Afghanistan Front News - US Death Toll for July

CBS News: Reports so far this month the US has lost thirty four of its Armed Forces Personnel. In total the USA has lost 119 of its Armed Forces Personnel this year as reported by iCasualties.org. In all iCasulties.org reports that since 2001 the USA has lost 749 personnel in Afghanistan. This shows in brutal terms that the USA is taking a heavy loss in the War in Afghanistan, the question is how long can President Obama keep his liberal base on side, the Liberal Leadership in Congress has already stated they will pull the plug after a year if Afghanistan does not turn around, it will take more than a year, also the War in Afghanistan is tied to how successful the Army of Pakistan is in fighting the terrorists on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, its going to take more than a year. The War in Afghanistan is the War President Obama wanted to fight, well its his war now, the Obama surge is down to him. Afghanistan can go three ways, a) The West has a clear win ( don't hold your breath for that ), b) The Taliban/Terrorists win, ( Obama and Brown can not afford that, thus expect more troops if need be to win or keep the place steady ), c) No win for either side, just a raising death toll and now way out, ( I hate to say this but that looks like the real end of this War, the Just War that you cant get rid off, the War that will define the USA and UK for years.

Death in Afghanistan

MOD: Reports that another soldier has died in Afghanistan due to combat operations, the soldier was from the " 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, attached to 1st Battalion Welsh Guards " Thus this month alone the UK has lost nineteen soldiers in Afghanistan, of that total 18 have died in combat operations and 1 due to an accident. In all since 2001 the UK has lost 188 of its Armed Forces Personnel, this breaks down to 157 due to combat operations and 31 due to accidents, illness or other incidents. The month of July 2009 has been deadliest month since the UK went back in to Afghanistan since the First and Second Afghan Wars of the 19th Century.

Blue Dog Democrats vs Obama

The New York Times: Reports on the wall that that Blue Dog Democrats have to started to build between themselves and President Obama over Health Care Reform, the NYT writes the following, " Fiscally conservative House Democrats forced leaders of their party on Tuesday to slow the pace of work on major health care legislation.. " The irony of this is quite fun if your a Conservative Republican, to win the House of Representatives back the Democrats had to chose Conservative Candidates in Republican Districts, they had to be more Conservative that the Republican candidate, thus the present problems for the Liberal Democratic Leadership, these Blue Dog Democrats can not sell health reform that costs a trillion dollars, prevents people taking up new Health Care insurance after the bill passed and as Fox News showed this morning, the President when talking to bloggers didn't now whats in his own bill. The President has his chance to push Congress with his economic package, well that has not worked, thus Congress will not be pushed this time. Lets see if Obama is a good political operator in the mold of LBJ and Reagan, if Obama fails with health care the re-election of 2012 will be in doubt. KEEP YOUR NERVE CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRATS, YOUR SAVING THE ECONOMY AND YOUR COUNTRY.

Nuclear Iran and the Obama Adminstration

Fox News: Reports that Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State has stated that the Obama Administration would defend its Allies in the Gulf should Iran go nuclear. The day Iran goes nuclear is the day that Israel will have a military strike on Iran. The idea of defending the Allies of the USA in the Gulf is a good idea, it should work on two levels, it will make a point to Iran, that should they threaten the friends of the USA they will face a military strike that will wipe them out, and it prevents the Gulf States from also going nuclear. Let see if this forces Iran in to talks, have my doubts, after the Presidential Election in Iran we are not dealing with a clerical government but a Totalitarian regime that needs the nuclear card to stay in power.

The Politics of Afghanistan

The Times: Reports on the latest political problems that Afghanistan is causing for UK PM Gordon Brown, its helicopters again and the lack of UK helicopters in theatre to transport our troops. Its simple folks, PM Brown when he was UK Chancellor of the Exchequer cut spending of helicopters, Brown is not a military leader, he is no Churchill or Thatcher, he does not have a clue when it comes to military affairs, one can argue his economic record is worse, he was Chancellor when the origins of the present economic crisis started, thus on the two most important issues facing the UK, the economy and Afghanistan we have a PM out of his comfort zone, the UK has another eight months of a weak government and even worse a weak PM.