lost.
In 1971 William Reeder was a senior captain on his second tour in Vietnam. He had flown armed, fixed-wing OV-1 Mohawks on secret missions deep into enemy territory in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam on his first tour. He returned as a helicopter pilot eager to experience a whole new perspective as a Cobra gunship pilot. Believing that Nixon’s Vietnamization would soon end the war, Reeder was anxious to see combat action. To him, it appeared that the Americans had prevailed, beaten the Viet Cong, and were passing everything over to the South Vietnamese Army so that Americans could leave.
Less than a year later, while providing support to forces at the besieged base of Ben Het, Reeder’s chopper went down in a flaming corkscrew. Though Reeder survived the crash, he was captured after evading the enemy for three days. He was held for weeks in jungle cages before enduring a grueling forced march on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, costing the lives of seven of his group of twenty-seven POWs. Imprisoned in the notorious prisons of Hanoi, Reeder’s tenacity in the face of unimaginable hardship is not only a captivating story, but serves as an inspiration to all.
In Through the Valley William Reeder shares the torment and pain of his ordeal, but does so in the light of the hope that he never lost. His memoir reinforces the themes of courage and sacrifice, undying faith, strength of family, love of country, loyalty among comrades, and a realization of how precious is the freedom all too often taken for granted. Sure to resonate with those serving in the armed forces who continue to face the demands of combat, Through the Valley will also appeal especially to readers looking for a powerful, riveting story.
https://www.amazon.com/Through-Valley-My-Captivity-Vietnam/dp/1591145864?ie=UTF8&qid=1467850510&ref_=la_B01DCJXLBA_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam, by William Reeder Jr. (2 of 4)
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 4, Block C:  Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam, by William Reeder Jr. (3 of 4)
Wednesday 6 July 2016 / Hour 4, Block D:  Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam, by William Reeder Jr. (4 of 4)