http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,499984,00.html
The United States and Pakistan have vowed to work together to rid "extremism and terrorism." Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, visited Pakistan to get the support of Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Recently, the United States government has been putting pressure on Pakistani officials to keep Taliban camps out of their country. They had been reportedly meeting in Swat Valley.
I personally believe that we need to maintain a tight, formal relationship with Pakistan. They can be a good ally for us due to their position in the region. They have good military capabilities if we needed them to fight with us or to fight on their own. It seems that their Foreign Minister has a pretty good head on his shoulders for not wanting extremist Muslims in his country who will cause the American government to come after them.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,499866,00.html
This article hilights President Barack Obama's plan for U.S. troops to be fully out of Iraq by August 2011. It states that troops will be out of cities by this summer, in order to give the Iraqi people more freedom and their troops a chance to test themselves. The troops will remain in bases outside of Iraqi cities and will begin to move away further from cities until they leave for good. Iraq's Prime Minister has been publicly declaring that he think it is time for American soldiers to be out and to have Iraqis take over. As it is, there are still 140,000 troops in Iraq. They have Parliamentary elections this year, which is a big test for them.
I don't know if I agree with President Obama's plan. History has shown us that if we leave a war zone too soon, it falls apart. We are still in several war zones decades after the conflicts have ended. It will be a big test for the Iraqi troops to see if they can stop their own people from causing incident, without the support of American troops. I personally have little faith for right now, but will be delighted to be proven wrong.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,501604,00.html
This article deals with the recent murders in key tourist areas and spring break destinations. The U.S. State Department has issued a warning to college students to be extremely careful when considering, or going to Mexico in the next few weeks. They advised them to stay away from areas where drugs are sold or prostitution is prevalent. The killings have been due to the warring drug cartels. Mexico's Attorney General has advised that it is perfectly safe for high school and college students to go to Mexico. He claims that they just need to watch their step, just like they normally would. Many students seem to not be worried about violence or that anything will happen to them. If students did not spend their breaks in Mexico, their tourism business would see a huge decline and potentially cripple them.
I personally believe that the Mexican government will do anything possible to make sure the tourists will be kept safe. This is a huge source of income for that part of the country, especially this time of the year. It would really hurt their economy if people did not come down and spend money. The United States governement, at the same time, will be working with Mexican officials to make sure things wil be ok. I believe that students will be fine as long as they do not do anything stupid and try to behave them selves.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
2/11/09
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/04/disappointed-irans-refusal-issue-visas-badminton-team/
In this article, the United States displays a slight annoyance with the Iranian government for not allowing the women's badminton team to come to the country to play. This is an "unfortunate situation" for the Obama administration, says State Department spokesperson, Robert Wood. Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, and President Obama had wished to work with Iran over the reason for disallowing the visas. According to world powers, the readiness of the new government to reach out to Iran has been a welcome compared to the old administration. Diplomatic relations with Iran have not occurred since they took diplomats hostage in 1979. 20 of those years had a Republican president in office. During the Bush years, 250 Iranian "artists, athletes and medical professionals have participated in exchange programs in the United States."
This is somewhat of a surprise to me, that the Iranians won't let the U.S. women's badminton team into the country. Barack is more willing to offer a hand of friendship to them than Bush, as long as they return a likewise hand of friendship. Iran, however, is an extremely conservative society. They still make women cover up when going in public, not letting them go to outside pools even. Potentially, they would look down on the U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, as well. Diplomacy with Iran will be tricky no matter what, due to the fact that their leader is crazy and bent on building nuclear weapons. We need to be extremely careful when dealing with Iran in the future.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490886,00.html
This article deals with the Russians agreeing to United States requests to move weapons through Russian territory to supply forces in Afghanistan. Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, says that he hopes that these will be key steps in correcting diplomatic relations with the United States. Previous talks included the United States having Russian cargo planes deliver supplies to the U.S. soldiers, however talks have moved forward to the United States potentially "renting" Russian territory. Since President Obama is planning on putting 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, this might be necessary for the American government. Tensions between the Russians and American officials had been greater than in a while due to George W. Bush attempting to put missile systems in Poland.
I personally believe that it is a good thing for the United States to better diplomatic relations with Russia. They were our foe for decades and nearly caused us world war, with a potential for nuclear holocaust, several times. It would be beneficial to our troops to have supply trains nearby them. Monetarily, I do not believe we should give the Russians too much due to the fact that we are building up a greater deficit every day.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490846,00.html
North Korea has been testing missiles more recently in the past few years, and it has been making people more nervous. With Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, coming to Asia for the first time, Kim Jong Il could be trying to make a statement that he does not want to be forgotten. Diplomatic relations with North Korea are not at their finest right now, due to their leader being a crazed megalomaniac. Spying on North Korea could actually be a spark to make Kim mad. We need to watch how we handle our situations with him, as he would have no problem with doing something to us in retaliation, if it came dow to it.
In this article, the United States displays a slight annoyance with the Iranian government for not allowing the women's badminton team to come to the country to play. This is an "unfortunate situation" for the Obama administration, says State Department spokesperson, Robert Wood. Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, and President Obama had wished to work with Iran over the reason for disallowing the visas. According to world powers, the readiness of the new government to reach out to Iran has been a welcome compared to the old administration. Diplomatic relations with Iran have not occurred since they took diplomats hostage in 1979. 20 of those years had a Republican president in office. During the Bush years, 250 Iranian "artists, athletes and medical professionals have participated in exchange programs in the United States."
This is somewhat of a surprise to me, that the Iranians won't let the U.S. women's badminton team into the country. Barack is more willing to offer a hand of friendship to them than Bush, as long as they return a likewise hand of friendship. Iran, however, is an extremely conservative society. They still make women cover up when going in public, not letting them go to outside pools even. Potentially, they would look down on the U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, as well. Diplomacy with Iran will be tricky no matter what, due to the fact that their leader is crazy and bent on building nuclear weapons. We need to be extremely careful when dealing with Iran in the future.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490886,00.html
This article deals with the Russians agreeing to United States requests to move weapons through Russian territory to supply forces in Afghanistan. Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, says that he hopes that these will be key steps in correcting diplomatic relations with the United States. Previous talks included the United States having Russian cargo planes deliver supplies to the U.S. soldiers, however talks have moved forward to the United States potentially "renting" Russian territory. Since President Obama is planning on putting 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, this might be necessary for the American government. Tensions between the Russians and American officials had been greater than in a while due to George W. Bush attempting to put missile systems in Poland.
I personally believe that it is a good thing for the United States to better diplomatic relations with Russia. They were our foe for decades and nearly caused us world war, with a potential for nuclear holocaust, several times. It would be beneficial to our troops to have supply trains nearby them. Monetarily, I do not believe we should give the Russians too much due to the fact that we are building up a greater deficit every day.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490846,00.html
North Korea has been testing missiles more recently in the past few years, and it has been making people more nervous. With Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, coming to Asia for the first time, Kim Jong Il could be trying to make a statement that he does not want to be forgotten. Diplomatic relations with North Korea are not at their finest right now, due to their leader being a crazed megalomaniac. Spying on North Korea could actually be a spark to make Kim mad. We need to watch how we handle our situations with him, as he would have no problem with doing something to us in retaliation, if it came dow to it.
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