The people of the United States of America always seem to be torn on what to do about foreign affairs. This is especially true when it comes to violent conflicts. There are many who believe it is the duty of the powerful United States to intervene and act as the policing force in the matter. On the other hand, there are many who believe that the United States should stay out of the matters of other nations and let those states take care of their own business.

In terms of the current conflict in Libya, the United States House of Representatives is torn on what to do.

Friday, the chamber of Congress that is dominated by Republicans held two votes pertaining to the struggles in the Middle East.

First, by a vote of 123 to 295, the House voted against a measure in favor of the war going on in Libya. As expected, for the most part, Democrats voted for the bill and Republicans voted against it.

The second bill had to do with limiting the involvement of the United States in the war. Republicans, who were led by the Speaker of the House John Boehner, voted for the bill. Democrats on the other hand voted against it. At the final tally, the bill to limit American involvement lost out by a vote of 180 to 238.

At the end of the day it is hard to see where the House stands in the effort to help progress the removal of Moammar Gadhafi from power in Libya. President Obama has been working had to help Libya realize political reform.

With the instability evident throughout all of Libya, it is clear that Gadhafi is not going to regain power without the nation becoming one with a strict dictatorship with a large amount of suppression.

Hilary Clinton did comment that she was pleased with one aspect of the voting on Friday. The Secretary of State said that she was happy “that the House has decisively rejected efforts to limit funding for the NATO mission. I am pleased that a very important statement was made today by the House, on a bipartisan basis, that recognized the need for us to continue this important mission.”

The conflict has been going on for a long portion of 2011 and has negatively impacted the economy of the United States and the rest of the world by its effect on oil distribution. But the end is coming soon. As many have predicted from the start, at the end of the day, Gadhafi will no longer be in power.

US Energy Department/AP

At times, when there are tensions in the Middle East in oil rich states, the cost of a barrel of oil is without a doubt going to rise up. And that is exactly what has been happening in 2011 as the average price of a gallon of gasoline has risen above four dollars. The current persisting issues in Libya are hurting the American economy terribly by forcing nearly everyone to spend more on oil and gas.

However, the United States government does have one secret weapon to use against the growing problem. That secret weapon is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Oil prices have already began to drop in the United States with the national average for a gallon of gas much lower than it was in previous months. However, with the overall American economy continuing to struggle to rebuild, the government felt it was necessary to try to drop gas and oil prices even more.

According to the United States Department of Energy, thirty million barrels of oil will be extracted from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the course of thirty days.

In the United States, we consume approximately 19 million barrels of oil per day. However, we only produce an estimated 9.8 million barrels of oil per day. Thus, we import just under half of the oil we use. The thirty million barrels tapped from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are going to be enough to drop gas prices in the United States enough to give those on budgets a bit of breathing room by not having to spend nearly as much on gas.

Currently, the Reserve is sitting at an all time high of 727 million barrels. The high amount is not expected to be used beyond the thirty million barrels that were announced on Thursday, but the option is there.

According to Steven Chu, who is the Energy Secretary, “As we move forward, we will continue to monitor the situation and stand ready to take additional steps if necessary.”

The looks of things indicate that the oil and gas situation in the United States is going to get better in the coming weeks. As of Wednesday, the national average was back down to $3.61 per gallon and fell even more Thursday after the tapping of the Reserve was announced.

All signs point to the falling gas prices being a result of the decline in demand of oil and gas in the United States as the economic crisis is causing many Americans to lessen their consumption of the valuable resource.

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All week there has been anticipation for President Barack Obama’s announcement on Wednesday. In December of 2009, Obama sent 33,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to help fight off the growing problems in the terrorist ridden state. Ever since, the voice of the American people has gone from demanding that American presence in Iraq decrease to American presence in Afghanistan decrease.

This week President Obama made his official announcement on when the “surge” troops would be coming homing and the overall count of American soldiers in Afghanistan would be coming down by 33,000.

Wednesday, Obama made it official that the withdrawal is going to take at most fifteen months. The deadline for the withdrawal of the over 30,000 American troops is set at September of 2012. Furthermore, Obama said that by January of 2012, ten thousand of those troops would be out of Afghanistan.

One thing that should not be surprising is that the withdrawal is going to be slow. For obvious reasons, it would be unwise to remove 33,000 soldiers from a not completely stable state all at once.

