Casualties Rise in Afghanistan

On September 24, 2012, David Zuccihno of the Los Angeles Times wrote the article called "Drone strikes in Pakistan have killed many civilians, study says". He is reporting casualties that have begun to rise because of United States drone strikes on tribal villages around Pakistan. The number of civilian casualties have risen to 130 in the past two weeks, and it continues to rise. Now why would the United States begin to attack tribal locations? Terrorist groups have been using these tribes as hideouts and have been working with them. Unfortunately, with little hesitation the United States are attacking these tribes. As the number of casualties rise, the anger of the Islamic population in Pakistan and Afghanistan rises also. They have started to burn United States flags in public, and have protested for the past two months. Many professors and people that are expert around the Middle Eastern region say this is a start of something new. For once, the people and terrorist groups have problems against one nation, and that nation is the United States. This is a huge problem for both human rights and the United States because the US are starting to attack innocent citizens, and now the civilian population are against them. The situation is getting much worse, and people are beginning to realize that America's time in Afghanistan and Pakistan is coming to an end. Of course, America will not back down from a fight ever, and this can potentially cause a huge conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Leaving Afghanistan in 2014? I Don't Think So.

On September 18, Laura King from the Los Angeles Times wrote the article called "NATO halts routine joint patrols with Afghan forces". After the release of the anti-islam film last week, the Middle East has erupted. Because of his, many Afghan trainees have turned on their super-ordinates and killed them. Violence has rose, and due to this fact NATO has decided to halt patrols with Afghan troops unless they are approved by the Generals from both armies. NATO's plan was by the time 2014 comes along, they will be able to leave the country trusting the trained Afghan troops to keep the peace. The problem is that this objective is very unlikely to happen. The importance of this is that we must hope violence stops between allied troops because if we are planning to leave Afghanistan in 2014, then we have to keep some sort of defense to keep peace and to make sure to have a stable country on America's side in the Middle East. We have very little time left for our goal, but so much to do. But in my opinion, this can be done because if we are able to stop the violence caused by the anti-Islam film, then the rest will be easy to bring the country back to peace. Establishing a safety force after we leave is very crucial because we do not want the Taliban to rise again after we leave the country.

"Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!"

In the 1770s, during the revolution, Patrick Henry gave his speech at the Virginia Convention discussing why the colonists must revolt against the British nation. He is speaking towards the president of the convention, to delegates, and to the rest of the people listening to his speech. He wants the colonists to fight and join their friends which have already begun the fighting. To do that, he uses persuasion and attempts to inspire the colonists with his words. To persuade and to inspire the audience, he tries to assure the audience that he is willing to go fight right after he finishes the speech, and is ready to fight aside any other colonist which pleases to fight with him. In my opinion, that is a great way to get a bandwagon going of people to follow him because to move the masses of people, one must have a leader. He says during his speech "Their clanging may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable-and let it come! I repeat, sir, let it come!". This statement shows that he is ready for war, and he is trying to inspire the audience that is listening to him to also be ready for the inevitable; which in this case is war.  He uses a diplomatic, demanding and enthusiastic tone to appeal to the audience, which helps his purpose. The subject of the speech is freedom and independence, which he demands.

The Middle East Erupts

On September 14, 2012, Ned Parker and Reem Abdellatif from the Los Angeles Times wrote an article called "Anti-American Unrest Spreads in Muslim World'. He discusses about all the violence and protests that are occurring in the Middle East because of a video that spread the internet portraying Muhammad as a womanizer and a child molester. Protesters in Tunisia, Egypt, Tripoli, and many other Middle Eastern countries began to protest and invade United States embassies all around the Middle East. Governments of each country clashed with these protesters with police. Protesters also attacked American brand fast food restaurants such as Hardee's and KFC. So far the death toll for protesters is 5, but the United States lost four diplomats: one being an ambassador. President Obama and Hilary Clinton honored these diplomats during a conference. President Obama stated that "The United States will never retreat from the world" during the conference. These protests have become a huge problem. The United States have sent Marines to improve security all over the embassies throughout the Middle East. But violence still continues, and protesters demand forgiveness directly from the United States' government. All of these protests are a huge problem and they are highly important for people to know about them and for the United States government to take action for the protection of our diplomats around the world. Even though what the protesters have done has violated the laws, in my opinion I believe that the message must have been sent to the United States government to punish the person who created that insulting video. I hope the United States make smart decisions because the Middle East is frowning upon them as we speak.

