The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is a global counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks[29] and is also the most recent global conflict spanning multiple wars. The main targets of the campaign were militant Islamist and Salafi jihadist armed organisations such as Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and their international affiliates, which were waging military insurgencies to overthrow governments of various Muslim-majority countries.[30][31] Other major targets included the Ba'athist regime in Iraq, which was toppled during an invasion in 2003, and various militant factions that fought during the ensuing Iraqi insurgency.[32][33] The "war on terror" was officially declared over in May 2010[34] and again in May 2013.[35] Other American military campaigns during the 2010s have also been considered part of the "war on terror" by individuals and the media.[36] With the major wars over and only low-level fighting in some places, the end of the war in Afghanistan in August 2021 marks for most people the end of the war on terror, or at least its main phase. The United States Military ceased awarding the National Defense Service Medal for the Global War on Terror on December 31, 2022. Some consider the campaign to be ongoing.[37]
Photographs, clockwise from top left: Aftermath of the September 11 attacks; American servicemen boarding an aircraft at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan; an American soldier and Afghan interpreter in Zabul Province, Afghanistan; explosion of an Iraqi car bomb in Baghdad. Map: Countries with major military operations of the war on terror.
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]
Drone strikes being conducted by U.S.
Al-Qaeda Emirate in Yemen is declared on 31 March 2011
Two failed attempts for a ceasefire and start of peace talks between the TTP and the Pakistani government in November 2021 and May 2022 before they broke down after a few months[15]
Abdul Haq †(Emir of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement) Abdullah Mansour (Emir of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement)
Casualties and losses
900,000+ people killed[27] At least 37 million people displaced (Per Costs of War)[28]
The "war on terror" uses war as a metaphor to describe a variety of actions which fall outside the traditional definition of war. 43rd President of the United StatesGeorge W. Bush first used the term "war on terrorism" on 16 September 2001,[38][39] and then "war on terror" a few days later in a formal speech to Congress.[40][41] Bush indicated the enemy of the war on terror as "a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them."[41][42] 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".[43]
On 23 May 2013, Bush's successor President Obama announced that the Global War on Terror was over,[45][46] saying that the U.S. would not wage war against a tactic but would instead focus on a specific group of terrorist networks.[47][48] 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".[36]
The notion of a "war on terror" was contentious, with critics charging that it has been used to reduce civil liberties and infringe upon human rights,[49] 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.[50][51][52] Many of the U.S.' actions were supported by other countries, including the 54 countries that were involved with CIA black sites,[53] or those that assisted with drone strikes.[54]
Criticism of the war on terror has focused on its morality, efficiency, and cost. According to a 2021 study conducted by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the several post-9/11 wars participated in by the United States in its war against terror have caused the displacement, conservatively calculated, of 38 million people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Philippines and Pakistan; 11.3 million remain displaced.[55] The study estimated these wars caused the deaths of 897,000 to 929,000 people, including over 364,000 civilians, and cost $8 trillion.[56][57] Critics accuse participating governments of using the "war on terror" to repress minorities or sideline domestic opponents,[58][59] of mainstreaming Islamophobia,[60] and have criticized negative impacts to health and the environment resulting from it.[61][62][63] Critics assert that the term "war" is not appropriate in this context (much like the term "war on drugs") since terror is not an identifiable enemy and it is unlikely that international terrorism can be brought to an end by military means,[64] however the war on drugs cannot be treated equivalent as the war on terror, the first being indeed only a metaphor of war and the latter is a real global military conflict.
The phrase war on terror was used to specifically refer to the military campaign led by the U.S., U.K. and their allies against organizations and regimes identified by them as a terrorist, and usually excludes other independent counter-terrorist operations and campaigns such as those by Russia and India. The conflict has also been referred to by names other than the War on Terror. It has also been known as:
The War of Terror[73] (From the perspective of individuals who experience the conflicts brought on by continual foreign and domestic intervention as the source of terror; also from Sacha Baron Cohen's deliberately mispronouncing "War on Terror" in the 2006 satire film Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.)
Use of phrase and its development
The phrase "war against terrorism" existed in North American popular culture and U.S. political parlance prior to the War on Terror.[74][75] But it was not until the 11 September attacks that it emerged as a globally recognizable phrase and part of everyday lexicon. Tom Brokaw, having just witnessed the collapse of one of the towers of the World Trade Center, declared "Terrorists have declared war on [America]."[76] On 16 September 2001, at Camp David, U.S. 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:
"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."[38][77]
The reference to Crusades became subject to heavy criticism due to its controversial connotations in the Muslim World and historical Muslim-Christian relations.[78] On 20 September 2001, during a televised address to a joint session of Congress, George Bush said, "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."[79][41]