Obama said that sending the extra troops in 2009 was not an easy decision to make. However, Obama made it clear that a year and a half later the progress in Afghanistan is undeniable and that the troop surge has proven to be successful.

Obama went on to tout the recent success in the Middle East. He said, “al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11. Together with the Pakistanis, we have taken out more than half of al Qaeda’s leadership. And thanks to our intelligence professionals and special forces we killed Osama bin Laden, the only leader that al Qaeda had ever known. This was a victory for all who have served since 9/11.”

The President of the United States then refocused attention on what is going to happen once the presence in Iraq is minimized even more and begins to be scaled back in Afghanistan.

As a result of having less troops and obligations in the Middle East, there will be more money and more time to “refocus attention and resources on efforts to resolve economic and other problems and to unify a politically divided nation. America, it is time to focus on nation building here at home,” said Obama.

With the troop withdrawal set to begin in July of this year and conclude in September of 2012, the total number of American soldiers in Afghanistan will sit at under 70,000 after that deadline.

Ever since the number of troops in Iraq began to be scaled back, the focus on the military front in the United States switched over to the conflict in Afghanistan. Many people who are not in tune with the process of American warfare and how foreign affairs work do not realize that a full and immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan is not realistic.

But a slow and thought out strategy that would over the course of a few years remove American troops from the battlefields of the Middle East and leave the nations of the Middle East in good hands is realistic. And that is exactly what President Barack Obama has been doing since he first stepped foot into office over two years ago.

The process is well under way in Iraq. And now, reports coming out of Washington indicate that on Wednesday President Obama will announce that the withdrawal of American soldiers is going to begin in Afghanistan.

According to Jay Carney, the Press Secretary of the White House, “The President is still in a process of finalizing his decision on the pace and scope of the drawdown that will being in July of 2011. He’s finalizing his decision. He’s reviewing the options and the assessments and will have an announcement to make soon.”

Around one hundred thousand troops are currently serving within the borders of Afghanistan. Obama said that a “significant” amount of troops are going to begin coming back to the United States as soon as July.

The overall goal set out by President Obama is to remove most of the troops in Afghanistan while leaving the Afghani government, military, and police forces prepared to control the Middle Eastern state without any needed help from the United States military officials.

In December of 2009, Obama increased the number of troops in Afghanistan by about thirty thousand. The decision was part of an elaborate plan to restore proper authority in Afghanistan and rid the government of terrorists. The final goal is to “transfer full security lead over to the ANSF in 2014,” according to Jay Carney.

Is this a sign that the American presence in the Middle East is going to minimize in the next three years? Is it a sign that the American government is going to move focus to the next state that is dominated by a terrorist regime? Or is it a sign that the American government is adamant about refocusing resources on domestic needs? Only time will tell.

For a while now we have been talking about how the American economy is making a strong comeback with the notable improvements in the job market throughout the country. Every month there were reports of more and more increases in permanent jobs in the United States coming from the United States Labor Department.

But after all that has gone down in May and after checking the various reports about the economy and the job market, it is looking like the job market took a hit in May.

Many are calling the reports just another slump in the recovery process. Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics said, “you could call it a soft patch, but it’s the second or third soft patch we’ve seen in the recovery. For a recovery that is less than two years old, it’s troubling to say the least.”

The job growth up to this point has not been astronomical. However, it has been significant and has been a positive aspect of the recovering economy. 200,000 jobs were added for three consecutive months this year so far. The eventual goal is for 300,000 jobs to be added every single month until the economy is fully restored.

But now the pace is slowing instead of increasing. Reports indicate that for the last six months, all government jobs have seen cuts and layoffs take place.

Furthermore, conflicts in the Middle East causing oil price jumps and the recent disaster in Joplin, Missouri have both hurt the economy.

According to a report from ADP earlier this week, private enterprises have only created 38,000 new jobs this month. Original predictions had job growth at approximately 170,000.

Experts are now predicting that the numbers released on Friday will show that not even forty thousand new jobs were made in the month of May.

Economists are perplexed and disappointed in the results that they are expecting to be hit with Friday morning.

Across the board the reports on job growth have been, to say the least, less than stellar for May.

It still must be remembered that this is just one month and the numbers are not official yet and will not be for some time. It is very likely that the reported numbers are lower than what is actually happening. It is also possible that numbers will improve in June and prove May to be an anomaly.

The economy has been on its way back up for quite some time now. Was the month of May a minor bump in the road or a sign of a downward spiral to come?

