A Review of American Counterterrorism Policies in Afghanistan and Iraq (2001

Abstract

The aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks on United States (U.S.) soil led to the U.S. invasion of both Afghanistan and Iraq as part of its counterterrorism policies. This article explores if these policies succeeded or failed. It further reviews the counterterrorism policies of three U.S. presidents, that is, Bush, Obama, and Trump from 2001 to 2021. The article utilizes the Frustration Aggression Theory to analyze the U.S.’ decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq as well as to why the country faces a threat of terrorism based on radical Islam. It uses qualitative analysis, historical reviews, case studies, and empirical data assessment to investigate the subject matter. The article concludes by calling the U.S. not to completely leave the Middle East, despite having previously removed its military infrastructure from Afghanistan and Iraq. The article warns that to abandon the two countries completely would provide terrorists a secure location to plan their assaults, putting the U.S. and its Western allies at jeopardy and compromising 20 years of counterterrorism efforts.

Keywords

America counterterrorism Afghanistan Iraq September 11 attacks

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abu Khalil

(2004). The battle for Saudi Arabia: Royalty, fundamentalism, and global power. Seven Stories Press.

Agathangelou

A. M.

Ling

L. H. M.

(2004). Power, borders, security, wealth: Lessons of violence and desire from September 11. International Studies Quarterly, 48(3), 517–538. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0020-8833.2004.00313.x

American Foreign Service Association . (2023). East Africa embassy bombings, 25 years later: Reflections from ambassadors prudence bushnell and john E. Lange. Foreign Service Journal. https://afsa.org/east-africa-embassybombings-25-years-later-reflections-ambassadors-prudence-bushnell-and-john-e

Amstutz

J. B.

(1986). Afghanistan: The first five years of Soviet occupation: National Defense University Press.

Arab Center Washington DC . (2024). Arab public opinion about israel’s war on Gaza. https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/arab-public-opinion-about-israels-war-on-gaza/

Badey

T. J.

(2006). U.S. counterterrorism: Change in approach, continuity in policy. Contemporary Security Policy, 27(2), 308–324. https://doi.org/10.1080/13523260600821491

Baker

J. A.

Hamilton

L. H.

(2006). The Iraq study group report. The way forward – A new approach. Vintage Books.

Bandara

S. U.

Dissanayake

(2021) (In this issue). Tribalism and radicalization: A critical review on marketing and branding practices in developing social cohesion. Technium Social Science Journal, 16, 420–437.

Bar

(2004). The religious sources of Islamic terrorism. In: The Theory and Practice of Islamic Terrorism. Springer Nature.

10.

Barakat

(2022). Top terrorist leaders killed in US operations since 9/11 attack. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/top-terrorist-leaders-killed-inus-operations-since-9-11-attack/2651437

11.

Bearden

(2001). Afghanistan, graveyard of empires. Foreign Affairs.

12.

Berkowitz

(1939). Affective aggression: The role of stress, pain, and negative affect. In Geen si E

R. G.

Dollard

(Eds.), Human aggression: Theories, research, and implications for social policy (pp. 49–72). Academic Press.

13.

Bhatty

Hoffman

(2001). Afghanistan crisis of impunity: The role of Pakistan, Russia, and Iran in fuelling the civil war. In Human right watch report. Human Rights Watch.

14.

Bilmes

L. J.

(2014). The financial legacy of Afghanistan and Iraq: How wartime spending decisions will constrain future U.S. national security budgets. The economics of peace and security. Journal, 9(1), 5. https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.9.1.5

15.

Bolan

C. J.

(2021). Twenty years after 9/11: Implications for US policy in the Middle East. Strategic Studies Institute, United States Army War College.

16.

Bucknam

Esquivel

(2001). Saddam hussein and the Iran-Iraq war. National War College.

17.

Carlotta

(2014). What Pakistan knew about Bin Laden. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/magazine/what-pakistan-knew-about-bin-laden.html

18.

Clarke

(2023). Tech-savvy terrorism: The evolution of violent extremism in a digital age. The Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research. https://chacr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Tech-savvy-terrorism.pdf

19.

