Addressing the United States in a broadcasted speech President Barack Obama announced his plans to deploy around 30,000 troops to Afghanistan after reviewing the nations strategy at the West Point military academy in New York.  Although this deployment if US military is not being labeled an invasion, the announcement comes on the heels of the deadliest couple of months during the war in Iraq, a fight that has been taking place for at least eight years. President Obama has also announced plans to begin pulling troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan in 18 months, a decision that is said to instill a sense of urgency in the Afghan government to become a trustworthy sovereignty free of corruption; a task that hasn’t always been the easiest to accomplish.

“I do not make this decision lightly,” he said. “I opposed the war in Iraq precisely because I believe that we must exercise restraint in the use of military force, and always consider the long-term consequences of our actions.”

Sending troops won’t come cheap to the American public, not surprisingly. It’s been estimated that the deployment will cost an outstanding $32.4 billion dollars, which sounds like a much bigger number if you think about the fact that our economies recovery is at a stand still – not getting better, but thankfully not any worse. As much as this military push is costing Americans, it necessary. Obama claims that the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan is the center of Al-Qaeda activity, and is threatening the safety of the nation. While watching his address to his constituents, you could sense the urgency in his voice, something I hadn’t seen from an official since 9/11.

He said new attacks were “being plotted as I speak” and that al-Qaeda and its allies must also face “growing pressure and strong partnerships” in Yemen and Somalia. Mr Obama insisted that the core goal of the refined strategy was unchanged: to disrupt, dismantle and eventually defeat al-Qaeda and to ensure the Taliban could not overthrow the Afghan Government.

So in the next couple months more lives will be put on the line for the safety of a nation. I’m sure this was a very difficult decision for the President to come to, (especially seeing that in his campaign he basically promised the troops would be home by now), but as difficult as it’s been, it also seems necessary. Right?

First Lady Michelle Obama hasn’t officially taken to any cause within her husbands administration, but unofficially it seems as though she has her hands in numerous pots. While the President fights for health care and contemplates sending more of our troops to Afghanistan, Mrs. Obama is focusing her work wholly on service, by catering to the well being of military families, and announcing the launch of a brand new year long mentoring program for girls living in the neighborhoods surrounding the White House.

“We thought, what can we do to make the White House different, to make kids in our own new neighborhood know that the White House is a place for them?” she said.

This past Monday, the 13 chosen students gathered in the State Dining room  to meet the White House staff members that will serve as their mentors; women such as domestic policy adviser Valerie Jarrett, the First Lady’s Chief of Staff Susan Sher, and social secretary Desiree Rogers. The young girls, who where hand picked by their principals, will be mentored by these women on a variety of important topics among them financial literacy, careers, college, and health and fitness. Mrs. Obama has stated numerous times that she’s an advocate for mentoring, stating she became interested in it’s power while she was a corporate lawyer in Chicago. In fact, that’s the way her and the President met, through a mentoring program at the law firm they both worked for.

Her voice cracking with emotion, Mrs. Obama said the program was started to let local kids “know that the president of the United States hears you and values you and cares about your growth and development.”

Back in April I highlighted a impending law known as the Afghan Rape Law, which aside from legalizing rape within a marriage,  would also ban women from stepping outside of their homes without the permission of their husbands; permission that was also needed to do everyday tasks such as go to school, work, or to see a doctor.

When I first wrote about the law it hadn’t been passed yet because of the criticism and protest from western leaders and Afghan women’s rights groups, causing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to promise a review. Now it’s been reported that Afghanistan quietly passed this law sometime in late July, allowing Shia men to deny women food, shelter, and even custody of their children, for refusing sexual demands. According to Human Rights Watch, there is an added stipulation in the final law, allowing rapists to avoid persecution by paying ‘blood money’ to their victim, and the guardianship of children automatically being given to fathers and grandfathers in case of divorce or separation.

