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War on Terror

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War on terror

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:
Commanders and leaders
File:Flag of the United States.svg George W. Bush
File:Flag of the United States.svg Barack Obama
File:Flag of the United States.svg Donald Trump
File:Flag of the United States.svg Joe Biden
File:Flag of al-Qaeda.svg Osama bin Laden X
File:Flag of al-Qaeda.svg Ayman al-Zawahiri X
Iraq Saddam Hussein Executed
File:Flag of the Taliban.svg Mullah Omar  #
File:Shahadah Flag.svg Hassan Dahir Aweys
File:Islamic State flag.svg 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 Global War on Terrorism, or War on Terror, is a campaign that the United States and some of its allies started in September 2001 to remove terrorist groups and to punish the states that sponsor islamic terrorism. It replaced the later War in Afghanistan and Iraq War. United States President George W. Bush argued 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 Taliban, Islamic State, and al-Qaeda.

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

Notes[change]

  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[change]

  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[change]

  • File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 47: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons