Warm Up

1. Warm Up • What are these two photos of and are they related in any way?

2. Clinton Continued1993-2001 (Democrat)

3. 1995 Government Shutdown - The United States federal government shutdowns of 1995 and 1995–96 were the result of conflicts between Democratic President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress over funding for Medicare, education, the environment, and public health in the 1996 federal budget. The government shut down after Clinton vetoed the spending bill the Republican Party-controlled Congress sent him. The federal government of the United States put government workers on furlough and suspended non-essential services from November 14 through November 19, 1995 and from December 16, 1995 to January 6, 1996, for a total of 27 days. The major players were President Clinton and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich.

4. The Waco siege - was a siege of a compound belonging to the religious group Branch Davidians by American federal and Texas state law enforcement and military between February 28 and April 19, 1993. The Branch Davidians, a Christian sect led by David Koresh, lived at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Elk, Texas, nine miles east-northeast of Waco. The group was suspected of weapons violations and a search and arrest warrant was obtained by the U.S. federal agency Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

5. The incident began when the ATF attempted to raid the ranch. An intense gun battle erupted, resulting in the deaths of four agents and six Branch Davidians. Upon the ATF's failure to raid the compound, a siege was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the standoff lasting 51 days. Eventually, the FBI launched an assault and initiated a tear gas attack in an attempt to force the Branch Davidians out. During the attack, a fire engulfed Mount Carmel Center and 76 men, women, and children, including David Koresh, died.

6. The Oklahoma City bombing - was a domestic terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It would remain the most destructive act of terrorism in the United States until the September 11 attacks of 2001, six years later. The bombing claimed 168 lives and injured more than 680 people.  Timothy McVeigh was arrested. Motivated by his hatred of the federal government and angered by what he perceived as its mishandling of the 1993 Waco siege, McVeigh timed his attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the deadly fire that ended the siege at Waco.

7. The Columbine High School massacre was a school shooting which occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine. Two senior students murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher. They injured 24 additional students, with three other people being injured while attempting to escape the school. The pair then committed suicide. • Although their motives remain unclear, the personal journals of the perpetrators document that they wished their actions to rival the Oklahoma City bombing. 

8. The massacre sparked debate over gun control laws, the availability of firearms within the United States and gun violence involving youths. Much discussion also centered on the nature of high school cliques, subcultures and bullying, in addition to the influence of violent movies and video games in American society. The shooting resulted in an increased emphasis on school security, and a moral panic aimed at goth culture, social outcasts, gun culture, the use of pharmaceutical anti-depressants by teenagers, teenage Internet use and violent video games.

9. George W. Bush2001-2009 (Republican)

10. September 11, 2001 (also called 9/11) – an attack, by al-Qaeda, on the U.S. The terrorists successfully attacked three of their four targets, the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon. This grievous attack resulted in the greatest loss of life since Pearl Harbor and propelled the U.S. to declare the Global War on Terror. This event caused a shift in the focus of U.S. foreign policy. It also resulted in the attacks on our foreign allies. Flight 93

11. The Global War on Terror – a U.S.-led war started as a result of 9/11 with the following goals: • Defeat terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and destroy their organizations • Identify, locate, and destroy terrorists along with their organizations • Deny sponsorship, support, and sanctuary to terrorists • Diminish the underlying conditions that terrorists seek to exploit • Defend U.S. citizens and interests at home and abroad

12. War on Iraq Begins because of the belief that there was WMD put there by Saddam Hussein in March 2003. War on Terror Begin in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda and bin Laden in 2001 after 9/11

13. 3rd Persian Gulf War (Operation Iraqi Freedom)– The invasion consisted of 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, invaded Iraq and deposed the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The invasion concluded with the capture of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad by American forces, an end of major combat operations was declared, ending the invasion period and beginning the military occupation period.

14. According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition mission was "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.” According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace. In 2005, the Central Intelligence Agency released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq. Biological weapons had affects that are not immediately detectable and can continue for years after their release. These outcomes of biological weapons were unexpected.

15. On 5 November 2006, Saddam was convicted of charges related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites and was sentenced to death by hanging. His execution was carried out on 30 December 2006.

16. Surveillance - Following the events of September 11, Bush issued an executive order authorizing the President's Surveillance Program which included allowing the NSA to monitor communications between suspected terrorists outside the U.S and parties within the U.S. without obtaining a warrant as required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

17. Africa - Bush initiated the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Program (PEPFAR). The U.S. government has spent some $44 billion on the project since 2003 (a figure that includes $7 billion contributed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, a multilateral organization), saving an estimated 5 million lives. According to New York Times correspondent Peter Baker, "Bush did more to stop AIDS and more to help Africa than any president before or since."

18. International Criminal Court – The ICC is the first global permanent internationalcourt with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for “The most serious crimes of concern to the international community.” The U.S. government has not signed this international treaty. The primary objection given by the U.S. in opposition to the treaty is the ICC’s possible assertion of jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers charged with “war crimes” resulting from legitimate uses of force, and perhaps over civilian policymakers even if the US does not ratify the ICC. The U.S. sought to exempt U.S. soldiers and employees from the jurisdiction of the ICC based on the unique position the U.S. occupies with regard to international peacekeeping. Other countries see the American reluctance to participate as our way of refusing to be held accountable like the rest of the participating world.