The NEXT IS Flashpoint = Turkey - War on Terror

The New York Times: Reports " More than 130,000 refugees have flooded into Turkey from Syria in recent days, fleeing attacks by Islamic State militants on their villages..."

Lets Get Real:

The growth of IS a threat to the entire Middle East, lets recall Turkey is part of NATO, it only takes one attack on Turkey for NATO to come in to the picture, also IS is a threat to Iran, thus while Iran rebukes the US for its actions it needs the US to carry on with its airstrikes, while they use their military presence in Iraq to support the Baghdad Government.    One would think that the leadership of IS would understand that an attack on Turkey would be a grave mistake, but that does not mean that there are not other targets, refugees have flooded, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, as Jordan is a close ally of the US and the West the US would have to protect the Kingdom should come under threat.    The question is can airstrikes on IS work without a ground operation, no one outside the Oval seems to think that you can ONLY do airstrikes, you need troops on the ground to take ground and keep it, thus we are back to the question of boots on the ground, lets hope the Oval gets over its ego and gets the troops ready for action, it is coming, reality and the wishes of the Oval are about to hit each other, rhetoric is good but you have to have boots on the ground. 

Panetta BLAMES Obama for IS - 2nd Term Blues

Fox News: Reports in essence that former Secretary of State Leon Panetta places the blame for the growth of IS in Syria on President Obama and his refusal to arm secular rebels in 2012.  Also states he supported keeping troops in Iraq after 2011.

Lets Get Real:

The simple answer is that Panetta and co, that being Hillary Clinton and the Defence Department does not want to take the blame for IS, they are quite willing to throw President Obama under the bus, those that have left or want to a job after 2017 are creating a defence against the charge that they dropped the ball when it comes to IS.   The problem for the Oval is that it is not running again and its VP is a laughing stock when it comes to the prospects that he could win the Democratic nomination.  If Obama had a dog in the race then people who be more afraid of speaking out, but VP Biden is punchline for jokes.   The nomination is for Hillary Clinton to lose, thus she has been making distance between herself and Obama when it comes to national security.   That is the price that Obama pays for having a weak VP with no prospects of being POTUS. 

New Afghanistan Deal - Afghanistan War

BBC News: Reports " A deal to form a government of national unity in Afghanistan has been signed at a ceremony in Kabul. "

Lets Get Real:

Thus a successful piece of diplomacy by US Secretary of State John Kerry, given the law of averages he was bound to find success somewhere, the new national government has agreed to allow US troops to stay in Afghanistan after the NATO mission comes to an end, this allows the US to train Afghan Forces but also allows them to keep Al Qaeda on their toes.   It is a pity that POTUS did not take an interest in Iraq during their talks with the US, if the US had kept a force in Iraq this could have prevented the rise of IS, and the new war on terror.   The most interesting part will come when the majority of Western troops have left, how long before the Taliban and Al Qaeda start to undermine the new Afghan Government and step up attacks on US troops in country.    This is a high point, there will be low points, that is the nature of Afghanistan for any power. 

Obama on IS - The War in Iraq

The White House: Reports on the weekly address by POTUS.  Here are the remarks, " Over the past week, the United States has continued to lead our friends and allies in the strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL.  As I’ve said before, our intelligence community has not yet detected specific plots from these terrorists against America.  Right now, they pose a threat to the people of Iraq, Syria, and the broader Middle East.  But its leaders have threatened America and our allies.  And if left unchecked, they could pose a growing threat to the United States.

So, last month, I gave the order for our military to begin taking targeted action against ISIL.  Since then, American pilots have flown more than 170 airstrikes against these terrorists in Iraq.  And France has now joined us in these airstrikes.

Going forward, we won’t hesitate to take action against these terrorists in Iraq or in Syria.  But this is not America’s fight alone.  I won’t commit our troops to fighting another ground war in Iraq, or in Syria.  It’s more effective to use our capabilities to help partners on the ground secure their own country’s futures. We will use our air power. We will train and equip our partners.  We will advise and we will assist.   And we’ll lead a broad coalition of nations who have a stake in this fight.  This isn’t America vs. ISIL.  This is the people of that region vs. ISIL.  It’s the world vs ISIL.

