162-687: The war on terror , officially the Global War on Terrorism ( GWOT ), is a global military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks in 2001, and is the most recent global conflict spanning multiple wars . Some researchers and political scientists have argued that it replaced the Cold War . The main targets of the campaign are militant Islamist movements such as al-Qaeda , Taliban and their allies. Other major targets included
324-602: A CIA agent assigned to the FBI's international terrorism division, emailed his superiors at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center (CTC) requesting permission to inform the FBI that Hazmi was in the country and that Mihdhar had a U.S. visa. The CIA never responded. The same day, Margarette Gillespie, an FBI analyst working in the CTC, was told to review material about the Malaysia meeting. She was not told of
486-475: A Taliban offer to hand over bin Laden on the condition the bombing campaign was halted, and by mid-November, Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, fell . The remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants fell back to the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan, mainly Tora Bora. In December, Coalition forces (the U.S. and its allies) fought within that region . It is believed that Osama bin Laden escaped into Pakistan during
648-605: A bill that grants the President powers to unilaterally wage perpetual "world wide wars". Operation Enduring Freedom is the official name used by the Bush administration for the War in Afghanistan , together with three smaller military actions, under the umbrella of the global war on terror. These global operations are intended to seek out and destroy any al-Qaeda fighters or affiliates. Originally,
810-554: A bombing campaign in Sudan and Afghanistan against targets the U.S. asserted were associated with WIFJAJC, although others have questioned whether a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan was used as a chemical warfare facility. The plant produced much of the region's antimalarial drugs and around 50% of Sudan's pharmaceutical needs. The strikes failed to kill any leaders of WIFJAJC or the Taliban. Next came
972-467: A boundless 'global war on terror,' but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America. In many cases, this will involve partnerships with other countries." Nevertheless, in the same speech, in a bid to emphasize the legality of military actions undertaken by the U.S., noting that Congress had authorised the use of force, he went on to say, "Under domestic law, and international law,
1134-785: A commercial pilot's license. Hanjour arrived in San Diego on December 8, 2000, joining Hazmi. They soon left for Arizona, where Hanjour took refresher training. Marwan al-Shehhi arrived at the end of May 2000, while Atta arrived on June 3, 2000, and Jarrah arrived on June 27, 2000. Bin al-Shibh applied several times for a visa to the United States, but as a Yemeni, he was rejected out of concerns he would overstay his visa. Bin al-Shibh stayed in Hamburg, providing coordination between Atta and Mohammed. The three Hamburg cell members all took pilot training in South Florida at Huffman Aviation . In
1296-547: A country when we believe he will be tortured. Where appropriate, the United States seeks assurances that transferred persons will not be tortured. Between 2001 and 2005, CIA officers captured an estimated one hundred fifty people and transported them around the world. Under the Bush administration , rendered persons were reported to have undergone torture by receiving countries. Journalists, civil and constitutional rights groups, and former detainees have alleged that this occurred with
1458-584: A day-long trip. Their destinations: either a detention facility operated by cooperative countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, or one of the CIA's own covert prisons—referred to in classified documents as "black sites", which at various times have been operated in eight countries, including several in Eastern Europe. Following mounting scrutiny in Europe, including investigations held by
1620-509: A few days prior; the authorization is still active to this day and has been used to justify numerous military actions. The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists or "AUMF" was made law on 14 September 2001, to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for 11 September attacks. It authorized the President to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided
1782-555: A few theories that 9/11 was selected by the hijackers as the date of the attack because it resembled 9-1-1 , the phone number used to report emergencies in the United States. However, Lawrence Wright wrote that the hijackers chose the date when John III Sobieski , the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania , began the battle that turned back the Ottoman Empire 's Muslim armies that were attempting to capture Vienna in 1683. Vienna
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#17328696376001944-473: A formal speech to Congress . Bush indicated the enemy of the war on terror as "a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them". 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 ". The term "war on terror" was immediately criticized by individuals including Richard Myers , then chairman of
2106-456: A group of men from Hamburg , Germany, arrived in Afghanistan. The group included Mohamed Atta , Marwan al-Shehhi , Ziad Jarrah , and Ramzi bin al-Shibh. Bin Laden selected these men because they were educated, could speak English, and had experience living in the West. New recruits were routinely screened for special skills and al-Qaeda leaders consequently discovered that Hani Hanjour already had
2268-563: A hard time maintaining full control over their country. The fledgling government requested support from the international community on combating the Islamic militants. In January 2013, France intervened on behalf of the Malian government's request and deployed troops into the region. They launched Operation Serval on 11 January 2013, with the hopes of dislodging the al-Qaeda affiliated groups from northern Mali. Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa
2430-556: 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." The reference to Crusades became subject to heavy criticism due to its controversial connotations in
2592-494: A matter for the FBI". By late June, senior counter-terrorism official Richard Clarke and CIA director George Tenet were "convinced that a major series of attacks was about to come", although the CIA believed the attacks would likely occur in Saudi Arabia or Israel. In early July, Clarke put domestic agencies on "full alert", telling them, "Something spectacular is going to happen here, and it's going to happen soon". He asked
2754-567: A media blitz and claimed that the allegations made by Alexandrovna and Dastych were "... part of the domestic political battle in the US over who is to succeed current Republican President George W Bush," according to the German news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur." The United States has also been accused of operating " floating prisons " to house and transport those arrested in its War on Terror , according to human rights lawyers. They have claimed that
2916-400: A no-brainer. Of course it's a violation of international law, that's why it's a covert action. The guy is a terrorist. Go grab his ass.' Both the Bush and Clinton cases involved apprehending known terrorists abroad, by covert means if necessary. The Bush administration expanded the policy after the 9/11 attacks . In a New Yorker interview with CIA veteran Michael Scheuer , an author of
3078-465: A period of transition, having just relocated back to Afghanistan from Sudan . The 1998 African embassy bombings and bin Laden's February 1998 fatwā marked a turning point of al-Qaeda's terrorist operation, as bin Laden became intent on attacking the United States. In late 1998 or early 1999, bin Laden approved Mohammed to go forward with organizing the plot. Atef provided operational support, including target selections and helping arrange travel for
3240-562: A potential defendant in a lawsuit by Khaled El-Masri . Jeppesen was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on 30 May 2007, on behalf of several other individuals who were allegedly subject to extraordinary rendition. The suit was dismissed on 8 September 2010 by a federal appeals court because "going forward would reveal state secrets". In 2005, The Washington Post and Human Rights Watch (HRW) published revelations concerning CIA flights and " black sites ", covert prisons operated by
3402-585: A religion that will prevent it from destroying all people. So we tell the Americans as people and we tell the mothers of soldiers and American mothers in general that if they value their lives and the lives of their children, to find a nationalistic government that will look after their interests and not the interests of the Jews . The continuation of tyranny will bring the fight to America, as [the 1993 World Trade Center bomber] Ramzi [Yousef] yourself and others did. This
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#17328696376003564-457: A religion—Islam. We are at war with a specific network, al-Qaeda, and its terrorist affiliates who support efforts to attack the United States, our allies, and partners." Usage of the term "war on terror" was initially discontinued in May 2010 and again in May 2013. On 23 May 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the "war on terrorism" was over, saying that the U.S. would not wage war against
3726-620: A report, regarding the allegations of CIA flights, on 13 December 2005, the rapporteur and Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Swiss councillor Dick Marty , concluded: "The elements we have gathered so far tend to reinforce the credibility of the allegations concerning the transport and temporary detention of detainees—outside all judicial procedure—in European countries." In
3888-564: A secret arrangement was made in Brussels by all members of NATO . Lord George Robertson , British defense secretary and later NATO's secretary-general, would later explain NATO members agreed to provide "blanket overflight clearances for the United States and other allies' aircraft for military flights related to operations against terrorism." On 23 October 2006, the New Yorker reported that Jeppesen ,
4050-439: A statement by him on September 16, 2001: "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation". In November 2001, U.S. forces recovered a videotape in which bin Laden, talking to Khaled al-Harbi , admitted foreknowledge of the attacks. On December 27, 2001, a second video of bin Laden was released in which he, stopping short of admitting responsibility for
4212-448: A subsidiary of Boeing , handled the logistical planning for the CIA's extraordinary rendition flights. The allegation is based on information from an ex-employee who quoted Bob Overby, managing director of the company as saying "We do all of the extraordinary rendition flights—you know, the torture flights. Let's face it, some of these flights end up that way. It certainly pays well." The article went on to suggest that this may make Jeppesen
4374-502: A tactic but would instead focus on a specific group of terrorist networks. Other American military campaigns during the 2010s have also been considered part of the "war on terror" by individuals and the media. 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
4536-470: A telephone call mentioning the meeting, Mihdhar, and the name "Nawaf" (Hazmi); while the agency feared "Something nefarious might be afoot", it took no further action. The CIA had already been alerted by Saudi intelligence about Mihdhar and Hazmi being Al-Qaeda members. A CIA team broke into Mihdhar's Dubai hotel room and discovered that Mihdhar had a U.S. visa. While Alec Station alerted intelligence agencies worldwide, it did not share this information with
4698-484: A violation of US law. New York attorney Marc D. Falkoff stated that such evidence, i.e. transfer for the purposes of torture, was an operational practice. In a court filing, Falkoff described a classified prisoner transfer memo from Guantanamo as noting that information could not be retrieved, as torture could not be used, and recommending that the prisoner be sent to a nation that practiced torture. The American Civil Liberties Union alleges that extraordinary rendition
4860-506: Is a type of extraterritorial abduction , but not all extraterritorial abductions include transfer to a third country. Extraordinary rendition began under the administration of President Bill Clinton and continued under the administration of President George W. Bush . Hundreds of " illegal combatants " were abducted for U.S. detention, and transported detainees to U.S.-controlled sites as part of an extensive interrogation program that included torture . Extraordinary rendition continued under
5022-575: Is an extension of Operation Enduring Freedom. Unlike other operations contained in Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF-HOA does not have a specific organization as a target. OEF-HOA instead focuses its efforts to disrupt and detect militant activities in the region and to work with willing governments to prevent the reemergence of militant cells and activities. In October 2002, the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA)
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5184-495: Is my message to the American people: to look for a serious government that looks out for their interests and does not attack others, their lands, or their honor. My word to American journalists is not to ask why we did that but to ask what their government has done that forced us to defend ourselves. Bin Laden orchestrated the September 11 attacks. He initially denied involvement, but later recanted his denial. Al Jazeera broadcast
5346-1026: Is no military solution to the conflict, pointing out that terrorism is not an identifiable enemy, and have emphasized the importance of negotiations and political solutions to resolve the underlying roots of the crises. The phrase war on terror was used to refer specifically to the military campaign led by the United States, the United Kingdom, and allied countries against organizations and regimes identified by them as 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 other names, such as "World War IV", " World War III ", "Bush's War on Terror", "The Long War", "The Forever War", "The Global War on Terror", "The War Against al-Qaeda", or "The War of Terror". The phrase "war against terrorism" existed in North American popular culture and U.S. political parlance prior to
5508-405: Is only one meaning that can be gleaned from this short passage," the petition says. "The government believes that Mr. Ahmad has information that it wants but that it cannot extract without torturing him." The petition goes on to say that because torture is not allowed at Guantanamo, "the recommendation is that Mr. Ahmad should be sent to another country where he can be interrogated under torture." In
5670-789: Is over 4,000 costing around 12 billion in Pakistani Rupees. In January 2002, the United States Special Operations Command, Pacific deployed to the Philippines to advise and assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines in combating Filipino Islamist groups. The operations were mainly focused on removing the Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) from their stronghold on the island of Basilan . The second portion of
5832-711: 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". 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 ". Administration officials also described "terrorists" as hateful, treacherous, barbarous, mad, twisted, perverted, without faith, parasitical , inhuman, and, most commonly, evil. Americans, in contrast, were described as brave, loving, generous, strong, resourceful, heroic, and respectful of human rights. Denouncing
5994-505: Is the Islamic Republic of Iran." Al-Qaeda's de facto leader, Saif al-Adel , is currently believed to be living in Iran . The "war on terror" uses war as a metaphor to describe a variety of actions which fall outside the traditional definition of war. U.S. president George W. Bush first used the term "war on terrorism" on 16 September 2001, and then "war on terror" a few days later in
6156-707: The Los Angeles Times in 2005 seems to corroborate the claims of "torture by proxy." It mentions the attorneys for Majid Mahmud Abdu Ahmad , a detainee held by the Pentagon at Guantanamo Bay, filed a petition to prevent his being transferred to foreign countries. According to the petition's description of a redacted classified Defense Department memo from 2004, its contents say "officials suggested sending Ahmad to an unspecified foreign country that employed torture in order to increase chances of extracting information from him." Mr Falkoff, representing Ahmad, continued: "There
6318-491: The 11 September 2001 attacks the United States, in particular the CIA , has been accused of rendering hundreds of people suspected by the government of being terrorists—or of aiding and abetting terrorist organizations—to third-party states such as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Uzbekistan. Such " ghost detainees " are kept outside judicial oversight, often without ever entering US territory, and may or may not ultimately be transferred to
6480-406: The 1982 Lebanon War . Some analysts, including political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt , also claimed that U.S. support of Israel was a motive for the attacks. In 2004 and 2010, bin Laden again connected the September 11 attacks with U.S. support of Israel, although most of the letters expressed bin Laden's disdain for President Bush and bin Laden's hope to "destroy and bankrupt"
6642-467: The 2000 millennium attack plots , which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport . On 12 October 2000, the USS Cole bombing occurred near the port of Yemen, and 17 U.S. Navy sailors were killed. On the morning of 11 September 2001, nineteen men hijacked four jet airliners , all of them bound for California. Once the hijackers assumed control of the jet airliners, they told
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6804-420: The 2011 Libyan civil war show that the CIA and MI6 rendered suspects to Libyan authorities knowing they would be tortured. In a number of cases, such as those of Khalid El-Masri and Maher Arar , suspects caught up in the procedure suffered lengthy detentions, despite ultimately being found innocent. The CIA reportedly launched an investigation into such incidents of " erroneous rendition ". Following
