The War Against Terror

The events of 11 September, 2001 changed the political landscape. Almost immediately, the US started a war against terrorism, determined to stop terrorists from using certain countries as bases to launch attacks. This led to invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Afghanistan, under the Taliban regime, was seen as the hiding place of Osama bin Landen, head of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization which carried out the attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. American forces, with support from other nations, attacked Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban regime.

The next target was Iraq, which the US president, George W. Bush, accused of helping terrorists and of having weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons. Many people disagreed with this idea, including the United Nations. The United Nations relies on debate and agreement before taking action against a nation. It sent weapons inspectors into Iraq to seek out any weapons of mass destruction. UN members disagreed about whether war against Iraq, or any ‘rogue state’, was justified.

Nevertheless, the US, along with a small coalition of other countries, invaded Iraq in March 2003, and overthrew its leader, Saddam Hussein, less than a month later.

However, terrorist attacks did not finish. Suicide bombings continued in Iraq and Afghanistan long after the fall of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, and there were attacks on European capital cities. On 11 March, 2004, several bombs exploded on commuter trains in Madrid at rush hour, killing 192 people and wounding many others. Just over a year later, on 7^th July, 2005, four suicide bombers attacked London at rush hour on busy tube trains and a double-decker bus. Fifty-six people were killed in these attacks.