Most of us can remember where we were on September 11, 2001 when we heard of the devastating attacks that killed 3,000 Americans including 400 heroic firefighters. On that day, 19 militants associated with the Islamic group AL-Qaeda hijacked four airliners to carry out suicide attacks on the Trade Towers in New York City and the Pentagon just outside of Washington D.C. A fourth attack failed when the plan crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
War on Terror
Immediately after the attacks, President Bush vowed to "hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts". Just several hours later, after explosions were heard in Kabul, Afghanistan CNN reported, "Afghanistan is believed to be where bin Laden, who U.S. officials say is possibly behind Tuesday's deadly attacks, is located." CNN also reported later in the evening that, President Bush addressed the nation, saying "the U.S. government will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed the acts and those who harbor them." Just one week later on September 18, 2001 Congress passed a Joint resolution authorizing the President to use "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorists attacks". he bill passed 420-1 in the house, and 98-0 in the Senate with the goal to prevent any future attacks and included any who "harbored such organizations or persons" (Public Law 107–40).Two days later on September 20th, President Bush in a special speech delivered to the nation and to the whole world, demanded that the Taliban in Afghanistan hand over the terrorist or "share in their fate". Here is an excerpt from that speech:
"And tonight, the United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban: Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of al Qaeda who hide in your land. Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens, you have unjustly imprisoned. Protect foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers in your country. Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, and hand over every terrorist, and every person in their support structure, to appropriate authorities. Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating.
These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.
I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans, and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, and every government that supports them.
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."
War in Afghanistan
The Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden or any other members of AL-Qaeda without concrete evidence of bin Laden's involvement in the September 11 attacks. The United States dismissed the request for evidence as nothing more than an attempt to buy time, and October 7th, 2001 the United States and the United Kingdom launched Operation Enduring Freedom. Operation Enduring Freedom's objective was to destroy the terrorist training camps and infrastructure in Afghanistan and capture of AL-Qaeda leaders. The operation marked the beginning of the War in Afghanistan that continued until 2014. In president Bush's 2002 State of the Union Address, he reported to Congress and the nation, that "we are winning the war on terror""Our progress is a tribute to the spirit of the Afghan people, to the resolve of our coalition, and to the might of the United States military. When I called our troops into action, I did so with complete confidence in their courage and skill. And tonight, thanks to them, we are winning the war on terror. The men and women of our Armed Forces have delivered a message now clear to every enemy of the United States: Even 7,000 miles away, across oceans and continents, on mountaintops and in caves, you will not escape the justice of this Nation."
Expanding the War on Terror
In 2001, few questioned the resolve of the President and Congress to seek justice for the treacherous acts done to the United States and it's citizens. Congress acted quickly to give the President the power to authorize military action, but in doing so they expanded the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to include "organizations and persons", not just other nations. The Joint resolution defined by Congress specifically stated that section 5b of the War Powers Resolution was being used to give the President the authority to "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001". These few words declared that the U.S. was at war with organizations and persons not a country. It authorized military action against AL-Qaida and the Taliban. Fifteen years later, in 2016 the Obama administration argued that this authorization continued to apply not only to current U.S. military actions in Afghanistan, but also in Iraq and Syria. Earlier, in 2013 President Obama gave a speech where used this law to defend his policy on drone the use of drone strikes. Obama explained that we are at war with an organization. Here is a portion of his words:"Moreover, America’s actions are legal. We were attacked on 9/11. Within a week, Congress overwhelmingly authorized the use of force. Under domestic law, and international law, 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."http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29644
http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack/
http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/bush911c.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Enduring_Freedom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%932014)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/us/politics/transcript-of-obamas-speech-on-drone-policy.html
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ40/pdf/PLAW-107publ40.pdf
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