Well, we now seem to heading for yet more conflict in the Middle East with the good ol` US of A having started their concerted air attacks in Syria against IS strongholds, backed by a coalition of Middle East countries.   The British Coalition Government meanwhile is considering its position and will doubtless consult its focus groups and stakeholder partners whilst setting up a set of Conventions and Inquiries to determine whether any action might be considered, probably not taking effect until after the General Election in May next year provided that all-party agreement can be reached.  

In that context it was singularly unhelpful for former Prime Minister Tony Blair to openly state that, in his opinion and given the wisdom of his experience,  all military means especially including ground forces should be used against the IS forces if the West is to retain any degree of credibility and control in that part of the world.  Well thanks, Tone, but we`ve tried that before and the last thing we need is a discredited egotist, posing of all things as the Middle East Peace Envoy, coming out with stuff like that.  A call to arms to be ignored, I feel.

And on Friday of this week another battle will commence in the rarefied surroundings of the Gleneagles Golf Thingy up in Scotland when once again the good ol` US of A will battle it out with Europe for possession of the Ryder Cup.   Now today I see that yet another belligerent retired Caledonian is being asked to give a rousing motivational speech to the Europe Team before they tee off.  Yes, folks, none other than that model of restrained persuasiveness (Sir) Alex Ferguson, late of Old Trafford and the Football Association`s Disciplinary Committee.

In all seriousness, Ferguson will give Team Europe a rousing talk this evening either in his inimitable incoherent mumble or his trademark hair-drying rant and it would hardly surprise me if any errant European golfer stepping out of line ends up with a mashie niblick around his ears.   A call to arms to be feared, I suspect.

Now the above two instances are at the extreme ends of confrontation - one potentially lethal, the other almost certainly irrelevant.  It just seems a pity that both are coloured by the unfathomable calls to arms from two gentlemen who surely by now must have learnt the wisdom of keeping counsel rather than causing disquiet whenever they open their mouths.