We’ve been working to secure bipartisan support for this strategy here at home, because I believe that we are strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together.  We’ve been consulting closely with Congress.  And last week, Secretary of State Kerry, Secretary of Defense Hagel, and military leaders worked to gain their support for our strategy. 

A majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans in both the House and the Senate have now approved a first, key part of our strategy by wide margins.  They’ve given our troops the authority they need to train Syrian opposition fighters so that they can fight ISIL in Syria.  Those votes sent a powerful signal to the world: Americans are united in confronting this danger.  And I hope Congress continues to make sure our troops get what they need to get the job done.

Meanwhile, because we’re leading the right way, more nations are joining our coalition.  Over 40 countries have offered to help the broad campaign against ISIL so far – from training and equipment, to humanitarian relief, to flying combat missions.  And this week, at the United Nations, I’ll continue to rally the world against this threat.

This is an effort that America has the unique ability to lead.  When the world is threatened; when the world needs help; it calls on America. And we call on our troops. Whether it’s to degrade and ultimately destroy a group of terrorists, or to contain and combat a threat like the Ebola epidemic in Africa; we ask a lot of our troops.  But while our politics may be divided at times, the American people stand united around supporting our troops and their families.  This is a moment of American leadership.  Thanks to them, it is a moment we will meet. "

Lets Get Real:

I wish President Obama would stop saying that there will be no ground troops in Iraq, the US has 1,600 troops on the ground already, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has stated that these Military Advisors could go out on missions with their Iraqi colleagues.   Thus the US does have boots on the ground, it also needs spotters for the air strikes, Vietnam started with military advisors.  In 1965 LBJ placed the Marines in South Vietnam to protect US planes, will Obama in 2015 send real ground troops back in to Iraq, there is more chance of that than the US leaving Iraq for good. 

Time Heist - Doctor Who Review

Doctor Who News: Reports " 4.93 million watched Doctor Who - Time Heist, according to unofficial overnight figures, a share of 23.8 % of the total TV audience. "

Lets Get Real:

This was a fun episode, the Doctor as a bank robber, but the reason for the robbery is a spoiler, the demise of two characters through the episode was shocking but seeing the result of action taken by spoiler you could see why they did it, then at the end manipulative side of the Doctor came through, the two deaths had a different outcome, again spoiler.   The wonderful Keeley Hawes was the Bank Manager was was the enemy of the Doctor, she was smart, and an equal to the Doctor, but of course she lost but also won at the end, there are to many spoilers to tell this part of the story, lets just say its open for Ms Hawes to come back, timelines are great for Time Lords.   One thing that was retro was than the Bank of Karabraxos was a real building, just the most secure building in banking, if your up to something the bank will know, and what the Doctor stole is a spoiler.   See episode again, do feel sorry for the bank and the Manager! Bankers are nice are they not, but then my memory is gone, did I ever visit the bank of Karabraxos!!  Spoiler alert there too!! 

The House SPLIT on Syria - 2nd Term Blues

The New York Times: Reports on the mixed vote in the House to grant approval to POTUS  to train Syrian rebels, the motion was opposed by those who thought it was not tough enough, that being Republicans and those who thought it was the wrong policy, that being Democrats.  The article notes the following, " Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, actively and strongly backed the legislation, and both sought to portray it as a modest measure. "

Lets Get Real:

No one thinks that you can take hundreds of rebels out of Syria, then train them and send them back, the training will take time, in that period, Assad and IS will try to gain from the weakness of the rebels, thus when the moderate rebels do go back they will need US Special Forces or they will be wiped out by either enemies.   The US has tried troops on the ground in Iraq, and it worked before POTUS removed all the troops in 2011, this was a major strategic mistake, thus the growth of IS.   The liberals in the Obama Administration think air power alone will work in Syria and Iraq, good luck with that move, it will not work, you need to hold ground.  One can postulate that Obama wants to hand the problem over to his successor, he wants to keep IS and Assad from winning, but will only do enough to keep the problems from making him look weak.   The history of Iraq in the 21 Century looks lot like Vietnam, time for leaders to re - read the history of the period. 

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.