“Reporting from Kabul, Laura King says that “many Afghans, of both sexes, describe the heady optimism that prevailed after the Taliban government was dislodged in 2001, only to be replaced by the growing trepidation over the last three years as the insurgency reinvigorated itself, violence surged, corruption flourished and rebuilding proved agonizingly slow.

Islamic law experts and human rights activists state that although the language has changed from the original documentation of the law, basically nothing has changed, including this:

“Tamkeen is the readiness of the wife to submit to her husband’s reasonable sexual enjoyment, and her prohibition from going out of the house, except in extreme circumstances, without her husband’s permission. If any of the above provisions are not followed by the wife she is considered disobedient.”

Below is a video from back in April when the law was first written:

This week US President Barack Obama made a trip overseas to discuss and strategize the relationship between the United States and the Middle East. In an effort to create open dialogue between the two parties, President Obama traveled first to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to speak with Saudi King Abdullah about a host of problems, from Arab – Israeli peace efforts to Iran’s nuclear program. Obama’s discussion with King Abdullah came one day before he was to give his highly anticipated and important speech in Egypt concerning the United States relationship with the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.

President Obama has been promising this speech since his election last year. It was apart of one of his many platforms to discuss and mend the difficult relationship the US has with the worlds population of Muslims.

“You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world,” Obama said in a pre-trip interview with the BBC. “And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West.”

The President delivered his address Thursday in Cairo that encouraged a strong and civil parternership between the US and those that follow Islam. He touched on several subjects including violent extremism, nuclear weapons in Iran, and his efforts to root out terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama also acknowledged the ongoing tension between Israel and Palestinian and voiced his views on what each side should do to end the standoff.

“The President really sees this as an opportunity to continue a dialogue he’s had since his inauguration — you saw that in his Al Arabiya interview, in his Nowruz message, in his speech in Turkey, among other things — to really start a new chapter of engagement between the United States and Muslim world.”

If you would like to read the speech President Obama gave in Cairo Egypt, you can check out The White House website.

Wednesday May 6, 2009 President Barack Obama pledged support of Pakistan in it’s deepening war with al Quaeda and Taliban militants who are responsible for killing innocent civilians and challenging democratically elected officials in the country. The President, along with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan met and collaborated together with one common goal in mind. This goal according to Obama was to meet “as three sovereign nations joined by a common goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban”. To achieve this goal Obama said he believes the leaders need to deny extremists space and opportunity to operate and bring a better life to the civilians of these two countries.

“Along the border, where insurgents often move freely, we must work together with a renewed sense of partnership to share intelligence and to coordinate our efforts to isolate, target and take out our common enemy,” President Obama said.

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton also held talks with Afghanistan and Pakistan leaders earlier in the day. These talks were attended by foreign, defense, intelligence and agriculture ministers from both countries as well as several members of the Obama administration. The talks addressed initiatives to “improve security, boosting economic development and trade and increasing opportunities for both populations”.

“While we will need high level of support in days to come, we will also be far more transparent in our actions,” Zardari told the group. “Here, me, my friend, President Karzai, and the United States assure the world, that we will stand shoulder to shoulder with the world to fight this cancer and this threat.”

By having these leaders meet with Obama and several members of his cabinet, the United States hopes to enlist them as partners in combating terrorism on a global scale.

Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am to have been born in a country where my rights as a woman have been fought for and upheld through my entire lifetime. Sometimes I take for granted the fact that I’m able to do whatever I want with my body, work where ever I want, have children when and if I please, and the fact that in the eyes of my government my worth is equal to that of a man. But then I read articles about women all over the world that do not have the same rights as I have and I am reminded once again how lucky I am.

Afghani President Hamid Karzai is being accused of trying to win votes in Afghanistan’s presidential election by supporting and pushing a law that the UN says legalizes rape within marriage and apparently bans women from even stepping outside their homes without the permission of their husbands. This said law was signed earlier in March despite it being heavily protested against by human rights activists and Afghan women alike.

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