The Growth of IS - The New War on Terror

The New York Times: Reports " The Islamic State is expanding beyond its base in Syria and Iraq to establish militant affiliates in Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt and Libya, American intelligence officials assert, raising the prospect of a new global war on terror. "

Lets Get Real:

The major strategic mistake of the Obama Administration in 2011 was to leave Iraq, after the US left we see the growth if IS from Syria to Iraq and now to the above Countries.    The US still has around ten thousand troops in Afghanistan, thus they back back up the Afghan Government and forces, in Egypt the new President has cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood and is fighting IS. in Libya its a mess, that what happens after you lead from behind.  In Yemen the US backed government has fallen to a Iran back group, while Al Qaeda has moved to take over Yemeni military bases.    The perception of success in Yemen as stated by the Obama Oval is now another Tehran gain.    The next US President, be he or she will have  a tough job after the mess of the Obama years, in a few months we see the result of the Iran talks, there is fear in Israel that Obama will take a BAD deal over no deal, thus that could lead to Israel bombing Iran.   Tense days ahead in the Middle East. 

Ukraine Latest 2 - The Cold War 2

Guardian: Reports " The fighting in east Ukraine dropped in intensity on Sunday, ...still saw fighting, especially around the contested town of Debaltseve. "

Lets Get Real:

The US, EU will have to keep constant pressure on the Russians to keep to their word,  the Russians if they play this clever have a lot to gain, the East Ukraine crisis will be off the 24/7 news cycle, the EU will want to cut the number of sanctions on Russia, well those close neighbours of Russia will want to ease these sanctions, then after a few months the Russians can push for Kiev, lets recall President Putin sees Ukraine as part of mother Russia, thus it is his backyard from the viewpoint of the Kremlin.    Lets see if the French and Germans can hold a leadership role in th EU and outside it, interesting times ahead. 

East Ukriane at Peace! - The New Cold War 2

BBC News: Reports " Fighting in east Ukraine has subsided but not stopped since a ceasefire came into effect, the warring parties say. "

Lets Get Real: 

It will take a few days to see if the peace deal holds, can the Russians control the Russian rebels in East Ukraine, how much notice of the peace deal with the Russians take, they want a land route to the Crimea, they need to go through Kiev held towns, the US has warned already that it has seen that the Russians have broken the peace deal, the article notes the following " The US, which has warned it could begin supplying arms to Ukraine if the peace initiative failed, claimed on Saturday it had evidence that the Russian military had deployed weaponry around Debaltseve  ".   If the peace deals falls apart the Oval Office will come under pressure from, Republicans and Democrats to arm the Kiev Government,  thus the WAR in East Ukraine would become a proxy war between the US and Russia.