Obama vs. The Generals - 2nd Term Blues

Telegraph: Reports on the reaction of the liberal base of the Democratic Party to the suggestion that  ground troops could be used in Iraq, the article notes the following, " The suggestion angered and alarmed Mr Obama's liberal supporters and prompted the White House to hastily rule out the possibility of Americans on the front line. "

Lets Get Real: 

As this blog tweeted the White House would have to row back the remarks by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the liberal base elected President Obama, they are not happy will recent developments in Iraq, they would rather not take on IS.   Either IS is a major threat or it is not, the Oval can not have it both ways, what if IS starts to cause problems in Jordan and Lebanon, at some point the Oval will have to either break with the liberal base or allow IS to become a State in the Middle East.  Neither is a great choice for President Obama, well Obama wanted the job, not a lot of Presidents leave the White House happy, the exception being Reagan and Clinton, and Reagan had the edge because his VP was his successor.   Thus what will the Oval do when it comes time to really decide about Iraq and Syria. 

Funding of the New War in Iraq and Syria

Guardian: Reports " House of Representatives approves Obama plan to arm Syrian rebels "

Lets Get Real:

This new Obama plan for Syria is NOT going to work, those in the House and the Senate know it will not work and even if it worked there is a great chance that the battlefield will look different by the time US had trained the Syrian rebels.    This move by the House is getting the US further in to the Wars in Syria, thus far the Oval has not attacked Syria, how many beheaded Americans does it take, for the Oval to understand that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs understands better than the Oval, in open remarks the Chairman stated that Military Advisors could be part of any attacks on IS.  Also if the Obama plan fails there will be the need for ground troops.   The Congress will come back to this issue, after the Mid Terms.   This smells like Vietnam all over again. 

Obama and Iraq - The New Iraq War

BBC News: Reports " President Barack Obama has told an audience of US troops their comrades fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq will not have a combat mission. "

Lets Get Real:

Lets hope that the Oval understands the above is a holding statement. there is no way the Iraqi Army and the Kurds will be able to take large towns, that takes experts, thus US Special Forces, also there has to be a question will the Kurds go in to towns that are majority of a different ethnic group, the Iraqi army is going to take time to build and re -arm, thus again the need for Special Forces.   It can be postulated that no on with a brain cell believes that POTUS wont use ground troops, if not it will be Vietnam pre 1965 again, it will be a battle to keep gains, and prevent IS aka the Viet Cong from taking more ground.  Interesting times ahead in Iraq. 

VOTE NO - Scotland

The Voters in Scotland 

VOTE NO

Remain Part of the United Kingdom 

God Save the Queen

VOTE NO

Al Qaeda and IS - The Terror Threat

Telegraph - IS Live: Reports the following in its 6.26pm post. " Al Qaeda has sent jihadists from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Syria to recruit Western fighters for a new suicide bomb plot targetting US-bound flights,.. "

Lets Get Real:

As much as a threat to the West that IS is, one should never take one's eyes off the constant threat from Al Qaeda, they want another major terror event to place themselves back on the map, thus Western intelligence should have their eyes and ears open for chatter.   As 9/11 and 7/7 has shown it only takes a few men to cause major destruction and damage.    IS and Al Qaeda share the same terrorist mind set, one can not say that IS would not give Al Qaeda Western men with clean passports as to mount another 9/11 operation.  The above is the reason that the NSA has to bug everybody, its for the security of the West and to save people. 

Hillary Clinton and Iowa - 2016 Race

Guardian: Reports " Hillary Clinton returns to Iowa as steak fry sizzles with talk of 2016  Presumed frontrunner flirts with media at event for Senator Tom Harkin while volunteers offer stickers, T-shirts and support "

Lets Get Real:

The race is on folks for the Democratic nomination in 2016, at this stage it has to be Hillary Clinton is the only runner, and in less some brave Democrat raises to the challenge she will be the Democratic Nominee in 2016.  Lets recall Hillary was fav in 2008 and she lost to then Senator Obama, so the Clinton brand can lose, the Democratic left does not trust  Hillary, thus it can be expected that someone will run to her left, what about Biden, sorry that was a joke, then there is Senator Warren the darling of the liberal left, that would be great for the Republicans if she beat Clinton, the Republicans would destroy a liberal left candidate for President, the US wants a strong right wing leader, thus the need for the Republicans to get another Ronald Reagan, that is not easy in the present field.   Thus it will be interesting to see the twist and turns in the race, its going to be a long two and half years of polls, elections, great if your a political geek. 

NATO and the Ukraine - Ukraine Crisis

BBC News: Reports " About 1,300 troops from 15 countries - including the US and other Nato members - have begun a military exercise near Lviv in western Ukraine. "

Lets Get Real:

This is of symbolic importance, it tells the Russian Bear that NATO is serious when it come so the security of the Ukraine, the Russians will see from this deployment that the West when pushed can match its rhetoric.   Lets hope that the Russians get this message, and do not cause an incident that would bring Russians troops in to conflict with the West, mistakes occur, the fog of war, can lead to events developing out of the control of leaders.   One can expect that Moscow will keep a firm hand over its troops in Eastern Ukraine, even if it can not control the Russian rebels all the time.