Mario Tama/GETTY

In 2008 when President Barack Obama was still just the Democratic nominee for the election to see who would take over for former President George W. Bush and when John McCain was the Republican nominee, at times it seemed as though all of the attention was going to McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Some viewed Palin as a revolutionary figure who would finally take the United States on the path that it needs to be in order to restore moral values and the economy. Others viewed her as quite possibly the worst politician to ever be in the running for such a high position.

But no one can argue that after the 2008 election, Sarah Palin was propelled into fame and ever since, her star has been growing despite the fact that more than half of the country is completely opposed to her even running for President in 2012, much less winning.

But Palin’s followers still give her enough reason to consider running.

Palin made it official on her website that she is going to go on a tour of the United States. She is set to start the trail in Washington D.C. this weekend.

She says the tour is to “connect with our founders, our patriots, our challenges and victories to clearly see our way forward.” She said she wants to further “appreciate the significance of our nation’s historic sites, patriotic events, and diverse cultures.”

Some of the places Palin is planning on visiting include Gettysburg, Antietam, Philadelphia, New Hampshire, and other East Coast sites that are prominent in America’s early history.

Many are under the assumption that the point of the tour is for Palin to officially announce her candidacy for Presidency in 2012.

Palin has recently hired her former advisers, Doug McMarlin and Jason Recher. She has also given to the green light to make a movie about her political career in Alaska. Palin also went to the Middle East recently to increase her foreign policy background.

She has also reportedly relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, which would enable her to continue her political career in the United States much more conveniently than from Alaska.

Whether Palin has already made up her mind on whether or not to run for President of the United States in 2012 or not, it is clear which direction her actions are leading her.

If you are one of the people who thinks Sarah Palin is the perfect fit for the job or one of the people who wishes she would just go away, the popularity and following of Sarah Palin cannot be denied.

After decades of violence and opposition, it seems that peace in the Middle East might actually be coming soon. For years there have been peace talks that have started strong, but fell apart quickly after disagreements that neither Israel nor Palestine would compromise on.

However, last week President Barack Obama stepped out and said matter of factly, the Palestinian people have the right to have their own physical state, as well that they are entitled to it.

Of course Obama also mentioned that a few things have to happen first. The issues between the two nations have to be thoroughly discussed and settled. Also, the Israeli people must feel safe within their new borders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel came to the United States on Tuesday to speak with Congress. He spoke in front of the House of Representatives. Joe Biden, the Vice President of the United States, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner were both in attendance to hear what the Prime Minister had to say first hand.

Netanyahu made two points very clear. First he said that the Israeli government is willing to make the necessary compromises needed to ensure peace in the region. Second, Netanyahu said that under no circumstances would Israel agree to Obama’s suggestion of returning to the borders that were present before the war in 1967.

The Prime Minister told Congress that Israel needs to maintain control of areas in the West Bank. He said that Israel is willing to give up land to make up a new Palestinian state and even used the word “generous” when expressing the readiness to compromise.

Palestine does want to gain control over both the West Bank and Gaza.

Jerusalem was also a major points addressed by Netanyahu. He said that Israel must retain control of Jerusalem and keep it as its capital.

Netanyahu also addressed the issue of Palestinians returning to the region. He said, “Jews from around the world have a right to immigrate to the Jewish state. Palestinians from around the world should have a right to immigrate, if they so choose, to a Palestinian state. This means that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel.”

The Prime Minister said that Israel is not going to negotiate with Hamas. Hamas is viewed as a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.

It is clear that this process will take time. But the point is that once and for all peace is a very real prospect.

All year, the price of gasoline has been rising quickly throughout the entire United States of America. With the national average already over four dollars per gallon of gasoline, it is becoming less and less reasonable of an explanation for the rising cost to be blamed on the tensions in the Middle East as oil rich states face political revolutions.

Thursday, oil executives were brought in to speak with the United States Congress to explain themselves. In addition, the oil company leaders were also there to fight off a plan to stop giving them tax breaks due to their high profits.

The oil and gas executives that came to speak to Congress did admit that they increased the price of gasoline.

However, they spent much more of their time in front of the men and women of the American government talking about how they should not lose their tax breaks.

The bill, which is being called, The Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act, would, if passed, get rid of the tax subsidies that are given to the five biggest oil corporations. The money saved would be used to decrease the national deficit by a projected $21 billion over the course of the next decade.