6966-966: The 9/11 Commission in April 2004, then— Attorney General John Ashcroft recalled that the "single greatest structural cause for the September 11th problem was the wall that segregated or separated criminal investigators and intelligence agents". Clarke also wrote: "[T]here were... failures to get information to the right place at the right time". Early on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, nineteen hijackers took control of four commercial airliners (two Boeing 757s and two Boeing 767s ). Large planes with long flights were selected for hijacking because they would have more fuel. * Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00) Excluding hijackers Including emergency workers Including hijackers At 7:59 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 took off from Logan International Airport in Boston . Fifteen minutes into
7128-637: The Arabian Peninsula . In a second 1998 fatwā , bin Laden outlined his objections to American foreign policy with respect to Israel , as well as the continued presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War . Bin Laden maintained that Muslims are obliged to attack American targets until the aggressive policies of the U.S. against Muslims were reversed. The Hamburg cell in Germany included Islamists who eventually came to be key operatives in
7290-549: The Ba'athist regime in Iraq , which was deposed in an invasion in 2003 , and various militant factions that fought during the ensuing insurgency . Following its territorial expansion in 2014, the Islamic State also emerged as a key adversary of the United States. Regarding al-Qaeda's recent status, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated in 2021, "Al-Qaeda has a new base of operations: it
7452-562: The Battle of Ras Kamboni by bombing Ras Kamboni using AC-130 gunships. On 14 September 2009, U.S. Special Forces killed two men and wounded and captured two others near the Somali village of Baarawe . Witnesses claim that helicopters used for the operation launched from French-flagged warships, but that could not be confirmed. A Somali-based al-Qaida affiliated group, the Al-Shabaab , has verified
7614-561: The Central Intelligence Agency informed President George W. Bush that its Counterterrorism Center had identified the attacks as having been the work of Al-Qaeda under Osama bin Laden . The United States formally responded by launching the war on terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban , which rejected U.S. terms to expel Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan and extradite its leaders. The U.S.'s invocation of Article 5 of
7776-577: The European Court of Human Rights condemned the government of Poland for participating in CIA extraordinary rendition, ordering Poland to pay restitution to men who had been abducted, taken to a CIA black site in Poland, and tortured. Torture is banned under the European Convention on Human Rights , which 46 nations, including Poland, have pledged to uphold. By 2004, critics alleged that torture
7938-696: The INS , the State Department, the Customs Service , and the FBI to put Hazmi and Mihdhar on their watchlists, but the FBI was prohibited from using criminal agents in searching for the duo, hindering their efforts. Also in July, a Phoenix -based FBI agent sent a message to FBI headquarters, Alec Station, and FBI agents in New York alerting them to "the possibility of a coordinated effort by Osama bin Laden to send students to
8100-752: The Muslim world and historical Muslim-Christian relations . 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." Both the term and the policies it denotes have been a source of ongoing controversy, as various critics and organizations like Amnesty International have argued that it has been used to justify unilateral preventive war , human rights abuses and other violations of international law. The political theorist Richard Jackson has argued that "the 'war on terrorism' [...]
8262-582: The Obama administration , with targets being interrogated and subsequently taken to the U.S. for trial. A 2018 report by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament found the United Kingdom , specifically MI5 and MI6 , to be complicit in many of the renditions carried out by the U.S., by helping to fund them, by supplying intelligence, and by knowingly allowing the abductions to happen. In July 2014,
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#17328696376008424-529: The South Tower . Both collapsed within an hour and forty-one minutes, bringing about the destruction of the remaining five structures in the complex and damaging or destroying nearby buildings. American Airlines Flight 77 flew towards Washington, D.C. and crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m., causing a partial collapse. The fourth and final flight, United Airlines Flight 93 , also changed course towards Washington, believed by investigators to target either
8586-846: The Swiss State Councillor Dick Marty who released a public report in June 2006, the US Senate , in December 2005, was about to approve a measure that would include amendments requiring the Director of National Intelligence to provide regular, detailed updates about secret detention facilities maintained by the United States overseas, and to account for the treatment and condition of each prisoner. Media reports describe suspects as being arrested, blindfolded, shackled, and sedated, or otherwise kidnapped , and transported by private jet or other means to
8748-510: The Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative as CJTF personnel also assist in training the armed forces of Chad , Niger, Mauritania and Mali . However, the war on terror does not include Sudan, where over 400,000 have died in an ongoing civil war. On 1 July 2006, a Web-posted message purportedly written by Osama bin Laden urged Somalis to build an Islamic state in the country and warned western governments that
8910-575: The US Treasury over $ 8 trillion. While support for the "war on terror" was high among the American public during its initial years, it had become deeply unpopular by the late 2000s. Controversy over the war has focused on its morality, casualties, and continuity, with critics questioning government measures that infringed civil liberties and human rights. Critics have notably described the Patriot Act as " Orwellian " due to its substantial expansion of
9072-800: The United States Capitol or the White House . Alerted to the previous attacks, the passengers revolted against the hijackers who crashed the aircraft into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania , at 10:03 a.m. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered an indefinite ground stop for all air traffic in U.S. airspace, preventing any further aircraft departures until September 13 and requiring all airborne aircraft to return to their point of origin or divert to Canada. The actions undertaken in Canada to support incoming aircraft and their occupants were collectively titled Operation Yellow Ribbon . That evening,
9234-566: The World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Another video obtained by Al Jazeera in September 2006 showed bin Laden with one of the attacks' chief planners, Ramzi bin al-Shibh , as well as hijackers, Hamza al-Ghamdi and Wail al-Shehri , amidst making preparations for the attacks. Journalist Yosri Fouda of the Arabic television channel Al Jazeera reported that in April 2002, al-Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed admitted his involvement in
9396-490: The World Trade Center site (colloquially "Ground Zero") took eight months and was completed in May 2002, while the Pentagon was repaired within a year. After delays in the design of a replacement complex, six new buildings were planned to replace the lost towers, along with a museum and memorial dedicated to those who were killed or injured in the attacks. The tallest building, One World Trade Center , began construction in November 2006; it opened in November 2014. Memorials to
9558-499: The government of the United Kingdom is "guilty of breaking international law if it knowingly allowed secret CIA "rendition" flights of terror suspects to land at UK airports, according to a report by American legal scholars." According to Raw Story , the Polish site identified by reporter Larisa Alexandrovna and Polish intelligence officer David Dastych is Stare Kiejkuty . In response to these allegations, former Polish intelligence chief, Zbigniew Siemiatkowski , embarked on
9720-409: The large-scale evacuation has also been criticized for leaving behind hundreds of American citizens, residents, and family members. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was created in December 2001 to assist the Afghan Transitional Administration and the first post-Taliban elected government. With a renewed Taliban insurgency, it was announced in 2006 that ISAF would replace
9882-530: The large-scale evacuation of foreign citizens and certain vulnerable Afghans , executed in cooperation with the Taliban. On 30 August 2021, the United States completed its hasty withdrawal of its military from Afghanistan . The withdrawal was heavily criticized both domestically and abroad for being chaotic and haphazard, as well as for lending more momentum to the Taliban offensive . However, many European countries followed suit, including Britain, Germany, Italy, and Poland. Despite evacuating over 120,000 people,
