Andrew Reiff (make up)

International

Summary- Chavez says Venezuela doesn't seek war

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez explained in a speech earlier today that Venezuela does not want war, and that Columbia, backed by the United States, does. There have been troops sent to the border of Columbia by Ecuador and Venezuela, and Venezuela has cut off all trade with Columbia and sealed its borders. All of this activity was triggered by a Colombian commando raid into Ecuador to destroy a camp of Colombian rebels that had taken refuge there. Two dozen rebels, including their leader Raul Reyes, were killed in the raid. Laptop computers were also taken that contained documents pointing a finger at Hugo Chavez, saying that Venezuela had been funding the rebels covertly. The documents also said that the rebels were trying to buy enriched uranium. Chavez claims that Columbia is just a puppet state of the United States, and that the U.S. is holding South America in chains, not allowing it to be free, and also that the conflict could only end up involving the United States in war.

Opinion- Wow does this sound like anyone else we might know? Come on you know who I am talking about... Starts with H ends with R, a T in the middle, he was also a dictator who claimed that he did not want war... he accused others, and oh yea, he started World War Two... Does the name Hitler ring a bell? It seems to be a simple enough problem- Columbia raids a few miles into Ecuador to capture or kill some Colombian rebels, and Ecuador gets mad because its borders were violated, even though no Ecuadorian citizens were involved. Hugo Chavez, being the ally of Ecuador, quickly comes to their defense and accuses the United States of something... but I'm not quite sure what it was... Anyway I think that some one should take out Hugo Chavez before it is too late and he starts WW3.

Summary- Big hike in Chinese military spending not the whole story: Gates

China has increased its military spending nearly eighteen percent this year, and it had a similar increase last year. The Chinese military budget is now officially nearly sixty billion dollars. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates explained to the American people that the actual Chinese budget is probably closer to one hundred and forty billion dollars. He says he does not know what the Chinese are doing with the extra money but he thinks that they could be researching new, more advanced weapons systems, including long range cruise missiles and an excess of short range cruise missiles that could target Taiwan with a barrage. The Chinese had a test of their anti-ballistic missile system when they shot down a spy satellite in January, similar to the United States' test, except the U.S. told the world before they did it, and China just did it.

Opinion- Okay what is going on in the world. It seems like everyone is getting ready to have a war, and we are about to elect some people to office that might not want to even continue funding the military. This could be a bad time. China could suddenly turn on its neighbors, and in a few lightning blows, capture Taiwan or other countries. The war would be over in a matter of days or a couple weeks. The U.S. could not do anything about it, and we all know that the U.N. would just cry and say "oh please please stop it." Its an exciting time, ain't it folks.