India Threating Attack on Pakistan

According to Pentagon officials, the United States has information confirming a possible airstrike by the Indian air force soon after to the bombings Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) that took place November 26, 2008. Nearly 180 people were killed and officials said that the Indian air force took “preliminary preparations” for an attack on the Pakistani terrorist camps. All ten of the terrorists, including the only surviving terrorist, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, were from Pakistan.

U.S. officials insisted that India should not take action too hastily and India did restrain itself. However, this news of a strike on Pakistan creates an even bigger threat: both nations possess nuclear weapons. After the attack in late November in addition to the decades-old dispute over the Kashmiri land bordering the two countries, Indians are asserting that “they can no longer stay quite” (I heard it myself on a TV show on Zee TV). Nuclear war wouldn’t do too much harm to here in America considering it’s halfway around the world, but in Asia, up to 12 million people would die.

Sources: DailyCamera.com, CNN.com

Transition to Power and High Approval Ratings

According to a poll conducted by CNN on December 1-2, 79% of the 1,096 Americans surveyed said that they believe President-elect, Barack Obama, is doing an exceptional job in his transition to power (sample error was by 3 points). That’s 14% higher than what George Bush had received in 2001 and 17% higher than what Bill Clinton had in 1992. (There is a 50 point difference between Bush’s current approval ratings – which is now down to 28%.)

After putting up with the Bush administration for the last 8 years, many Americans consider Barack Obama the right man for the job; but Obama is not the only one getting popular ratings: Michelle Obama and Vice President-elect, Joe Biden, are being viewed favorably with 67% and 56%. The Democratic Party itself has a 60% approval rating over the GOP.

There are only about 6 weeks left until Obama officially takes his place in office and, according to these poll numbers, people are hopeful he will be able to clean-up the mess left in D.C.