Congressional Research Service . (2025). Afghanistan: Background and U.S. policy in brief. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45122

20.

Copson

R. W.

(2003). Iraq war: Background and overview. Report for congress. Congressional Research Service.

21.

Cordesman

A. H.

(2021). America and 9/11: The real-world impact of terrorism and extremism. American Foreign Service Association. https://afsa.org/america-and-911-real-world-impact-terrorism-and-extremism

22.

Crawford

N. C.

(2018). Human cost of the Post-9/11 wars: Lethality and the need for transparency. Watson institute. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2018/Human_Costs%2C_Nov_8_2018_CoW.pdf

23.

Dagher

Kaltenthaler

(2023). The United States is rapidly losing Arab hearts and minds through Gaza war, while competitors benefit. Washington Institute. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/united-states-rapidly-losing-arab-hearts-and-minds-through-gaza-war-while

24.

Department of Homeland Security . (2024). Homeland threat assessment. Office of intelligence and analysis. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/23_0913_ia_23-333-ia_u_homeland-threat-assessment-2024_508C_V6_13Sep23.pdf

25.

Department of State . (1999). The Taliban's record on UNSC resolution 1267 (1999). Factsheet. https://1997-2001.state.gov/regions/sa/fact_sheet_taliban.html

26.

Department of Treasury . (2022). 2022 national terrorist financing risk assessment. https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/2022-National-Terrorist-Financing-Risk-Assessment.pdf

27.

Dillon

M. R.

(2009). Wahhabism: Is it a factor in the spread of global terrorism? Masters Thesis: Naval Postgraduate School.

28.

Dollard

Miller

N. E.

Doob

L. W.

Mowrer

O. H.

Sears

R. R.

(1939). Frustration and aggression. Yale University Press.

29.

Dorronsoro

, (2007). Kabul at war (1992-1996): State, ethnicity and social classes. South Asia multidisciplinary academic journal, free-standing articles. https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/212

30.

EU Agency for Asylum . (2023). Asylum report 2023. https://doi.org/10.2847/82162

31.

Fareha

(2010). Challenges of teaching English in the Arab world: Why can't EFL programs deliver as expected? WCES-2010, department of English language and literature. University of Sharjah.

32.

Farouk-Sluglett

Sluglett

Stork

(1984). Not quite armageddon: Impact of the war on Iraq. MERIP Reports, (125/126), 22–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/3012200

33.

FBI (n. d). East African embassy bombings. Famous cases and criminals. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/east-african-embassy-bombings

34.

Fivecoat

D. G.

(2012). Leaving the graveyard: The soviet union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters, 42(2), 2632. https://doi.org/10.55540/0031-1723.2632

35.

Galster

(2001). Volume II: Afghanistan: Lessons from the last war. Afghanistan: The making of U.S. policy, 1973-1990. The national security archive. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/essay.html

36.

Gause

F. G.

(2001). Iraq and the Gulf war: Decision-making in Baghdad. University of Vermont.

37.

Ghufran

(2006). Afghan refugees in Pakistan current situation and future scenario. Policy Perspectives, 3(2), 83–104.

38.

Glas

Spierings

(2021). Connecting contextual and individual drivers of anti-americanism in Arab countries. Political Studies, 69(3), 686–708. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321720923261

39.

Gunaratna

(2017). Strategic counter-terrorism: A game changer in fighting terrorism? Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, 9(6), 1–5. https://www.jstor.org/stable/e26351522.26351522

40.

Haidu

F. A.

&Vlaicu

(2019). Psychological theories of aggression: Critical perspective. Journal of education. Society & Multiculturalism. https://www.jesm.ro/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/7.ClaudiaVlaicu_JESM-2019-converted.pdf

41.

Harris

Beaumont

(2006). Iraq war created a terrorist flood, American spymasters warn Bush. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/sep/24/usa.iraq

42.

Hiro

(1991) The longest war: the Iran-Iraq military conflict. Routledge.

