Hard Slog = Afghanistan

BBC News: Reports that the new US Commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus has stated that the War in Afghanistan will get tougher and harder before we see some light. The question that has to be asked can General Petraeus really turn the War around, he turned around Iraq but he didn’t have the Iraqi Government attempting to do deal with Taliban / Al Qaeda, yes in Iraq the native Iraqi insurgents turned against Al Qaeda due to their methods but the Taliban and Al Qaeda are much more interwoven, it is always a mistake to assume that tactics that won one war will win a similar war. The insurgents in Afghanistan have the safe heavens of the badlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the CIA drone attacks has been very effective but only up to a point, the Taliban / Al Qaeda have not been defeated thus far, they have been pushed further in to caves. Thus what is the answer for Afghanistan, 1) Get a pro Western strong man to take over, 2) Allow him to use his own methods to keep control, the ACLU to be kept out of Afghanistan, 3) Open a massive Special Forces base in Pakistan, have them take out the Taliban / Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, allow Afghanistan to become a free fire zone, in other words if it moves shoot it, tough but hard folks. Also an Old Imperial policy. The present strategy is not working in Afghanistan, one can postulate that by the end the UK could have lost more of its Armed Forces in Afghanistan than in the Korean War.

The First Revolt from Lib Dems ?

Guardian: Reports that only two Liberal Democrat MPs opposed the raise of VAT from 17.5% to 20%. Thus the weekend reports that Labour and Lib Dems could block the Budget seem to be spin by Labour and disgruntled Lib Dems. If this the best the left press can dream up then the Coalition Government just might survive in till 2015 and the next General Election. The Lib Dems have crossed the river, the Labour Party will never forgive them now, the Lib Dems are stuck with the Conservative Party.

The Shadow of Sovereign Debt and US Debt

Telegraph: Reports on another bad day on the money markets both sides of the pond. It the UK the FTSE - 100 is down 157.46 points at 4914.22, while at 5.52pm UK Time the Dow Jones is down 236.32 points at 9902.9. The problem is simple folks, it’s the Sovereign debt of the US and EU. This blog picked up a simple answer to the problem from a TV pundit, 1) People getting Houses they could not afford and thus we come to the 2) the banks having a lot of red ink from people who could not afford to pay the banks for their houses 3) the Western Governments took over the debt but with their own debt the system is at breaking point. Thus as long as we have Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain on the verge of going broke the system will never recover, the problem is that all these countries have a welfare state and they cant afford it any more, thus who will be the brave politician who tells the voter its has to end, cuts are one thing, telling the voter that their benefits are over is another, lets see who has the guts to tell the truth.

The Second Oldest Trade - Spies

BBC News: Reports on the arrest in the US of ten suspected Russian Agents. These arrests should be a warning to the Obama Administration, YES the Cold War is over but Russia is still Russia and the Great Game never ends. The Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 should have been a warning to President Obama, you can stick different flags up the backside of the Russian bear but it is still a Russian Bear. At the end of the Reagan Administration the Cold War was over but the Gipper had great advice for his successors, “ Trust but Verify ” when it comes to the Russians. The problem with the EGO of Obama is that he thinks all the problems that US faces is down to Bush 43, he cant get the fact that the US has enemies and they wont be won over by his rhetoric, in fact they have contempt for Obama as he has sold out the Czech Republic and Poland to gain favour with Russia and what has Russia done, go slow on Iran and increasing its spies in the US. It is time that Obama smelled the coffee when it comes to Russia, Iran and North Korea, his Foreign Policy Agenda has failed.

Afghanistan Front News

MOD: Has announced the name of the UK Soldier killed on Sunday in Afghanistan, the Soldier was “ Corporal Jamie Kirkpatrick of 101 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), part of the Counter-IED Task Force ”. Our thoughts are with the family of Corporal Kirkpatrick.