Both the term and the policies it denotes have been a source of ongoing controversy, as critics argue it has been used to justify unilateral preventive war, human rights abuses and other violations of international law.[80][81] The political theorist Richard Jackson has argued that "the 'war on terrorism,' therefore, 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."[82] 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".[83] Administration officials also described "terrorists" as hateful, treacherous, barbarous, mad, twisted, perverted, without faith, parasitical, inhuman, and, most commonly, evil.[84] Americans, in contrast, were described as brave, loving, generous, strong, resourceful, heroic, and respectful of human rights.[85]
Abandonment of phrase by U.S. government
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.[86] This was explained more recently by Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller. In her 2011 Reith lecture, the former head of MI5 said that the 9/11 attacks were "a crime, not an act of war. So I never felt it helpful to refer to a war on terror."[87]
Letter from Barack Obama indicating appropriation of Congressional funds for "Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism"
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 ne
April 07, 2023
terror, this, article, about, international, military, campaign, other, uses, disambiguation, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, upda. This article is about the international military campaign For other uses see War on terror disambiguation This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information April 2018 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia s quality standards The specific problem is See talk page Please help improve this article if you can July 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message The war on terror officially the Global War on Terrorism GWOT is a global counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks 29 and is also the most recent global conflict spanning multiple wars The main targets of the campaign were militant Islamist and Salafi jihadist armed organisations such as Al Qaeda the Islamic State and their international affiliates which were waging military insurgencies to overthrow governments of various Muslim majority countries 30 31 Other major targets included the Ba athist regime in Iraq which was toppled during an invasion in 2003 and various militant factions that fought during the ensuing Iraqi insurgency 32 33 The war on terror was officially declared over in May 2010 34 and again in May 2013 35 Other American military campaigns during the 2010s have also been considered part of the war on terror by individuals and the media 36 With the major wars over and only low level fighting in some places the end of the war in Afghanistan in August 2021 marks for most people the end of the war on terror or at least its main phase The United States Military ceased awarding the National Defense Service Medal for the Global War on Terror on December 31 2022 Some consider the campaign to be ongoing 37 War on terrorPart of the U S government response to the September 11 attacksPhotographs clockwise from top left Aftermath of the September 11 attacks American servicemen boarding an aircraft at Bagram Air Base Afghanistan an American soldier and Afghan interpreter in Zabul Province Afghanistan explosion of an Iraqi car bomb in Baghdad Map Countries with major military operations of the war on terror DateMain phase 14 September 2001 12 15 August 2021 note 2 19 years 11 months and 1 day LocationGlobalResultMajor wars ended and heavy fighting mostly ceased low level fighting continues in some places many terrorist groups disbanded or are heavily weakenedAl Qaeda insurgency in Yemen since 1998 note 3 Drone strikes being conducted by U S Al Qaeda Emirate in Yemen is declared on 31 March 2011 Insurgency escalates into a full scale civil war by 2014 Al Qaeda loses its stronghold the city of Mukalla in 2016 Al Qaeda is defeated in the Hadhramaut Governorate in 2018 The Huthis liberated about 1000km from ISIS and Al Qaeda in its Al Bayda offensive in August 2020 The SCT launched an offensive against Al Qaeda in late 2022War in Afghanistan 2001 2021 American led intervention in Afghanistan Fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan Destruction of al Qaeda camps and presence in Afghanistan Failure to quell Taliban insurgency Transfer of combat roles to Afghan Armed Forces U S Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement US and Taliban Peace Agreement in 2020 Taliban emerge victorious and Kabul is recaptured Overthrow of the Coalition backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Start of the Panjshir conflict Talks are underway to form an all inclusive government On 30 August the NATO withdrawal and the following evacuation of foreign citizens concluded A national interim government is announced on 7 September 2021 Killing of Ayman al Zawahiri by a US drone strike at the end of July 2022Iraqi conflict since 2003 Iraq War 2003 2011 Overthrow of the Ba ath Party government in Iraq Execution of Saddam Hussein Death of Abu Musab al Zarqawi in June 2006 Free elections Iraqi insurgency 2011 2013 War in Iraq 2013 2017 Rise and fall of ISIL Continued ISIL insurgencyAmerican led intervention in the Syrian civil war 2014 present Civil war transforms in an international campaign against the Islamic State in 2014 Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon 2011 2017 Jordanian Syrian border incidents during the Syrian civil war 2012 2018 Islamic State loses all its territory in March 2019 Death of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in October 2019 Death of Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurashi in February 2022 Death of Abu al Hasan al Hashimi al Qurashi in October 2022Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2004 present Killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011 Large number of insurgents killed while some fled to Afghanistan 13 Low level insurgency 14 Two failed attempts for a ceasefire and