By: Anas Aldarsani

Five thousand protesters in Syria took over the main square of the country’s third-largest city last week . They said the occupation will continue until President Bashar Al-Assad is ousted from power. The government blamed that all the problems in Syria are because of Muslims who are too conservative. The standoff took place in the Central City of Homs. This weekend, Syrian authorities began shooting at protesters.

For the past month, Syrian forces have attacked the demonstrations violently. However, the government is continuing to blame armed gangs for the killings. The Interior Ministry said that groups such as Salafi groups are considered ultra conservative groups. Despite the problems, Bashar Al-Assad is still looking to gain support from the citizens. Massive funerals occurred in Homs, but the government security forces did not interfere. After the funeral finished, the people marched went to Sa’a Jadida Square where they chanted down with the regime and peaceful. In Damascus University, a group of students said they will not attend classes for three days. So far one student was killed in Damascus University.

Syria’s state run news agency said one policeman was killed along with eleven policemen and security personal were wounded by gangs in Talbiseh on Sunday. This past Saturday, Bashar Al-Assad promised to end 50 years of emergency rule. Emergency laws have been present in Syria ever since the Baath party seized power in 1963.

By: Anas Aldarsani

In Benghazi, the rebels rejected a cease fire proposed by African mediators. The reason was that the plan was not to oust Gadhafi. All the people in Libya want Gadhafi as well as his sons to leave. In their talks with the African Union delegation, the rebels raised the issue of Gadhafi’s reliance on foreign mercenaries from other African and Arab nations, particularly Algeria, said Abdul-Jalil, without elaborating. The people hardly have any belief in the African Union delegation because most of the African Nations are with Gadhafi.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini is strongly backing the rebels demand for Gadhafi’s departure and believes that Gadhafi will break the cease fire more than once. Gadhafi’s forces, have shelled Misrata despite African Union delegation’s on the cease fire plan late Sunday in Tripoli. The shelling of Misrata is terrorizing the citizens and some have been killed. Frattini said Gadhafi’s departure would be parallel to any cease fire. NATO has been operating under a U.N resolution authorizing no fly zone and airstrikes in order to protect the civilians.

In my opinion, the decision to overthrow Gadhafi will be difficult to do. It seems that Gadhafi is hanging on to his power and will not give up his throne. However, in order for Libya to be peaceful, Gadhafi will have to be overthrown regardless the price.

By: Anas Aldarsani

The crisis in Libya is continuing and Gadhafi is still leading Libya. However, President  Obama has to find a solution to this problem. Obama gave a speech saying that the U.S is involved on a third front and supports the military campaign in Libya. U.S involvement will be limited because if it cannot afford another full scale war. Gadhafi is continuing to harm his people brutally.

The entire Middle East is going through similar problems like Libya. Obama’s speech took place at National Defense University at Fort McNair, not far from the White House. The White House has been anxious from the start to get out of the lead position. The U.S.-led assault against Gadhafi’s air defenses began on March 19. The U.S is not planning to send ground forces, but Obama wants to see Gadhafi get ousted from power.

The White House is not certain what action would be taken if Gadhafi does not leave from power. This war was authorized by the United Nations to save the lives of the Libyans. Even so, Gadhafi is still in power and more force will be required in order for him to be ousted from power. The conflict might take at least one more month in order for it to be solved. For sure Gadhafi will not remain in power. Even if the problem in Libya gets solved, there are other problems similar in countries like Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen. America should not put ground forces regardless what happens due to the fact there are U.S ground forces in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. The two full scale wars in these two countries damaged the economy severely.