United States and New York City Essay

Chrystal Tuigamala
Professor Patsy Iwasaki
ENG 100T
3 December 2014
Research Paper
Should we be more concerned with threats from abroad or from threats from within?
America as a country is known throughout the world as quite powerful. Other countries are somehow threatened by this power, therefore they want to take control of the many benefits that America has especially the right to freedom. America welcomes people of all ethnic backgrounds, and it is very possible that some of these people may be working with foreigners to threaten the safety of America. It is not easy to track these terrorists because they have become Americans in their way of living, citizenship and education; they are just like any patriotic American who fights for the safety and freedom of this country. Unfortunately, there are some Americans who have given up their sense of patriotism for reasons that are truly unreasonable. Therefore, I believe that we should be more concerned about threats that are from within.
In the case of Edward Snowden, one has to ask what was his reasons for exposing classified information that contained global surveillance programs for National Security Agency (NSA). Snowden is an American who felt that peoples’ right to technology privacy was being violated by the federal agency. He stated that he is just an average guy who sees this violation of rights every day at work, and he believed that the public should be informed, (Free Snowden par.1). I agree with the thought of informing the public but does it have to be a national as well as international exposure? Is it safe for other countries to see classified programs used by NSA in an effort to protect the United States? Consider Private Manning who leaked a large file of classified documents that contained information about the U.S. Army airstrikes and war logs that could be used by another country to mastermind an attack on the United States. What are the reasons behind his behavior? Like Snowden, he felt that the public should be informed of what is happening, (Free Chelsea Manning par. 1). I believe there should have been another way to approach this issue rather than national and international exposure.
Being American guarantees certain rights that are protected by the U.S. Constitution and those rights allows a person to be educated, and secure employment in a particular field. These same rights provide the opportunity for a person to be trained, and prepare, for things that are considerably dangerous to the well-being of the American people such as the Boston Marathon 2013. The masterminds behind this horrible event were two brothers who were of Chechen origin but were students at an American university, and residents of Massachusetts. Our constitution is an amazing document, however there needs to be more detailed and specified clauses as to how these rights should be distributed. I think paying taxes, a criminal free record, a ten year residence record with the intention of living in America permanently, and a clean employment background should be some of factors to consider. There is no American that can forget the heartbreaking disaster of September 11, 2001. As young as I was, the pictures that were aired by different television stations are still vivid in my memory. The people that were behind the planning and executing of this horrible act were foreigners who were educated on U.S. soil. Their plan was a progress that took time and careful planning before implementation. In the last twenty years, America has faced at least eight terrorist attacks on its soil, 1993-2/26, New York City, bomb explosion in basement garage of World Trade Center; 1995-4/19 Oklahoma City, car bomb explosion outside of federal building; 2001-9/11 New York City, Arlington VA and Shanksville, PA, 2 hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, another 2 hijacked crashed into the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania; 2009-6/1 Little Rock, Arkansas, a Muslim shoot two U.S.

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