War on Terror

On September 11, 2001, terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers, causing one of the most memorable moments in United States history. America immediately retaliated by declaring war on terrorism, and George Bush promised to hunt down Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the incident, and bring him to justice.

Watch a video of the suicide attacks.

History
Before the attack on the Twin Towers, the Afghan government, under the control of the Taliban, publicly supported Osama bin Laden. America retaliated by demanding that the Afghan government allow access to all al-Qaeda members, the terrorists responsible for 9/11, but the Taliban refused. When America officially declared war on terrorism on October 7, 2001, they, along with NATO allies, launched airstrikes against Taliban strongholds. Coupled with the Northern Alliance, a coalition of military groups opposed to the Taliban regime, the NATO allies soon toppled the Taliban government and replaced it with a more moderate government.

However, allied soldiers did not manage to destroy either the Taliban or al-Qaeda. Both groups retreated into rural areas and began to recruit from the general populace. Guerilla warfare ensued and the allies and the new Afghani government failed to crush the terrorists completely. Eventually America turned its attention to Iraq, requiring that many American soldiers leave Afghanistan, giving the Taliban and al-Qaeda time to reorganize themselves.

By 2007 Taliban had gotten a stronghold in southern Afghanistan, in part thanks to help from the Pakistani government. Having completed most of the work in Iraq, NATO once again turned its attention to Afghanistan, and this time Pakistan too. U.S. forces entered Pakistan in order to chase down terrorists located there, but Pakistan protested the frequent raids, citing that the U.S. was violating

its sovereignty while the U.S. proclaimed that the attacks were necessary because the Pakistan government was unwilling to help, and the U.S. needed to protect its soldiers.

In 2009, rebels from Taliban seized control of vital areas of Pakistan and moved toward the capital, Islamabad. The government attempted to negotiate with the terrorists but failed and was forced to take military action. American President Obama applauded the action and encouraged cooperation between America, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in order to crack down on terrorism. By June 2009, America had placed 10,000 troops in Afghanistan in order to better control the situation. When the situation worsened as elections came around, Obama announced that he would increase the number of troops to 30,000.

In February 2010, thanks to cooperation between the American and Pakistani government, two top Taliban leaders were captured. President Karzai of Afghanistan tried to make a settlement with the Taliban soon afterwards, despite American protests. Karzai held a three-day peace conference in order to negotiate, but the conference was attacked by rockets, though none of the attendees were injured. In June, Obama decided to replace the current head of operations in Afghanistan with General Petraeus. On the day of Petraeus' confirmation, the Taliban launched an attack on a NATO base. The attack failed, and two soldiers were wounded and three Taliban members were killed. In August 2010, the number of American troops increased to 100,000.

On May 2, 2011, the American government put Operation Neptune Spear into action. Without the consent or knowledge of the Pakistani government, American troops invaded Osama's personal compound. Osama bin Laden was finally killed. The death was confirmed by al-Qaeda who announced that they would avenge themselves.

Obama's administration has announced that it will withdraw troops from Afghanistan and will have completely pulled out by the end of 2013.