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#173286963760010044-450: The security forces at Aviano Air Base at the time of the abduction. In 2007, Nasr's lawyer said Egypt had released him and he was back with his family. In 2009, an Italian judge convicted 22 suspected or known CIA agents, a U.S. Air Force (USAF) colonel, and two Italian secret agents of the kidnapping. These were the first legal convictions in the world against people involved in the CIA's extraordinary renditions program. A story in
10206-420: The 1983 Beirut barracks bombing "the opening salvo in a war that we have waged ever since—the global war on terror." In May 1996, the group World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders (WIFJAJC), sponsored by Osama bin Laden (and later re-formed as al-Qaeda ), started forming a large base of operations in Afghanistan , where the Islamist extremist regime of the Taliban had seized power earlier in
10368-411: The 1998 fatwa , al-Qaeda identified the Iraq sanctions as a reason to kill Americans, condemning the "protracted blockade" among other actions that constitute a declaration of war against "Allah, his messenger, and Muslims". In 2004, bin Laden claimed that the idea of destroying the towers had first occurred to him in 1982 when he witnessed Israel's bombardment of high-rise apartment buildings during
10530-399: The 9/11 attacks were a strategic move to provoke America into a war that would incite a pan-Islamic revolution. Documents seized during the 2011 operation that killed bin Laden included notes handwritten by bin Laden in September 2002 with the heading "The Birth of the Idea of September 11". He describes how he was inspired by the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 on October 31, 1999, which
10692-404: The 9/11 attacks. Mohamed Atta ; Marwan al-Shehhi ; Ziad Jarrah ; Ramzi bin al-Shibh; and Said Bahaji were all members of al-Qaeda's Hamburg cell. Bin Laden asserted that all Muslims must wage a defensive war against the United States and combat American aggression. He further argued that military strikes against American assets would send a message to the American people , attempting to force
10854-428: 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. 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." U.S. president Barack Obama rarely used
11016-413: The Bush administration "war on terror", such as targeting al Qaeda and building international counterterrorism alliances, remain in place. In May 2010, the Obama administration published a report outlining its National Security Strategy . The document dropped the Bush-era phrase "global war on terror" and reference to "Islamic extremism," and stated, "This is not a global war against a tactic—terrorism, or
11178-519: The CIA and whose existence is denied by the US government. The European Parliament published a report in February 2007 concerning the use of such secret detention centers and extraordinary rendition ( See below ). These detention centers violate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN Convention Against Torture , treaties that all EU member states are bound to follow. According to ABC News two such facilities, in countries mentioned by Human Rights Watch, have been closed following
11340-402: The CIA in Europe—thus qualifying as ghost detainees—and then rendered to a country where they may have been tortured. Marty qualified the sequestration of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (aka "Abu Omar") in Milan in February 2003 as a "perfect example of extraordinary rendition." ( See below: Council of Europe investigation and its two reports ) The Guardian reported on 5 December 2005, that
11502-416: The CIA to seek 'assurances' from foreign governments that rendered suspects won't be tortured. Scheuer told me that this was done, but he was 'not sure' if any documents confirming the arrangement were signed. Scheuer testified in 2007 before Congress that no such assurances were received. He acknowledged that treatment of prisoners may not have been "up to U.S. standards": This is a matter of no concern as
11664-579: The CIA's Presidential Daily Brief, designated "For the President Only", was entitled Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US . The memo noted that FBI information "indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks". In mid-August, one Minnesota flight school alerted the FBI about Zacarias Moussaoui , who had asked "suspicious questions". The FBI found that Moussaoui
11826-566: The FBI and the State Department to alert the embassies and police departments, and the Defense Department to go to "Threat Condition Delta". Clarke later wrote: Somewhere in CIA there was information that two known al Qaeda terrorists had come into the United States. Somewhere in the FBI, there was information that strange things had been going on at flight schools in the United States. [...] They had specific information about individual terrorists from which one could have deduced what
11988-507: The FBI. The Malaysian Special Branch observed the January 5, 2000, meeting of the two al-Qaeda members and informed the CIA that Mihdhar, Hazmi, and Khallad were flying to Bangkok , but the CIA never notified other agencies of this, nor did it ask the State Department to put Mihdhar on its watchlist. An FBI liaison asked permission to inform the FBI of the meeting but was told: "This is not
12150-535: The Joint Chiefs of Staff , and eventually more nuanced terms came to be used by the Bush administration to define the campaign. While "war on terror" was never used as a formal designation of U.S. operations, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal was and is issued by the U.S. Armed Forces . As of 2024, various global operations in the campaign are ongoing, including a U.S. military intervention in Somalia. Although
12312-614: The North Atlantic Treaty —its only usage to date—called upon allies to fight al-Qaeda. As U.S. and NATO invasion forces swept through Afghanistan, bin Laden eluded them . He denied any involvement until 2004 , when excerpts of a taped statement in which he accepted responsibility for the attacks were released. Al-Qaeda's cited motivations included U.S. support of Israel , the presence of U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia and sanctions against Iraq . The nearly decade-long manhunt for bin Laden concluded on May 2, 2011, when he
12474-416: The Pentagon , which contains more than 64,000 workers, a military base which has a big concentration of army and intelligence ... As for the World Trade Center , the ones who were attacked and who died in it were part of a financial power. It wasn't a children's school! Neither was it a residence. The consensus is that most of the people who were in the towers were men who backed the biggest financial force in
12636-498: The Philippines under the name "PACOM Augmentation Team", until 24 February 2015. On 1 September 2017, US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis designated Operation Pacific Eagle – Philippines (OPE-P) as a contingency operation to support the Philippine government and the military in their efforts to isolate, degrade, and defeat the affiliates of ISIL (collectively referred to as ISIL-Philippines or ISIL-P) and other terrorist organisations in
12798-649: The Philippines. By 2018, American operations within the Philippines against terrorist groups involved as many as 300 advisers. Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara (OEF-TS), now Operation Juniper Shield, is the name of the military operation conducted by the U.S. and partner nations in the Sahara/Sahel region of Africa, consisting of counter-terrorism efforts and policing of arms and drug trafficking across central Africa. The conflict in northern Mali began in January 2012 with radical Islamists (affiliated to al-Qaeda) advancing into northern Mali. The Malian government had
12960-579: The Rendition Program's goal was to protect America. The rendered fighters delivered to Middle Eastern governments are now either dead or in places from which they cannot harm America. Mission accomplished, as the saying goes. Thereafter, with the approval of President Clinton and a presidential directive ( PDD 39 ), the CIA elected to send suspects to Egypt, where they were turned over to the Egyptian Mukhabarat . (→ Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim ) The CIA
13122-517: The Swiss senator Dick Marty as a "perfect example of extraordinary rendition". Abu Omar was kidnapped as he walked to his mosque in Milan for noon prayers. He was transported on a Learjet (using the call sign SPAR 92) to Ramstein , Germany. SPAR (Special Air Resources) is the call sign used by US senior military officers and civilian VIPs for airlift transport. A second plane took him to Cairo , where he
13284-642: The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Both buildings collapsed within two hours from fire damage related to the crashes, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third jet airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia , just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth jet airliner crashed into a field near Shanksville , Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of
