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The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism ( GWOT), is a global military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks in 2001, and is one of the most recent spanning multiple wars. Some researchers and political scientists have argued that it replaced the Cold War.
The main targets of the campaign were militant Islamist movements such as al-Qaeda, the Taliban and their allies. Other major targets included the Ba'athist regime in Iraq, which was deposed in an invasion in 2003, and various militant factions that fought during the ensuing insurgency. Following its territorial expansion in 2014, the Islamic State also emerged as a key adversary of the United States.
The term "war on terror" uses war as a metaphor to describe a variety of actions which fall outside the traditional definition of war. U.S. president George W. Bush first used the term "war on terrorism" on 16 September 2001, and then "war on terror" a few days later in a formal speech to Congress. Bush indicated the enemy of the war on terror as "a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them". The initial conflict was aimed at al-Qaeda, with the main theater in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a region that would later be referred to as "AfPak". The term "war on terror" was immediately criticized by individuals including Richard Myers, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and eventually more nuanced terms came to be used by the Bush administration to define the campaign. While "war on terror" was never used as a formal designation of U.S. operations, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal was and is issued by the U.S. Armed Forces.
With the major wars over and only low-level combat operations in some places, the end of the war in Afghanistan in August 2021 symbolizes the visible ending of the war, or at least its main phase, for many in the West. The American military ceased issuing its National Defense Service Medal on 31 December 2022. As of 2025, various global operations in the campaign are ongoing, including a U.S. military intervention in Somalia. According to the Costs of War Project, the post-9/11 wars of the campaign have displaced 38 million people, the second largest number of forced displacements of any conflict since 1900, and caused more than 4.5 million deaths (direct and indirect) in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, the Philippines, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. They also estimate that it has cost the U.S. Treasury over $8 trillion.
While support for the "war on terror" was high among the American public during its initial years, it had become deeply unpopular by the late 2000s. Controversy over the war has focused on its morality, casualties, and continuity, with critics questioning government measures that infringed civil liberties and human rights. Critics have notably described the Patriot Act as "Orwellian" due to its substantial expansion of the federal government's surveillance powers. Controversial practices of US-led coalition 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.
"This is a new kind of—a new kind of evil. And we understand. And the American people are beginning to understand. This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while. And the American people must be patient. I'm going to be patient."The reference to Crusades became subject to heavy criticism due to its controversial connotations in the Muslim world and historical Muslim-Christian relations.
The political theorist Richard Jackson has argued that "the 'war on terrorism' ... is simultaneously a set of actual practices—wars, covert operations, agencies, and institutions—and an accompanying series of assumptions, beliefs, justifications, and narratives—it is an entire language or discourse".Jackson, Writing the War on Terrorism (2005), p. 8. Jackson cites, among many examples, a statement by John Ashcroft that "the attacks of September 11 drew a bright line of demarcation between the civil and the savage".Jackson, Writing the War on Terrorism (2005), p. 62.
Administration officials also described "terrorists" as hateful, treacherous, barbarous, mad, twisted, perverted, without faith, Parasitism, inhuman, and, most commonly, evil.Jackson, Writing the War on Terrorism (2005), pp. 62–75. Americans, in contrast, were described as brave, loving, generous, strong, resourceful, heroic, and respectful of human rights.Jackson, Writing the War on Terrorism (2005), pp. 77–80. Denouncing the remarks of George W. Bush, Osama Bin Laden stated during an interview in 21 October 2001:
"The events proved the extent of terrorism that America exercises in the world. Bush stated that the world has to be divided in two: Bush and his supporters, and any country that doesn't get into the global crusade is with the terrorists. What terrorism is clearer than this? Many governments were forced to support this "new terrorism."(2025). 9780521859110, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521859110
U.S. president Barack Obama rarely used the term, but in his inaugural address on 20 January 2009, he stated: "Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred." In March 2009 the Defense Department officially changed the name of operations from "Global War on Terror" to "Overseas Contingency Operation" (OCO). In March 2009, the Obama administration requested that The Pentagon staff members avoid the use of the term and instead to use "Overseas Contingency Operation". Basic objectives of the Bush administration "war on terror", such as targeting al Qaeda and building international counterterrorism alliances, remained in place.Jai Singh and Ajay Singh, " The War on Terror – Over ?", Small Wars Journal, 28 August 2012.David Kravets, " Former CIA Chief: Obama's War on Terror Same as Bush's, But With More Killing", Wired, 10 September 2012.
Usage of the term "war on terror" was initially discontinued in May 2010 and again in May 2013. On 23 May 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the "war on terrorism" was over, saying that the U.S. would not wage war against a tactic but would instead focus on a specific group of terrorist networks. Remarks by the President at the National Defense University The White House, 23 May 2013. Other American military campaigns during the 2010s have also been considered part of the "war on terror" by individuals and the media. The rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria during 2014–2015 led to the global Operation Inherent Resolve, and an international campaign to destroy the terrorist organization. This was considered to be another campaign of the "war on terror".
In December 2012, Jeh Johnson, the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, speaking at Oxford University, stated that the war against al-Qaeda would end when the terrorist group had been weakened so that it was no longer capable of "strategic attacks" and had been "effectively destroyed." At that point, the war would no longer be an armed conflict under international law, and the military fight could be replaced by a law enforcement operation.
In May 2013, two years after the assassination of Osama bin Laden, Barack Obama delivered a speech that employed the term global war on terror put in quotation marks (as officially transcribed by the White House): "Now, make no mistake, terrorists still threaten our nation. ... In Afghanistan, we will complete our transition to Afghan responsibility for that country's security. ... Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless 'global war on terror,' but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America. In many cases, this will involve partnerships with other countries." Nevertheless, in the same speech, in a bid to emphasize the legality of military actions undertaken by the U.S., noting that Congress had authorised the use of force, he went on to say, "Under domestic law, and international law, the United States is at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their associated forces. We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first. So this is a just war—a war waged proportionally, in last resort, and in self-defense."
Nonetheless, the use of the phrase "war on terror" persists in U.S. politics. In 2017, for example, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing "the opening salvo in a war that we have waged ever since—the global war on terror."
On 7 August 1998, al-Qaeda struck the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans. In retaliation, U.S. President Bill Clinton launched Operation Infinite Reach, a bombing campaign in Sudan and Afghanistan against targets the U.S. asserted were associated with WIFJAJC, although others have questioned whether a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan was used as a chemical warfare facility. The plant produced much of the region's antimalarial drugs and around 50% of Sudan's pharmaceutical needs. The strikes failed to kill any leaders of WIFJAJC or the Taliban.
Next came the 2000 millennium attack plots, which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport. On 12 October 2000, the USS Cole bombing occurred near the port of Yemen, and 17 U.S. Navy sailors were killed.
On 13 September, for the first time ever, NATO invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state to be an armed attack against them all. The invocation of Article 5 led to Operation Eagle Assist and Operation Active Endeavour. On 18 September 2001, President Bush signed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists passed by Congress a few days prior; the authorization is still active to this day and has been used to justify numerous military actions.
Major terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda and affiliated groups: (as of 2011) 1. 1998 United States embassy bombings • 2. September 11 attacks • 3. 2002 Bali bombings • 4. 2004 Madrid bombings • 5. 2005 London bombings • 6. 2008 Mumbai attacks]]
The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists or "AUMF" was made law on 14 September 2001, to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for 11 September attacks. It authorized the President to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on 11 September 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or individuals. Congress declares this is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973.
The George W. Bush administration defined the following objectives in the war on terror:
Subsequently, in October 2001, U.S. forces (with UK and coalition allies) invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime. On 7 October 2001, the official invasion began with British and U.S. forces conducting airstrike campaigns over enemy targets. 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 (the U.S. and its allies) fought within that region. It is believed that Osama bin Laden escaped into Pakistan during the battle.
In March 2002, the U.S. and other NATO and non-NATO forces launched Operation Anaconda with the goal of destroying any remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Shah-i-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains of Afghanistan. The Taliban suffered heavy casualties and evacuated the region.
The Taliban regrouped in western Pakistan and began to unleash an insurgent-style offensive against Coalition forces in late 2002. Throughout southern and eastern Afghanistan, firefights broke out between the surging Taliban and Coalition forces. Coalition forces responded with a series of military offensives and an increase of troops in Afghanistan. In February 2010, Coalition forces launched Operation Moshtarak in southern Afghanistan along with other military offensives in the hopes that they would destroy the Taliban insurgency once and for all. Peace talks were also underway between Taliban affiliated fighters and Coalition forces.
In September 2014, Afghanistan and the United States signed a security agreement, which allowed the United States and NATO forces to remain in Afghanistan until at least 2024. However, on 29 February 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a conditional peace deal in Doha which required that US troops withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months so long as the Taliban cooperated with the terms of the agreement not to "allow any of its members, other individuals or groups, including Al Qaeda, to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies". The Afghan government was not a party to the deal and rejected its terms regarding release of prisoners. After Joe Biden became president, he moved back the target withdrawal date to 31 August 2021. On 15 August 2021, the Afghan capital Kabul fell to a surprisingly effective Taliban offensive, ending the war in Afghanistan. The US military and NATO troops took control of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport for use in Operation Allies Refuge and the large-scale evacuation of foreign citizens and certain vulnerable Afghans, executed in cooperation with the Taliban.Ahmad Seir, Rahim Faiez, Tameem Akhgar and Jon Gambrell contributed reporting, "Taliban sweep into Afghan capital after government collapses", The Washington Post, 16 August 2021
On 30 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. However, many European countries followed suit, including Britain, Germany, Italy, and Poland. Despite evacuating over 120,000 people, the large-scale evacuation has also been criticized for leaving behind hundreds of American citizens, residents, and family members.
