U.S. Renews Travel Alert to Mexico

Summary: Sunday the United States renewed a travel alert to Mexico that will be in affect until August 20th, 2010. The reason for this renewal is because there have been quite a few violent attacks that have taken place in many parts of Mexico. The Embassy is urging American citizens to avoid travel to certain cities for the time being. Some of the specific reasonings for the alert include, drug scandals, abduction and murder of U.S. citizens, and over 16,000 people have died in the country since their president declared war on the drug cartels. These drug cartels tend to be very violent between themselves and the police. They have caused major cahos the past few years and it has only gotten worse. Many cities in Mexico are all having the same problem so naturally nowhere has really been considered to be safe, although it is said that most of the occurances have been in northern parts of Mexico. Since the crimes are getting closer and closer to the U.S. we are advised to take caution.

Opinion: After I read this article i became a little frightened to be honest. I definitely think people should listen to this alert and take caution. It is a very serious matter and U.S. citizens have already been trapped in the maddness and have unfortunatly suffered from some of the violent attacks. America does not want to be a part of any of the cahos taking place in the South, so we should do our best to stay clear from it but also help in any way possible. I hope that the crime rates soon decrease and there will be no more need for a travel alert. Plus, with the cold weather and Mexico being a prime vacationing spot, we want to be able to travel there and feel safe as soon as possible right?!

Suicide Bomber Strikes U.S. Base

Summary: On Thursday February 11th, officials said that five U.S. soldiers were wounded when a suicide bomber attacked the U.S. base in easter Afghanistan's Paktia province. The attacker set off a bomb at around 9:00 p.m. in the sleeping area of the base and is said to have gotten on the premises by wearing an official Afghan border police uniform. Although the International Security Assistance Force did not confirm that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber, attacks like this have taken place earlier this year and at the end of last year so it's safe to assume that this was another suicide boming attempt.

Opinion: After reading this article i was upset by the fact that the attacker got into the U.S. base area so easily. I feel as though there should be more security on the look out for these types of attacks, especially while the soldiers are sleeping! A more thorough watch at the bases could help prevent some of these suicide bombings and help to keep our U.S. soldiers better protected.

Lawyer for Americans held in Haiti quits

Summary: A missionary group of Americans were charged with kidnapping 33 children from Haiti. One of these members was Edwin Coq, and after being accused of this offense he decided to quit as a lawyer for Americans. The conviction charge for the kidnapping could be a maximum of life in prison but the criminal association charge would carry a penalty of three to nine years. After the earthquake in Haiti, January 12, these Americans just wanted to take the children out of the country and across the boarder into the Dominican Republic. Although they tried to do it without legal documentation, therefore causing it to be a criminal action. Some of the parents of these 33 children stated that they gave the American missionaries permission to take their children because they promised to give them a better life. After crossing the boarder they planned to put the children into an orphanage that they were building there. The leader of the group and Coq said that they had no intention to do any harm.

Opinion: To be honest, under the extreme circumstances, i think that the connviction charge on the missionaries could have been lowered. Ever since the earthquake in Haiti, everyone has been trying their best to help in anyway possible. Therefore, i don't believe that these people should be charged with kidnapping if they were trying to do the right thing. Although, they did not have legal documentation to do so, they were still trying to do what they thought was best for the children. It also makes a difference that the children's parents gave the Americans permission to take them out of Haiti. So when it comes down to it i think that the American missionaries should be charged with less of a punishment such as, three years in jail maximum, but not more than that. Because of everything that has been going on in Haiti i truly believe that they were just trying to provide some of those people with a kind action and shouldn't be punished to that large of an extent for doing what they thought was right and best for the kids.

Intelligence Chiefs Say Another Terror Attempt in U.S. is "Certain"

Summary: This month it is being said that the uncertainty of another terrorist attack on the U.S. has become definite. Heads of major intelligence agencies in the United States told this news to the Senate today and also explained the measures that will need to be taken. The Al Queda is still among one of our biggest threats and also cyber security. The Al Queda scares many people becuase it is using methods to make their plots more difficult to detect. This group goes from large attacks with many participants, to smaller attacks including people without any previous terroristic attempts. It has been questioned if Obama's plan to close the Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba, will help reduce terrorist threats towards the U.S. Two officials agreed that it would just bring the suspects here, into the United States. Also the cyber security is a major threat because network information has been stolen daily from the government and private sectors. This is why the increase of cyber security is a must. These are the two major changes being enforced to stop the certain terrorist attack.

Opinion: Overall, i agree with the article in the sense that Al Queda and cyber security are two of our nations biggest threats right now. Since there has been another threat of a terrorist attack against the U.S. i feel that something needs to be done in order to try and stop it or at least to prepare for it. Because the Al Queda group is becoming harder to track and more unpredictable, there needs to be more preperation and an all around increase on our nation's security. After the Christmas Day terrorist attempt, all eyes were opened again to the possibility of another attack and that there may need to be another up in our security. Even thought there already is very tight airline security, there still may be the need for more or a greater awareness of the problem. Also because computers and technology are a huge part of this generation and America right now, the government should create a better security system in order to protect private information from being stolen. If there was a greater effort towards these two issues our country would be more equipt to prevent or handle another terrorist attack.