13446-497: The U.S. Other motives have been suggested in addition to those stated by bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Some authors suggested the "humiliation" that resulted from the Islamic world falling behind the Western world—this discrepancy was rendered especially visible by globalization and a desire to provoke the U.S. into a broader war against the Islamic world in the hope of motivating more allies to support al-Qaeda. Similarly, others have argued
13608-450: The U.S. economy and induced global market shocks . Many other countries strengthened anti-terrorism legislation and expanded their powers of law enforcement and intelligence agencies . The total number of deaths caused by the attacks, combined with the death tolls from the conflicts they directly incited, has been estimated by the Costs of War Project to be over 4.5 million. Cleanup of
13770-508: The U.S. to re-evaluate its support to Israel , and other aggressive policies. In a 1998 interview with American journalist John Miller , bin Laden stated: We do not differentiate between those dressed in military uniforms and civilians; they are all targets in this fatwa. American history does not distinguish between civilians and military, not even women and children. They are the ones who used bombs against Nagasaki. Can these bombs distinguish between infants and military? America does not have
13932-637: The U.S. troops in the province as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The British 16th Air Assault Brigade (later reinforced by Royal Marines ) formed the core of the force in southern Afghanistan, along with troops and helicopters from Australia, Canada and the Netherlands. The initial force consisted of roughly 3,300 British, 2,000 Canadian, 1,400 from the Netherlands and 240 from Australia, along with special forces from Denmark and Estonia and small contingents from other nations. The monthly supply of cargo containers through Pakistani route to ISAF in Afghanistan
14094-413: The US has tried to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees. Although no credible information to support these assertions has ever come to light, the alleged justification for prison ships is primarily to remove the ability for jihadists to target a fixed location to facilitate the escape of high value targets, commanders, operations chiefs etc. Khalid El-Masri (born 1963) is a German citizen who
14256-438: The US to countries known to torture prisoners or employ harsh interrogation techniques that may rise to the level of torture. The Bush administration freely admitted to this practice; stating, among other provisions, that they have specifically asked that torture not be used. However, torture can still occur despite these provisions, and much documentation exists alleging that it has happened in many cases. In these instances,
14418-438: The United States is at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their associated forces. We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first. So this is a just war—a war waged proportionally, in last resort, and in self-defense." Nonetheless, the use of the phrase "war on terror" persists in U.S. politics. In 2017, for example, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called
14580-525: The United States signed a security agreement, which allowed the United States and NATO forces to remain in Afghanistan until at least 2024. However, on 29 February 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a conditional peace deal in Doha which required that US troops withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months so long as the Taliban cooperated with the terms of the agreement not to "allow any of its members, other individuals or groups, including Al Qaeda, to use
14742-438: The United States to attend civil aviation universities and colleges". The agent, Kenneth Williams, suggested the need to interview flight school managers and identify all Arab students seeking flight training. In July, Jordan alerted the U.S. that al-Qaeda was planning an attack on the U.S.; "months later", Jordan notified the U.S. that the attack's codename was "The Big Wedding" and that it involved airplanes. On August 6, 2001,
14904-575: The United States waged the multi-decade global war on terror to eliminate hostile groups deemed terrorist organizations, as well as the foreign governments purported to support them. Ringleader Mohamed Atta flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan at 8:46 a.m. Seventeen minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 hit
15066-645: The abduction. Photos of Robert (Bob) Lady and other defendants surfaced on the Web. Marco Mancini , the SISMI director of anti-terrorism and counterespionage, and Gustavo Pignero, the department's director in 2003, have been arrested on charges of complicity in a kidnapping, with the aggravating circumstances of abuse of power . Italian judges have issued 26 EU arrest warrants for U.S. citizens in connection with this event. A judge also issued arrest warrants for four Americans, three CIA agents and an Air Force officer who commanded
15228-498: The al-Qaeda network would fight against them if they intervened there. The Prime Minister of Somalia claimed that three "terror suspects" from the 1998 United States embassy bombings are being sheltered in Kismayo. On 30 December 2006, al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called upon Muslims worldwide to fight against Ethiopia and the TFG in Somalia. On 8 January 2007, the U.S. launched
15390-761: The attacks include the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial at the Pennsylvania crash site. In 1996, Osama bin Laden of the Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda issued his first fatwā , which declared war against the United States and demanded the expulsion of all American soldiers from
15552-826: The attacks and said they were carried out because: The events that affected my soul in a direct way started in 1982 when America permitted the Israelis to invade Lebanon and the American Sixth Fleet helped them in that. This bombardment began and many were killed and injured and others were terrorised and displaced. I couldn't forget those moving scenes, blood and severed limbs, women and children sprawled everywhere. Houses were destroyed along with their occupants, high rises demolished over their residents, rockets raining down on our home without mercy...As I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish
15714-461: The attacks as retaliatory strikes against American atrocities against Muslims across the world. He also maintained that the attacks were not directed against women and children, asserting that the targets of the strikes were symbols of America's "economic and military power". In bin Laden's November 2002 Letter to the American People , he identified al-Qaeda's motives for the attacks: After
15876-408: The attacks, along with Ramzi bin al-Shibh. The 2004 9/11 Commission Report determined that the animosity which Mohammed, the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks, felt towards the United States had stemmed from his "violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel". Mohammed was also an adviser and financier of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the uncle of Ramzi Yousef ,
16038-402: The attacks, bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri released additional recordings , some of which repeated the above reasons. Two relevant publications were bin Laden's 2002 Letter to the American People and a 2004 videotape by bin Laden. [...] those young men, for whom God has cleared the way, didn't set out to kill children, but rather attacked the biggest centre of military power in the world,
16200-469: The attacks, said: It has become clear that the West in general and America in particular have an unspeakable hatred for Islam. ... It is the hatred of crusaders . Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to injustice, aimed at forcing America to stop its support for Israel, which kills our people. ... We say that the end of the United States is imminent, whether Bin Laden or his followers are alive or dead, for
16362-511: The awakening of the Muslim ummah [nation] has occurred. ... It is important to hit the economy (of the United States), which is the base of its military power...If the economy is hit they will become reoccupied. Shortly before the 2004 U.S. presidential election , bin Laden used a taped statement to publicly acknowledge al-Qaeda's involvement in the attacks. He admitted his direct link to
16524-568: The battle. In March 2002, the U.S. and other NATO and non-NATO forces launched Operation Anaconda with the goal of destroying any remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Shah-i-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains of Afghanistan. The Taliban suffered heavy casualties and evacuated the region. The Taliban regrouped in western Pakistan and began to unleash an insurgent-style offensive against Coalition forces in late 2002. Throughout southern and eastern Afghanistan, firefights broke out between
