U.S. Would use military force to defend gulf allies

      President Obama, who is currently going up against Persian Gulf countries skeptical of about his planned nuclear deal with Iran, said earlier today that the U.S., if necessary, would use military force to defend our Arab allies. Obama had spent the whole with leaders from the region at his Camp David retreat, and emerged from their camp declaring that he was as committed as ever to protecting them from aggression, a reference talking about Iran. A statement at the end declared that the U.S. 

will continue to deter and confront external aggression against our allies and partners as we did in the gulf war. 

      This article was very interesting and informative. I learned lots about ourn international relations which pertains directly to our civics class. I like that President Obama is protecting our allies and I fully support his idea of using military force to do so if necessary. This article shows Obama is making good decisions and that other countries should feel well protected as our allies. 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/13/politics/obama-saudi-gcc/index.html

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U.S.-flagged ship intercepted by Iranian patrol

      My article is about a U.S. flagged ship being intercepted and stopped by an Iran Revolutionary Guard naval patrol this past Friday. This took place when four Iranian naval vessels surrounded the U.S. flagged Maersk Tigris which was crossing the Strait of Hormuz. This happened after an encounter last Tuesday in which Iran Revolutionary Guard patrol boats fired shots at a commercial cargo ship and then intercepted the vessel. A senior U.S. military official who has spoken to tha captain of the Kensington (Maersk Tigris) told CNN that "the Iranians encircled the Kensington and followed the ship on its course for a period of time before withdrawing and breaking away." After that, the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet issued a notice to mariners about the incident. The crew aboard the ship is safe and in good spirits, and were about nine miles out from shore when this article was posted. 

      This article was informative and talked lots about our marine military program. I learned about our offshore and international international relations which directly pertains to this class. I don't have a standpoint on this article because none of it pertains to me, but I believe our military did a good job to inform other mariners about this incident. They possibly prevented more ships from being stopped. I am also glad that after this stressful situation the crew of the ship are all okay. 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/28/politics/iran-seizes-commercial-ship-u-s-official-says-no-americans-on-board/index.html

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U.S. Drone Strike Accidentally killed two people

      My article is about Barack Obama recently announcing that in an effort of counterterrorism involving a drone, two innocent hostages were accidently killed including one American. Multiple U.S. officials informed CNN that the hostages were in fact killed by a U.S. Military drone that was targeting Al-Qaeda. The hostages were one American named Warren Weinstein and an Italian native named Giovanni Lo Porto. This took place earlier this week.

      Barack Obama's statement about this attack was: "As president and as commander in chief, I take full responsibility for all our counterterrorism operations including the one that inadvertently took the lives of Warren and Giovanni." He said this earlier this week in a White House briefing room. 

      This article was very interesting and talked about drones and how they can effect is positively and negatively. I learned that unmanned robotics such as drones can be dangerous but very helpful as well. This article related directly to our AP Gov class because it discusses

our international relations and the Presidents responsibilities and duties. I believe that drones are very useful, and mistakes will be made in figuring out how to use them correctly.

Live link below 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/politics/white-house-hostages-killed/index.html

Australian ex-model, DJ, killed fighting for ISIS in Syria, family friend says

      The article I read this week was about a male model and DJ being killed fighting for ISIS this past week.  The mans name was Sharky Jama and he was born and raised in Melbourne. For the past few months Sharky was living in the Iraqi city of Falluja which is currently under ISIS control. News of his death came to his parents and public attention Monday, from a call and text message to his mother from the president of the Somali Austrailian council of Victoria. The call stated they were sad to inform the family of their loss, and disappointed Sharky, who was 25, had joined ISIS forces. The parents and family members had not known of this even though Sharky's man social media posts supporting ISIS. Sharky was killed in a firefight, who by is still unknown. 

      My article this week was interesting and informational. It talked about how ISIS is still in control over many regions and cities and how they are still at large. It also discussed how they manage to recruit new members. I find it crazy how people such as Sharky Jama, who grew up with a great family and great future, could be drawn into joining a terrorist group. This article relates to out class topics by talking about international relations and how our government is dealing with ISIS. If it were up to me, I would try and find away to make them surrender to end the killing of innocents. This was a very unsettling article to read because I learned just how many people are joing ISIS. 

Full article

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/asia/australia-isis-sharky-jama-killed/

Admitted highjacker dreams of coming home after 43 years hiding in Cuba

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/09/americas/us-cuba-fugitive-charlie-hill/index.html

     The article I read this week was about Charlie Hill contemplating coming back to the United States after hiding out in Cuba for many years. For about 43 years Cuba has been provided ong  refuge for Hill from facing charges that he killed a New Mexico police officer and hijacked an airliner to Havana. Hill, who is now 65 decided to do is first recorded interview with with CNN. Hill said durig this interview that the reason he would want to come home would be to see his family, and enjoy things be used to while he was in America. Hill was a black power militant and stated that he is a revolutionary. 

      I chose this article because I did not know much about our nations ties with Cuba, and we discuss international relations in class. Critics of the new opening to Cuba say Havana's harboring of fugitives like Charlie Hill is enough of a reason to maintain a hard line against the government of Cuba and keep them on the State Department list of countries that support terrorism. I believe that Charlie should not be allowed to live like he does in Cuba with no punishment. 

The operation to recapture Ticrit from ISIS

       My article is about Pro-government forces closing in on the capture of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, from the Islamic State. Over  30,000 fighters, soldiers, Shia militia forces, Sunni tribal fighters and members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps , are working  on the take over of the capture of Tikrit, which is the largest operation against ISIS since it took over most of northern Iraq this past year. Taking Tikrit back would be a huge accomplishment and step on the road to defeating ISIS. It will take lots of fire power and strength. Many lives will also be lost. The take over of this city began in early 2015 and Tikrit is being closed in on now.

      I believe that the take over of Tikrit, a major Area of land under ISIS's control, would be huge in the long run against defeating ISIS. It is one step of many and even though many lives will be lost making it happen, it will save many from ISIS forces. Tikrit is now in reach, and I hope t is grasped soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/12/world/middleeast/the-iraq-isis-conflict-in-maps-photos-and-video.html?_r=0

ISIS apparently claims responsibility for Tunisia museum attack; 9 arrested

      The article that I read was about the recent terrorist attack at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, Tunisia. It took place on Wednesday, March 18th and at least 19 people were killed in the deadly attack. The attackers were inside the museum when they opened fire and killed mostly tourists from European countries. Two attackers were killed at the science by police, and the hunt for three others is underway. My article discussed how earlier today, in an audio statement posted online, ISIS took took responsibility for the deadly terrorist attacks. The statement says Abu Zakariya al-Tunisi and Abu Anas al-Tunisi were two people who carried out the attack, which it warns is "just the start." However, CNN can not verify the authenticity of the statement but U.S. Officials have said there is no reason to doubt the authenticity. The U.S. Government believes the attack was carried out by local "franchise" adherents to ISIS, not centrally associated members of ISIS. 

      This article was very interesting and covered many facts about what exactly happened at the Bardo Museum. Terrorist attacks are always awful, especially when committed on innocent tourists. I believe ISIS was being truthful with taking responsibility for this claim. They have shown they are capable of feats like this in the past. My peers in AP gov and I agree, ISIS is awful and the best thing we can do is take as many ISIS militants out before they kill more innocent men and women. 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/19/africa/tunisia-museum-attack/index.html

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