War on Terror

international military campaign that started after 11 September 2001
(Redirected from War on Terrorism)

The Global War on Terrorism, or War on Terror, is 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 War in Afghanistan and Iraq 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
Clockwise from top left: Aftermath of the September 11 attacks; U.S. servicemen boarding an aircraft at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan; an American soldier and Afghan interpreter in Zabul Province, Afghanistan; explosion of a car bomb in Baghdad

Photographs, clockwise from top left: Aftermath of the September 11 attacks; U.S. servicemen boarding an aircraft at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan; a U.S. 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[1]30 August 2021[note 1]
(19 years, 11 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)[note 2]
Location
Global
Status Ongoing; major wars ended
Belligerents
Main countries: Main opponents: Islamic State
Commanders and leaders
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Osama bin Laden X
Ayman al-Zawahiri X
Iraq Saddam Hussein Executed
Mullah Omar  #
Hassan Dahir Aweys
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi X
Casualties and losses
4.5–4.6 million+ people killed[a]
(937,000+ direct deaths, 3.6–3.7 million indirect deaths)[b]
At least 38 million people displaced[c]

The Administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama used the term Overseas Contingency Operation.[2]

  1. The war on terror was also officially declared over in May 2010 and again in May 2013
  2. Origins date back to the 1980s.

References

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  1. "Video: Pres. Bush Declares War on Terror". ABC News archives. September 15, 2001.
  2. Obama Scraps 'Global War on Terror' for 'Overseas Contingency Operation'.

Other websites

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