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War on terror: the story on HearLore | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Origins And Etymology —
War on terror.
~7 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
On the 16th of September 2001, US president George W. Bush used the phrase war on terrorism in an ostensibly unscripted comment when answering a journalist's question about the impact of enhanced law enforcement authority given to the U.S. surveillance agencies on Americans' civil liberties. He stated that this was a new kind of evil and declared that the American people must be patient as the crusade would take a while. The term war on terror was immediately adopted as a globally recognizable phrase and part of everyday lexicon following the September 11 attacks. Tom Brokaw had just witnessed the collapse of one of the towers of the World Trade Center and declared that terrorists had declared war on America. On the 20th of September 2001, during a televised address to a joint session of Congress, George Bush said that their war on terror begins with al Qaeda but does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. Both the term and the policies it denotes have been a source of ongoing controversy, as various critics and organizations like Amnesty International have argued that it has been used to justify unilateral preventive war, human rights abuses and other violations of international law. In April 2007, the British government announced publicly that it was abandoning the use of the phrase war on terror as they found it to be less than helpful. This was explained later by Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller who said in her 2011 Reith lecture that the 9/11 attacks were a crime not an act of war so she never felt it helpful to refer to a war on terror.
Global Military Campaigns
On the 7th of October 2001, the official invasion began with British and US forces conducting airstrike campaigns over enemy targets in Afghanistan. Shortly after, Bush rejected a Taliban offer to hand over bin Laden on the condition the bombing campaign was halted, and by mid-November, Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, fell. The remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants fell back to the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan, mainly Tora Bora. In December, Coalition forces fought within that region. It is believed that Osama bin Laden escaped into Pakistan during the battle. On the 30th of August 2021, the United States completed its hasty withdrawal of its military from Afghanistan. The withdrawal was heavily criticized both domestically and abroad for being chaotic and haphazard, as well as for lending more momentum to the Taliban offensive. The Iraq War began in March 2003 with an air campaign which was immediately followed by a US-led ground invasion. Baghdad, Iraq's capital city, fell to US troops in April 2003 and Saddam Hussein's government quickly dissolved. On the 1st of May 2003, Bush announced that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. However, an insurgency arose against the US-led coalition and the newly developing Iraqi military and post-Saddam government. The rebellion included al-Qaeda-affiliated groups and led to many coalition casualties. Saddam Hussein was captured by US forces in December 2003 and was executed in 2006. In January 2007, President Bush presented a new strategy for Operation Iraqi Freedom based upon counter-insurgency theories and tactics developed by General David Petraeus. The Iraq War troop surge of 2007 has been credited with a widely recognized dramatic decrease in violence by up to 80%. As of July 2021, there were approximately 2,500 US troops in Iraq who continue to assist in the mission to combat the remnants of IS.
Domestic Security Shifts
A new cabinet-level agency called the United States Department of Homeland Security was created in November 2002 to lead and coordinate the largest reorganization of the US federal government since the consolidation of the armed forces into the Department of Defense. The Justice Department launched the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System for certain male non-citizens in the US requiring them to register in person at offices of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The USA PATRIOT Act of October 2001 dramatically reduces restrictions on law enforcement agencies' ability to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial, and other records. It eases restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the United States and expands the Secretary of the Treasury's authority to regulate financial transactions particularly those involving foreign individuals and entities. A new Terrorist Finance Tracking Program monitored the movements of terrorists' financial resources but was discontinued after being revealed by The New York Times. Global telecommunication usage including those with no links to terrorism is being collected and monitored through the NSA electronic surveillance program. On the 30th of July 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union filed the first legal challenge against Section 215 of the Patriot Act claiming that it allows the FBI to violate a citizen's First Amendment rights Fourth Amendment rights and right to due process. In early 2002, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency began an initiative with the creation of the Total Information Awareness program designed to promote information technologies that could be used in counter-terrorism.
