The links between President Johnson and President Reagan - Reagan Years

The New York Times: Reviews Landslide by Jonathan Darman, the article notes the following, " What makes Mr. Darman’s book so compelling is his focus on the roughly 1,000 days between Kennedy’s assassination and the midterm elections in 1966, which not only encapsulated the rise and fall of Johnson but also the emergence of Reagan as a national political figure "

Lets Get Real:

Two Presidents, one great the other seen as a failure, if you had asked  about them in the early 1960s the reverse argument would have been made, Reagan's film career was coming to a close, while Johnson become President on the death of President Kennedy.     The Johnson record on the domestic front is impressive, the Great Society and his various civil rights reforms.   Then we come to his FALL, that was the Vietnam War and the failure of of the US to win, it can be argued that Vietnam bought down  Johnson and Nixon, the voters do not like losers, Nixon was not helped by Watergate.    Thus in most polls Johnson shares the same low numbers as Nixon.    Then we come to election of Reagan in 1966 and backlash against the liberal reform in various sectors of civic society.   Reagan was a dark horse candidate for President in 1968,  but he lost to Nixon, then he challenged President Ford, and lost by only a few votes.   Then Reagan was saved by the disaster that was the Carter Presidency, which gave us the revolution in Iran and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.   The 1st Reagan term, saw tax cuts and the increase in defence spending and Reagan calling the USSR an EVIL EMPIRE.     The Reagan found a Soviet Leader he could work with, they almost came close to the removal of ALL nuclear weapons, thus we see the end of the Cold War.   Reagan or Kennedy as still seen as the great US Presidents by the public.   Will have a read of the Darman book when it comes to the UK. 

IS Update - Iraq - War on Terror 2

BBC News: Reports " The US has deployed 50 troops to an air base in Iraq's troubled Anbar province to help in the fight against Islamic State (IS). "

Lets Get Real:

ONE hopes these troops are ready to fight, this move in to Anbar will be red flat to IS, they will want to change the PR that they are leaderless either because their leader is dead or hurt after a US Air Strike.    This gradual path is like connecting the dots, sooner or later, US troops will be fighting in Iraq, the Oval can not afford to lose Iraq even if it wanted too, the idea of IS holding that much oil and selling it on the black market to fund its Middle East operations gives one nightmares.    Lets face it they have the money to go nuclear by buying on the arms black market, thus IS has to be taken down, the Oval allowed IS to become the threat it is, if the US had kept forces in Iraq after 2011 the story could have been so different.    Mistakes have results, and the problem is they are still playing out in Iraq. 

IS Update - War on Terror 2

Telegraph: Reports " British drones carry out first first strikes against Isil in Iraq..Ministry of Defence says RAF Reaper drone fires missile at Isil forces laying homemade bombs north of Baghdad "

Lets Get Real:

With the lead of IS either hurt or dead this is the time for the RAF to start heavy strikes on IS in Iraq, while the leadership is confused the Western Allies have to force them back, either by using Iraqi or Kurdish troops, if that is not possible then US and UK Special Forces have to be used, land has to be taken and held.   The RAF drone fleet should be on 24/7 standby, targets have to be spotted and then HIT HARD.  Good start for the RAF in Iraq. 

The Other Reagan Tapes - Reagan Years

Guardian: Reports " The recordings include Reagan trying to convince an intractable Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin.....the president discussing the release of western hostages in the Middle East with Pakistani president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, and a talk with Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, "

Lets Get Real:

It seems President Reagan was not afraid to tape his calls, one would have thought after Watergate that no tape recording advice was allowed in to the White House, thank goodness Reagan did not talks about Iran - Contra on these tapes.   The Gipper was to clever to get caught out like that, it will be interesting to hear these talks, as they show a President dealing with various Crisis in the Middle East at the moment.   One wonders what Reagan would have made of President Obama, one can assume that Reagan would have been impressed with his PR skills, on the other hand he would have seen Obama as another LBJ, spending money like its going out of fashion and extending the role of Government in to the health of Americans.   One wonders who would have won  a Presidential election if it was Reagan and Obama at their  high points, interesting. 

Reagan's apology to Thatcher over Grenada - Reagan/Thatcher Years

BBC News: Reports " A recorded conversation between an apologetic Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher over the invasion of Grenada has been published for the first time. "

Lets Get Real:

The actual talks is itself not secret, it has been documented before, this is the first time that a actual recording has come out.    One can understand why Lady Thatcher was not happy, Grenada was in the Commonwealth.  The Queen is head of the Commonwealth, but on the other hand the Oval Office was worried that Grenada would become another Cuba, one Castro was bad enough, the US public supported the action, the Democratic Nominee for President Walter Mondale could not make up his mind about the action.   This Grenada military action put the USSR on notice that the US was back after the Vietnam War. 

IS Leader Hurt in Iraq - War on Terror 2

Fox News: Reports " Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State terrorist group, was wounded in an airstrike, Iraqi officials said Sunday.. "

Lets Get Real:

Modern Warfare is not just battles on the battle field, its about the PR of WAR, either the IS leader is dead or has been hurt, this in itself is good PR by itself, it will cause IS fighters to worry, will they get the same level support they had before, will IS fall apart, everything the West does to push this line is good, IS would have to show their leader alive if they want to negate this rumour that he is dead.  The more chances THE West gets to find the IS leadership the better, if they can trace areas of were the leadership is it can bomb them.    IF the leader is dead it could cause IS to fall apart and its Chiefs to become their own war lords, then the West can pick them off at the time of their choosing.  As stated this has been a very good for the West. 

IS Diminished in Iraq - War on Terror 2

Telegraph: Reports " Iraq investigating whether Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi killed in US air strikes..Reports that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed in US air strike on Islamic State convoy near Mosul investigated "

Lets Get Real:

IF the US and its allies had enough special forces in Iraq then they could push back IS with the help of Iraqi Forces and the Kurds, but the possibility that IS leader has been killed can not be built on because of the lack of boots on the ground.   If the IS leader has been killed then there will be internal fights with IS as to who becomes the new leader, this would have been an excellent time for the West to take more of Iraq and Syria back, but on the moment strategy of the West does not help when you have this kind of luck and can not push it further, IF the US had troops on the ground in Syria and Iraq it could destroy IS in a few weeks, not in the years as expected.   IF you have lucky run, you push it further, the present strategy does not do that at the moment.