Is Obama another Jimmy Carter ?

The Times: Interesting article asking if President Obama will stop being compared to President Jimmy Carter after he gave the green light for the US Navy to kill the Somali Pirates holding a US hostage. Lets to be fair to Carter, he did authorize the military to attempt to rescue the hostages held in Iran, the mission failed, one of the reasons for his defeat in 1980. Also the hostages had been on land, not the sea, hard job. Many respects Obama got lucky, if the hostage had been taken on land it would have been difficult for Obama to get him back, Carter and Reagan had that problem. Thus one order does not make him another Jimmy Carter, lets see how he does with Afghanistan and Iraq. Also lets see how he deals with the future problem of Iran and its nuclear ambitions.

North Korea, The Road Ahead ?

CNN News: Has an interesting article on the North Korean Missile Launch, the background pre launch, the expected non reaction after all the tough talk from Obama on down and the aim for talks to get North Korea to give up its ace, its nuclear bombs. In the world of 24/7 news we bloggers had moved on to modern pirates, a lot more sexy story lets be honest, modern pirates and the US Navy. The end result was even better, dead pirates and firm Presidential leadership. Thus what about Communist North Korea, well back to those tedious talks, they will be long, frustrating, lead all over the place. If your North Korea would you give up your Ace in the pack of cards. North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons. They will play Obama forever. It can be postulated that Japan and South Korea will go nuclear within the decade. North Korea will be a failure for Obama as will be Iran.

Obama's Green Light to Kill Pirates

The New York Times: Reports on President Obama's order that allowed the US Navy to Kill the Somali Pirates that held a US hostage. This order by Obama will show that he is no push over, it will make enemies wary of pushing Obama, it seems the President is not gun shy, in other words he will give that order. One can guess that if it had been Bush 43 the Liberal New York Times would have found some way to be critical. Lets hope Obama is as tough with Iran, thus prevent the need for Israel to take action within the year.

Israel to Strike Iran ?

TJP: Reports that the President of Israel, Shimon Peres has stated that Israel will take military action against Iran should the peace overtures from the USA to Iran fail. The Obama Administration does not have all the time in the world, Israel well never allow Iran to become a nuclear armed power. Thus if there are going to be talks Obama needs to start backdoor talks with the leadership Iran now, the problem is who does Obama have discussions with in Iran. Reagan had the same problem, thus Iran - Contra. The problem is that Iran has a Presidential election this year, Obama does not want to help the Conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he needs a moderate to win the election. Thus talks might have to wait, but the clock is ticking, one way or another Iran has to be solved before the US Presidential Election in 2012.

Counselor, A Life at the Edge of History, By Ted Sorsensen

Have just finished Counselor, A Life at the Edge of History, By Ted Sorsensen. Ted Sorsensen was Special Counselor to President John F. Kennedy. I have to admit I was wary of reading it, Mr Sorsensen is the last of the Kennedy Loyalists and he still loyal. I thought I should start to understand Liberals, they will be in power in D.C for the next four to eight years, so thought it might be easy to understand a Liberal through one of the best known Liberals and a good writer. Thus bought the above book. My wariness was miss placed, Mr Sorsensen has written a very honest book, but he still loyal. The book is frank about the Kennedy weakness of women, but what is important is the negatives and positives of the Kennedy Administration. One can disagree with Mr Sorsensen's view of events in the past but one does get to understand Liberals and the mind set. I have always been a JFK fan, of the real JFK faults and all, this book should be read after you read all the negative stuff about JFK and Camelot, its an excellent counter balance, you have to accept that Ted Sorsensen will always be the last Kennedy loyalist, but you get to understand him and JFK. Excellent Read.

Obama 1 - Pirates 0

BBC News: Reports on the release of the US hostage held by Somali Pirates, the US Navy took military action at the end of the day. The US Navy is seems from various wire reports had the ability to take action when the US hostage, Captain Richard Phillips jumped for freedom from the lifeboat that he was held on by the Pirates. Three things spring to mind, Captain Phillips is a hero, he volunteered to be the hostage rather than his crew, this was the second time that he escaped, the US Navy got luck, it was ready the second time. Also President Obama must get of the political glory, he must have green light the operation, this will show that Obama will not allow pirates or terrorists push him around. One should note this operation took place on the sea, the next time could be on land, and in that dilemma Obama could face the same problems as Carter and Reagan.

Update:

BBC News: Reports on the actual process that lead to the release of Captain Richard Phillips, it seems that the pirates made the mistake of being on deck and thus open to action by US Snipers. Thus the end result, three dead pirates and one in custody. One of the main lessons one can learn from this process is not to trust first reports. The original post is correct minus the method of release, the rest is a fair view of the events. I will not edit the original post, a mistake was made, bloggers are not news networks, they have to be trusted what comes over the wire reports. In future this blogger will wait to get the full story on current events before posting. Again sorry reader for not being factual, this blog will always try to be truthful about events eve if the opinions are open to debate.

Split in New Labour Foreign Policy = Pakistan

Guardian: Reports on a split in the Brown Government, the Social Cohesion Minister, Sadiq Khan argues that the UK has to show that it is different from the USA when it comes to its policy on Pakistan. This opinion will not go down well UK PM Gordon Brown, he has enough problems without junior ministers going off the New Labour reservation. One can see the point of Mr Khan, he argues that the Obama done attacks in the badlands of the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has not gone down well with the people of Pakistan. The effect of this anger is the terrorists arrest of late. But at the end of the day the Obama Administration has no choice when it comes to Pakistan, they want to end the War in Afghanistan, to do this they have to remove the threat from the Taliban/Terrorists that are in Pakistan. In fact one can postulate that the USA will increase attacks this year, the military expert predict heavy fighting this year, thus the USA will chase the Taliban/Terrorists back over the border.