The Global War On Terror

Since September 2001, the United States has waged what the government initially called the global war on terrorism (GWOT). Beginning in late 2005 and early 2006, the term Long War began to appear in U.S. security documents such as the National Security Council's National Strategy for Victory in Iraq and in statements by the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the JCS. The description Long War—unlimited in time and space and continuing for decades—is closer to reality and more useful than GWOT. Colonel Robert Cassidy argues that this protracted struggle is more correctly viewed as a global insurgency and counterinsurgency. Al Qaeda and its affiliates, he maintains, comprise a novel and evolving form of networked insurgents who operate globally, harnessing the advantages of globalization and the information age. They employ terrorism as a tactic, subsuming terror within their overarching aim of undermining the Western-dominated system of states. Placing the war against al Qaeda and its allied groups and organizations in the context of a global insurgency has vital implications for doctrine, interagency coordination, and military cultural change-all reviewed in this important work. Cassidy combines the foremost maxims of the most prominent Western philosopher of war and the most renowned Eastern philosopher of war to arrive at a threefold theme: know the enemy, know yourself, and know what kind of war you are embarking upon. To help readers arrive at that understanding, he first offers a distilled analysis of al Qaeda and its associated networks, with a particular focus on ideology and culture. In subsequent chapters, he elucidates the challenges big powers face when they prosecute counterinsurgencies, using historical examples from Russian, American, British, and French counterinsurgent wars before 2001. The book concludes with recommendations for the integration and command and control of indigenous forces and other agencies.

The signal events opening the global war on terrorism were the attacks of September 11. The world media began to focus on one of the terrorist groups, al-Qaeda, a well-funded terrorist organisation headquartered in Afghanistan or Pakistan with offshoots in many countries. America has turned out to be the primary target of Al-Qaeda. America's first response was the attack on Afghanistan and the establishing of a puppet government. Next America attacked Iraq under the guise of a response to terrorism although no connection has been proven or even alleged except by hardcore neocons aligned with certain elements in the Washington power establishment. This new book pierces the veil of disinformation with frank assessments of the progress or lack thereof of the war on terrorism.

Presenting the reader with provocative articles that critically examine the morality of the war on terrorism as it has evolved over the past eight years, this book consists of articles that effectively address specific aspects of the war on terrorism that are missing or underrepresented in ethical discourse since 9/11

The cataclysmic events of September 11, 2001 destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, and later the Pentagon, was attacked by al Qaeda terrorists. The US government responded by invading Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, and the global war on terror had begun. The US and the UK would then invade Iraq on March 20th, 2003, supposedly to stop Saddam Husseins WMD and the Iraqi regimes alleged ties to al Qaeda. The Global War On Terror provides a thorough analysis of 9/11, the Iraq War, the occupation of Iraq, the British role in Iraq, the expansion of the al Qaeda network, and the breakdown of Iraq into sectarian war. The Global War on Terror exposes the underlying political substructure to reveal: o How both the FBI and CIA failed to understand the al Qaeda terrorist plot on 9/11 and failed to stop al Qaeda. o How the Bush administration actually planned the invasion of Iraq before 9/11. o How the Pentagons Office of Special Plans exaggerated both Iraqs WMD threat and the alleged connection between al Qaeda and the Hussein regime. o How American and British casualty levels greatly increased during the occupation of Iraq after combat operations ended with regard to the regime change in Iraq. o How Iraq became a breeding ground for terrorism, and how the Taliban would regroup in Afghanistan. o How the Blair government would attempt to sanitize the David Kelly scandal and how intelligence operations were manipulated concerning the British invasion of Iraq. o How the Plame-gate affair would expose the Bush administrations intricate web of deceit in regard to the alleged Niger uranium and the role Vice President Dick Cheneys office played in the scandal. o How the global war on terror would begin to unravel in Iraq amid the breakdown of Iraq into civil war and chaos.

"The book presents a case that caused abundant arguments between the West & Islam after 09/11/2001. They are the allegations against a lot of the Charity and Humanitarian Organizations which had been accused for supporting Terrorism. Never-the-less (sic) the book replies scientifically to the big question, Does the Islam and it's organizations are new enemies (sic)? Strugglers and wrestler? or competitors. 09/11 had put on the track a new enemy, which led to designation of administrative arrangements, legal measures and political view points that are hardly changeable or can get rid of their legality, even under the changing governmental official-administration. Consequently the unemployment, the poverty and the diseases had increased so much. Most of people and minorities, countries, liberties and the civil rights became innocent victims to an endless war and undetermined delusive enemy and eventually slaughtered the peace-pigeons" -- Amazon.com.

On 20 September 2001, in an address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American people, President George W Bush declared a 'war on terror'. The concept of the 'war on terror' has proven to be both an attractive and a potent rhetorical device. It has been adopted and elaborated upon by political leaders around the world, particularly in the context of military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. But use of the rhetoric has not been confined to the military context. The 'war on terror' is a domestic one, also, and the phrase has been used to account for broad criminal legislation, sweeping agency powers and potential human rights abuses throughout much of the world. This collection seeks both to draw on and to engage critically with the metaphor of war in the context of terrorism. It brings together a group of experts from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany who write about terrorism from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including international law and international relations, public and constitutional law, criminal law and criminology, legal theory, and psychology and law.