4

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/15/clinton-announces-new-efforts-fight-somali-piracy/

This article is really two articles in one. The first part of the article talks about Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton's, plan to try to eradicate pirates or stop them from attacking merchant vessels in the future. Her plan talks of bringing the United Nations into play with several countries working together to eradicate piracy. Clinton does not mention using militaristic force against them, as most of them have been reported to be teens or tweens with automatic weapons and dinghy type boats. Clinton has called a meeting for nations to convene to speak about how best to go about eradicating piracy from several different perspectives. It seems that to eradicate them by financial means would be one of the best ways. Suggestions are being made to freeze known pirates' assets. Another method would be to coordinate different naval fleets to stop piracy.
I think that, in light, of the most recent occurrence involving Somali pirates and an American ship, this is a very good idea for our Secretary of State to be addressing. I think that a coordinated naval effort by several nations could be very effective in stopping piracy from occurring outside of shipping lanes, near Somalia. Pirates would have to be extremely desparate to be willing to risk themselves to take ships when they know they are going to be taking on powerful navies. I will be interested in following this over the next few weeks to see how Clinton addresses the issue.

The second part of the article addresses the military's need to stop spending so much money on such specialized equipment. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, has been admonishing that the United States curtail some spending due to the lack of necessity for certain weapons systems. His main argument point has been against the Air Force's F-22 Raptor warplanes. The price tag on those is around $400 million and they have yet to be used in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Gates is proposing that the United States military forces focus on building "Joint Strike Fighters," which cost around $80 million.
I must admit that I partially agree with Gates' idea that we do not need such weapons when we are fighting skirmishes against pirates or terrorists in mountain caves. For that, we need more conventional weapons. However, if the American government continues to produce new weapons and high-tech weapons, good things can come. We can keep ahead of other countries with firepower and they create more jobs. The F-22 Raptor, alone, creates jobs in 40 states. I think we just need to maintain a good balance of spending on new, expensive weapons and conventional weapons.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/15/north-korea-asks-nuclear-experts-leave/
North Korea has recently expelled four American nuclear scientists. This comes comes a short time after the North Koreans fired what they claimed to be a "satellite." World powers think it to be a "thinly disguised test launch of a multistage intercontinental ballistic missile." Robert Wood, head of the State Department, has declared that he believes this to be a step backward in negotiations with North Korea. Things have progressively gotten worse recently with the North, as they have become more uncooperative. The International Atomic Energy Agency has also been expelled from the country.
I still believe that the North Koreans might need to be handled strongly in the very near future. We cannot allow a psychotic dictator continue to produce weapons that could potentially hurt us or our allies. We must confront the problem and attempt to reason with the rest of the Security Council to receive United Nations support, in my opinion. I do not believe we should start abandoning them after we have just started to become very active again.

3

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513258,00.html

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has led to some aggravated U.S. officials. Pirates seized the Maersk Alabama, a carrier, some 350 miles off the coast of Somalia. The pirates originally took the 20 members of the crew captive on the ship, while taking the captain hostage on one of the life boats. The sailors, however, were able to overcome the pirates, taking one hostage and, thus, negotiating their own release. The captain is still being held hostage currently, as United States warships are traveling to their current position. They will attempt to secure the captain back to his ship, when the time comes. People have been wondering why there was no security, and security specialists have claimed tht they cannot be everywhere at once. These security personnel believe that because the sailors were able to overpower the pirates, it will help discourage further pirate attacks.
I personally agree with the security specialists, in that, pirates will think twice about attacking U.S. ships now, due to the overpowering and naval intervention so quickly. I also believe that there is no way we can expect all ships to be protected because of how wide shipping lanes can be, and how far apart ships usually travel from each other. I believe that the pirates will not be paid ransom for the captain and that they will probably be killed/detained by the United States Navy, instead of receiving their big payday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513207,00.html

Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American reporter, is being charged for espionage by the Iranian government. "'Her case has been sent to the revolutionary court. She, without press credentials, was carrying out spying activities under the guise of being a reporter,' AFP quoted deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad." Roxana is a 31 year old, American born woman who was arrested in January. She was arrested while carrying expired press credentials. Reportedly, she was arrested for buying alcohol, which is illegal in Iran. "'She has an Iranian citizenship, passport and an Iranian national identity card. She has entered Iran as an Iranian citizen and if she has another citizenship, we are unaware of it and it has no effect on how we will proceed with her case,' AFP quoted Haddad."
I personally think this is an outrage. If she is convicted, the United States might have to intervene, in my opinion. If she is innocent, as she most likely is, the United States cannot let her be punished by the Iranian government. Secretaryof State, Hilary Clinton, has called for her release, while President Obama is trying to improve diplomatic relations with Iran. We cannot let Iran take advantage of the United States again and must decide one way, or another how we are going to act in the future with the Iranian government.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513215,00.html

North Korea's long range weapons may now be operational. The reports of a missile that was fired out of North Korea have been almost confirmed by the Japanese, who were looking for the remains. This caused the Koreans to declare an act of espionage against the Japanese. Meanwhile, in the United Nations Security Council, Russia and China are backing the North Koreans and declaring that they would not like to see action taken against them. This article declares that massive amounts of people crowded into Kim Il Sung square to congratulate Kim Jong Il on the successful launch. He claims that it was to launch a satellite into orbit, but the United States government swears that nothing went into orbit.
This is a scary thought because Kim Jong Il is close to death and has proved to be mentally instable in the past. This is the man who has let most of his country starve half to death, while robbing it of its riches for Swedish prostitutes and cartoons. He has repeatedly refused entry to foreigners and should be considered one of the worst dicatators of all time. He has little concern for his people, except that they obey him. He has created a scary cult of personality and brain washed his people extensively. If he is gaining long range nuclear weapon capabilities, we need to be worried. The Securty Council, or the United States government must eventually intervene.