Military Sets Sights on June Push in Kandahar

Summary: U.S. troops and other forces in Afghanistan are looking towards gaining the southern city of Kandahar from the Taliban by June. Gaining control of the Taliban's spiritual center will be the second biggest operation that our military will face in this war. This movement rids the southern Afghan of Taliban control. The operation is said to last around two months or so but it has already been months in the making. Although it's noted that the preparatory work and the planning of the opperation is the most important part and determine the amount of success that comes out of it in the end. Kandahar has caused problems for the government of the Afghanistan Prsident Hamid Karazai and the U.S. ever since the Taliban ruled the country before the United States invaded in 2001. The new operation will take a stand and attemp to resolve this on going problem.

Opinion: I think that the operation sounds like a well thought out procedure and will help bring good to Afghanistan as well as the United States. I hope that it doesn't become overwhelmingly violent or life threatening for the U.S. soldiers but im glad to know that they are there for a reason and not just being kept away from their families for nothing. I feel as though they haven't been doing as much or should have stayed there that long just to clean up the mess in Afghanistan. They should be out doing what they signed up for and things that actually make them feel like heros. The operations are a good idea but I truly hope that no one gets hurt.

Afghan War Remains Absolutely Essential

Summary: Recently President Obama left the country to go rally troops and declair a remaining partnership with Afganistan. He said that he knows it's hard for the troops who there because they are missing their families back home but they have to realize that they are relying on them. He also said that he wouldn't keep the U.S. troops in Afghanistan unless it was essential. While there Obama had a meeting with Karazi, President in Afghan, and invited him to the white house in May. Karazi talked to the President for a half and hour and told him how grateful they are for the U.S. troops and everything they've done as well as the american people and their tax pays that have helped to rebuild their country. However, even though Obama went to discuss a few things with Karazi he said that the main reason for his travel was to visit the 80,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan. He wanted to assure them that they were making progress and that everyone back home would be notified that they are getting the security needed. Obama's final words were that "the United States of America does not quit once it starts on something."

Opinion: I completely understand everthing that President Obama is saying but im not sure i quite agree. It's hard to see families being torn apart because of the war and fathers, brothers, dad's, uncles, grandsons, having to be away from home for so long. I don't think that Obama should look as quitting but more or less that we went there and accomplished what needed to be done. These men are doing amazing and wonderful things for our country and others as well, like Afghanistan, but i feel that it is time for these heroes to be brought back home and reunited with their loved ones.

2 Wolves Shot; Tests to Determine Whether They Killed Woman

Summary: In Chignik Alaska, while a woman was out for a morning jog, supposedly got attacked and killed by two wild wolves. Authorities in Alaska are examining two wolves to see if they were the animals that killed Candice Berner. These two gray wolves were tracked down and shot by helicopter in order to be tested. It was noted that these were the only two wolves that they could find tracks for and they matched the description of the wolves seen standing by her dead body. Officials say that this type of attack by wolves is very rare and therefore along with tests to see if they killed the woman the animals will also be tested to see if they were rabid, starving, or suffering from another type of condition. This is recorded to be only the second wolf attack in North America. Experts say that wolve try to avoid interaction with humans and don't usually threaten people. The attack was a shock to all.

Opinion: I see the viewpoint of the people living in Alaska and wanting to find out more about the situation because it is so rare and scary. Although, i also feel bad for the wolves because what if they weren't even the wolves that attacked Candice Berner. I kind of feel like officials should have been a little more confident that those were the two wolves that created the confrontation or at least tried to think of another way to take tests without also having to kill the wolves. I think that a human life is more important but on the other hand i also realize that animals have feelings too. We would never do something like that to a human, use the death penalty, or just go on instinct without precise facts so why in this situation? I hope that they do figure out that those were the wolves and that they were ill and had a reason for killing but i am a huge animal person so i would feel terrible for the wolves if they were innocent.

Fake Russian Invasion Broadcast Sparks Georgian Panic

Summary: A television station in Georgia falsely broadcast a half-hour segment about a Russian invasion of the country. In August of 2008 Russian tanks and troops moved into the Soviet Republic and the invasion was triggered when Georgian troops attacked Russian separatists. Now recently a TV station in Georgia thought it would be intriguing to see what a fresh invasion would look like, but they forgot to mention that what the people would be seeing was not real. Therefore, people became scared and alarmed with what they were watching. The show actually showed bits and pieces of the conflict that took place in 2008, which made everything even more confusing, real, and scary. After two hours, the station began to apologize for the misunderstanding and misinterpritation by scrolling texts down the screen. Many of the people that commented about the show said that they were "put into a state of panic and that it wasn't right for them to do what they did."

Opinion: The station that re-enacted this conflict on screen obviously didn't think through the consequenses before airing the segment. I completely agree with the viewers when they say that it wasn't right for them to broadcast something like this. They should have known that most people wouldn't know about the invasion that took place in 2008 or could have very well forgotten and would have thought that the information being shown was real or a repeat of the event in August of 2008. This was very cruel, misleading, and not smart to put on TV when so many Americans watch. They honestly shouldn't have been so stupid and immature to put that kind of fearful uncertaintly before the eyes of America.

Strong Aftershocks Keep Rattling Chile

Summary: After Chile experienced the massive earthquake witha magnitude of 8.8 last Saturday, aftershocks are starting to take a major toll on the land and people. For example, one with a magnitude of about 6.6 which hit on Friday about 20 miles from Concepcion, this was the epicenter of Saterday's 8.8 earthquake, and one off the coast of Bio Bio earlier that Friday with a magnitude of 6.0. There have been many other aftershocks (150 aftershocks of 5.0 or greater) that have hit Chile since Saturday. This earthquake is said to have been the fifth strongest in the past 100 years! Chile is still trying to recover from all of the recent activity which, destroyed buildings, triggered a tsunami, killed hundreds of people, and thousands were left homeless. Food, water, and electricity are the top priorities says the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs. The Chilean government are leading relief efforts and have asked to United Nations for survival items. There have also been telethons organized to help make money for the quake victims. Chile is doing there best to recover and other countries are trying there best to help.

Opinion: After I heard this on the news last Saturday I felt awful. I couldn't believe that another world disaster had happened again. Eventhought it didn't happen in the U.S. I still felt terrible and wondered what I could do to help. When Katrina hit everyone around the world tried to help and took part in the U.S. recovery. Now I feel like we need to give back and do the same since we know what that's like and some of the things that Chile is going through. For now the earthquake victims are in my prayers but i will be looking for other ways in which i can help as well.