start of peace talks between the TTP and the Pakistani government in November 2021 and May 2022 before they broke down after a few months 15 Other Boko Haram insurgency Insurgency in Cabo Delgado Somali Civil War 2009 present Mali War Islamic State insurgency in Tunisia Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Moro conflict Sinai insurgency Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso Jihadist insurgency in Niger Insurgency in the North Caucasus until 2017 Second Libyan Civil War until 2020 Gaza Israel conflict Xinjiang Conflict OEF Horn of Africa OEF Philippines until 2015 OEF Trans Sahara OEF Caribbean and Central America until early 2010s BelligerentsMain countries United States United Kingdom France Russia Other NATO members Albania Belgium Bulgaria Canada Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Turkey NATO global partners Afghanistan until 2021 Australia Colombia Iraq from 2004 Japan Mongolia New Zealand Pakistan South Korea Other Arab League members Algeria Bahrain Comoros Djibouti Egypt Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Mauritania Morocco Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Somalia Sudan Syria Tunisia United Arab Emirates Yemen Other participant countries Angola Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Bangladesh Belarus Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brunei Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Costa Rica Cyprus Democratic Republic of the Congo Dominican Republic El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Finland Gabon Gambia Georgia Ghana Guinea Guinea Bissau Honduras India Indonesia Iran Ireland Israel Ivory Coast Kazakhstan Kenya Kosovo a Kyrgyzstan Laos Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritius Mexico Federated States of Micronesia Moldova Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Palau Panama Philippines Republic of the Congo Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Solomon Islands South Africa South Sudan note 1 Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan Tanzania Taiwan Thailand Togo Tonga Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine Uzbekistan Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe International missions NATO ISAFResolute Support MissionOperation Enduring Freedom AlliesMulti National Force IraqCombined Joint Task Force Horn of AfricaCombined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve note most contributing nations are included in the international operations Terrorist groups Al Qaeda Lashkar al ZilAQAPAl Qaeda in the Malay ArchipelagoAl Qaeda in Bosnia and HerzegovinaAQSPAnsar al Sharia Yemen AQIMAQISal ShabaabKhorasan 1 Nusrat al IslamAQKBAbdullah Azzam BrigadesTawhid al Jihad Gaza Strip Abu Hafs al Masri BrigadesImam Shamil BattalionGuardians of Religion OrganizationAnsar Ghazwat ul HindAnsaruAnsar al Sharia Tunisia Islamist lone wolves Islamic State Sinai ProvinceLibya ProvinceAlgeria ProvinceCentral Africa ProvinceWest Africa ProvinceDie Wahre ReligionKatibah NusantaraIslamic State in the Greater SaharaKhorasan ProvinceYemen Province 2 Boko HaramAnsar Khalifa PhilippinesSomali ProvinceAnsar al Sunna Mozambique Abu Sayyaf 3 Al Khansaa BrigadeSheikh Omar Hadid BrigadeProfetens Ummah Taliban Other groups East Turkestan Islamic MovementTurkistan Islamic Party in SyriaTahrir al ShamPakistani TalibanOsbat al AnsarHaqqani networkTNSMBangsamoro Islamic Freedom FightersLashkar e TaibaLashkar e OmarLashkar e IslamLashkar e JhangviJundallah Pakistan 4 Mullah Dadullah FrontFidai MahazShura Council of Benghazi RevolutionariesHamas HezbollahIslamic Jihad UnionMasked BrigadeJaish e MohammedAhrar al ShamFatah al IslamJamaah Ansharut TauhidArmy of IslamHizbul MujahideenIndian MujahideenHarkat ul MujahideenGreat Eastern Islamic Raiders FrontMoroccan Islamic Combatant GroupSoldiers of EgyptMujahideen Pattani MovementHarkat ul Jihad al IslamiRajah Sulaiman movementSomali piratesSalafia JihadiaAnsar al Sharia Mali Ansar al Sharia Mauritania Ansar al Sharia Morocco Ansar al Sharia Egypt Ansar al Sharia Yarmouk Area Jemaah Islamiyah 5 Salafia JihadiaJunud al MakhdiOkba Ibn Nafaa BrigadeUnited Jihad CouncilD CompanyDukhtaran e MillatAl BadrArmy of the Men of the Naqshbandi OrderSupreme Command for Jihad and LiberationAnsar al Tawhid Syria White FlagsAnsar ul IslamMacina Liberation FrontAden Abyan Islamic ArmyJundallah Pakistan Shura Council of Benghazi RevolutionariesAnsar al IslamAnsar al ShamAjnad al KavkazJunud al ShamSham LegionJaysh al Islam Former groups 055 Brigade until 2001 Laskar Jihad until 2002 Islamic Emirate of Byara until 2003 JTJ until 2004 Armed Islamic Group of Algeria until 2004 Free Aceh Movement until 2005 Iraqi Ba ath Party loyalists Ba athist Iraqi Armed Forces 2003 Only Fedayeen Saddam 2003 Only Naqshbandi Army 2006 Present SCJL 2007 11 MCIR 2014 Only Al Awda 2003 Iraqi Baath Movement Iraqi Insurgents al Qaeda in Iraq until 2006 Islamic State of Iraq until 2013 Islamic Army in Iraq until 2014 Mujahideen Shura Council until 2006 Islamic Courts Union until 2006 Al Itihaad al Islamiya until 2006 Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat until 2007 Jamaat Ansar al Sunna until 2007 Jabhatul Islamiya until 2009 Muaskar Anole until 2009 Ras Kamboni Brigades until 2010 Tunisian Combatant Group until 2011 Jundallah Iran until 2011 MOJWA until 2013 Khalifa Islamiyah Mindanao until 2013 Syrian Islamic Front until 2013 Liwa al Haqq until 2014 Al Tawhid Brigade until 2014 Tehreek e Khilafat 6 until November 2014 Jund al Khilafah 2014 Hizbul Islam until 2014 Ansar Bait al Maqdis until 2014 Ahrar ul Hind until 2014 Jamaat ul Ahrar until March 2015 7 IMU until 2015 Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta until 2015 Islamic Front Syria until 2015 Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade until 2015 Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade until 2016 Jaysh al Jihad until 2016 Ansar al Sharia Syria until 2016 Hezb e Islami Gulbuddin until 2016 Caucasus Emirate until 2016 Libya Shield 1 until 2016 Ajdabiya Revolutionaries Shura Council until 2016 Islamic Muthanna Movement until 2016 Al Nusra Front until 2017 Harakat Sham al Islam until 2017 Caucasus Province until 2017 Dokumacilar until 2017 Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigade until 2017 Jund al Aqsa until 2017 Ansar Dine until March 2017 8 Al Mourabitoun until March 2017 8 Ansar al Sharia Libya until May 2017 9 10 11 Libyan Islamic Fighting Group until 2017 Ajnad al Sham until 2017 Fatah Halab until 2017 Army of Conquest until 2017 Al Mulathameen until 2017 Jaysh al Sunna until 2017 Islamic Emirate of Waziristan until 2017 2018 Ansar al Sharia Derna Libya until 2018 Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna until 2018 Khalid ibn al Walid Army until 2018 Turaifie group until 2019 Derna Protection Force until 2019 National Thowheeth Jama ath until 2019 Maute Group until 2019 Rouse the Believers Operations Room until 2020 MIT until 2022 Rajah Sulaiman Movement until Islamic Jihad of Yemen until Black Banner Organization until Commanders and leadersJoe Biden President 2021 present Rishi Sunak Prime Minister 2022 present Emmanuel Macron President 2017 present Elisabeth Borne Prime Minister 2022 present Vladimir Putin President 2000 2008 2012 present Prime Minister 2008 2012 Mikhail Mishustin Prime Minister 2020 present Former leaders George W Bush President 2001 2009 Barack Obama President 2009 2017 Donald Trump 16 President 2017 2021 Tony Blair Prime Minister 1997 2007 Gordon Brown Prime Minister 2007 2010 David Cameron 17 Prime Minister 2010 2016 Theresa May Prime Minister 2016 2019 Boris Johnson Prime Minister 2019 2022 Liz Truss Prime Minister 2022 Jacques Chirac President 1995 2007 Lionel Jospin Prime Minister 1997 2002 Jean Pierre Raffarin Prime Minister 2002 2005 Dominique de Villepin Prime Minister 2005 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy President 2007 2012 Francois Fillon Prime Minister 2007 2012 Francois Hollande President 2012 2017 Jean Marc Ayrault Prime Minister 2012 2014 Manuel Valls Prime Minister 2014 2016 Bernard Cazeneuve Prime Minister 2016 2017 Edouard Philippe Prime Minister 2017 2020 Jean Castex Prime Minister 2020 2022 Mikhail Kasyanov Prime Minister 2000 2004 Mikhail Fradkov Prime Minister 2004 2007 Viktor Zubkov Prime Minister 2007 2008 2012 Dmitry Medvedev President 2008 2012 Prime Minister 2012 2020 Other leaders Abdelmadjid Tebboune President 2019 present Anthony Albanese Prime Minister 2022 present Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa King 1999 present Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Prime Minister 2020 present Mohammad Abdul Hamid President 2013 present Sheikh Hasina Prime Minister 2009 present Alexander De Croo Prime Minister 2020 present Hassanal Bolkiah Sultan 1967 present Ibrahim Traore President 2022 present Paul Biya President 1982 present Joseph Ngute Prime Minister 2019 present Justin Trudeau Prime Minister 2015 present Mahamat Deby President 2021 present Saleh Kebzabo Prime Minister 2022 present Xi Jinping General Secretary 2012 present Li Keqiang Premier 2013 present Felix Tshisekedi President 2019 present Sama Lukonde Prime Minister 2021 present Margrethe II Queen 1972 present Mette Frederiksen Prime Minister 2019 present Ismail Omar Guelleh President 1999 present Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed Prime Minister 2013 present Abdel Fattah el Sisi President 2014 present Mostafa Madbouly Prime Minister 2018 present Isaias Afwerki President 1993 present Sahle Work Zewde President 2018 present Abiy Ahmed Prime Minister 2018 present Sauli Niinisto President 2012 present Sanna Marin Prime Minister 2019 present Mahamudu Bawumia President 2017 present Salome Zourabichvili President 2018 present Irakli Garibashvili Prime Minister 2013 2015 2021 present Frank Walter Steinmeier President 2017 present Olaf Scholz Chancellor 2021 present Katerina Sakellaropoulou President 2020 present Kyriakos Mitsotakis Prime Minister 2019 present Droupadi Murmu President 2022 present Narendra Modi Prime Minister 2014 present Joko Widodo President 2014 present Ali Khamenei Supreme Leader 1989 present Ebrahim Raisi President 2021 present Abdul Latif Rashid President 2022 present Mohammed Shia Al Sudani Prime Minister 2022 present Isaac Herzog President 2021 present Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister 2009 2021 2022 present Sergio Mattarella President 2015 present Giorgia Meloni Prime Minister 2022 present Alassane Ouattara President 2010 present Naruhito Emperor 2019 present Fumio Kishida Prime Minister 2021 present Abdullah II King 1999 present Bisher Al Khasawneh Prime Minister 2020 present Kassym Jomart Tokayev President 2019 present Alihan Smaiylov Prime Minister 2022 present William Ruto President 2022 present Yoon Suk yeol President 2022 present Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah Emir 2020 present Ahmad Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah Prime Minister 2022 present Sadyr Japarov President 2020 2021 present Akylbek Japarov Prime Minister 2021 present Najib Mikati Prime Minister 2005 2011 2014 2021 present President 2022 present note 4 George Weah President 2018 present Anwar Ibrahim Prime Minister 2022 present Assimi Goita President 2020 2021 present Abdoulaye Maiga Prime Minister 2022 present Mohamed Ould Ghazouani President 2019 present Mohammed VI King 1999 present Aziz Akhannouch Prime Minister 2021 present Filipe Nyusi President 2015 present Mark Rutte Prime Minister 2010 present Chris Hipkins Prime Minister 2023 present Mohamed Bazoum President 2021 present Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou Prime Minister 2021 present Muhammadu Buhari President 2015 present Jonas Gahr Store Prime Minister 2021 present Haitham bin Tariq Sultan 2020 present Arif Alvi President 2018 present Shehbaz Sharif Prime Minister 2022 present Bongbong Marcos President 2022 present Andrzej Duda President 2015 present Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa President 2016 present Antonio Costa Prime Minister 2015 present Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Emir 2013 present Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani Prime Minister 2020 present Paul Kagame President 2000 present Edouard Ngirente Prime Minister 2017 present Salman Crown Prince 2012 2015 King 2015 present Mohammed bin Salman Crown Prince 2017 present Macky Sall President 2012 present Hassan Sheikh Mohamud President 2012 2017 2022 present Cyril Ramaphosa President 2018 present