The British 16th Air Assault Brigade (later reinforced by Royal Marines) formed the core of the force in southern Afghanistan, along with troops and helicopters from Australia, Canada and the Netherlands. The initial force consisted of roughly 3,300 British, 2,000 Canadian, 1,400 from the Netherlands and 240 from Australia, along with special forces from Denmark and Estonia and small contingents from other nations. The monthly supply of cargo containers through Pakistani route to ISAF in Afghanistan is over 4,000 costing around in Pakistani Rupees.
Joint Special Operations Task Force – Philippines disbanded in June 2014,
ending a successful 12-year mission. After JSOTF-P had disbanded, as late as November 2014, American forces continued to operate in the Philippines under the name "PACOM Augmentation Team", until 24 February 2015. On 1 September 2017, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis designated Operation Pacific Eagle – Philippines (OPE-P) as a contingency operation to support the Philippine government and the military in their efforts to isolate, degrade, and defeat the affiliates of ISIL (collectively referred to as ISIL-Philippines or ISIL-P) and other terrorist organisations in the Philippines. By 2018, American operations within the Philippines against terrorist groups involved as many as 300 advisers.
The conflict in northern Mali began in January 2012 with radical Islamists (affiliated to al-Qaeda) advancing into northern Mali. The Malian government had a hard time maintaining full control over their country. The fledgling government requested support from the international community on combating the Islamic militants. In January 2013, France intervened on behalf of the Malian government's request and deployed troops into the region. They launched Operation Serval on 11 January 2013, with the hopes of dislodging the al-Qaeda affiliated groups from northern Mali.
In October 2002, the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) was established in Djibouti at Camp Lemonnier. It contains approximately 2,000 personnel including U.S. military and special operations forces (SOF) and coalition force members, Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150).
Task Force 150 consists of ships from a shifting group of nations, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The primary goal of the coalition forces is to monitor, inspect, board and stop suspected shipments from entering the Horn of Africa region and affecting the United States' Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Included in the operation is the training of selected armed forces units of the countries of Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency tactics. Humanitarian efforts conducted by CJTF-HOA include rebuilding of schools and medical clinics and providing medical services to those countries whose forces are being trained.
The program expands as part of the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative as CJTF personnel also assist in training the armed forces of Chad, Niger, Mauritania and Mali. However, the war on terror does not include Sudan, where over 400,000 have died in an ongoing civil war.
On 1 July 2006, a Web-posted message purportedly written by Osama bin Laden urged Somalis to build an Islamic state in the country and warned western governments that the al-Qaeda network would fight against them if they intervened there.
The Prime Minister of Somalia claimed that three "terror suspects" from the 1998 United States embassy bombings are being sheltered in Kismayo. On 30 December 2006, al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called upon Muslims worldwide to fight against Ethiopia and the TFG in Somalia.
On 8 January 2007, the U.S. launched the Battle of Ras Kamboni by bombing Ras Kamboni using AC-130 gunships.
On 14 September 2009, U.S. Special Forces killed two men and wounded and captured two others near the Somali village of Baraawe raid. Witnesses claim that helicopters used for the operation launched from French-flagged warships, but that could not be confirmed. A Somali-based al-Qaida affiliated group, the Al-Shabaab, has verified the death of "sheik commander" Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan along with an unspecified number of militants. Nabhan, a Kenyan, was wanted in connection with the 2002 Mombasa attacks.
"Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens, leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections, then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world."
On 17 March 2003, Bush issued an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein and his two sons to flee Iraq within a 48-hour deadline or else face "military conflict". Justifying his policy Bush declared:
"Terrorists and terror states do not reveal these threats with fair notice, in formal declarations—and responding to such enemies only after they have struck first is not self-defense, it is suicide. The security of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein now."
The first ground attack came at the Battle of Umm Qasr on 21 March 2003, when a combined force of British, U.S. and Polish forces seized control of the port city of Umm Qasr.
Baghdad, Iraq's capital city, fell to U.S. troops in April 2003 and Saddam Hussein's government quickly dissolved.
On 1 May 2003, Bush announced that major combat operations in Iraq had ended.
In 2004, the insurgent forces grew stronger. The U.S. launched offensives on insurgent strongholds in cities like Najaf and Fallujah.
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 was part of this "new way forward", which along with U.S. backing of Sunni groups it had previously sought to defeat has been credited with a widely recognized dramatic decrease in violence by up to 80%.
The war entered a new phase on 1 September 2010, with the official end of U.S. combat operations.
On 12 January 2002, Musharraf gave a speech against Islamic extremism. He unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism and pledged to combat Islamic extremism and lawlessness within Pakistan itself. He stated that his government was committed to rooting out extremism and made it clear that the banned militant organizations would not be allowed to resurface under any new name. He said, "the recent decision to ban extremist groups promoting militancy was taken in the national interest after thorough consultations. It was not taken under any foreign influence".
In 2002, the Musharraf-led government took a firm stand against the jihadi organizations and groups promoting extremism, and arrested Maulana Masood Azhar, head of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and took dozens of activists into custody. An official ban was imposed on the groups on 12 January. Later that year, the Saudi Arabia born Abu Zubaydah was arrested by Pakistani officials during a series of joint U.S.–Pakistan raids. Zubaydah is said to have been a high-ranking al-Qaeda official with the title of operations chief and in charge of running al-Qaeda training camps. Other prominent al-Qaeda members were arrested in the following two years, namely Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who is known to have been a financial backer of al-Qaeda operations, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who at the time of his capture was the third highest-ranking official in al-Qaeda and had been directly in charge of the planning for 11 September attacks.
In 2004, the Pakistan Army launched a campaign in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan's Waziristan region, sending in 80,000 troops. The goal of the conflict was to remove the al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the area.
After the fall of the Taliban regime, many members of the Taliban resistance fled to the Northern border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan where the Pakistani army had previously little control. With the logistics and air support of the United States, the Pakistani Army captured or killed numerous al-Qaeda operatives such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, wanted for his involvement in the USS Cole bombing, the Bojinka plot, and the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
The United States has carried out a campaign of drone attacks on targets all over the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. However, the Pakistani Taliban still operates there. To this day it is estimated that 15 U.S. soldiers were killed while fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants in Pakistan since the war on terror began.
Osama bin Laden, his wife, and son, were all killed on 2 May 2011, during a raid conducted by the United States special operations forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The use of drones by the Central Intelligence Agency in Pakistan to carry out operations associated with the global war on terror sparks debate over sovereignty and the laws of war. The U.S. Government uses the CIA rather than the U.S. Air Force for strikes in Pakistan to avoid breaching sovereignty through military invasion. The United States was criticized by a report on drone warfare and Airspace for abusing the term 'global war on terror' to carry out military operations through government agencies without formally declaring war.
After 11 September attacks, U.S. economic and security aid to Pakistan spiked considerably. With the authorization of the Enhanced Partnership for Pakistan Act, Pakistan was granted US$7.5 billion over five years from FY2010–FY2014.
The U.S., in an effort to support Yemeni counter-terrorism efforts, increased their military aid package to Yemen from less than in 2006 to more than in 2009, as well as providing up to for development over the next three years.
In 2024, the U.S. re-designated the Houthis as Specially Designated Global Terrorists in the context of the Red Sea crisis, Operation Prosperity Guardian and Operation Poseidon Archer. The military campaign is still ongoing . The Houthis have admitted to teaming up with Al-Qaeda since 2023. Since then, the alliance remains ongoing under the context of the Red Sea crisis.
In October 2014, it was reported that the U.S. Department of Defense considers military operations against ISIL as being under Operation Enduring Freedom in regards to campaign medal awarding. On 15 October, the military intervention became known as "Operation Inherent Resolve".
However, the indigenous rebel groups who had staked their claims to Libya and turned their weapons on ISIL—with the help of airstrikes by Western forces, including U.S. drones, the Libyan population resented the outsiders who wanted to establish a fundamentalist regime on their soil. Militias loyal to the new Libya, plus a separate and rival force loyal to a former officer in the Gaddafi regime, launched an assault on ISIL outposts in Sirte and the surrounding areas that lasted for months. According to U.S. military estimates, ISIL ranks shrank to somewhere between a few hundred and 2,000 fighters. In August 2016, the U.S. military began airstrikes that, along with continued pressure on the ground from the Libyan militias, pushed the remaining ISIL fighters back into Sirte. In all, U.S. drones and planes hit ISIL nearly 590 times, the Libyan militias reclaimed the city in mid-December. On 18 January 2017, ABC News reported that two USAF B-2 bombers struck two ISIL camps south of Sirte, the airstrikes targeted between 80 and 100 ISIL fighters in multiple camps, an unmanned aircraft also participated in the airstrikes. NBC News reported that as many as 90 ISIL fighters were killed in the strike, a U.S. defense official said that "This was the largest remaining ISIL presence in Libya," and that "They have been largely marginalized, but I am hesitant to say they have been eliminated in Libya."
In September 2009, a U.S. drone strike reportedly killed Ilyas Kashmiri, who was the chief of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, a Kashmiri militant group associated with al-Qaeda., Dawn, 17 September 2009 Chicago Man Pleads Not Guilty in Terror Cases, The New York Times, 25 January 2010 Kashmiri was described by Bruce Riedel as a 'prominent' al-Qaeda member, while others described him as the head of military operations for al-Qaeda. Ilyas Kashmiri alive, lays out future terror strategy, Daily Times (Pakistan), 15 October 2009 Waziristan had now become the new battlefield for Kashmiri militants, who were now fighting NATO in support of al-Qaeda. Ilyas Kashmiri had planned to attack COAS, The News International, 18 September 2009 On 8 July 2012, Al-Badar Mujahideen, a breakaway faction of Kashmir centric terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, on the conclusion of their two-day Shuhada Conference called for a mobilization of resources for continuation of jihad in Kashmir. In June 2021, an air force station in Jammu (in India-administered Kashmir) was attacked by drone. Investigators were uncertain whether a state or non-state actor initiated the attack.
Colombia has also engaged on its own War on Terror, as terrorism by both guerrillas and paramilitaries remains a major concern in the country since the escalation of armed violence in the 2000s in the context of the Colombian conflict. Ălvaro Uribe's Presidency, in particular, was marked by a significant focus on counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency. The counterterrorism measures of Plan Colombia acquired further expansion during the presidency of George W. Bush and an important focus on national security after the events of 9/11, as the threat of global terrorism received greater attention.
In the 2010s, China has also been engaged in its own war on terror, predominantly a domestic campaign in response to violent actions by Uyghur people separatist movements in the Xinjiang conflict. This campaign was widely criticized in international media due to the perception that it unfairly targets and persecutes Chinese Muslims, potentially resulting in a negative backlash from China's predominantly Muslim Uyghur people population. Xi Jinping's government has imprisoned up to two million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang internment camps, where they are reportedly subject to abuse and torture.
Russia has also been engaged on its own, also largely internally focused, counter-terrorism campaign often termed a war on terror, during the Second Chechen War, the Insurgency in the North Caucasus, and the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War. Like China's war on terror, Russia has also been focused on separatist and Islamist movements that use political violence to achieve their ends. However, Vladimir Putin's Russia's disinformation and actions, as well as its inaction towards groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban, have raised doubts about its commitment to the war on terror.
On 12 September 2001, less than 24 hours after 11 September attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., NATO invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and declared the attacks to be an attack against all 19 NATO member countries. Australian Prime Minister John Howard also stated that Australia would invoke the ANZUS Treaty along similar lines.
In the following months, NATO took a broad range of measures to respond to the threat of terrorism. On 22 November 2002, the member states of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) decided on a Partnership Action Plan against Terrorism, which explicitly states, "The EAPC States are committed to the protection and promotion of fundamental freedoms and human rights, as well as the rule of law, in combating terrorism." NATO started naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea designed to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction as well as to enhance the security of shipping in general called Operation Active Endeavour.
Support for the U.S. cooled when America made clear its determination to invade Iraq in late 2002. Still, many of the "coalition of the willing" countries that unconditionally supported the U.S.-led military action have sent troops to Afghanistan, particular neighboring Pakistan, which has disowned its earlier support for the Taliban and contributed tens of thousands of soldiers to the conflict. Pakistan was also engaged in the Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (a.k.a. Waziristan War or North-West Pakistan War). Supported by U.S. intelligence, Pakistan attempted to remove the Taliban insurgency and al-Qaeda element from the northern tribal areas.
The Justice Department launched the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System for certain male non-citizens in the U.S., 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; eases restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the United States; expands the Secretary of the Treasury's authority to regulate financial transactions, particularly those involving foreign individuals and entities; and broadens the discretion of law enforcement and immigration authorities in detaining and deporting immigrants suspected of terrorism-related acts. The act also expanded the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to which the USA PATRIOT Act's expanded law enforcement powers could be applied. A new Terrorist Finance Tracking Program monitored the movements of terrorists' financial resources (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. The Patriot Act is still in effect.
Political interest groups have stated that these laws remove important restrictions on governmental authority, and are a dangerous encroachment on civil liberties, possible unconstitutional violations of the Fourth Amendment. On 30 July 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 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, by granting the government the right to search a person's business, bookstore, and library records in a terrorist investigation, without disclosing to the individual that records were being searched. Also, governing bodies in many communities have passed symbolic resolutions against the act.