16686-469: The campaign was named "Eternal Justice" but due to widespread controversy and condemnation in the Muslim world , the phrasing was changed to "Enduring Freedom". On 20 September 2001, in the wake of the September 11 attacks , George W. Bush delivered an ultimatum to the Taliban government of Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , to turn over Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda leaders operating in
16848-452: The case, while Berlusconi 's government has denied any knowledge of a kidnapping plot. Just after the 2006 Italian general elections , Roberto Castelli ( Lega Nord ), outgoing Justice Minister, declared to Italian prosecutors that he had not passed the extradition request to the US. In 2005, The Washington Post reported Italian court documents which showed that the CIA tried to mislead Italian anti-terrorism police who were looking for
17010-419: The cleric at the time. Robert S. Lady, the CIA's substation chief in Milan, has been implicated in the abduction. In a written opinion upholding the arrest warrant, judge Enrico Manzi wrote that the evidence taken from Lady's home "removes any doubt about his participation in the preparatory phase of the abduction." Lady, however, alleged that the evidence had been gathered illegally, and has denied involvement in
17172-617: The coalition forces is to monitor, inspect, board and stop suspected shipments from entering the Horn of Africa region and affecting the United States' Operation Iraqi Freedom . Included in the operation is the training of selected armed forces units of the countries of Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency tactics. Humanitarian efforts conducted by CJTF-HOA include rebuilding of schools and medical clinics and providing medical services to those countries whose forces are being trained. The program expands as part of
17334-533: The country or face attack. The Taliban demanded evidence of bin Laden's link to 11 September attacks and, if such evidence warranted a trial, they offered to handle such a trial in an Islamic Court. Subsequently, in October 2001, U.S. forces (with UK and coalition allies) invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime. On 7 October 2001, the official invasion began with British and U.S. forces conducting airstrike campaigns over enemy targets. Shortly after, Bush rejected
17496-527: The custody of the United States. According to a 4 December 2005 article in The Washington Post by Dana Priest : Members of the Rendition Group follow a simple but standard procedure: Dressed head to toe in black, including masks, they blindfold and cut the clothes off their new captives, then administer an enema and sleeping drugs. They outfit detainees in a diaper and jumpsuit for what can be
17658-435: The deadliest terrorist attack in history as well as the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement personnel in American history, killing 343 and 72 members, respectively. The loss of life stemming from the impact of Flight 11 made it the most lethal multi-plane crash in aviation history followed by the death toll incurred by Flight 175. The destruction of the World Trade Center and its environs seriously harmed
17820-455: The death of "sheik commander" Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan along with an unspecified number of militants. Nabhan, a Kenyan, was wanted in connection with the 2002 Mombasa attacks . September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks , commonly known as 9/11 , were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing
17982-417: The destination country. The reports also say that the rendering countries have provided interrogators with lists of questions. Detainees, referred to as enemy combatants by the US administration, were commonly hooded and tethered to the floor of cargo planes during flights. As their movement was restricted by shackles they were required to wear diapers during the entire duration of flights. On 4 October 2001,
18144-454: The federal government's surveillance powers. Controversial practices of coalition forces have been condemned, including drone warfare , surveillance, torture, extraordinary rendition and various war crimes. The participating governments have been criticized for implementing authoritarian measures, repressing minorities, fomenting Islamophobia globally, and causing negative impacts to health and environment. Security analysts assert that there
18306-544: The first time ever, NATO invoked Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty , which commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state to be an armed attack against them all. The invocation of Article 5 led to Operation Eagle Assist and Operation Active Endeavour . On 18 September 2001, President Bush signed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists passed by Congress
18468-402: The first two into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the third into the Pentagon (headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense ) in Arlington County, Virginia . The fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania during a passenger revolt. The September 11 attacks killed 2,977 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in history. In response to the attacks,
18630-505: The flight, five hijackers armed with boxcutters took over the plane, injuring at least three people (and possibly killing one) before forcing their way into the cockpit. The terrorists also displayed an apparent explosive and sprayed mace into the cabin, to frighten the hostages into submission and further hinder resistance. Back at Logan, United Airlines Flight 175 took off at 8:14 a.m. Hundreds of miles southwest at Dulles International Airport , American Airlines Flight 77 left
18792-448: The following objectives in the war on terror: The 2001 AUMF has authorized US President to launch military operations across the world without any congressional oversight or transparency. Between 2018 and 2020 alone, US forces initiated what it labelled "counter-terror" activities in 85 countries. Of these, the 2001 AUMF has been used to launch classified military campaigns in at least 22 countries. The 2001 AUMF has been widely perceived as
18954-531: The gate at 8:00 a.m., the plane was running 42 minutes late. At 8:46 a.m., Flight 11 was deliberately crashed into the north face of the World Trade Center's North Tower between the 93rd and 99th floors. The initial presumption by many was that it was an accident. At 8:51 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 was also taken over by five hijackers who forcibly entered the cockpit 31 minutes after take-off. Although they were equipped with knives, there were no reports of anyone on board being stabbed, nor did
19116-741: The hijackers. Bin Laden overruled Mohammed, rejecting potential targets such as the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles for lack of time. Bin Laden provided leadership and financial support and was involved in selecting participants. He initially selected Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar , both experienced jihadists who had fought in Bosnia . Hazmi and Mihdhar arrived in the United States in mid-January 2000. In early 2000, Hazmi and Mihdhar took flying lessons in San Diego, California. Both spoke little English, performed poorly in flying lessons, and eventually served as secondary "muscle" hijackers. In late 1999,
19278-516: The host government ... The first time I proposed a snatch, in 1993, the White House Counsel , Lloyd Cutler , demanded a meeting with the President to explain how it violated international law. Clinton had seemed to be siding with Cutler until Al Gore belatedly joined the meeting, having just flown overnight from South Africa . Clinton recapped the arguments on both sides for Gore: 'Lloyd says this. Dick says that.' Gore laughed and said, 'That's
19440-424: The initial captor allows the possibility of torture by releasing the prisoner into the custody of nations that practice torture. The next distinction of degree is that of intent, where much of the search for evidence continues. It has been alleged that some of those detainees have been tortured with the knowledge, acquiescence, or even participation of US agencies. A transfer of anyone to anywhere for torture would be
19602-457: The investigation. Within days of his 2009 inauguration, Barack Obama signed an executive order opposing rendition torture and established a task force to provide recommendations about processes to prevent rendition torture. His administration distanced itself from some of the harshest counterterrorism techniques but permitted the practice of rendition to continue, restricting transport of suspects to countries with jurisdiction over them for
19764-462: The jet airliners, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C., to target the White House or the U.S. Capitol . None of the flights had any survivors. A total of 2,977 victims and the 19 hijackers perished in the attacks. Fifteen of the nineteen were citizens of Saudi Arabia , and the others were from the United Arab Emirates (2), Egypt , and Lebanon . On 13 September, for
19926-572: The knowledge or cooperation of the administrations of the United States and the United Kingdom. Such revelations prompted several official investigations into alleged secret detentions and unlawful interstate transfers involving Council of Europe members. A June 2006 report estimated that one hundred people had been kidnapped by the CIA on European Union soil with the cooperation of Council of Europe members and rendered to other countries, often after having transited through secret detention centers (" black sites "), some located in Europe. According to
20088-555: The lead bomber in that attack. In late 1994, Mohammed and Yousef moved on to plan a new terrorist attack called the Bojinka plot planned for January 1995. Despite a failure and Yousef's capture by U.S. forces the following month, the Bojinka plot would influence the later 9/11 attacks. In "Substitution for Testimony of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed" from the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui , five people are identified as having been completely aware of
20250-629: The major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have ended, the Israel–Hamas war and its spillover across the Middle East have led to renewed debate on whether a new phase of the war on terror had begun. According to the Costs of War Project , the post-9/11 wars of the campaign have displaced 38 million people, the second largest number of forced displacements of any conflict since 1900, and caused more than 4.5 million deaths (direct and indirect) in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Philippines, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. They also estimate that it has cost
20412-570: The military fight could be replaced by a law enforcement operation. In May 2013, two years after the assassination of Osama bin Laden , Barack Obama delivered a speech that employed the term global war on terror put in quotation marks (as officially transcribed by the White House): "Now, make no mistake, terrorists still threaten our nation. ... In Afghanistan, we will complete our transition to Afghan responsibility for that country's security. ... Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as
20574-419: The operation was conducted as a humanitarian program called "Operation Smiles". The goal of the program was to provide medical care and services to the region of Basilan as part of a "Hearts and Minds" program. Joint Special Operations Task Force – Philippines disbanded in June 2014, ending a successful 12-year mission. After JSOTF-P had disbanded, as late as November 2014, American forces continued to operate in
20736-403: The operation's details. They are bin Laden, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh , Abu Turab al-Urduni and Mohammed Atef . Osama bin Laden's declaration of a holy war against the United States, and a 1998 fatwā signed by bin Laden and others that called for the killing of Americans, are seen by investigators as evidence of his motivation. In November 2001, bin Laden defended
20898-514: The oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America so that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children. And that day, it was confirmed to me that oppression and the intentional killing of innocent women and children is a deliberate American policy. Destruction is freedom and democracy, while resistance is terrorism and intolerance. Bin Laden personally directed his followers to attack
21060-600: The organization-including Abu Hafs the Mauritanian , Sheikh Saeed al Masri , and Sayf al Adl . One senior al Qaeda operative claims to recall Bin Ladin arguing that attacks against the United States needed to be carried out immediately to support insurgency in the Israeli-occupied territories and protest the presence of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia. — 9/11 Commission Report , p. 251 On July 13, Tom Wilshire,
21222-471: The participant's presence in the U.S. The CIA gave Gillespie surveillance photos of Mihdhar and Hazmi from the meeting to show to FBI counterterrorism but did not tell her their significance. The Intelink database informed her not to share intelligence material with criminal investigators. When shown the photos, the FBI refused more details on their significance, and they were not given Mihdhar's date of birth or passport number. In late August 2001, Gillespie told
21384-497: The passengers that they had a bomb on board and would spare the lives of passengers and crew once their demands were met—no passenger and crew actually suspected that they would use the jet airliners as suicide weapons since it had never happened before in history, and many previous hijacking attempts had been resolved with the passengers and crew escaping unharmed after obeying the hijackers. The hijackers—members of al-Qaeda's Hamburg cell —intentionally crashed two jet airliners into
21546-575: The publicity. CIA officers say the captives were relocated to the North African desert. All but one of these 11 high-value al Qaeda prisoners were subjected to torture by the CIA, sometimes referred to as " enhanced interrogation techniques " authorized for use by about 14 CIA officers. In January 2005, Swiss senator Dick Marty , representative at the Council of Europe in charge of the European investigations, concluded that 100 people had been kidnapped by
21708-416: The purpose of prosecution after diplomatic assurances "that they [would] not be treated inhumanely" had been received. Rendition , in law, is a transfer of persons from one jurisdiction to another, and the act of handing over, both after legal proceedings and according to law. "Extraordinary rendition," however, is a rendition that is extralegal, i.e. outside the law (see: kidnapping ). Rendition refers to
21870-455: The remarks of George W. Bush , Osama Bin Laden stated during an interview in 21 October 2001: "The events proved the extent of terrorism that America exercises in the world. Bush stated that the world has to be divided in two: Bush and his supporters, and any country that doesn't get into the global crusade is with the terrorists. What terrorism is clearer than this? Many governments were forced to support this "new terrorism." In April 2007,
22032-682: The rendering countries. Critics have accused the CIA of employing rendition for the purpose of circumventing American laws mandating due process and prohibiting torture , labeling the practice "torture flights". Sociological comparisons have been drawn between extraordinary rendition and the death flights implemented, most notably, by Argentina during the 1960s and 1970s. Defenders of the practice argue that culturally informed and native-language interrogations are more successful in gaining information from suspects. Hundreds of documents retrieved from Libyan foreign ministry offices in Tripoli following
22194-697: The rendition program under the Clinton administration, writer Jane Mayer noted: In 1995, American agents proposed the rendition program to Egypt , making clear that it had the resources to track, capture, and transport terrorist suspects globally – including access to a small fleet of aircraft. Egypt embraced the idea ... 'What was clever was that some of the senior people in Al Qaeda were Egyptian,' Scheuer said. 'It served American purposes to get these people arrested, and Egyptian purposes to get these people back, where they could be interrogated.' Technically, U.S. law requires
22356-582: The runway at 8:20 a.m. Flight 175's journey proceeded normally for 28 minutes until 8:42 am, when a group of five hijacked the plane, murdering both pilots and stabbing several crew members before assuming control of the aircraft. These hijackers also used bomb threats to instil fear into the passengers and crew, also spraying chemical weapons to disable any opposition. Concurrently, United Airlines Flight 93 departed from Newark International Airport in New Jersey ; originally scheduled to pull away from
22518-647: The separate European Parliament report of February 2007 , the CIA has conducted 1,245 flights, many of them to destinations where suspects could face torture, in violation of Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture . A large majority of the European Union Parliament endorsed the report's conclusion that many member states tolerated illegal actions by the CIA, criticizing several European governments and intelligence agencies for their unwillingness to cooperate with
22680-668: The soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies". The Afghan government was not a party to the deal and rejected its terms regarding release of prisoners. After Joe Biden became president, he moved back the target withdrawal date to 31 August 2021. On 15 August 2021, the Afghan capital Kabul fell to a surprisingly effective Taliban offensive , ending the war in Afghanistan . The US military and NATO troops took control of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport for use in Operation Allies Refuge and
22842-541: The spring of 2001, the secondary hijackers began arriving in the United States. In July 2001, Atta met with bin al-Shibh in Tarragona , Catalonia, Spain, where they coordinated details of the plot, including final target selection. Bin al-Shibh passed along bin Laden's wish for the attacks to be carried out as soon as possible. Some of the hijackers received passports from corrupt Saudi officials who were family members or used fraudulent passports to gain entry. There have been
23004-478: The surging Taliban and Coalition forces. Coalition forces responded with a series of military offensives and an increase of troops in Afghanistan. In February 2010, Coalition forces launched Operation Moshtarak in southern Afghanistan along with other military offensives in the hopes that they would destroy the Taliban insurgency once and for all. Peace talks were also underway between Taliban affiliated fighters and Coalition forces. In September 2014, Afghanistan and
