E - Portfolio

Since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and other locations,

Congress issued a joint resolution authorizing President George W. Bush to use all means

necessary against the individuals/orginization that participated in orchestrating the attack. After a

10-year pursuit and countless efforts to capture and hold Osama Bin Laden in containment, on

May 2, 2011 the United States and coalition forces were able to raid the hideout location of

Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, where he was killed. The significance of the death of Bin Laden

was welcomed throughout a number of nations as a fitting end to one that has devised terrorist

attacks amongst many. Despite the welcoming of his death by many nations, his killing was

condemned by the Gaza Strip, the Muslim Brotherhood, Taliban, and led to the start of new

terrorist groups. Bin Laden’s death led to the terrorist groups encouragement of attacks against

westerners in retaliation for the killing of Bin Laden. By December 15, 2011, President Obama

ordered the last combat troops to leave the country, and the war in Iraq was declared over.

Islamic influences have not only motivated and influenced organizations, but also to self-

radicalized extremist unconnected to any outside terrorist groups. On April 15, 2013, twin bombs

were used to target the Boston Marathon. According to CNN the bombs exploded 12 seconds

apart from each other, and were near the finish line killing three people and injured several

hundreds. Organized by the Tsarnaev brothers that were soviet legal immigrants. One of the

brother’s Tamerlan Tsarnaev was wounded and died later in the Beth Israel Hospital and the

second brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted in April of 2015, and was later sentenced to

death on June 24, 2015. I believe the significance of the bombing is how we as a nation reacted

to the unexpected. It reminds us that no matter what we all go through our day to day lives, when

it really comes down to it, we as a nation gather together for those in need. I also do think the
significance of it is that it’s a reminder that acts of terrorists don’t only come from afar, but may

be near as well.

In 2014 an al Qaeda splinter group known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) started

global attacks. They used modern tools such as social media to share their message and to

promote reactionary political and religious fundamentalism. They began with seizing control of

cities through Northern Iraq and Syria threatening minority religious groups and sharing videos

of their public executions of western journalists and aid workers. This created foreign policy

challenges. The United States and some allies began to campaign to degrade the effectiveness of

ISIS by starting a bombing campaign. I believe the significance of this event was how successful

ISIS had been with erasing the border between Iraq and Syria. According to CBS News, “ISIS

has established themselves as the best-resourced terrorist organization in the world and really

threaten not just in Syria the [Bashar] Assad regime and the stability there but also the Iraqi

state.” The significance of the event of ISIS I believe is like what CBS News National Security

Analyst Juan Zarate said, “ISIS in many ways has rejuvenated the very notion of a caliphate and

has given life to the imaginings of the jihadis around the world and that really is dangerous and

it's why it's been such a big issue in 2014."

In 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges basically entails groups of same sex marriages suing their

state agencies to challenge the constitutional ban on same sex marriage or the refusal to

recognize a legal same sex marriage. The plaintiffs argue that the states violated the Equal

protection clause and Due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They argued that there

is no difference between a same sex marriage union compared to an opposite sex union. There

were of course a lot of controversy in the country regarding this trial due to the Religious groups

holding their stance against same sex marriage and the LGBTQ community and its supporters
rallying for the law to pass. Finally on June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the

fundamental right to marry guaranteed to same sex couples under the Fourteenth Amendment

from the Due Process and Equal Protections Clauses. I felt like this was a big step for America,

being that the LGBTQ community has been fighting for equal rights since the mid 1900’s. It

shows progression for not only our people but for our country.

In 2016 an American born individual that supposedly pledged his allegiance to ISIS

caused one of the deadliest mass shootings in United States history and according to CNN “the

nation’s worst terror attack since 9/11” (up till 2016). The gunman gunned down about 49 people

in the Orlando Nightclub. It appeared to be not only an act of terror, but also an act of hate being

that the club that was targeted was a gay nightclub. The significance of this event was that it

brought national attention on different issues such as gun control/violence, LGBT rights, and

American Islamic relations.

On November 28, 2016 – Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United

States of America. I feel like this is a big event that has shaped part of today because it definitely

has divided the country. Donald Trump is a businessman from New York with no Political or

Military experience surprisingly wins a presidential election over Democrat Hilary Clinton.

Though his approach and tactics are different from what we as Americans are used to, his

strategy is effective. Many in the country and the world claim that Presidential Trump is harsh

and his behavior is unacceptable. I don’t condone it, I believe as a President and leader of this

great Nation there should be a standard to how one should present themselves, however

everything Trump has done since elected in office has been for the good of our country. For

example on December 22, 2017 President Trump signs the largest tax cut and changes tax code

since 1986 with the Tax Cuts and Job Acts.

 These events have definitely shattered that reality or that blanket that “we’re safe”

because anything can happen at any moment. These events prove that it doesn’t have to be a

foreign attack because majority of the attacks I’ve mentioned were from U.S. Citizens. It also

just puts into perspective that we never really know what will happen and that we should all take

advantage of each day and live it like its our last. For us to love and let our loved ones know they

are loved because we can never be sure of safety.

Works Cited:

- https://www.ambrosevideo.com/screening-room/59-21TP

- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-16759233

- https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/03/us/boston-marathon-terror-attack-fast-facts/index.html

- https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/isis-fast-facts/index.html

- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-biggest-foreign-policy-challenges-of-2014-and-

what-lies-ahead/

- https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/

- https://www.inc.com/ford-transit-connect/contest/index.html

- https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/

- https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556