Biden's Advice on Pakistan = Aid Failure

The Times: Reports that President Obama's Pakistan policy is falling apart, due to Pakistan's refusal to be told how to spend aid from the USA. This is when Obama's arrogance comes in to play folks, this is not 1914 and the Austrian - Hungarian Empire telling Serbia what it had to do to prevent War, give up its sovereignty in essence, Pakistan is an ally of the USA, thus you cant tell it to give up its sovereignty to please 100 would be Presidents in the US Senate. As noted in the New York Times ( when it comes to reporting from this region, the liberal NYT plays it straight ) the USA is not that popular at the moment with the elite in Pakistan, this aid package with heavy strings, the building of a massive US Embassy in Pakistan and the drone attacks has not made the USA that popular within Pakistan. President Obama needs Pakistan and vice versa, its more about equals than than the USA pushing its weight around to keep the liberal base happy in the USA. This is the kind of mistake you make when you follow the Biden advice when it comes to Pakistan, President Obama should follow the advice of General McChrystal when it comes to his AfPak policy.

Biden and Afghanistan

The New York Times: Reports on the role of VP Biden in the Obama Administrations discussion on Afghanistan, the NYT writes the following on Biden, " the strongest voice against further escalation of American forces..... .......a role that may have been lonely at first,.....attracted more company inside the White House " One has to wonder who has leaked this story, Biden to get some PR in just in case Obama does agrees to the McChrystal recommendations, in essence a get of jail card with the liberal base, making them aware that its down to Obama. Also one has to look at the political side of the Obama White House, they could be afraid that Obama could taken them down the toilet with him if Afghanistan goes South. This is Obama's moment, if he follows the military advice those in NATO might send more troops, but anything else and NATO and the Taliban will know that Obama has no stomach for a real winning strategy in Afghanistan. If your Iran or North Korea you will look at the Obama action and see at the end of the day what kind of President he really is, weak or strong. Israel will also be looking, they have given Obama a deadline of December to solve the Iran nuclear problem, any waffling or wobble and Israel will strike Iran, they don't care about Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. This is really Obama's crossroads, will he be Neville Chamberlain or Ronald Reagan.

US Health Care

As predicted yesterday the US Senate Finance Committee passed their version of the health care reform bill, also as predicted all Democrats voted for the Bill. The one surprise was that Republican Senator Olympia Snowe also voted for the bill. It should be noted that Senator Snowe made it clear she would not vote for any new bill that had the Public Option. On the whole support the Finance Committee Bill as long as it has lower costs for Americans, does not break the bank, allows the Government to pay for Abortions and gives equal treatment to gays and lesbians as other people in the system.

The New York Times: Reports on the fun process of the combination of different Bills in the Senate and House. This is the time for President Obama to show how good of a manager he is of Congress, is the new LBJ or Reagan, or he is Jimmy Carter. The President will have to persuade, do deals and twist arms to get a compromise Bill through, lets hope the Nobel Peace Prize Award has not gone to his head, have my doubts. This is good old fashioned politics time, if you can manage the Congress the Voter will be impressed if not you get one term like Jimmy Carter.

500 EXTRA Troops to Afghanistan

BBC News: Reports that later today UK PM Gordon Brown will announce that the UK will send another five hundred troops to Afghanistan. Lets hope this deployment has been agreed by the UK only on the condition that President Obama sends the extra forty thousand troops as requested by US Commander on the ground General McChrystal. If no such agreement between the UK and the USA then oppose such a move, why should our soldiers die or get hurt because Obama does not have the backbone to stand up to his left wing or the Nobel Peace Committee.

Senate Democrats and Health Care Reform

Fox News: Reports on the US Senate's Finance Committee Bill for Health Care Reform, how some Liberal, Centre and Conservative Senate Democrats have not show their hand on the Bill. I will make this prediction that all the Democrats will vote for the Bill, they are still in enchanted with President Obama, as long as the Bill helps main street that is the point, the costs should be lower for customers to buy health care, the Insurance companies should take people on with a pre existing condition, there should not be a cap on the cost of the cover, new treatment cost that is just a fact of life. Also Abortion should be paid for my the Government and Gays and Lesbians should have the same rights as everyone else in the USA who are married or in civil partnership. As to the COST, all US citizens should be me made to pay for medical over, business through tax credit should cover their workers. The US Government should tax the banks to pay for some of this, if they can be bailed out they can pay for the system that bailed them out this time. As to illegal immigrants they should be allowed to buy medical over, its logical in some respects, if they have cover they don't add to the cost to others, if they are not allowed to have cover they cost for US citizens will go up as they will have to cover for illegal immigrants. This blog is not predictable on some issues.

Clinton, Gates on Afghanistan

The New York Times: Reports on the united front of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates when it comes to Afghanistan, the NYT writes the following, "delivered a one-two punch in favor of a more ambitious approach. " It will be interesting to see how President Obama deals with this split in his Administration, on the one side you have State and Defence who want to increase troops in Afghanistan and then you have VP Biden who is having flashbacks to Vietnam and wants to withdraw troops and hit Al Qaeda bases in Pakistan with drones, even if this could topple the secular government of Pakistan. Every President has a defined moment, this is Obama's, lets see if his judgement is up to par.

13,000 BACK UP for US troops in Afghanistan

CBS: Reports that the Obama Administration is sending out another thirteen thousand troops as back up to his March surge, these troops serve as a back up to combat troops, the cover different aspects beyond combat, they keep the Army in the field. Thus as CBS notes Obama has now sent thirty four thousand troops to Afghanistan. The real question for President Obama is will he send the forty thousand combat troops as requested by the US Commander on the ground General McChrystal. As CBS notes to keep forty thousand combat troops in theatre they need back up, from engineers to cooks, thus your talking a few more thousand US troops on the top of the combat request. If Obama agrees to the McChrystal request then the West will know that Obama wants to win in Afghanistan, if on the other hand Obama follows the Biden advice of taking troops out of Afghanistan and more drone attacks on Pakistan the West will learn that Obama is not serious about Western security, also it would show bad judgment on the people around Obama, and lets be honest here Obama has a track record of bad judgment on the people close to him at one time or another. If President Obama does follow the advice of General McChrystal it would show the American voter that Obama is willing to take on his left wing, and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize had not made him soft to the security of the USA or the West.