War on Terrorism

The War on Terrorism, or War on Terror, was a campaign that the United States and some of its allies started to remove terrorist groups and to punish the states that sponsor terrorism. It replaced the Cold War. The former United States President Bush's argument was that the countries like North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Libya (also known as the Axis of Evil) were a direct threat to the United States and its allies. The term was typically used with a particular focus on militant Islamists and al-Qaeda.

War on Terror
War on Terror montage1.png
Clockwise from top left: Aftermath of the September 11 attacks; American infantry in Afghanistan; an American soldier and Afghan interpreter in Zabul Province, Afghanistan; explosion of an Iraqi car bomb in Baghdad.
Date11 September 200130 August 2021[note 1][note 2]
(23 years, 3 months, 1 week and 2 days)
Location
Global
Result

Major wars ended and heavy fighting mostly ceased, low-level fighting continues in some places, many terrorist groups disbanded or are heavily weakened
al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen (since 1998):[note 3]

NATO-led international involvement in Afghanistan (2001-2021):

Iraqi conflict (since 2003):

Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (since 2004):

  • Ongoing insurgency
  • Large part of FATA under Taliban control
  • Shifting public support for the Pakistani government
  • Killing of Osama bin Laden
  • Drone strikes being conducted by the CIA

International campaign against ISIL (since 2014):

Other:

Belligerents

Co-Belligerent States




Other countries:


(* note: most contributing nations are included in the international operations)

Supported by:

Terrorist groups:

Flag of the Taliban.svg Taliban
Flag of Turkistan Islamic Party.svg East Turkestan Islamic Movement


Commanders and leaders
Flag of the United States.svg Joe Biden
(President 2021–present)

Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg Boris Johnson
(Prime Minister 2019–present)

Flag of France.svg Emmanuel Macron (President 2017–present)
Vladimir Putin
(President 2000–2008, 2012–present)

Xi Jinping
(General Secretary 2012–present)

Flag of Iran.svg Ali Khamenei
(Supreme Leader, 1989-present)

Flag of Syria.svg Bashar al-Assad
(President 2000–present)

Flag of Hamas.svg Ismail Haniyeh
(PNA Prime Minister, 2006–present)

InfoboxHez.PNG Hassan Nasrallah
(Secretary General, 1992–present)
In support of the global war on terrorism.

The Administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama used the term Overseas Contingency Operation.[52]

War On Terrorism Media

Notes

  1. Origins date back to the 1980s.
  2. The main phase occurs between 7 October 2001 and 31 December 2016
  3. Origins date back to the 1980s.
  4. Former army chief.