Pedro Sanchez Prime Minister 2018 present Ranil Wickremesinghe President 2022 present Abdel Fattah al Burhan President 2019 present Osman Hussein Prime Minister 2022 present Ulf Kristersson Prime Minister 2022 present Bashar al Assad President 2000 present Hussein Arnous Prime Minister 2020 present Emomali Rahmon President 1994 present Samia Suluhu Hassan President 2021 present Kais Saied President 2019 present Recep Tayyip Erdogan President 2014 present Serdar Berdimuhamedow President 2022 present Yoweri Museveni President 1986 present Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan President 2022 present Shavkat Mirziyoyev President 2016 present Rashad al Alimi President 2022 present Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed Prime Minister 2018 present Other world leaders Other former leaders Burhanuddin Rabbani President 1992 2001 Hamid Karzai President 2001 2014 Ashraf Ghani President 2014 2021 Abdelaziz Bouteflika President 1999 2019 Abdelkader Bensalah President 2019 John Howard Prime Minister 1996 2007 Kevin Rudd Prime Minister 2007 2010 2013 Julia Gillard Prime Minister 2010 2013 Tony Abbott Prime Minister 2013 2015 Malcolm Turnbull Prime Minister 2015 2018 Scott Morrison Prime Minister 2018 2022 Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Prime Minister 1970 2020 Shahabuddin Ahmed President 1996 2001 Latifur Rahman Prime Minister 2001 Khaleda Zia Prime Minister 2001 2006 Badruddoza Chowdhury President 2001 2002 Muhammad Sircar President 2002 Iajuddin Ahmed President 2002 2009 Prime Minister 2006 2007 note 5 Fazlul Haque Prime Minister 2007 Fakhruddin Ahmed Prime Minister 2007 2009 Zillur Rahman President 2009 2013 Guy Verhofstadt Prime Minister 1999 2008 Yves Leterme Prime Minister 2008 2009 2011 Herman Van Rompuy Prime Minister 2008 2009 Elio Di Rupo Prime Minister 2011 2014 Charles Michel Prime Minister 2014 2019 Sophie Wilmes Prime Minister 2019 2020 Blaise Compaore President 1987 2014 Honore Traore President 2014 Yacouba Isaac Zida President 2014 Gilbert Diendere President 2015 Michel Kafando President 2014 2015 2015 Roch Marc Christian Kabore President 2015 2022 Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba President 2022 Peter Mafany Musonge Prime Minister 1996 2004 Ephraim Inoni Prime Minister 2004 2009 Philemon Yang Prime Minister 2009 2019 Jean Chretien Prime Minister 1993 2003 Paul Martin Prime Minister 2003 2006 Stephen Harper Prime Minister 2006 2015 Idriss Deby President 1990 2021 Jiang Zemin General Secretary 1989 2002 Hu Jintao General Secretary 2002 2012 Joseph Kabila President 2001 2019 Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Prime Minister 1993 2001 Anders Fogh Rasmussen Prime Minister 2001 2009 Lars Lokke Rasmussen Prime Minister 2009 2011 2015 2019 Helle Thorning Schmidt Prime Minister 2011 2015 Dileita Mohamed Dileita Prime Minister 2001 2013 Hosni Mubarak President 1981 2011 Mohamed Hussein Tantawi President 2011 2012 Mohamed Morsi President 2012 2013 Adly Mansour President 2013 2014 Negasso Gidada President 1995 2001 Meles Zenawi Prime Minister 1995 2012 Girma Wolde Giorgis President 2001 2013 Hailemariam Desalegn Prime Minister 2012 2018 Mulatu Teshome President 2013 2018 Paavo Lipponen Prime Minister 1995 2003 Tarja Halonen President 2000 2012 Anneli Jaatteenmaki Prime Minister 2003 Matti Vanhanen Prime Minister 2003 2010 Mari Kiviniemi Prime Minister 2010 2011 Jyrki Katainen Prime Minister 2011 2014 Alexander Stubb Prime Minister 2014 2015 Juha Sipila Prime Minister 2015 2019 Antti Rinne Prime Minister 2019 Eduard Shevardnadze President 1995 2003 Nino Burjanadze President 2003 2004 2007 2008 Mikheil Saakashvili President 2004 2007 2008 2013 Prime Minister 2005 note 6 Zurab Zhvania Prime Minister 2004 2005 note 7 Zurab Nogaideli Prime Minister 2005 2007 Giorgi Baramidze Prime Minister 2007 Lado Gurgenidze Prime Minister 2007 2008 Grigol Mgaloblishvili Prime Minister 2008 2009 Nika Gilauri Prime Minister 2009 2012 Vano Merabishvili Prime Minister 2012 Bidzina Ivanishvili Prime Minister 2012 2013 Giorgi Margvelashvili President 2013 2018 Giorgi Kvirikashvili Prime Minister 2015 2018 Mamuka Bakhtadze Prime Minister 2018 2019 Giorgi Gakharia Prime Minister 2019 2021 John Kufuor President 2001 2009 John Atta Mills President 2009 2012 John Mahama President 2012 2017 Gerhard Schroder Chancellor 1998 2005 Johannes Rau President 1999 2004 Horst Kohler President 2004 2010 Angela Merkel Chancellor 2005 2021 Jens Bohrnsen President 2010 Christian Wulff President 2010 2012 Horst Seehofer President 2012 Joachim Gauck President 2012 2017 Konstantinos Stephanopoulos President 1995 2005 Kostas Simitis Prime Minister 1996 2004 Kostas Karamanlis Prime Minister 2004 2009 Karolos Papoulias President 2005 2015 George Papandreou Prime Minister 2009 2011 Lucas Papademos Prime Minister 2011 2012 Panagiotis Pikrammenos Prime Minister 2012 Antonis Samaras Prime Minister 2012 2015 Alexis Tsipras Prime Minister 2015 2015 2019 Prokopis Pavlopoulos President 2015 2020 Vassiliki Thanou Christophilou Prime Minister 2015 K R Narayanan President 1997 2002 Atal Bihari Vajpayee Prime Minister 1998 2004 A P J Abdul Kalam President 2002 2007 Manmohan Singh Prime Minister 2004 2014 Pratibha Patil President 2007 2012 Pranab Mukherjee President 2012 2017 Ram Nath Kovind President 2017 2022 Megawati Sukarnoputri President 2001 2004 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono President 2004 2014 Ghazi Mashal Ajil al Yawer President 2004 2005 Ayad Allawi Prime Minister 2004 2005 Jalal Talabani President 2005 2014 Ibrahim al Jaafari Prime Minister 2005 2006 Nouri Al Maliki Prime Minister 2006 2014 Fuad Masum President 2014 2018 Haider al Abadi Prime Minister 2014 2018 Barham Salih President 2018 2022 Adil Abdul Mahdi Prime Minister 2018 2020 Mustafa Al Kadhimi Prime Minister 2020 2022 Moshe Katsav President 2000 2007 Ariel Sharon Prime Minister 2001 2006 Ehud Olmert Prime Minister 2006 2009 Shimon Peres President 2007 2014 Reuven Rivlin President 2014 2021 Naftali Bennett Prime Minister 2021 2022 Yair Lapid Prime Minister 2022 Carlo Azeglio Ciampi President 1999 2006 Silvio Berlusconi Prime Minister 2001 2006 2008 2011 Giorgio Napolitano President 2006 2015 Romano Prodi Prime Minister 2006 2008 Mario Monti Prime Minister 2011 2013 Enrico