In a speech on 9 June 2005, Bush said that the USA PATRIOT Act had been used to bring charges against more than 400 suspects, more than half of whom had been convicted. Meanwhile, the ACLU quoted Justice Department figures showing that 7,000 people have complained of abuse of the Act.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began an initiative in early 2002 with the creation of the Total Information Awareness program, designed to promote information technologies that could be used in counter-terrorism. This program, facing criticism, has since been defunded by Congress.
By 2003, 12 major conventions and protocols were designed to combat terrorism. These were adopted and ratified by many states. These conventions require states to co-operate on principal issues regarding unlawful seizure of aircraft, the physical protection of nuclear materials, and the freezing of assets of militant networks.
In 2005, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1624 concerning incitement to commit acts of terrorism and the obligations of countries to comply with international human rights laws. Although both resolutions require mandatory annual reports on counter-terrorism activities by adopting nations, the United States and Israel have both declined to submit reports. In the same year, the United States Department of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a planning document, by the name "National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism", which stated that it constituted the "comprehensive military plan to prosecute the Global War on Terror for the Armed Forces of the United States...including the findings and recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and a rigorous examination with the Department of Defense".
On 9 January 2007, the House of Representatives passed a bill, by a vote of 299–128, enacting many of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission The bill passed in the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 60–38, on 13 March 2007 and it was signed into law on 3 August 2007 by President Bush. It became Public Law 110–53. In July 2012, U.S. Senate passed a resolution urging that the Haqqani Network be designated a foreign terrorist organization.
The Office of Strategic Influence was secretly created after 9/11 for the purpose of coordinating propaganda efforts but was closed soon after being discovered. The Bush administration implemented the Continuity of Operations Plan (or Continuity of Government) to ensure that U.S. government would be able to continue in catastrophic circumstances.
Since 9/11, extremists made various attempts to attack the United States, with varying levels of organization and skill. For example, vigilant passengers aboard a transatlantic flight prevented Richard Reid, in 2001, and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, in 2009, from detonating an explosive device.
Other terrorist plots have been stopped by federal agencies using new legal powers and investigative tools, sometimes in cooperation with foreign governments.
Such thwarted attacks include:
The Obama administration promised the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (GITMO), increased the number of troops in Afghanistan, and promised the withdrawal of its forces from Iraq. Due to congressional opposition, the Obama Administration was unable to close GITMO but brought down its prison population from 242 detainees to 40 detainees. President Trump, during his first administration, signed an executive order keeping Guantanamo Bay's detention camp opened indefinitely, bringing an end to efforts to close it. During his first term, only one detainee was transferred. The Biden Administration, like the former Obama Administration, pledged to close GITMO, but proved unsuccessful too and added million-dollar expansions 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.
The United Nations considers one nation abducting the citizens of another a crime against humanity. In July 2014 the European Court of Human Rights condemned the government of Poland for participating in CIA extraordinary rendition, ordering Poland to pay restitution to men who had been abducted, taken to a CIA black site in Poland, and tortured.
According to ABC News two such facilities, in countries mentioned by Human Rights Watch, have been closed following the recent publicity with the CIA relocating the detainees. Almost all of these detainees were tortured as part of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" of the CIA. Despite the closure of these sites, their legacies in certain countries continue to live on and haunt domestic politics.
The complex at Stare Kiejkuty, a Soviet-era compound once used by German intelligence in World War II, is best known as having been the only Russian intelligence training school to operate outside the Soviet Union. Its prominence in the Soviet era suggests that it may have been the facility first identified—but never named—when the Washington Post's Dana Priest revealed the existence of the CIA's secret prison network in November 2005.
The journalists who exposed this provided their sources and this information and documents were provided to The Washington Post in 2005. In addition, they also identified such Black Sites are concealed:
The journalists went on to explain that "Such a site, sources say, would have to be near an airport." The airport in question is the Szczytno-Szymany International Airport.
In response to these allegations, former Polish intelligence chief, Zbigniew Siemiatkowski, embarked on a media blitz and claimed that the allegations were "... part of the domestic political battle in the US over who is to succeed current Republican President George W Bush," according to the German news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur.
A 2015 report by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and the Physicians for Social Responsibility and Physicians for Global Survival estimated between to casualties from the war on terror. A report from September 2021 by Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs "Costs of War" project puts the total number of casualties of the war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan at between 518,000 and 549,000. This number increases to between 897,000 and 929,000 when the wars in Syria, Yemen, and other countries are included. The report estimated that many more may have died from indirect effects of war such as water loss and disease. They also estimated that over 38 million people have been displaced by the post-9/11 wars participated in by the United States in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, and the Philippines; 26.7 million people have returned home following displacement. The conflict has caused the largest number of forced displacements by any single war since 1900, with the exception of World War II.
In a 2023 report, the "Costs of War" project estimated that, as the result of the destruction of infrastructure, economies, public services and the environment, there have been between 3.6 and 3.7 million indirect deaths in the post-9/11 war zones, with the total death toll being 4.5 to 4.6 million and rising. The report defined post-9/11 war zones as conflicts that included significant United States counter-terrorism operations since 9/11, which in addition to the wars in Iraqi conflict, Afghanistan and Pakistan, also includes the civil wars in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia. The report derived its estimate of indirect deaths using a calculation from the Geneva Declaration of Secretariat which estimates that for every person directly killed by war, four more die from the indirect consequences of war. The report's author Stephanie Savell stated that in an ideal scenario, the preferable way of quantifying the total death toll would have been by studying excess mortality, or by using on-the-ground researchers in the affected countries.
An estimated 7,052 US military combatants, over 8,100 US military contractors and more than 14,800 US-allied coalition troops are estimated to have been killed in the wars as of 2023.
The total number of insurgent deaths since the commencement of the war on terror in 2001 is generally estimated as being well into the hundreds of thousands, with hundreds of thousands of others captured or arrested. Some estimates for regional conflicts include the following:
From 2014 to the end of 2017, the United States government stated that over 80,000 Islamic State insurgents had been killed by American and allied airstrikes from 2014 to the end of 2017, in both Iraq and Syria. The majority of these strikes occurred within Iraq. "Once promised paradise, ISIS fighters end up in mass graves". The Straits Times. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017. ISIL deaths caused by the Iraqi Security Forces in this time are uncertain, but were probably significant. Over 26,000 ISF members were killed fighting ISIL from 2013 to the end of 2017, "Over 26,000 Iraqi soldiers killed in 4 year war with ISIS." 13 December 2017. with ISIL losses likely being of a similar scale.
Total casualties in Iraq range from 62,570 to 1,124,000:
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> "Afghan Officials: Islamic State Fighters Finding Sanctuary in Afghanistan". VOA News. . Retrieved 18 November 2017.
Total casualties in Afghanistan range from 10,960 and 249,000:
Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan
This table shows a comparison of total casualties between the two main theaters of the war on terror—Iraq (since 2003) and Afghanistan (since 2001)—up until August 2021, as conducted by Brown University.
| U.S. military deaths | 4,598 | 2,325 |
| U.S. contractor deaths | 3,650 | 3,917 |
| National military and police deaths | 45,519–48,719 | 69,095 |
| Allied troop deaths | 323 | 1,144 |
| Civilian deaths | 185,831–208,964 | 46,319 |
| Opposition fighters deaths | 34,806–39,881 | 52,893 |
| Journalist and media worker deaths | 282 | 74 |
| Humanitarian and NGO worker deaths | 63 | 446 |
| Total deaths (Rounded to nearest 1,000) | 275,000–306,000 | 176,000 |
The War in Northwest Pakistan resulted in the deaths of 28,900+ militants from 2004 to 2018, with an unknown number captured, per the Pakistani government. The majority of these were killed in engagements with the Pakistan Armed Forces. However, thousands were also killed in American drone strikes.
The December 2006 to January 2009 Ethiopian-led intervention in Somalia resulted in the deaths of 6,000 to 8,000 Islamist insurgents, according to the Ethiopian government. The Kenyan Defence Forces claimed another 700+ insurgents killed in their own intervention of October 2011 to May 2012. American drone strikes, air strikes, and special forces ground raids in Somalia killed between 1,220 and 1,366 militants up to July 2019, according to the New American Foundation. U.S. Air Strikes, Drone Strikes, and Ground Raids in Somalia. New America Foundation. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
From April 2009 to March 2019, Russian military and police (primarily in the North Caucasus) killed 2,329 and captured 2,744 insurgents of the Caucasus Emirate and related groups.270 killed and 453 captured (2009),[38] 349 killed and 254 captured (2010),[39] 384 killed and 370 captured (2011),[40] 391 killed and 461 captured (2012), 260 killed (2013), and 88 captured 259 killed and 445 captured (2014),[41] 172 killed (2015),[42] 162 killed and 377 captured (2016),[43] 82 killed and 296 captured (2017),[44] [45] total reported 2,329 killed and 2,744 captured
(this includes fighting throughout the Earth):
| 7,008 |
| 50,422 |
| 16 |
| 3,000 + |
| 6,000 + |
| 10,008 + |
| 56,422 + |
During Operation Inherent Resolve, 95 troops were killed and 227 wounded in action as of 6 May 2020
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has diagnosed more than 200,000 American veterans with PTSD since 2001.