23166-540: The term, but in his inaugural address on 20 January 2009, he stated: "Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred." In March 2009 the Defense Department officially changed the name of operations from "Global War on Terror" to "Overseas Contingency Operation" (OCO). In March 2009, the Obama administration requested that Pentagon staff members avoid the use of the term and instead to use "Overseas Contingency Operation". Basic objectives of
23328-493: The terrorist attacks that occurred on 11 September 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or individuals. Congress declares this is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. The George W. Bush administration defined
23490-403: The transfer; the apprehension, detention, interrogation, and any other practices occurring before and after the movement and exchange of extrajudicial prisoners do not fall into the strict definition of extraordinary rendition . In practice, the term is widely used to describe such practices, particularly the initial apprehension. This latter usage extends to the transfer of suspected terrorists by
23652-490: The two people who made phone calls mention the use of mace or a bomb threat. Extraordinary rendition Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism for state-sponsored kidnapping in another jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The phrase usually refers to a United States -led program used during the War on Terror , which had the purpose of circumventing the source country's laws on interrogation , detention , extradition and/or torture . Extraordinary rendition
23814-452: The war on terror. 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]." 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
23976-550: The world, which spreads mischief throughout the world. — Osama Bin Laden's interview with Tayseer Allouni , October 21, 2001 As an adherent of Islam , bin Laden believed that non-Muslims are forbidden from having a permanent presence in the Arabian Peninsula . In 1996, bin Laden issued a fatwā calling for American troops to leave Saudi Arabia. One analysis of suicide terrorism suggested that without U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, Al-Qaeda likely would not have been able to get people to commit to suicide missions. In
24138-518: The year. In August 1996, Bin Laden declared jihad against the United States. In February 1998, Osama bin Laden signed a fatwa , as head of al-Qaeda, declaring war on the West and Israel; in May al-Qaeda released a video declaring war on the U.S. and the West. On 7 August 1998, al-Qaeda struck the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania , killing 224 people, including 12 Americans. In retaliation, U.S. President Bill Clinton launched Operation Infinite Reach ,
24300-496: Was a radical who had traveled to Pakistan, and the INS arrested him for overstaying his French visa. Their request to search his laptop was denied by FBI headquarters due to the lack of probable cause . The failures in intelligence-sharing were attributed to 1995 Justice Department policies limiting intelligence-sharing, combined with CIA and NSA reluctance to reveal "sensitive sources and methods" such as tapped phones. Testifying before
24462-466: Was about to happen. None of that information got to me or the White House. [...] by July [2001], with word spreading of a coming attack, a schism emerged among the senior leadership of al Qaeda. Several senior members reportedly agreed with Mullah Omar . Those who reportedly sided with bin Ladin included Atef , Sulayman Abu Ghayth , and KSM . But those said to have opposed him were weighty figures in
24624-566: Was considered to be another campaign of the "war on terror". In December 2012, Jeh Johnson , the General Counsel of the Department of Defense , speaking at Oxford University , stated that the war against al-Qaeda would end when the terrorist group had been weakened so that it was no longer capable of "strategic attacks" and had been "effectively destroyed." At that point, the war would no longer be an armed conflict under international law , and
24786-590: Was deliberately crashed by co-pilot Gameel Al-Batouti , killing over 200 passengers. "This is how the idea of 9/11 was conceived and developed in my head, and that is when we began the planning" bin Laden continued, adding that no one but Abu Hafs and Abu al-Khair knew about it at the time. The 9/11 Commission Report identified Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as the architect of 9/11, but he is not mentioned in bin Laden's notes. The attacks were conceived by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed , who first presented it to Osama bin Laden in 1996. At that time, bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were in
24948-516: Was detained for four months in the " Salt Pit ", the CIA finally admitted his arrest was a mistake and released him. He is believed to be among an estimated 3,000 detainees, including several key leaders of al Qaeda, whom the CIA captured from 2001 to 2005, in its campaign to dismantle terrorist networks. In 2003, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr (aka "Abu Omar") was kidnapped by the CIA in Milan (Italy), and deported to Egypt. His case has been characterized by
25110-531: Was developed during the Clinton administration . CIA officials in the mid-1990s were trying to track down and dismantle militant Islamic organizations in the Middle East , particularly Al Qaeda . According to Clinton administration official Richard Clarke : 'extraordinary renditions', were operations to apprehend terrorists abroad, usually without the knowledge of and almost always without public acknowledgment of
25272-469: Was established in Djibouti at Camp Lemonnier . It contains approximately 2,000 personnel including U.S. military and special operations forces (SOF) and coalition force members, Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150). Task Force 150 consists of ships from a shifting group of nations, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The primary goal of
25434-551: Was granted permission to use rendition of indicted terrorists to American soil in a 1995 presidential directive signed by President Bill Clinton , following a procedure established by George H. W. Bush in January 1993. The United States has since increasingly used rendition as a tool in the " war on terror ", ignoring the normal extradition processes outlined in international law. Suspects taken into United States custody are delivered to third-party states, often without ever having been on United States soil, and without involving
25596-506: Was imprisoned and, he claims, tortured. In 2005, the Italian judge Guido Salvini issued a warrant for the arrest of 13 persons said to be agents or operatives of the CIA in association with Nasr's kidnapping. In December 2005, an Italian court issued a European arrest warrant against 22 CIA agents suspected of this kidnapping (including Robert Seldon Lady , Eliana Castaldo , Lt. Col. Joseph L. Romano , III, etc. ). The CIA has not commented on
25758-596: Was killed during a U.S. military raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan . The War in Afghanistan continued for another eight years until the agreement was made in February 2020 for American and NATO troops to withdraw from the country . Excluding the hijackers, the attacks killed 2,977 people, injured thousands more and gave rise to substantial long-term health consequences while also causing at least $ 10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. It remains
25920-470: Was mistakenly abducted by the Macedonian police , and handed over to the U.S. CIA . While in CIA custody, he was flown to Afghanistan, where he was allegedly held in a black site , interrogated, beaten, strip-searched, sodomized, and subjected to other inhuman and degrading treatment , which at times escalated to torture, though none of those claims can be verified. After El-Masri held hunger strikes, and
26082-734: Was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire and Habsburg monarchy , both major powers in Europe at the time. For Osama bin Laden, this was a date when the West gained some dominance over Islam, and by attacking on this date, he hoped to make a step in Islam "winning" the war for worldwide power and influence. In late 1999, al-Qaeda associate Walid bin Attash ("Khallad") contacted Mihdhar and told him to meet in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia; Hazmi and Abu Bara al Yemeni would also be in attendance. The NSA intercepted
26244-535: Was used against subjects with the knowledge or acquiescence of the United States, where the transfer of a person for the purpose of torture is unlawful. In addition, some former detainees, such as the Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib , claimed to have been transferred to other countries for interrogation under torture. In December 2005, then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted: The United States has not transported anyone, and will not transport anyone, to
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