Letta Prime Minister 2013 2014 Matteo Renzi Prime Minister 2014 2016 Paolo Gentiloni Prime Minister 2016 2018 Giuseppe Conte Prime Minister 2018 2021 Mario Draghi Prime Minister 2021 2022 Laurent Gbagbo President 2000 2011 note 8 Junichiro Koizumi Prime Minister 2001 2006 Shinzo Abe Prime Minister 2006 2007 2012 2020 Yasuo Fukuda Prime Minister 2007 2008 Tarō Asō Prime Minister 2008 2009 Yukio Hatoyama Prime Minister 2009 2010 Naoto Kan Prime Minister 2010 2011 Yoshihiko Noda Prime Minister 2011 2012 Yoshihide Suga Prime Minister 2020 2021 Fayez Tarawneh Prime Minister 1998 1999 2012 Ali Abu Al Ragheb Prime Minister 2000 2003 Faisal Al Fayez Prime Minister 2003 2005 Adnan Badran Prime Minister 2005 Marouf al Bakhit Prime Minister 2005 2007 2011 Nader Al Dahabi Prime Minister 2007 2009 Samir Rifai Prime Minister 2009 2011 Awn Al Khasawneh Prime Minister 2011 2012 Abdullah Ensour Prime Minister 2012 2016 Hani Mulki Prime Minister 2016 2018 Omar Razzaz Prime Minister 2018 2020 Nursultan Nazarbayev President 1991 2019 Daniel arap Moi President 1978 2002 Mwai Kibaki President 2002 2013 Uhuru Kenyatta President 2013 2022 Kim Dae jung President 1998 2003 Roh Moo hyun President 2003 2008 Lee Myung bak President 2008 2013 Park Geun hye President 2013 2017 note 9 Hwang Kyo ahn President 2016 2017 Moon Jae in President 2017 2022 Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah Emir 1977 2006 Ahmad Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah Prime Minister 1978 2003 Emir 2006 Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah Prime Minister 2003 2006 Emir 2006 2020 Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah Prime Minister 2006 2011 Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah Prime Minister 2011 2019 Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah Prime Minister 2019 2022 Askar Akayev President 1990 2005 Ishenbai Kadyrbekov President 2005 Kurmanbek Bakiyev President 2005 2010 Roza Otunbayeva President 2010 2011 Almazbek Atambayev President 2011 2017 Sooronbay Jeenbekov President 2017 2020 Talant Mamytov President 2020 2021 Emile Lahoud President 1998 2007 Rafic Hariri Prime Minister 2000 2004 Omar Karami Prime Minister 2004 2005 Fouad Siniora Prime Minister 2005 2009 President 2007 2008 note 10 Saad Hariri Prime Minister 2009 2011 2016 2020 Michel Suleiman President 2008 2014 Tammam Salam Prime Minister 2014 2016 President 2014 2016 note 11 Michel Aoun President 2016 2022 Hassan Diab Prime Minister 2020 2021 Charles Taylor President 1997 2003 Moses Blah President 2003 Gyude Bryant President 2003 2006 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President 2006 2018 Mahathir Mohamad Prime Minister 1981 2003 2018 2020 Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Prime Minister 2003 2009 Najib Razak Prime Minister 2009 2018 Muhyiddin Yassin Prime Minister 2020 2021 Ismail Sabri Yaakob Prime Minister 2021 2022 Alpha Oumar Konare President 1992 2002 Amadou Toumani Toure President 2002 2012 Amadou Sanogo President 2012 Dioncounda Traore President 2012 2013 Ibrahim Boubacar Keita President 2013 2020 Bah Ndaw President 2020 2021 Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya President 1984 2005 Ely Ould Mohamed Vall President 2005 2007 Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi President 2007 2008 Ba Mamadou Mbare President 2009 Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz President 2008 2009 2009 2019 Abderrahmane Youssoufi Prime Minister 1998 2002 Driss Jettou Prime Minister 2002 2007 Abbas El Fassi Prime Minister 2007 2011 Abdelilah Benkirane Prime Minister 2011 2017 Saadeddine Othmani Prime Minister 2017 2021 Joaquim Chissano President 1986 2005 Armando Guebuza President 2005 2015 Wim Kok Prime Minister 1994 2002 Jan Peter Balkenende Prime Minister 2002 2010 Helen Clark Prime Minister 1999 2008 John Key Prime Minister 2008 2016 Bill English Prime Minister 2016 2017 Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister 2017 2023 Mamadou Tandja President 1999 2010 Hama Amadou Prime Minister 2000 2007 Seyni Oumarou Prime Minister 2007 2009 Albade Abouba Prime Minister 2009 Ali Badjo Gamatie Prime Minister 2009 2010 Salou Djibo President 2010 2011 Mahamadou Danda Prime Minister 2010 2011 Mahamadou Issoufou President 2011 2021 Brigi Rafini Prime Minister 2011 2021 Olusegun Obasanjo President 1999 2007 Umaru Yar Adua President 2007 2010 Goodluck Johnathan President 2010 2015 Jens Stoltenberg Prime Minister 2000 2001 2005 2013 Kjell Magne Bondevik Prime Minister 2001 2005 Erna Solberg Prime Minister 2013 2021 Qaboos bin Said Sultan 1970 2020 Pervez Musharraf President 1999 2008 Zafarullah Khan Jamali Prime Minister 2002 2004 note 12 Shujaat Hussain Prime Minister 2004 Shaukat Aziz Prime Minister 2004 2007 Muhammad Mian Soomro Prime Minister 2007 2008 President 2008 Yusuf Raza Gilani Prime Minister 2008 2012 Asif Ali Zardari President 2008 2013 Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Prime Minister 2012 2013 Mir Hazar Khan Khoso Prime Minister 2013 Nawaz Sharif Prime Minister 2013 2017 Mamnoon Hussain President 2013 2018 Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Prime Minister 2017 2018 Nasirul Mulk Prime Minister 2018 Imran Khan Prime Minister 2018 2022 Gloria Macapagal Arroyo President 2001 2010 Benigno Aquino III President 2010 2016 Rodrigo Duterte President 2016 2022 Aleksander Kwasniewski President 1995 2005 Lech Kaczynski President 2005 2010 Bronislaw Komorowski President 2010 2015 Antonio Guterres Prime Minister 1995 2002 Jorge Sampaio President 1996 2006 Jose Manuel Barroso Prime Minister 2002 2004 Pedro Santana Lopes Prime Minister 2004 2005 Jose Socrates Prime Minister 2005 2011 Anibal Cavaco Silva President 2006 2016 Pedro Passos Coelho Prime Minister 2011 2015 Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir 1995 2013 Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani Prime Minister 1996 2007 Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani Prime Minister 2007 2013 Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani Prime Minister 2013 2020 Bernard Makuza Prime Minister 2000 2011 Pierre Habumuremyi Prime Minister 2011 2014 Anastase Murekezi Prime Minister 2014 2017 Fahd bin Abdulaziz King 1982 2005 Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Crown