Is the Oval losing the NYT ? - 2nd Term Blues

The New York Times: Has the following editorial comment on President Obama's major foreign policy speech at West Point, " The address did not match the hype, was largely uninspiring, lacked strategic sweep and is unlikely to quiet his detractors, on the right or the left. "

Lets Get Real: 

Is President Obama losing the liberal New York Times, YES/NO, the paper at the end of the day will always defend President Obama, the problem is that it can not defend both Obama and Hillary Clinton, something has to give, thus since Obama has only 2 years to go the NYT is moving its faith to Hillary in 2016.  The Oval will understand this move, political is a harsh business, your either in or out, and President Obama is heading for the door on January 20th 2017.   The liberal NYT wants to make sure that Hillary Clinton wins in 2016, thus any faults will be placed on the Oval, liberals do not want the political muck thrown by the Republicans to stick to Hillary, it is difficult as Hillary Clinton was Obama's first term Secretary of State, she has her own problems from the period, for followers of politics it will be interesting to see how the left moves, throwing Obama to his Republicans critics if need be to make sure its President Hillary Clinton on January 2oth 2017. 

The Vets Scandal - 2nd Term Blues

CNN - Politics: Reports " According to the sources, at least 40 American veterans died in Phoenix while waiting for care at the VA there. "

Lets Get Real:

This has become a major scandal for President Obama, and shown his weakness when it comes to management, the problems in the VA start before the Obama Presidency, but during the run for his 1st term as President, Obama stated on many occasions that looking after the Vets was a major concern for him, one assumes that the Campaign Staff did not think that this would come to bite them on the backside.   The fact that House and Senate Democrats are calling for heads to roll should make it easy for the Oval to sack people, but so far Obama has not moved, he must still be reading the IG report.   Lets be clear this blog is no fan of President Obama, but one has to be objective, the problems started well before he become President, he did not think it was this level of a disaster when he made numerous speeches on the subject.   The Oval hates to sack people, in that Obama has the same problem as Reagan.   The difference is that President Reagan had Nancy Reagan, in the end people were let go by President Reagan, the press dogs had the heads they wanted, who is that close to President Obama.   Every POTUS needs a Nancy Reagan or a Robert Kennedy, take the bark off during a crisis. 

Is the Chilcot Inquiry a WHITEWASH? - Iraq War

Guardian: Reports " Chilcot inquiry accused of whitewash over letters between Blair and Bush "

Lets Get Real:

The BBC/Guardian types will always be critical of Blair for Iraq, the will not be happy in less Blair is before the International Court, that is never going to happen, that what drives them crazy, there are lot of other policy and political judgements that Blair was wrong on, but not Iraq, the Iraq Regime was a threat to Western interests in the area, the fact that since the War the power of Iran has grown is down to the political decisions of those that followed Bush 43/Blair.    At the end of the day the UK has to be with Bush 43 when it came to the invasion of Iraq, the US is our closes ally, where the US goes we go, with Vietnam and Syria being the exception, the Syrian vote in the House of Commons was more a late reaction to Iraq.   Thus we see the start of the historical debate on Iraq. 

The Iraq Papers - The Iraq War

BBC News: Reports " Details of the "gist" of talks between Tony Blair and George Bush before the Iraq war are to be published, the UK's Chilcot inquiry says. "

Lets Get Real:

Thus finally we can close the file on the Iraq War, we shall see if Tony Blair gets any critical feedback to his role at the time, and others in the Government.   This blog supported the War and still does, in fact this blog supported keeping troops in Iraq, while opposing sending in more troops to Afghanistan.  At the end of the day Iraq is a kind of Democratic State, yes Al Qaeda has grown in influence, it will take time for the Iraqi Government to end the terrorist threat to the State.  The Iraqi Government has faced the growing terrorism threat from Syria, that is down to non action by President Obama, it seems from latest statements that POTUS wants to arm the secular rebels in Syria, lets see how that goes over time.  One can be highly critical of Blair for the post War planning for Iraq, but on the decision itself it was the right and moral decision, on that the Chilcot inquiry should not have a negative tone. 

Obama on Troop presence in Afghanistan after 2014 - Afghan War

The White House: In part President Obama stated the following in the live statement, " At the beginning of 2015, we will have approximately 9,800 U.S. servicemembers in different parts of the country, together with our NATO allies and other partners. By the end of 2015, we will have reduced that presence by roughly half, and we will have consolidated our troops in Kabul and on Bagram Airfield.  One year later, by the end of 2016, our military will draw down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul, with a security assistance component, just as we’ve done in Iraq. "

Lets Get Real:

President Obama wants to finish Afghanistan before he ends his 2nd term, he wants to say HE finished the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the problem with this arrogant view is that the Taliban and Al Qaeda might have something to say about this subject.  Lets recall that image of the final helicopter out of South Vietnam in 1975, the Taliban want that image, does the Administration not think that the Taliban and Al Qaeda will use the reduce US presence as a chance to take more control of Afghanistan, also it can be expected that those Western troops that remain in Afghanistan will become target practice for the opposition, as noted in previous post the British left a force in Afghanistan in the 19th Century and it was a disaster, thousands were killed on the retreat, this will not happen in 2014 or after, but it can be argued that the Taliban and its terrorist allies will increase the terrorist attacks in Kabul, and Afghanistan will go down the same road as Iraq, it will return as a base for Al Qaeda, thus leaving the problems for the next President.   Obama Presidency is about rhetoric, not the real world, the problem is that Obama has long lost the ability to see the difference. 

Russia is leaving its supporters in East Ukraine to their FATE - Ukraine Crisis Latest

Guardian: Reports " Ukraine says it controls Donetsk airport after fighting leaves dozens dead "

Lets Get Real:

The Russian Bear is not willing to risk its troops when faced by REAL opposition, this blog noticed the change after the deaths of Russia supporters around the East, the deaths could have been used by Russia as a reason to move its troops in to the East, but with the economic sanctions and the mounting death of Russian supporters or actual Russians sent over the border the Kremlin began to wobble,  it does not want to risk another Afghanistan, also while the Ukraine Government was weak at the start it has gotten its act together, the use of  combat planes to defend the Donetsk airport shows that Kiev means business, they should follow through, take OUT the rebels in the East, USE ALL MEANS, just do it fast, the longer it goes on and with the use of combat planes will make the West uneasy, this is not the time for further wobbling, time for harsh and winning action. 

The NEXT phase for the US and Afghanistan - Afghanistan War

BBC News: Reports "..The US will keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after the US concludes its combat mission at the end of this year, President Barack Obama has said. "

Lets Get Real:

This is a MISTAKE by President Obama, he should have taken the chance to remove ALL troops from Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Taliban and its terrorist allies will use the American force as target practice, they need the PR from their perspective that they threw out the Western troops.  The idea of keeping a force in Afghanistan is not new, the British Empire tried that and it was a disaster.   The Afghans are not fools, they will understand that sooner or later there will be no Western troops in Country, and thus you will see them turn to the Taliban, on their side the Taliban will see a surge of support, the Afghan like to be on the long term winning side, they do not go with election cycles in the US.    The move by President Obama will do down as his biggest mistake after ObamaCare.