43.

Hoodbhoy

(2005). Afghanistan and the genesis of global jihad. Peace Research, 37(1), 15–30. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24469676

44.

Hufbauer

G. C.

Schott

J. J.

Oegg

(2016). Policy brief: Using sanctions to fight terrorism. The Peterson Institute for International Economics.

45.

Human Right Watch (n. d). Backgrounder on Afghanistan: History of the war. https://www.hrw.org/legacy/backgrounder/asia/afghan-bck1023.pdf

46.

International Crisis Group . (2016). Exploiting disorder: Al-Qaeda and the Islamic state. https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/exploiting-disorder-al-qaeda-andthe-islamic-state_0.pdf

47.

Israeli

(2023). US invasion of Iraq, 2003: Indirect link of ISIS rising. Contemporary Review of the Middle East, 10(2), 188–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/23477989221150678

48.

Jadoon

Yon

R. M.

Rice

D. J.

(2024). Carrot or stick, or both? Examining U.S. presidents' use of counterterrorism tools in Pakistan, 2001–2020. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 54(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12870

49.

Jensen

Klunder

(2001). Saddam hussein’s grand strategy during the Iran-Iraq war. National War College.

50.

Kalinovsky

(2011). A long goodbye: The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harvard University Press.

51.

Karsh

Rautsi

(1991). Saddam hussein: A political biography. Free Press.

52.

Kitenge

S. Y.

(2024). The US strategy against terrorism in the twenty-first century: Results and consequences in the context of Afghanistan and Iraq (Master’s Thesis, Μaster in international relations, strategy and security. School of Social Science and Humanities, Neapolis University Pafos).

53.

Kohut

(2005). Arab and Muslim perceptions of the United States. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2005/11/10/arab-andmuslim-perceptions-of-the-united-states/

54.

Koplik

(2015). World war iI’s impact on Afghanistan. A Political and Economic History of the Jews of Afghanistan, 54, 137–184. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004292383_007

55.

Kurjiaka

K. M.

(1991). The Iraqi use of chemical weapons against the kurds: A case study in the regulation of chemical weapons in international law. Penn State International Law Review, 9(1). Article 6.

56.

Layne

(1991). Why the Gulf war was not in the national interests. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/91jul/layne.htm

57.

Marine Corps Institute . (2003). Iraq: An introduction to the country and people. Marine Barracks.

58.

Minkov

Smolynec

(2007). Economic development in Afghanistan during the Soviet period, 1979-1989: Lessons learned from the Soviet experience. Afghanistan. TM 2007-35 DRDC, Centre for Operational Research and Analysis.

59.

Mohammed

Landay

(2023). U.S. grapples with forces unleashed by Iraq invasion 20 years later. https://kfgo.com/2023/03/16/u-s-grapples-with-forces-unleashed-by-iraq-invasion-20-years-later/

60.

Muasher

(2011). The Arab education revolution. In: National interest. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/2011/11/28/arab-education-revolution-pub-46069

61.

National Security Archive . (2008). 1998 missile strikes on bin Laden may have backfired. Extensive 1999 Report on Al-Qaeda Threat Released by U.S. Dept of Energy. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB253/index.htm

62.

NATO . (2023). Countering terrorism. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_77646.htm

63.

Palkki

D. D.

Rubin

(2021). Saddam Hussein’s role in the gassing of halabja. The Nonproliferation Review, 28(1–3), 115–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/10736700.2020.1795600

64.

Pape

(2010). It’s the occupation, stupid. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/10/18/its-the-occupation-stupid/

65.

PBS . (2021). A historical timeline of Afghanistan. PBS Newshour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/asia-jan-june11-timeline-afghanistan

66.

Pomerantz

S. L.

(1987). FBI and terrorism. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, pp. 11.

67.

Rabasa

A. M.

Waxman

Larson

E. V.

(2004). The Muslim world after 9/11. Rand Project Air Force. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2004/RAND_MG246.pdf

68.

