Barack obama

Washington, D.C. Week two of the crisis in Ferguson, Missouri and peace is nowhere in sight. The problems began on Saturday 9th August when Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American, was shot by white police officer Darren Wilson. For a week few details about the incident were made public, creating a cauldron of rumours and fury. We now know that Wilson shot Brown six times, including twice in the head. The question of why Brown was shot remains unanswered. Maybe it was in relation to the theft of a box of cigars, or maybe not. The police force has obfuscated in its responses during press conferences, leaving the people of Ferguson confused. What caused a shooting in a small town (population 21,203) to erupt into successive evenings of violence?

The old cliché that ‘nothing happens in August’ has again been brutally disproved. From the centenary of the outbreak of the first world war to the Russian invasion of Georgia six years ago, August is a month often packed with violence — but rarely more so than this year. In Syria, Christians are being crucified for refusing to convert to Islam. In northern Iraq, there are reports of mothers throwing their children from mountains rather than leaving them to the jihadis who are parading the severed heads of their victims. Russian convoys are rolling towards the Ukrainian border as Vladimir Putin tests the resolve of the West. Barack Obama has watched this unfold from his holiday spot in Martha’s Vineyard; David Cameron from the Portuguese coast.

The European Council has spoken! We must all come back on Thursday after it has considered its approach to fresh sanctions against Russia. The communiqué from today’s meeting of the Council is full of fine ambition: albeit ambition that was agreed on 18 July. We are promised an extended list of: ‘…entities and persons, including from the Russian Federation…who actively provide material and financial support to or are benefiting from the Russian decision makers from the annexation of Crimea or the destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine, and to adopt additional measures to restrict trade with and investment in Crimea and Sebastopol, at the latest by the end of July.

President Obama said recently that the United States cannot simply play ‘whack-a-mole’ in the Middle East. The only appropriate response to which is to say, ‘Yes you can.’ We can all understand why the President might be feeling a little tired over all this. For nearly six gruelling years he has been calling the troops home and declaring that the war is over. Making that speech repeatedly, with the facts so continuously contradicting it, might get to anyone. The successful raid on the bin Laden compound in Pakistan was meant to have put an end to al-Qaeda. Iraq was meant to have been solved when President Obama ordered US troops out of the country. And that iteration of the ‘a decade of war is over’ speech was one of his best.

President Obama has just announced that the US is prepared to launch strikes against ISIS in Iraq if the situation on the ground requires it. The US will send up to 300 military advisers to the country. It is understood that they will provide intelligence on what targets US air power should hit. But Obama stressed that they would not be involved in combat roles. In a sign of the US's deep disenchantment with the current Iraqi government, administration officials have told the Washington Post that they are working to see if a new Iraqi government can be put together following this April's parliamentary elections. The US would like to see a broader based, less sectarian government emerge that includes Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds.

There are two types of Australian male: the ‘julios’, a modern import who likes soft drinks and hair product, and the ‘nerds’, the traditional breed who like beer and Sheilas. Tony Abbott is a nerd. On his recent visit to America, Abbott could not have done less to counter national stereotypes. The customised surfboard he gave to ‘the dude-in-chief’, President Obama, could only have been bettered in the nerds’ catalogue by a crate of 4X and a cork hat. Mr S is looking forward to the White House releasing pictures of the board in action.

Maybe it's a special relationship after all. President Obama has given David Cameron and the Better Together campaign a rhetorical boost this afternoon. At a press conference held at the G7 in Brussels, the president said: ‘With respect to the future of the United Kingdom, obviously ultimately this is up to the people of Great Britain. ‘In the case of Scotland, there is a referendum process in place and it’s up to the people of Scotland. ‘But I would to say the United Kingdom has been an extraordinary partner to us. From the outside at least, it looks like things have worked pretty well. ‘We obviously have a deep interest in making sure one of the closest allies we will ever remains a strong, robust, united and effective partner.