The US and Afghanistan - Afghan War

Fox News: Reports " President Obama plans to keep most of the 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan in the country through 2015 -- and keep open two key airfields -- as part of an effort to slow the U.S. withdrawal and help prop up Afghan forces, sources told Fox News. "

Lets Get Real:

This is a wise move by the Obama Oval, after the failure of the Iraq and the growth if IS, the Oval does not want to deal with the growth of IS in Afghanistan,  the franchise of IS can be seen with its base in Syria, its growth in Iraq and even in Libya.   Also in Yemen the Western allied government has been overthrown by a group that is supported by Iran.   The Obama policy in the Middle East has  been a total disaster, to finish it all the Oval Office will take a bad deal with Iran over no deal.  The next President either him or her, will have to spend their first term building up relationships in the region.  The one event that could really change the Oval Office's view of the Middle East is if Israel attacks Iran, this would force Obama to support Israel, he can hardly support Iran.  That is for the future. 

The Clinton Email Scandal - Update

The New York Times: Reports the following on the Clinton emails, " But they did show that Mrs. Clinton’s top aides at times corresponded with her about State Department matters from their personal email accounts, raising questions about her recent assertions that she made it her practice to email aides at their government addresses so the messages would be preserved, in compliance with federal record-keeping regulations. "

Lets Get Real:

Thus Clinton defenders will need to clear up the last remarks by Secretary Clinton, as the Secretary stated she had sent emails back to government email accounts of her staff, as the above shows the Clinton aides at the US State Department used private email to communicate with the Secretary, the House Select Committee on Libya will need the emails of those that worked for the Secretary.    Lets be clear, Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton, she is not that good on the campaign trail.   Also the Clinton strategy for 2016 is to stress women issues and other liberal issues, the Clinton camp think that if they follow the Obama strategy they can win, that is a mistake.   A female candidate has to show that she can use the US military, if you stick fuzzy liberal issues it does not build up the character, in fact it makes her look weak.    Thus we shall see who is right.

Is Labour DEAD in Scotland? - 2015 Election

Guardian: Reports " ICM poll: Labour faces wipeout in Scotland after new leader fails to dent SNP support...Exclusive: Poll suggests Scottish Labour will lose 29 of the 41 seats Gordon Brown won in 2010, with Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP still way out in front  "

Lets Get Real:

If Labour is to form the next government it will need the votes of the SNP, it can be postulated that Labour will be the biggest Party in the House of Commons, Ed Miliband has stated that only he and Ed Balls would write the budget, Ed is in Disney land if he thinks Ed Balls is going to let him near the budget.  Ed Miliband has stated that there will be no SNP MPs in his Cabinet, thus it will be an alliance of vote by vote, the SNP leadership has stated that it wants billions spent on Scotland, that Trident be abolished.   As Ed Miliband stabbed his brother in the back one can see Ed making big concessions to get to No 10.   The English voter will be run from Scotland and the SNP.    For the political geek the minority Labour Party needing SNP votes will be fun to watch, for the UK, it will be five years of misery and Ed Miliband as PM and his Chancellor, Ed Balls fighting each other for the soul of Labour. 

The Burial of a King - King Richard 111

BBC News: Reports " People wanting to view Richard III's coffin have been urged not to join the queue after the wait passed four hours. "

Lets Get Real:

It is not ever day that you pass a coffin of a Monarch, the last Monarch to die was the Queen's father, George VI in the early 1950s.    It is historic, and lets be honest, off all our Kings and Queens, the most infamous is Richard 111.   Of course the Tudor's made sure that his record was seen bad, but his reforms on the legal front have stood the test of time.  So can one dare say, good old King Richard would have loved the fact that thousands have come to see his coffin, of course you would have to exclude the fact that he took his nephew's throne and is the main suspect in the murder of his nephews in the Tower of London.   That debate will go on, one does wonder what Richard 111 would have made of the UK now, of course Scotland only become part of Great Britain with the succession of James VI of Scotland and James the 1 of England.  Thus UK with the Act of Union in 18th Century.  

Obama's success in Yemen turns to FAILURE - New War on Terror

The Hill: Reports the following from Yemen, " Remaining U.S. government personnel in Yemen are being pulled out due to the deteriorating security situation. "

Lets Get Real:

In Obama's foreign policy there were only two success stories, one being the killing of OBL and the good working relationship between the US and Yemen.   The Government of Yemen has been overthrown by a Tehran supported group, while Al Qaeda does not have the threat of drone strikes it can move to take more control of Yemen.    The US should not be getting out, it should be supporting its ally, lets recall if Jimmy Carter had supported the Western looking government in Iran then we would not have had decades of unrest in the Middle East.   The new war on terror is not won by running away, one just has to see what happened in Iraq when the new army run away when faced with IS.   The US has had to come back, and it looks like the US will need to place ground troops in Iraq again to support Iraqi forces in retaking Mosul.   The new trained Iraqi Army and its Tehran allies are stalled in Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, a few thousand IS fighters are causing problems, what will it be like in Mosul is anyone's guess.   General Petraeus, the General who won Iraq the first time around, also ex CIA Director has stated that the main threat to Iraq is not IS but Shiite military groups.   Of course that brings in Iran, there have been reports that Shiite groups have committed war crimes against Sunni villages and people.   The Tikrit attack comes under the Iran leadership, so far it is not working, that in a perverse  way might benefit the West, if they are taking heavy body bags it might be in the interest of the US and its allies on the strategic level to allow the two groups to take each other out, harsh but true.   Then the Baghdad Government would get the fact that its main ally the US is the only power that they really have to keep happy. 

Poll Bounce for Conservatives after Budget - 2015 Election

Guardian: Reports on a Opinium/Observer poll, in the poll the Conservatives are on 36%, Labour are 33%, while UKIP are on 14% and finally LibDems are on 7%.

Lets Get Real:

While this poll shows a bounce for the Conservative Party after the Budget the trend line looks like either a narrow majority Labour Government or a lose relationship between a minority Labour Government and the SNP.   It down to maths, it takes more people to vote Conservative than it does Labour, thus Labour will be in power for five years, after the mess they made last time, the Country will be in  worse state.   The left wing Trade Unions will have a minority Labour Government at its mercy, also the Unions fund the Labour Party, expect demands from the Unions for Trade Union laws to be scrapped, it can be postulated that a Country gets a government it deserves 

The Burial of a King - King Richard 111

BBC News - Live: Reports on the process for the burial of King Richard 111.

Lets Get Real:

As our American cousins say he was one of ours, lets be honest the King did not have the best record in history, taking the Throne from his nephew, the deaths of his nephews in the Tower of London and then he lost the Battle of Bosworth to Henry V11.   Then the Tudor's made sure that the King looked evil, but still a King of England.  Lets hope that history now treats the King on the whole of his record. The King is dead, God Save the Queen.