election results

Just to clarify, Obama is the next President of the United States, he isn't the president now. I'm not trying to be bitter, I'm just stating the truth. It is amazing to me that 95% of African Americans voted for Obama. Now people stated that it would be racist to not vote for Barack Obama, but doesn't it seem a little racist that 95% of the African American voted for Obama. I'm just bringing up a discussion here. I hope Obama, our soon to be first President of the United States that has come from African descent, will do a great job in leading our country. My prayers are for him and his family to remain safe and I thank God that we live in such a great country where we have so many freedoms and opportunities.

Attack on Syria?...Oh maybe thats why

A question was brought up on how are we (United States) safer by attacking other nations? This question can definitely be asked with relation to the recent attack that happened nine kilometers inside Syria. Upon hearing that a helicopter attack killed Syrian civilians you do have to question the US’s motives. One reason that the attack happened could have been that the Syrian government has not stopped the flow of foreign arms, cash and fighters as they had promised. All of this information on why exactly the attack happened was pretty shady until information came out that the family that was killed was helping jihads get across the border into Iraq territory. An US official said that “an Al Qaeda coordinator in Syria who was wanted for sending operatives, weapons and cash into Iraq was captured during a U.S. strike.”

Yes it is very unfortunate that this family was killed, but it was an attack that has seemed to help the war on terror by taking out a pathway for terrorists, weapons, and cash to get into Iraq. With the question of are we safer by attacking other nations, I would have to say that any advancement we have in the war against terrorism is making our country that much safer.

However, you could also make the point that with the closing of American school in Syria and that the attack just turns Syria against us creating more enemies to the US.

Analizing thy self

Going into the blog project I really had no idea what topic I wanted to choose. I researched the topics that were at hand and decided that I had an interest, or wanted to know more, about National Security and National Defense. It was very hard for me to decide what boundaries I wanted to take with my issue because there is so much information on them. However, I think it was good for there to be such broad boundaries because it allowed me to write about what I wanted to write about.
Throughout the project I found that my topic related to other issues as well. Homeland Security was definitely a big one. I was frequently checking out my classmates blogs that were about the issue. Another topic that I definitely was interested about was how much money was being spent on national security and the economy. I found a great site for spending and then I also checked out one of my classmate’s blog.
The constraints of this project didn’t end up being as restrictive as I expected. Time was a big constraint with deadlines and then amount of time to finish the project with an issue that covers so many things. Even though I wasn’t able to get everything in on deadline days, they allowed me to be organized. The biggest constraint/distraction was the other things that I could do on the internet. Facebook, espn, and ebay were all huge distracters. Ebay is very addictive just to let you know, and I am going to link it just to try and tempt you to bid on some items. The internet definitely has the ability to suck you in and not do the work that you intend to do. If I blocked the sites that I attend most often then I would have gotten my work done a lot faster!
Thnking, thinking, thinking. I have definitely changed in my thinking. Instead of hearing information second hand from my dad or another conservative, I branched out and did my own research. The blogs that other students were doing definitely intrigued me to try and find out more about what each candidate stood for. Instead of getting my information from conservative sites like fox news I tried to see both sides of the issues. I think my writing showed a little bit of bias towards my views but I really feel my posts were pretty balanced. I have definitely grown through my thinking on political issues and I hope my thinking and curiosity will continue after the election.

Links Links Links

Alright, so here is some more information on national security, defense and other political views that I have used for my blog.

National Terror Alert Response Center
This page presents information on the war on terror and is a great site for events that have happened in Iraq, Pakistan, and other nations that experience terrorist attacks. It gives a lot of information on Al Qaeda and the homeland security of our nation.

Inside Iraq
This blog actually has stories from Iraqi journalists that are writing for the McClatchy newspapers. These stories are from people that are inside Iraq and are experiencing attacks and the effects from the Iraq war on a firsthand account.

The National Defense
This blog focuses on the US Defense and military. It shows a lot of support for the US Military as well as US veterans. It actually shows clips from lieutenants and other officials that are talking about the war in Iraq and other military issues.


Little Green Footballs
This blog is a conservative blog that focuses on politics (not football) and the war on terror. The creator of the blog was actually middle left in his political views change to right wing after the attacks on 9/11. As of right now it has a lot of information on the faults of Barrack Obama, showing its conservative side.

Check 'em out!

Velveeta Democracy- Along with the great title, the blogger has a very creative description of her blog of “A Soft, Creamy Economy Salted with the Tears of Taxpayers.” This blog focuses on the bailout plan and the housing crisis. The blogger posts interesting topics that make it intriguing to read like the post about how college students are affected by all of the economic issues. She also does a good job in explaining the connections between the housing market, the stock market, and the world market.

Shot in the Dark- This blog is a good one to visit because it talks about a lost in issue in the definition of the second amendment, the right to bear arms. The blogger does a great job in providing both views in the democratic view that the second amendment is for the military and the republican view that it is for individual rights. With the increase in violence the blogger creates an interesting point on what should happen with the second amendment.

Jumping the Fence- This blog deals with illegal immigration. With the blogger expressing her passion for the issue it allows readers to get involved with another lost issue. This blog makes you want to read more about the issue on the blog and that is not a problem with the blog because it provides a lot of different stories about the issue. Definitely check out this blog!

What would happen...

What if the Iraq war never ends? Or how about the war on terror? If the war in Iraq never ends then American soldiers would still have to remain in Iraq if we want to accomplish what we planned to do. We would still be trying to help Iraq to a strong government that is supported by strong leadership. However we might see a shift in our national security depending on the election for presidency. If we move out of Iraq in sixteen months like Obama plans to do then the issue of Iraq will definitely remain unresolved because we might not be finished in Iraq. There might not be a stable government, strong leadership, and the Iraqi people might not be able to fight terrorist on their own. However, the war on terrorism also cannot be left alone. Taliban is growing in Afghanistan and it cannot be left alone. With the Taliban growing in numbers and in organization this could mean more terrorist attacks. Troop increase in Afghanistan will happen under the McCain administration or the Obama administration. Should we pick one issue to not be left alone or abandoned or can we do both?

few questions to answer

What negatives would come from the US pulling out of Iraq?
According to this article if we leave too soon from Iraq then "sectarian violence could erupt, al Qaeda supporters could develop an international terror hub and the likely civil war could draw countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran into a broader conflict." Iraq is supposedly the central front in the global war on terror and if we don't handle Iraq and leave them fighting terrorism then the war on terror isn't being effective.

What is the meaning of victory and getting the job done in Iraq?
The words of victory in Iraq did mean leaving Iraq with a stable, constitutional government, low violence in the country, Iraq is defeating terrorist, and providing their own security. Victory can also be looked at in different ways, like right here. I feel that we need to leave Iraq with strong leadership in the country. Hey maybe we just need to give Iraq a chance to do these things, but it is hard for us to simply just give Iraq a chance at governing their own country when so many American lives have gone into the war.

Should we attack other countries that are a potential threat?
I feel that if we know that the country is definitely going to be a potential threat then we need to take action, especially if we have evidence. I feel that in order to take care of the war on terror we need to go into some countries and help them take care of the terrorism in the country (like in Iraq). In the case with the possible threats from China and Russia on America, we do not need to attack them but rather try to establish trade talks. Exactly what he have done with North Korea. North Korea was a possible threat to the United States because they were going to start their nuclear program up, but instead have come to an agreement with the US to end their start up.

What is the definition of evil?
The actual definition of enemy is a person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another; an adversary or opponent. For the United States, the main enemy is terrorists.