Have you heard the name Osama Bin Laden? Between the years 1992 and 1995, Osama Bin Laden inspired many of his associates to carry out their own attacks. In 1998 the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization executed their first major terrorist operation, mainly because Bin Laden lost his base in Sudan.
A few years later, only nine months into George W. Bush’s presidency, September 11, 2001 would become etched into the history books as the deadliest terrorist attack in human history. Nineteen members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization led by Osama Bin Laden hijacked four planes, killing over around 3,000 people. Two planes were flown into the Twin Towers located in New York City. The third plane crashed into the west side of the Pentagon located in outside of Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania, never reaching its intended target, the White House or U.S. Capitol.
The attacks generated large-scale U.S. initiatives to fight terrorism. On September 20, 2001, in a speech to a joint session of Congress, former President George W. Bush stated: “Any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.” Less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, Operation Enduring Freedom, a.k.a The War on Terror, was launched on October 7, 2001. The Taliban refused to hand over terrorist and shut down their training camps, so George W. Bush declared war. President Bush launched the operation in hopes of putting an end to all terrorist groups and he vowed it would not end until every organization has been found, stopped, and defeated. The War on Terror included the War in Iraq and the Afghanistan War. The War on Terror would cost the United States to go into $2.4 trillion debt for the Fiscal Year of 2020.