The bill was called “discriminatory” by Exxon Mobil CEO, Rex Tillerson.

Marvin Odum, the president of Shell, said, “It can be tempting to assume that there is something to gain by taking more from a few. However, one must also balance the potential implications of increase industry costs on both supply and price.”

Odum also spoke of how oil companies do not actually control gasoline pricing. He said, “Everything from the weather to politics and the global economy determines the price of oil and the fuels made from it. No one person, organization, or industry can set the price for crude oil.”

Chevron’s CEO John Watson, ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva, and BP America’s Lamar McKay were also brought to speak in front of Congress.

While it is arguable that it is unfair and unethical to take away tax breaks from a company based on their high profitability, this is a special situation.

Gas companies supply a product that is essential. American citizens often have very little choice but to purchase gasoline. And while crude oil costs have risen, gas prices continue to grow despite the fact that crude oil stabilized long ago.

At a time of economic struggle, gas companies have continued to make record profits at the expense of the citizens of the United States of America. The bill in front of Congress intends to balance things out and give back to the American citizens.

When the United States Navy SEALs raided the hideout of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, not only did they find the terrorist criminal, but they also found many of his secret files.

One of the things they captured was a journal that was written by bin Laden himself. The journal was alongside other papers written by the al Qaeda leader by hand.

Osama bin Laden used the journal to think out attacks that would kill numerous people. He also sent letters to other terrorists throughout the world to explain his plans to them.

Originally, American officials assumed that bin Laden was not very hands on with the current workings of al Qaeda and did not play as big of a factor in their plots as he once did. However, the journal and accompanying documents clearly illustrate an Osama bin Laden that was very involved in al Qaeda operations and still very firmly at the helm of the organization.

Osama bin Laden even discussed in the letters who should be promoted within al Qaeda and who should not.

The al Qaeda leader stressed the need to kill more and more Americans. He cited the reason for it to be that the murders would send a signal to the American government to take troops out of Muslim states in the Middle East.

The journal went into detail about exactly where the massive attacks were to take place. Target cities were New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington. All four cities are highly populated, vital to the American economy, and are some of the most popular areas in the country.

Currently, United States officials are speaking with other countries about the documents and about how to handle future threats from al Qaeda.

Also, American officials are waiting to speak with three of bin Laden’s widows and nine of his children who were taken into custody when the raid occurred in Pakistan last week.

There is also much more information that was seized in the raid to look over. In addition to more hand written sources, data files and computers were also taken by American Navy SEALs during the raid.

Time will tell just how much bin Laden and the rest of al Qaeda had in the works. The level of worry might be alleviated as we now have access to the personal thoughts and plans of arguably the biggest terrorist of the last twenty years in the whole world.

All year the cost of gas has been rising in the United States of America. Due to political revolutions going on in various countries in both North Africa and the Middle East, which are all oil rich nations, the cost of gasoline and goods made using oil have been growing in the past four months.

To make matters worst, every time it seems that gas prices cannot get any higher than they already are, they jump up rapidly.

In many parts of the nation, the average price for just one gallon of gasoline is well over four dollars. One of those places is the San Francisco Bay Area where in some parts of the region, even regular gasoline is hovering well past the $4.20 marker.

As of Monday, the average price of one gallon of gas was sitting at $3.952. Over the course of the last forty-four days, the average price of gas in the United States has increased every single day without fail. This past weekend saw a 3.4 cent increase on average throughout the country.

The state with the highest average price per gallon was Hawaii. Conversely, Wyoming has a very low average price per gallon of gas statewide at only $3.60.

Gas prices in parts of the country have increased as a result of the storms and tornados in the south that forced oil refineries to halt business for days.

Experts predict that the national average will surge past four dollars by the end of the week. Many are expecting the milestone to come by the end of Wednesday.

The last time the average price for one gallon of gas in America was at or above four dollars was in July of 2008. In the last four months alone, the national average has increased by nearly a dollar at eighty-eight cents.

Many experts believe that prices are not going to get too much higher than they currently are. By the end of the month, many assume that prices are going to begin to shrink back down to reasonable rates for Americans.

With there being no end in sight for the tensions in the Middle East and the uncertainty about what is going to happen in the Middle East now that Osama bin Laden is dead, it is tough to say exactly where the prices for oil and gasoline will move in the upcoming weeks and months.