According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University's Watson Institute, the war on terror will have cost $8 trillion for operations between 2001 and 2022 plus $2.2 trillion in future costs of veterans' care over the next 30 years. Out of this number, $2.313 trillion is for Afghanistan, $2.058 trillion for Iraq and Syria, and $355 billion was spent on other warzones. The remainder was for DHS ($1.1 trillion).
According to the Soufan Group in July 2015, the U.S. government was spending per day in operations against ISIL in Syria and Iraq.
A March 2011 Congressional report estimated war spending through the fiscal year 2011 at $1.2 trillion, and future spending through 2021 (assuming a reduction to 45,000 troops) at $1.8 trillion. A June 2011 academic report covering additional areas of war spending estimated it through 2011 at $2.7 trillion, and long-term spending at $5.4 trillion including interest.Among costs not covered by these figures are off-DoD spending beyond 2012, economic opportunity costs, state and local expenses not reimbursed by the federal government, nor reimbursements made to foreign coalition allies for their expenses.
In direct spending, the United States Department of Defense reports spending $1.547 trillion from 2001 to February 2020 in war costs in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
Adversary groups have taken an interest in agricultural bioterrorism and this is a continuing concern . The US government takes steps to prepare for threats from agricultural pathogens. The National Plant Disease Diagnostic Network (NPDN) coordinates efforts to combat agrowarfare against the US.
| FY2001–FY2011 | ||
| 1311.5 | ||
| 74.2 | ||
| 13.7 | ||
| 18.9 | ||
| 185.4 | ||
| 362.2–652.4 | ||
| 401.2 | ||
| 295–400 | ||
| 2,662.1–3,057.3 | ||
| FY2012–future | ||
| 118.4 | ||
| 12.1 | ||
| 168.6 | ||
| 155 | ||
| 589–934 | ||
| 1,000 | ||
| 2043.1–2388.1 | ||
| 4705.2–5445.4 | ||
Other critics, such as Francis Fukuyama, state that "terrorism" is not an enemy but a tactic, and calling it a "war on terror" obscures differences between conflicts such as anti-occupation Insurgency and international mujahideen. With a military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and its associated collateral damage, Shirley Williams posits that this increases resentment and terrorist threats against the West.Williams, Shirley. " The seeds of Iraq's future terror". The Guardian, 28 October 2003. There is also perceived U.S. hypocrisy, Obama's Muslim Speech, The New York Times, by Madeleine Albright. Retrieved 25 April 2016 "According to Muslim speakers at such events, one fact stands out: When the cold war ended, America needed an enemy to replace Communism and chose Islam...Mr. Obama's dilemma is that no speech, however eloquent, can disentangle U.S.–Muslim relations from the treacherous terrain of current events in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the Middle East...Muslims desire respect and respect demands frankness. We cannot pretend that American soldiers and aircraft are not attacking Muslims." Archived from the original media-induced hysteria, and that differences in foreign and security policy have damaged America's reputation internationally. The campaign has also been rebuked for being a perpetual war with no end-goal and for normalising permanent violence as the status-quo.
In addition, Professor Richard Jackson notes how countries like Russia, India, Israel and China adopted the language of the war on terror to describe their own fight against domestic insurgents and dissidents. He argues that "Linking rebels and dissidents at home to the global 'war on terrorism' gives these governments both the freedom to crack down on them without fear of international condemnation, and in some cases, direct military assistance from America". (2025). 9780719071218, Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719071218
Professor of Law Antony Anghie has asserted that "war on terror" is essentially an Imperialism project that constitutes a breach of International law and the United Nations Charter. There has also been systematic cover-ups of by military officers participating in campaign operations across the world. A public enquiry in the UK published in July 2023 reported that 3 British SAS units were involved in the summary executions of at least 80 civilians during 2010–2013, accompanied by a decades-long coverup at the highest echelons of British special forces.
US occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq became heavily unpopular among the American public by the late 2000s. Numerous US military veterans have handed back their service medals—including the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal—in fierce protest rallies denouncing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with many condemning the military campaigns as "illegal occupation" of other countries.
Criticism of the war on terror has focused on its morality, efficiency, and cost. The notion of a "war on terror" remain contentious, with critics charging that it has been used to reduce civil liberties and infringe upon human rights, such as controversial actions by the U.S. including surveillance, torture, and extraordinary rendition, and drone strikes that resulted in the deaths of alleged terrorists but also civilians. Many of the U.S.' actions were supported by other countries, including the 54 countries that were involved with CIA black sites, or those that assisted with drone strikes.
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