Are We At War With Terrorists?

Ever since the beginning of the terrorist attacks on American soil, the War on Terror has been involved in the lives of Americans and nations near us. The War on Terror’s background originated through conflicts between warring countries in the Middle East; U.S. involvement started when a terrorist guided plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The attack was suspected to be the work of the middle-eastern terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The U.S. military, under the leadership of then commander-in-chief George W. Bush, declared a “War on Terror” on the terrorist group and the fighting began.

Congress intended the War Powers Resolution to halt the diluted ability of Congress to participate in war-making decisions. The terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001, however, created new complications for the separation of powers within the war powers sphere. After September 11, the United States Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force against Terrorists (AUMF). President George W. Bush began offensive campaigns against Afghanistan to neutralize the Taliban government, which controlled Afghanistan and permitted the Al Qaeda terrorist network to conduct terrorist training within the country 's borders.

A month after the terrorist attack in the US, a war was launched by the United States. This war was known as the “fight back” war. It was the beginning of George Bush administration’s war on terrorism. The main theme of this war was to stop terrorism and catch Osama Bin Laden. He was the main person who planned this evil attack on September 11, 2001. Bin Laden’s trained groups that were

The United States’ War on Terror following the attacks on 9/11 began with the invasion of Afghanistan and an attempt to to overthrow the Taliban government for harboring Osama bin Laden, the one responsible for the devastating attacks, led to devastating casualties of American and Taliban soldiers, as well as countless civilians. The United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom on October 7, 2001 and began a ground and air attack in Afghanistan. In the first year of the war, it is reported that between 1537 to 2490 civilians were killed in the air assault led by U.S. forces (Guilliard 66). The U.S. swiftly defeated the Taliban but failed to capture Bin Laden before he escaped to Pakistan. It is reported that roughly 13,000 Talibani soldiers were killed in the first year of the war Guilliard 74). This led to very poor relations with Afghan “rebels” in which there were many sporadic battles with that led to Afghanistan becoming a

On September 11th 2001, the United States was hit with a devastating blow when four commercial airplanes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorist who deliberately crashed two of the planes into the World Trade Center complex, and a third plane into the Pentagon. The fourth plane, headed for Washington D.C., instead crashed in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on this egregious day. In response, President George W. Bush waged the controversial “Global War on Terrorism” which turned out to be a self-inflicted wound for America, bleeding still today. Bush’s highly-criticized decision was inconsistent with the strategic principles of war.

After the September 11 attacks, George W. Bush called for a war against Afghanistan in an effort to destroy terrorist organizations. In his statement on Military Order from 2001, Bush explains that if the United States did not use military action against these groups, then terrorists would continue to attack America or other countries and take even more lives (Bush). For Bush, war was the only answer in order to protect his country. Similarly, Vice President Richard Cheney advocated war in the Middle East. He remarked that the American government would target states that assisted terrorists or supported them, as well as individual terrorists. He also claimed that the war was effective as of 2003, and that the military had destroyed certain

1. Is the "war on terrorism" truly a war? In your opinion, how has the New Terrorism affected and redefined how nations pursue warlike options?

Although, it did not take long before America realized that the Al Qaeda group was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. In addition, the organization was led by Osama bin Laden. Besides, the Al Qaeda group had declared war openly on the States of America (Capone, 2011). As a result, the group was ready to terminate lives of innocents’ lives in America and the entire world. Therefore, America started war against Al Qaeda with the aim of protecting the citizens, friends as well as allies. However, after 10 years of the heroic and tireless effort of American military with the tireless support of the counter-terrorism professionals American had yielded some fruits. In addition, America had strengthened its homeland defense and disrupted attacks by the

Comprehending the underlying authority for the President of the United States to authorize the international use of military operations in order to respond to an attack or as a counter-terrorism strategy, may be difficult to fathom for those who are not familiar with practices and philosophies associated in this realm. Conducting military operations against the Taliban government in Afghanistan, detaining suspected terrorists, both indefinitely domestically and abroad, and the use of unmanned drones to disrupt and destroy suspected terrorists and those aiding them in areas such as Pakistan fall under the umbrella of what the US has been able to accomplish in our last 12 years during the Global War on Terror.

In the following months and years, then president George W. Bush and the military began planning the retaliation. It quickly became clear that the president’s goal was not simply to defeat bin Laden and al-Qaeda, but to eliminate other terrorist groups as well. On September 20th, 2001 during a speech Bush said the following “Our ‘war on terror’ begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.” (Bush, 2001)

After 9/11 the war of terrorism was declared and has lasted for more than a decade. Troops invaded Afghanistan along with Iraq. Many years were spent trying to capture Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda. Today troops are still hold a presence in these parts of the world and will not give up.

After the terrorist’s attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, the Bush administration launched the war on terror. The terms “illegal combatant” and enemy combatant” became popular during this campaign. Bush wanted to let the world know that if you are not with the United States then it was assumed you were on the side of the terrorists. The Administration’s policies and methods were questioned the Patriot Act was

When the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred the United States responded in a manner which was seen as a traditional reaction to such an attack; it used its overwhelming superior military to invade the nation of Afghanistan. As Afghanistan was the operating base of the terrorist group responsible for the attacks, Al Qaeda, the invasion all but destroyed the group's operating capacity. But in response to the United States' apparent victory the terrorists have re-organized themselves into a looser confederation and turned to alternative methods of finance and operation. One could say that the success of the American military's answer to the September 11th attacks have created a new environment in which terrorists currently operate. This includes the use of the internet, unconventional alliances with international criminal organizations, as well the inception of the "lone wolf" terrorist. Faced with these new type of threats, the United States and its allies must find a way to identify and deal with them.

The world has been changed forever since the tragic attack on September 11, 2001. An observer described the atrocity by saying, "It just went 'bam,' like a bomb went off. It was like holy hell (CNN 1). " The new world will be different from what any American has known before. A new war has arisen, not against a foreign country or a major region of the world, but rather against a select group of people who have the capabilities to destroy the lives of so many. The war against terrorism which the United States is now forced to wage will not be an easily won battle. This war will not be fought solely on scattered battlefields in certain countries. It will instead permeate through every aspect of life as we

The Global War on Terror is a military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom and supported by other NATO members. It was originally against al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations with the purpose of eliminating them. This paper discusses how the Bush Administration handled the War on Terror as well as different aspects of it, including its terminology, its objectives, its military operations and criticism against it.