Prince 1982 2005 King 2005 2015 Sultan bin Abdulaziz Crown Prince 2005 2011 Nayef bin Abdulaziz Crown Prince 2011 2012 Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Crown Prince 2015 Muhammad bin Nayef Crown Prince 2015 2017 Abdoulaye Wade President 2000 2012 Abdiqasim Salad Hassan President 2000 2004 Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed President 2004 2008 Aden Madobe President 2008 2009 Sharif Sheikh Ahmed President 2009 2012 Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle President 2012 Mohamed Osman Jawari President 2012 Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed President 2017 2022 Thabo Mbeki President 1999 2008 Ivy Matsepe Casaburri President 2008 Kgalema Motlanthe President 2008 2009 Jacob Zuma President 2009 2018 Jose Maria Aznar Prime Minister 1996 2004 Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Prime Minister 2004 2011 Mariano Rajoy Prime Minister 2011 2018 Chandrika Kumaratunga President 1994 2005 Mahinda Rajapaksa President 2005 2015 Maithripala Sirisena President 2015 2019 Gotabaya Rajapaksa President 2019 2022 Omar al Bashir President 1993 2019 Bakri Hassan Saleh Prime Minister 2017 2018 note 13 Motazz Moussa Prime Minister 2018 2019 Mohamed Tahir Ayala Prime Minister 2019 Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf President 2019 Abdalla Hamdok Prime Minister 2019 2022 Goran Persson Prime Minister 1996 2006 Fredrik Reinfeldt Prime Minister 2006 2014 Stefan Lofven Prime Minister 2014 2021 Magdalena Andersson Prime Minister 2021 2022 Muhammad Mustafa Mero Prime Minister 2000 2003 Muhammad Naji al Otari Prime Minister 2003 2011 Adel Safar Prime Minister 2011 2012 Riyad Farid Hijab Prime Minister 2012 Omar Ibrahim Ghalawanji Prime Minister 2012 Wael Nader al Halqi Prime Minister 2012 2016 Imad Khamis Prime Minister 2016 2020 Benjamin Mkapa President 1995 2005 Jakaya Kikwete President 2005 2015 John Magufuli President 2015 2021 Zine El Abidine Ben Ali President 1987 2011 Mohamed Ghannouchi President 2011 Fouad Mebazaa President 2011 Moncef Marzouki President 2011 2014 Beji Caid Essebsi President 2014 2019 Mohamed Ennaceur President 2019 Ahmet Necdet Sezer President 2000 2007 Abdullah Gul President 2007 2014 Saparmurat Niyazov President 1990 2006 Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow President 2006 2022 Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President 1971 2004 Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum President 2004 Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan President 2004 2022 Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum President 2022 Islam Karimov President 1991 2016 Nigmatilla Yuldashev President 2016 Ali Abdullah Saleh President 1990 2012 Abdul Qadir Bajamal Prime Minister 2001 2007 Ali Muhammad Mujawar Prime Minister 2007 2011 Mohammed Basindawa Prime Minister 2011 2014 Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi President 2012 2022 Abdullah Mohsen al Akwa Prime Minister 2014 Khaled Bahah Prime Minister 2014 2016 Ahmed Obaid Bin Dagher Prime Minister 2016 2018 All various former world leadersAl Qaeda Osama bin Laden Founder and first Emir of al Qaeda Ayman al Zawahiri 2nd Emir of al Qaeda Saif al Adel al Qaeda Military Chief Abu Musab al Zarqawi Emir of al Qaeda in Iraq Ilyas Kashmiri Commander of Lashkar al Zil Qasim al Raymi Emir of AQAP Abdelmalek Droukdel Emir of AQIM Mokhtar Belmokhtar Emir of AQWA Asim Umar Emir of AQIS Ahmad Umar Emir of al Shabaab Abu Mohammad al Julani Emir of al Nusra Front Muhsin al Fadhli Leader of Khorasan Group 18 Iraqi Ba ath Party Saddam Hussein Izzat Ibrahim al Douri d 2020 Ex Secretary General Commander of Naqshbandi Army Salah Al Mukhtar Secretary General of Iraqi Baath Ali Hassan al Majid Tariq Aziz Qusay Hussein Abid Hamid Mahmud Mohammed Younis al Ahmed Regional Secretary commander of Al Awda Uday Hussein Barzan Ibrahim al Tikriti Ra ad al Hamdani Taha Yassin Ramadan Islamic State Abu al Hussein al Husseini al Qurashi 4th and current leader of the Islamic State Abu al Hasan al Hashimi al Qurashi 3rd leader Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurashi 2nd leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi Former leader Abu Ala al Afri Deputy Emir 19 20 Abu Muslim al Turkmani Deputy Leader Iraq 21 Abu Suleiman al Naser Head of War Council 22 Abu Mohammad al Adnani Spokesperson Abu Omar al Shishani Senior commander Abu Nabil al Anbari Emir of North Africa Abu Abdullah al Filipini Emir of Southeast Asia Mohammed Abdullah Emir of Derna Ali Al Qarqaa Emir of Nofaliya Hafiz Saeed Khan 23 Emir of Wilayat Khorasan Usman Ghazi 24 25 Abubakar Shekau Emir of Boko Haram 26 Taliban Mohammed Omar 1st Supreme Commander of the Taliban 2001 2013 Akhtar Mansour 2nd Supreme Commander of the Taliban Hibatullah Akhundzada Current amp 3rd Supreme Commander of the Taliban Quetta Shura Senior Taliban council Abdul Ghani Baradar Obaidullah Akhund Mohammad Fazl Dadullah Akhund Tehrik i Taliban Maulana Fazlullah Emir of Tehrik i Taliban Pakistan Haqqani Network Jalaluddin Haqqani leader of the Haqqani network Sirajuddin Haqqani East Turkestan Islamic Movement Abdul Haq Emir of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement Abdullah Mansour Emir of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement Casualties and losses900 000 people killed 27 At least 37 million people displaced Per Costs of War 28 The war on terror uses war as a metaphor to describe a variety of actions which fall outside the traditional definition of war 43rd President of the United States George W Bush first used the term war on terrorism on 16 September 2001 38 39 and then war on terror a few days later in a formal speech to Congress 40 41 Bush indicated the enemy of the war on terror as a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them 41 42 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 43 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 29 While war on terror was never used as a formal designation of U S operations 44 a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal was issued by the U S Armed Forces On 23 May 2013 Bush s successor President Obama announced that the Global War on Terror was over 45 46 saying that the U S would not wage war against a tactic but would instead focus on a specific group of terrorist networks 47 48 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 36 The notion of a war on terror was contentious with critics charging that it has been used to reduce civil liberties and infringe upon human rights 49 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 50 51 52 Many of the U S actions were supported by other countries including the 54 countries that were involved with CIA black sites 53 or those that assisted with drone strikes 54 Criticism of the war on terror has focused on its morality efficiency and cost According to a 2021 study conducted by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs the several post 9 11 wars participated in by the United States in its war against terror have caused the displacement conservatively calculated of 38 million people in Afghanistan Iraq Libya Syria Yemen Somalia Philippines and Pakistan 11 3 million remain displaced 55 The study estimated these wars caused the deaths of 897 000 to 929 000 people including over 364 000 civilians and cost 8 trillion 56 57 Critics accuse participating governments of using the war on terror to repress minorities or sideline domestic opponents 58 59 of mainstreaming Islamophobia 60 and have criticized negative impacts to health and the environment resulting from it 61 62 63 Critics assert that the term war is not appropriate in this context much like the term war on drugs since terror is not an identifiable enemy and it is unlikely that international terrorism can be brought to an end by military means 64 however the war on drugs cannot be treated equivalent as the war on terror the first being indeed only a metaphor of war and the latter is a real global military conflict Contents 1 Etymology 1 1 Use of phrase and its development 1 2 Abandonment of phrase by U S government 2 Background 2 1 Precursor to the 11 September attacks 2 2 11 September attacks 3 U S objectives 4 Timeline 5 Operation Enduring Freedom 5 1 Afghanistan 5 1 1 International Security Assistance Force 5 2 Philippines 5 3 Trans Sahara Northern Africa 5 4 Horn of Africa and the Red Sea 6 Iraq War 6 1 2002 State of the Union Address 6 2 Prelude 6 3 Invasion of Iraq 6 4 Iraqi Insurgency 2003 11 6 5 War in Iraq 2013 2017 7 Pakistan 8 Yemen 9 Other military operations 9 1 Operation Inherent Resolve Syria and Iraq 9 2 Islamic State of Lanao and the Battle of Marawi 9 3 Libyan War 9 4 American military intervention in Cameroon 9 5 Operation Active Endeavour 9 6 Fighting in Kashmir 9 7 Anti terror campaigns by other powers 10 International military support 11 Post 9 11 events inside the United States 12 Transnational actions 12 1 Extraordinary rendition 12 2 Rendition to Black Sites 12 2 1 Criticism of American media s withholding of coverage 12 2 2 Prison ships 12 3 Guantanamo Bay detention camp 13 Major terrorist attacks and plots since 9 11 13 1 Al Qaeda 13 2 Islamic State 14 Casualties 14 1 Iraq 14 2 Afghanistan 14 3 Pakistan 14 4 Somalia 14 5 United States 14 6 Yemen 14 7 Philippines and North Caucasus 14 8 United States 14 9 Total civilian estimates 15 Costs 16 Criticism 17 See also 18 Notes 19 References 20 Further reading 21 External linksEtymologyThe phrase war on terror was used to specifically refer to the military campaign led by the U S U K and their allies against organizations and regimes identified by them as a terrorist and usually excludes other independent counter terrorist operations and campaigns such as those by Russia and India The conflict has also been referred to by names other than the War on Terror It has also been known as World War III 65 World War IV 66 assuming the Cold War was World War III Bush s War on Terror 67 The Long War 68 69 The Forever War 70 The Global War on Terror 71 The War Against al Qaeda 72 The War of Terror 73 From the perspective of individuals who experience the conflicts brought on by continual foreign and domestic intervention as the source of terror also from Sacha Baron Cohen s deliberately mispronouncing War on Terror in the 2006 satire film Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Use of phrase and its developmentThe phrase war against terrorism existed in North American popular culture and U S political parlance prior to the War on Terror 74 75 But it was not until the 11 September attacks that it emerged as a globally recognizable phrase and part of everyday lexicon Tom Brokaw having just witnessed the collapse of one of the towers of the World Trade Center declared Terrorists have declared war on America 76 On 16 September 2001 at Camp David U S 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 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 38 77 The reference to Crusades became subject to heavy criticism due to its controversial connotations in the Muslim World and historical Muslim Christian relations 78 On 20 September 2001 during a televised address to a joint session of Congress George Bush said 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 79 41 Both the term and the policies it denotes have been a source of ongoing controversy as critics argue it has been used to justify unilateral preventive war human rights abuses and other violations of international law 80 81 The political theorist Richard Jackson has argued that the war on terrorism therefore 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 82 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 83 Administration officials also described terrorists as hateful treacherous barbarous mad twisted perverted without faith parasitical inhuman and most commonly evil 84 Americans in contrast were described as brave loving generous strong resourceful heroic and respectful of human rights 85 Abandonment of phrase by U S government 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 86 This was explained more recently by Lady Eliza Manningham Buller In her 2011 Reith lecture the former head of MI5 said that the 9 11 attacks were a crime not an act of war So I never felt it helpful to refer to a war on terror 87 Letter from Barack Obama indicating appropriation of Congressional funds for Overseas Contingency Operations Global War on Terrorism 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 ne, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