Controversies And Civil Liberties
The phrase war on terror has been criticized for its morality casualties and continuity with critics questioning government measures that infringed civil liberties and human rights. Controversial practices of coalition forces have been condemned including drone warfare surveillance torture extraordinary rendition and various war crimes. The participating governments have been criticized for implementing authoritarian measures repressing minorities fomenting Islamophobia globally and causing negative impacts to health and environment. Security analysts assert that there is no military solution to the conflict pointing out that terrorism is not an identifiable enemy and have emphasized the importance of negotiations and political solutions to resolve the underlying roots of the crises. After the 11th of September attacks the United States government commenced a program of illegal extraordinary rendition sometimes referred to as irregular rendition or forced rendition. The government-sponsored abduction and extrajudicial transfer of a person from one country to transferee countries was often conducted with the consent of transferee countries. Starting in 2002 US government rendered hundreds of illegal combatants for US detention and transported detainees to US controlled sites as part of an extensive interrogation program that included torture. Bush administration increased renditions and Senate Report Links Bush to Detainee Homicides. A total of 25 detainees were transferred during the Biden presidency after being inaugurated for his second term President Trump signed a presidential memorandum to begin expansion of the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center to allow for detainment of up to 30,000 migrants.
Economic And Human Costs
According to the Costs of War Project the post-9/11 wars of the campaign have displaced 38 million people which is the second largest number of forced displacements of any conflict since 1900. They also estimate that it has cost the US Treasury over $8 trillion. A total of 2,977 victims and the 19 hijackers perished in the attacks on the 11th of September 2001. Fifteen of the nineteen were citizens of Saudi Arabia and the others were from the United Arab Emirates Egypt and Lebanon. In Sudan over 400,000 have died in an ongoing civil war which is not included in the war on terror. The war has caused more than 4.5 million deaths direct and indirect in Afghanistan Iraq Libya Pakistan Somalia Syria and Yemen. On the 1st of January 2025 there was at least 15 dead in a vehicle-and-explosives attack in New York City. As of 2025 various global operations in the campaign are ongoing including a US military intervention in Somalia and airstrikes continue in Yemen. ISIS-K remains a structural terrorist cell due to its decentralized and transnational operational capacity evidenced by a series of high-impact attacks.
Evolution Of Strategy
During the 2020s the war on terror has decreased in volume and intensity following the closure of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This shift represents a transition from large-scale military interventions with hundreds of thousands of troops ground invasions and prolonged occupations to a more surgical hybrid and sustainable approach centered on intelligence selective strikes and regional alliances. For their part the US and NATO prioritize cyber defense online counter-narratives and cooperation with allies which reduces media noise and their own casualties. On the 31st of July 2022 Ayman al-Zawahiri Osama bin Laden's key successor was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul Afghanistan marking the end of decades of centralized leadership in al-Qaeda. In 2025 the US' military escalation against alleged narcoterrorists linked to Venezuela such as the Cartel of the Suns the Tren de Aragua and the National Liberation Army reframed Latin American narcoterrorism as a global threat. The designation of the Cartel of the Suns as a Foreign Terrorist Organization along with the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford near Venezuelan waters and a series of strikes against vessels labeled as narcotrafficker assets represented a turning point in the region. Operation Southern Spear has raised new questions about whether a second war on terror has begun by adopting the same legal and rhetorical framework used during the post-9/11 war on terror.
When did George W. Bush first use the phrase war on terrorism?
US president George W. Bush used the phrase war on terrorism on the 16th of September 2001 during an unscripted comment to a journalist.
What were the main military operations included in the war on terror campaign?
The official invasion began with British and US forces conducting airstrike campaigns over enemy targets in Afghanistan on the 7th of October 2001, followed by the Iraq War which started in March 2003.
Which government agency was created to coordinate the largest reorganization of the US federal government since November 2002?
A new cabinet-level agency called the United States Department of Homeland Security was created in November 2002 to lead and coordinate the largest reorganization of the US federal government since the consolidation of the armed forces into the Department of Defense.
How many people died directly or indirectly as a result of the post-9/11 wars according to the Costs of War Project?
The war has caused more than 4.5 million deaths direct and indirect in Afghanistan Iraq Libya Pakistan Somalia Syria and Yemen.
Who succeeded Osama bin Laden and when was he killed in a US drone strike?
Ayman al-Zawahiri served as Osama bin Laden's key successor until he was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul Afghanistan on the 31st of July 2022.