References

  1. Sebastian Payne (25 September 2014). What the 60-plus members of the anti-Islamic State coalition are doing. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/09/25/what-the-60-members-of-the-anti-islamic-state-coalition-are-doing/. 
  2. "Bangladesh". Coalition Contires. United States Central Command. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  3. Vasudevan Sridharan (23 November 2015). "Cyprus offers its airbase to France to bomb Isis targets". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  4. "Allies Express Support for U.S. War on Terror". National Defense Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  5. Stout, David (31 July 2006). "Bush Ties Battle With Hezbollah to War on Terror". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/31/world/middleeast/31cnd-prexy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. 
  6. Williams, Dan (8 September 2014). "Israel provides intelligence on Islamic State: Western diplomat". Reuters/Yahoo! News. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  7. "Israel urges global spies to pool resources on IS". AFP/Yahoo! News. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  8. "Backing Kuwait's Stand against Terrorism". Washington Institute For Near East Policy.
  9. "Congressional Record, V. 153, PT. 12, June 18, 2007 to June 26, 2007". US Congress: 16154. 2010.
  10. Schanzer, Jonathan (2 May 2011). "The Hamas-al Qaeda Alliance". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  11. Bush, George W. (2010). Decision Points. Crown Publishers. pp. 399–400. ISBN 9780307590619. Palestinian extremists, many affiliated with the terrorist group Hamas, launched a wave of terrorist attacks against innocent civilians in Israel...My views [on Israel and Hamas] came into sharper focus after 9/11.
  12. Halevi, Jonathan D. (4 August 2014). "The Hamas Threat to the West Is No Different from ISIS". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Husseini, Rola EL (2010). "Hezbollah and the Axis of Refusal: Hamas, Iran and Syria". Third World Quarterly. 31 (5): 803–815. doi:10.1080/01436597.2010.502695. JSTOR 27896578. S2CID 219628295.
  14. Thiessen, Marc A. (8 December 2011). Iran responsible for 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203071522/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-12-08/opinions/35285776_1_al-qaeda-sophisticated-bombs-nuclear-weapons. Retrieved 26 September 2014. 
  15. "U.S. District Court Rules Iran Behind 9/11 Attacks". PRNewswire. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  16. Bush, George W. (2010). Decision Points. Crown Publishers. pp. 413–414. ISBN 9780307590619. Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon was another defining moment in the ideological struggle.
  17. Levitt, Matthew (2013). Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. Georgetown University Press. p. 297. Hezbollah created Unit 3800, a unit dedicated to supporting Iraq Shi'a terrorist groups targeting multinational forces in Iraq.
  18. "The ''Axis of Resistance'' - JOL". Archived from the original on 2019-01-03. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  19. "North Korea crisis could increase risk of larger attacks from ISIS". Daily Mirror. 11 August 2017.
  20. Hamas Engineer 'Negotiated Arms Deals with North Korea, Assassinated by Mossad' in Malaysia. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-hamas-engineer-killed-in-malaysia-negotiated-arms-deals-with-koreans-1.6030971. 
  21. "North Korea's Balancing Act in the Persian Gulf". HuffPost. 17 August 2015.
  22. "Iran: Quds Force in Venezuela".
  23. "Why White Nationalists Love Bashar al-Assad".
  24. Mike Levine; James Gordon Meek; Pierre Thomas; Lee Ferran (23 September 2014). What Is the Khorasan Group, Targeted By US in Syria?. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/International/khorasan-group-targeted-us-syria/story?id=25700467. Retrieved 18 October 2014. 
  25. "Wilayat al-Yemen: The Islamic State's New Front". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  26. Penney, Joe (5 October 2011). The 'War on Terror' rages in the Philippines. Qatar. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2011/10/2011104145947651645.html. Retrieved 6 May 2015. 
    Abuza, Zachary (September 2005). "Balik-Terrorism: The Return of the Abu Sayyag" (PDF). Strategic Studies Institute. United States Army. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  27. "Jemaah Islamiyah". Mapping Militant Organizations. Stanford University. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
    Profile: Jemaah Islamiah. United Kingdom: BBC News. 2 February 2012. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16850706. Retrieved 6 May 2015.  | Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid | al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions | Al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago | Al-Qaeda in Bosnia and Herzegovina | Tawhid al-Jihad (Gaza Strip) | Al-Qaeda in Sinai Peninsula
  28. "Pakistan Taliban splinter group vows allegiance to Islamic State". Reuters. 18 November 2014. https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/18/us-pakistan-militants-is-idUSKCN0J20YQ20141118. Retrieved 19 November 2014. 
  29. "ISIS Now Has Military Allies in 11 Countries – NYMag". Daily Intelligencer. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  30. Pakistani splinter group rejoins Taliban amid fears of isolation. Reuters. 12 March 2015. https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/us-pakistan-militants-alliance-idUSKBN0M81WF20150312. Retrieved 13 March 2015. 
  31. 31.0 31.1 "Islamic extremist groups to merge in Mali, pledge allegiance to al-Quaida". Archived from the original on 4 March 2017.
  32. Thomas Joscelyn (19 November 2014). "UN recognizes ties between Ansar al Sharia in Libya, al Qaeda". Long War Journal. Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
  33. Irshaid, Faisal (13 June 2014). "Profile: Libya's Ansar al-Sharia". BBC News.
  34. Hashem, Mostafa (27 May 2017). "Libyan Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia says it is dissolving". Reuters.
  35. "Obama vs ISIS: This time it's personal". The Daily Beast. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  36. Baker, Peter; Shear, Michael D. (22 August 2014). "U.S. weighs direct military action against ISIS in Syria". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/world/middleeast/obama-adviser-says-military-action-possible-against-isis.html. Retrieved 9 September 2014. 
  37. French hostage beheading: France to boost Syria rebels. BBC News. 25 September 2014. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29360788. Retrieved 28 September 2014. 
  38. "Islamic State Allies In Egypt Say They Killed American Oil Worker William Henderson". The Huffington Post. 1 December 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/01/william-henderson-oil-worker-killed_n_6246202.html. Retrieved 6 December 2014. 
  39. Islamic State Kassig murder: Western jihadists probed. BBC News. 17 November 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30080874. Retrieved 17 November 2014. 
  40. "Kayla Mueller, American ISIL hostage, is dead", Al Jazeera America, 10 February 2015
  41. Egypt 'bombs IS in Libya' after beheadings video. 16 February 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31483631. Retrieved 16 February 2015. 
  42. "Key al-Qaeda figure Muhsin al-Fadhli killed in U.S. airstrike in Syria — Pentagon". BNO News. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  43. "Has ISIS Lost Its Head? Power Struggle Erupts with Al-Baghdadi Seriously Wounded". The Daily Beast. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  44. "Report: A former physics teacher is now leading ISIS". Business Insider. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  45. "ISIS' Abu Alaa al-Afri killed alongside dozens of followers in air strike". Daily Mail Online (London). 13 May 2015. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3080090/Islamic-State-s-second-command-killed-alongside-dozens-followers-coalition-air-strike-Iraqi-mosque.html. Retrieved 25 June 2015. 
  46. Matt Bradley and Ghassan Adnan in Baghdad, and Felicia Schwartz in Washington (10 November 2014). "Coalition Airstrikes Targeted Islamic State Leaders Near Mosul". Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-airstrikes-in-iraq-raise-questions-over-islamic-state-leader-1415540605. 
  47. Alessandria Masi (11 November 2014). "If ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Is Killed, Who Is Caliph Of The Islamic State Group?". International Business Times. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  48. "Militant commander Hafiz Saeed killed in Khyber blast". ARY NEWS. 17 April 2015.
  49. Says, Battu; Adeel, Mirwais (31 March 2015). Uzbek militants in Afghanistan pledge allegiance to ISIS in beheading video. http://www.khaama.com/uzbek-militants-in-afghanistan-pledge-allegiance-to-isis-in-beheading-video-9962. Retrieved 25 June 2015. 
  50. "IMU announces death of emir, names new leader". The Long War Journal. 4 August 2014.
  51. Nigeria's Boko Haram pledges allegiance to Islamic State. BBC News. 7 March 2015. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31784538. Retrieved 7 March 2015. 
  52. Obama Scraps 'Global War on Terror' for 'Overseas Contingency Operation'.

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