The Caretaker - Doctor Who Review

Doctor Who News: Reports " 4.89 million viewers watched Doctor Who - The Caretaker according to unofficial overnight viewing figures.  "

Lets Get Real:

This is a crucial episode in the relationships between Doctor and Clara and the Doctor and ex Soldier Danny.   The threat this week was just a way for the Doctor to meet Clara's boyfriend Danny, and for Danny to learn that his girlfriend is a time traveller  with the Doctor. The Guardian notes " But as Clara’s carefully constructed house of cards collapses around her, the deftness of this series begins to play out......The Doctor and Danny’s rivalry is an absolute dead heat as to who is right and who is wrong, and if either of these male egos were to make her choose (something which I doubt she would stand for anyway) I couldn’t call which way she would go. "   The Telegraph states the following, " Peter Capaldi lent his usual irascible charm to the latest incarnation of the nation's favourite alien. ".  Thus the big question when will Danny join the TARDIS crew, the Doctor and Danny would bicker over who had the biscuits first, IF it happens its going to be a FUN.   One can see the Doctor throw any maths questions to Danny, even maths on time travel, just to see his reaction. Must see episode for the 2nd time. 

Hitting IS in the pocket - The New War on Terror

Daily Mail: Reports " Bombers destroy ISIS' black gold: New wave of airstrikes hit oil fields in Syria in war on black market trade that earns jihadis £2million a DAY "

Lets Get Real:

While hitting IS terror targets is the main job the US and its allies in Syria it is showing that it understands that you have to cut off the money that goes in to the pocket of IS from black market oil.  It has been estimated that IS has pocket worth of 1 billion, that gets you lot of new weapons from the arms trade, also one day IS could get its hands on nuclear material, lets be very real, if IS had the bomb or nuclear material it would use it the Middle East and Europe.    Thus once UK is in action in Iraq it should start to make plans for action in Syria, the longer IS has some kind of protection in Syria it will grow and keep its head down while the US and its allies strike.   This will be a LONG WAR, not weeks, not months, but years, and there will be Western ground troops, call them special forces or whatever you want, you have to take IS down on the ground, that is job for US/UK Special Forces. 

Next Syria for the RAF - The New War on Terror

Guardian: Reports " David Cameron has held out the possibility of extending British air strikes against the “psychopathic” forces of the Islamic State (Isis) from Iraq into Syria, saying there were no legal barriers to a change in the mission. "

Lets Get Real:

The blog is not a five star general, but its easy to work out the next moves, the UK starts with bombing IS in Iraq, after that it will be Syria, you can not leave Syria alone as it would allow IS to hide its troops in Syria, then strike when the UK has withdraw after doing half the job.    The IS base in Syria has to be taken down, this will take the bombing of the US, the Arab allies and the UK.  Also there will be the need for ground troops, rather than call them boots on the ground, they will be Special Forces, in fact boots on the ground, but its a piece of PR to keep the public happy.   Then we come to Assad, this regime also needs to be taken down, thus the US and its allies will have to destroy IS first then Assad.   This is long and costly operation, there are going to be ups and downs, the public can not allow itself to be haunted by the 2nd Gulf War, there is no time for that kind of soul searching or muttering, time for action and not talks. 

The Case for UK action in Iraq - The New War on Terror

BBC News: Reports " Islamic State (IS) is a threat to the "streets of Britain" and the UK has a "duty" to confront it, David Cameron has said as MPs debate air strikes. "

Lets Get Real:

This is the first stage of UK actions in Iraq, it can be argued that PM Cameron has given himself enough room to attack Syria if there is a urgent need to act, then the PM would come back to the House of Commons to seek support.   If the RAF are in action over Syria then the House of Commons will give it support, even through there will be mutterings from the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. 

Thus the UK is in its third action, the Vote in the House will be yes as the Conservative Party, Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats support the action, the next question is what next, the IS terrorists want the West to take action on the ground, the West can not afford to be dragged in to another action, it has to get the Iraqi Army up and ready to fight, it has to arm the Kurds, and also use UK and US Special Forces in the region.   This will be a long War, it could still be going on during the general election, by then Syria could also be a target.   It will be interesting to see the ramifications of this War on public opinion and during the General Election of 2015. 

France and IS - The New War on Terror

Telegraph: Reports " France considers expanding air strikes to Syria..France carries out more airstrikes against Islamic State (Isil) and says it is considering extending its attacks to Syria after beheading of French tourist "

Lets Get Real:

This blog sometimes makes fun of the French, who does not, but on terror and taking action the Middle East the French can be proud of their government,  they have not had endless discussions about doing the right thing, they just did it, one could only have wished that the French had taken this action during the 2nd Gulf War, in that time period they froze the UN and thus Bush 43 and Tony Blair could not get UN sanction for the War, the left will never forgive Blair for that, as there was no WMD in Iraq the War of 2003 is seen as a criminal action by some of the left.   One wonders will the French at a later date place ground troops in Iraq and Syria, an air campaign will not destroy IS, it will need ground forces to take and hold land.    Thus one can expect the US, UK and France to carry that load, the Kurds and the Iraqi Army will not be able to take the big towns, while the US and the UK have a history in Iraq.    

IS Update - New War on Terror

Guardian: Reports " Major terrorist attack is ‘inevitable’ as Isis fighters return, say EU officials...EU’s 28 governments are said to be struggling to respond to threat of Islamist fighters coming back from Iraq and Syria "

Lets Get Real:

Thus the EU has to get real when it comes to terrorism, it has to allow the security services to act to protect the peoples of the EU, this means that personal freedoms will have to take a backseat for a while.   If another 9/11 or 7/7 happens in Europe the people will not care if EU countries had a hard choice to make, they will want their leaders to come down had on the terrorist threat.   This might shock some people, but the EU and EU Countries should bring back the death penalty for treason.   The terrorists have to know that if they take an active part in a event then they will face the 100% sanction of the State.   The EU has to get over the fact that the good old days are over, its time for 100% security, time for action, time for Western intelligence to have its eyes and ears open, they have to be right 100% of the time, 99% will not do this time.

Holder OUT as Attorney General - 2nd Term Blues

BBC News: Reports " US Attorney General Eric Holder is to announce his resignation, White House officials have confirmed. "

Lets Get Real:

This has come out of nowhere, so far as this blog can recall there were no rumours that Holder was going, it might be the cynical political hack in the dark soul of this political blog but WHY?.    Attorney General Holder was Obama's RFK, protected the Oval at all costs, even if that bought critics down on his head, it can be wearing being Attorney General, but just to leave, Fox News states that " Holder has "no immediate plans" after leaving the post.   The choice of successor will bring the Party arguments front and centre, the Democrats have the votes in the Senate to confirm any new successor, but they might not have after the Mid term elections. That could be the reason for the resignation, Holder does not fancy being grilled by a Republican controlled Senate.