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.