Boko Haram in Nigeria

The Boko Haram is an Islamist terrorist group in Nigeria created to express dissent towards the Nigerian Government. My article was an explanation of how they are still at large. Many of their attacks are not aimed at civilians but rather at the police and government officials. They have widespread support in the town of Kano, and actually are originated there. They have killed about 900 people and have also forged relations with foreign terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. They are notorious for suicide bombings and mass killing and have as many enemies as they do supporters. I'm not a fan of terrorism no matter how it is spun. I think that the killing of people to demonstrate any dissent is unjusitifiable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/world/africa/in-northern-nigeria-boko-haram-stirs-fear-and-sympathy.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=world

Current event: Iran refuses to give out oil.

The title gives it away. Iran, in an attempt to get back on the EU for cutting iranian oil imports, refused to provide GB and France with oil. The funny part is that niether Great Britain nor France really depend on iranian oil very much. Due to this, iran is trying to get Tehran to do the same. Basically they want to make sure that they will still have a market in the EU. The best way to do that is to cut off those countries who don't support the oil industry in the middle east. I think that Iran's act was futile in the short run. Neither countries really need that oil, But in the long run, I think that such acts could make a huge difference. The EU should definetely tread carefully.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/world/middleeast/iran-halts-oil-shipments-to-britain-and-france.html?_r=1&hp

Corruption in Russia at "Civilized levels"...... -______-

Putin Campaign Manager Stanislav Govorukhin says that corruption levels are at a "Civilized level." To be completely honest, I don't know what a "civilized level" of corruption is. This guy seems to be pretty set on Putin as president. He even went as far as to say that the anti government protests in Russia have only served to rally support for Putin. Russia currently ranks 143 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. While that seems like they are in good shape, it can be a little decieving. Russia has far more corruption than the US and Great Britain. Corruption hamper's both the government's ability to successfully create policy and govern the people, and also the people's ability to affect government. I don't really think that corruption is on the decline, but rather that this was just a phrase said to get more support for putin.

Israel Attacks Iran??!!? But not really....

As has been all over the news for the past month. Iran is trying to get a nuclear bomb built. The major problem that this presents to the rest of the world is that Iran and Israel have a long standing enmity. This would put Israel at great risk if Iran actually succeeded. Not only is Israel at risk, but the US could also be at risk from an attack from Iran. In an interview, President Obama stated that Israel had not yet made a decision as to whether or not it would attack Iran to prevent it from getting the bomb built. Basically they haven't made a decision as to whether they should go blow up the nuclear bomb sites or not. Obama also expressed that there is no real evidence that Iran has the ability to launch an attack on US soil. I think that Iran probably isn't too much of a threat right now. However, I do think that we will have to take action against them very soon, lest they become a threat.