New Terrorists to this Waring World

On September 7, 2012, Ken Dilanian of the Los Angeles Times wrote the article called "U.S Designates Haqqani network a terrorist organization". The network of rich Pakistani Pashtuns, called the Haqqani, have been designated terrorists by the United States. They have been a problem to the United States' forces, killing 1200 soldiers and capturing one sergeant. They have become such a powerful force in the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan because of drug trade, real estate, construction, and autos. The US hopes that by designating them as a terrorist group, foreign trade will stop to the Haqqanis, and they can slowly start to weaken out economically. Unfortunately, the Haqqanis are allies with the Taliban, and are sympathetic to Al Quada plans on attacking US troops, diplomats, and soil. Having another terrorist group in this region is a big problem because now there is a fresh group of militants that are ready to fight US troops with proper funding. The Haqqanis are the descendants of the Mujahedin fighters during the Soviet/Afghanistan war, and they are using the same principles of back then today; to drive out any foreign invaders. The Haqqani family have a long line of succession, just recently gaining leadership from the son of the original Haqqani. Even though they have been designated terrorists, the US is trying to diplomatically find a solution to this problem, but have recently been in vain. It is very important that we get the Middle East calm again, and if it means deploying out of there, or catching the last of the terrorists in the region, then that is what we must do.

Mmmmmm...... Cookies and Cream......

Ice Cream. One of the greatest forms of dessert ever to be created on this world. Any time of the year ice cream is eaten and enjoyed from the consumer. But if there was one ice cream that crowns over all other ice creams, it will be Cookies and Cream. It is the combination of America's two favorite things; cookies, and cream. The chunky bits of Oreo cookies in the cream frozen down to a perfect temperature just makes it irresistible to anyone who puts their eyes on it. This ice cream is the best in the world, or the most amazing ice cream created. The first day I tried Cookies and Cream was one of the greatest days of my life. I was a little kid, trying to decide which ice cream to get from the huge menu, but my mom finally decided that she will get one for me, and I will for sure be happy with it. I became angry and started asking for something else, but once my mom brought me that wonderful bowl of Cookies and Cream.... I had been transported to another world of ice cream. Since that day, I have to get Cookies and Cream anywhere and everywhere I go. It is the only ice cream which makes every taste bud in one's mouth happy, and it is the only one that is enjoyed more than any other ice cream in the world. The creaminess, and the chunkiness, and the taste of this ice cream does not compare to anything on this planet.  

Afghanistan Brewing Up

On September One, two LA Times journalists, Laura King and Hashmat Baktash, wrote the article called "Bombs in Volatile District kill 12 Afghans, injure US troops". In the article they discuss what happened, how it happened, and the result of the bombings. On Saturday, which is the day the article was written, two suicide bombers bombed the Sayedabad District of Wardak province, killing eight civilians and four police officers, and also injuring several NATO troops which were identified as American. The first bomber was on foot, which caused not as much damage as the second one, which was a car bomb. Now why is this so important to discuss? It is important because the United States are trying to gain control over Afghanistan with their military, but so far they are having trouble controlling small attacks such as this one. Eventually, if these small attacks keep going, the Al 'Quada stationed in Afghanistan can start getting their edge back, and that is when real problems will occur. People think that the Afghanistan war has slowed down or is close to finish, but we are far from finishing, but fortunately we are on the right path. As I said in the other blog post, we must have a powerful police force taking control and holding all liberated areas so car bombings such as these become nearly impossible. Unfortunately, the police forces we have set up in liberated areas are having much trouble controlling those sectors. The United States should expect more car bombings or suicide bombings from Al 'Quada because that has been their traditional way of attacking and killing foreign invaders.