Thursday, June 23, 2011

Tom Rogan Thinks..

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Tom Rogan Thinks..

1) I have another guardian piece coming out tomorrow.. hence the absence of posts.

2) For a class action lawsuit to be successful there must first be a unified, identifiable class. 'In or out'

3) I wonder how many UK SSNs are on there way to the Falklands. A couple if Cameron has any clue about national security.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Tom Rogan Thinks..

Exams over so back to it.

1) The Argentinians are increasing pressure on the UK vis-a-vis the Falkland islands. They know that the UK has gutted its expeditionary force capability and in so has presented a great opportunity to push the issue up the agenda. On the other hand, I would imagine that the Royal Navy has one or two Trafalgar Class subs somewhere around here. It is unlikely that the US (at least under the current administration) would provide much more than covert intelligence support for UK forces during a second Falklands war.

2) Greece has major problems. Obviously. The entrenched special interests in that country (the wealthy who hate paying taxes, unions etc) do not want to give ground and the French and Germans are fighting each other over how best to proceed.

3) Strauss-Kahn was bitching about his cuffs.

4) The Israelis are getting ready for another show down with a Gaza flotilla that will sail this month. The flotillas are a nightmare for Israel. The Israelis cannot allow the ships to reach Gaza (to do so would be a direct, unacceptable challenge to Israeli authority and would invite an image of weakness that is unaffordable) but they are also desperate to avoid more negative publicity in the run up to the UN meeting in September. My opinion is that the Palestinian UN state hood move is counter-productive. Although, it is sad that the Lieberman is the Israeli FM. He lives in a dream world and may also be corrupt.

5) The US relative silence on Syria has been pathetic. Assad is committing terrible abuses and Obama is staying quiet. Even from a purely US interest-centric viewpoint this is counter-productive. Iran and Hizballah will view American silence on Syria and impotence in Lebanon as examples of our weakness. We need to be more assertive.

6) I think this would be a much better deal than this.

7) The Red Sox continue their excellent run. 11/12 now.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Tom Rogan Thinks..

I have exams at the moment so will not be posting.

However, I do want to draw attention to the Red Sox.. who are kicking ass.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Tom Rogan Thinks..

England and the US both played under par yesterday. Especially the US. What a joke. At least England have Ashley Young.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Tom Rogan Thinks..

1) The prosecution of John Edwards will as the linked article points out, be very hard. It is a tough sell to make the case that he knowingly and intentionally used campaign funds to hide his divorce. His defense team will say (according to reports) that the money was a gift from a friend and was given in pursuit of protecting his divorce from his wife.

2) These should be in Afghanistan. Period.

3) The deficit debate rolls on.. Sadly I think that the only way Obama will decide to compromise is if his hand is forced by the economy.

4) Palin being Palin.

Friday, June 3, 2011

1) Yemen is on the verge of becoming a failed state. AQAP will be loving the current situation. Yemen's water problems are a major, major issue.

2) The House of Reps is right to be angry with Obama on Libya. He has ignored them, ignored the war powers resolution and ignored the need for the development and implementation of a clear, defined and effective mission plan. It is surprising that Obama who was supposedly going to be a more consensual and less executive focused leader has been so willing to ignore congress.

3) The US must put more pressure on the Maliki government to treat protesters with fairness and dignity.

4) Weiner better get some message control going..

5) The real problem in reconstruction efforts for Afghanistan is a lack of collaboration between different government agencies combined with a lack of oversight and planning.

6) Really can't see how this is any different to Obama's plan. Obviously Obama also knows that Israel cannot negotiate on the issue of its jewish statehood.

7) Once again.. on the Babar Ahmad trial the CPS brought a case to trial that had no merit.


8) Some good news. As I wrote in the guardian, we are lucky to have these citizens.