Reiter

(2005). Preventive attacks against nuclear programs and the ‘‘SUCCESS’’ at Osiraq. The Nonproliferation Review, 12(No 2), 355–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/10736700500379008

69.

Robbins

(1988). Iraq in the gulf war: Objectives, strategies, and problems. In Maull

H. W.

Pick

(Eds.), The gulf war: Regional and international dimensions (p. 47): St. Martin’s Press.

70.

Rubin

B. R.

(1989a). The fragmentation of Afghanistan. Foreign Affairs. Winter 1989/1990.

71.

Rubin

B. R.

(1998b). Testimony on the situation in Afghanistan before the United States Senate committee on foreign relations. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/report/testimony-situation-afghanistan-united-states-senate-committee-foreign-relations

72.

Rubin

B. R.

(2002a). The fragmentation of Afghanistan (Second Edition). Yale University Press.

73.

Rubin

(2002b). Who is responsible for the Taliban? Middle East Review of International Affairs, 6(1). https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/meria/rum02_01.pdf

74.

Saikal

(1998). The rabbani government, 1992-1996. In Maley

(Ed.), Fundamentalism reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban (p. 33): New York University Press.

75.

Schmid

(2004). Terrorism - The definitional problem. Case Western Reserve Journal International Law, 36(2), 375. https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/jil/vol36/iss2/8

76.

Schweitzer

Oreg

(2014). Global jihad: Religious ideology and historical development. In Al-Qaeda’s odyssey to the global jihad (pp. 15–32). Institute for National Security Studies.

77.

Shah

Chopra

(2012). The civilian impact of drone strikes: Unexamined costs, unanswered questions. Center for Civilians in Conflict (Formerly CIVIC) and Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School.

78.

Simuziya

N. J.

(2023). The (il)legality of the Iraq war of 2003: An analytical review of the causes and justifications for the US-led invasion. Cogent Social Sciences, 9(1), Article 2163066. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2163066

79.

Smith

Holmes

Larkin

(2021). Health trends among 9/11 responders from 2011–2021: A review of world trade center health program statistics. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 36(5), 621–626. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X21000881

80.

Smith

(2001). The end of the unipolar moment: September 11 and the future of world order. https://items.ssrc.org/after-september-11/the-end-of-the-unipolar-moment-september-11-and-the-future-of-world-order/

81.

Stimson . (2018). Counterterrorism spending: Protecting America while promoting efficiencies and accountability. Stimson Study Group on Counterterrorism Spending.

82.

Thaler

(2004). The Middle East: The cradle of the Muslim world. In The Muslim world after 9/11 (1st ed., pp. 69–146). RAND Corporation.

83.

Trump

(2018). Letter to congressional leaders on the global deployment of United States combat-equipped armed forces. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-201800838/html/DCPD-201800838.htm

84.

UNDP . (2002). Human development report 2002: Deepening democracy in a fragmented world. UNDP.

85.

U.S. Government Publishing Office . (2009). Tora bora revisited: How we failed to get Bin Laden and why it matters today: A report to members of the committee on foreign relations, United States senate. U.S. Government Publishing Office. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CPRT-111SPRT53709/html/CPRT-111SPRT53709.htm

86.

Watson

(2002). The terrorist threats confronting the United States. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/the-terrorist-threat-confronting-the-united-states

87.

White House (2006). National strategy for combating terrorism of the United States of America. National security council.

88.

White House . (2018). The national strategy for counterterrorism of the United States of America. https://www.dni.gov/files/NCTC/documents/news_documents/NSCT.pdf

89.

Wright

D. P.

Bird

J. R.

Clay

S. E.

Connors

P. W.

Farquhar

S. C.

Garcia

L. C.

Van Wey

D. F.

(2010). A different kind of war: The United States army in operation enduring freedom (OEF), October 2001–September 2005. United States Army, Combat Studies Institute.

90.

Wright

McCants

(2017). The jihadi threat, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and beyond. United States Institute of Peace and Wilson Center.

A Review of American Counterterrorism Policies in Afghanistan and Iraq (2001–2021): Success or Failure?

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References