KATHMANDU: The 9/11 coordinated attacks perpetrated by global al-Qaeda terrorists in the United States on the 11th of September, 2001 (9/11) has been one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the U.S. history.
Exactly 19 years ago two planes destroyed the symbolic Twin Towers in New York and partly destroyed Pentagon, and the United States and the world continue to remember the lives lost that day.
The grand vision to set forth after the destruction has been realized as American’s ideas of what terrorism is remains tied to that particular day.
In the particular morning of 9/11, as many as 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four American commercial aircraft and crashed into the World Trade Center (South and North towers) in New York, the Pentagon (headquarters of the United States Department of Defense) in Washington DC.
Another plane was crashed in Pennsylvania without reaching the target.
The devastating attacks killed as many as 3,000 people. More than 6,000 were wounded in a single day terrorist carnage in the United States.
The scope and scale of the terrorist threat to the U.S. were multiplied following Al-Qaeda’s bombing on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
The series of coordinated suicide attacks by the global terrorist group Al Qaeda in the heart of the world’s superpower was indeed shocking.
America’s worst attacks moment was live on television stations and fast circulated on the internet throughout the world. What happened on that particular day shook the entire world.
The invisible terrorist network of al-Qaeda and its coordinated terrorist attacks on the U.S. has had a significant change in the understanding of terrorism in the modern-day.
What should be noted with emphasis is that the Islamic terrorist suspects were under the radar since the 1990s by multiple U.S. agencies after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The scope and scale of the terrorist threat to the U.S. were multiplied following Al-Qaeda’s bombing on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
The massive bombing on USS Cole (U.S. Navy destroyer) in Yemen in October 2000 at Aden, Yemen was an alarm bell to U.S. terrorism threats that cannot be ignored.
“The war on terror” itself was a very high-risk mission than any idealistic aspiration. Preemptive strike and offensive measures became the U.S. strategy to contain global terrorist networks.
After embassy bombings, realizing the growing threats of al-Qaeda, the US formed a dedicated al-Qaeda track team to constantly monitor their activities.
The team persuasively investigated the al-Qaeda terrorist network, plans and strategies, terrorist plots, training camps, leadership, resources, connections, communications, and other necessary components to ‘connect the dots’ of all al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Despite limited mandate and out of public knowledge before the 9/11, the team had made several strategies to carry out the high-risk mission to eliminate future threats.
Coordinated terrorist attacks on the U.S. look slim but fears remain. Recurrence of the 9/11 like attacks is unlikely but terrorist groups certainly have interests, ambitions and aspirations.
The U.S. had been receiving unspecific warning signs of al-Qaeda’s possible threats in their soil.
A large scale attack on the U.S. was anticipated before 9/11 but the U.S. agencies had never assumed of facing such a magnitude of the attack, coordinated plans, strategy, or ambitions by the invisible adversary of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Following the attacks, the Bush administration was aflame to take the toughest measures to counter terrorism threats.
Aggressive highly classified anti-terror apparatus and methods were formulated to wage the “Global War on Terror” to eliminate future threats.
The U.S. Counterterrorism approach following 9/11
There was a general understanding or conception that such incidents would never happen again in their homeland.
Skepticism with or without accurate information, evidence, expertise, and relevant times can sometimes be hard enough to judge the actual outcome.
What has to be emphatically noted is that to defeat an adaptive terrorist aspiration, it needs extremely capable and relentless strategies on different fronts.
Following the terrorist attack, the U.S. adopted a wider counterterrorism strategy such as global cooperation with allies and partners, formulating various tools to limit terrorists’ ability including cyber, financial, travel, rigorous scrutiny on all aspects of foreigners including visa applications and pattern of travel.
“The war on terror” itself was a very high-risk mission than any idealistic aspiration. Preemptive strike and offensive measures became the U.S. strategy to contain global terrorist networks.
The country set up new rules of global engagement with al-Qaeda including covert action to hunt down Al Qaeda’s leadership. Less than two weeks of attacks, the U.S. waged a new kind of war against its ‘invisible enemy’ in Afghanistan.
To recall, the Bush administration also launched a costly war in Iraq to oust Saddam as part of the “War against Terror.”
The United States also formulated a broader counterterrorism approach by forming a partnership with different countries and societies and ascertained absolute new security and information environment realizing that merely conventional capabilities were not adequate to deal with extremely difficult global manhunt campaigns.
The U.S gradually achieved stunning successes in its initial counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan but eventually proved to be the longest and costly war in history.
U.S. engagement in two costly wars following 9/11
In what can be dubbed as a direct military response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and its part of the “Global War on Terror”, U.S. President George W. Bush announced ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ on October 7, 2001.
The U.S. and its allied forces carried out military intervention to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which hosted al-Qaeda core.
As a strategy to end the relentless war and lessen the burden, the U.S tried to make negotiations with the Taliban as it thought negotiation for a durable political solution was the only solution for a stable Afghanistan.
In the process, the coalition forces intensified airstrikes on al-Qaeda and Taliban targets for 5 days in Afghanistan. The Taliban lost almost all its strongholds on December 7 and as a result, the al-Qaeda leadership was compelled to flee to Pakistan.
The operation primarily aimed at killing or capturing al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was unsuccessful during the initial operation but succeeded in expelling the entire al-Qaeda and Taliban network from the Afghan territory.
After failing to establish an effective government in Kabul and to wage a proxy battle against the U.S., the Taliban saw its resurgence after a few years of toppling from power.
Despite the U.S. counterterrorism efforts, local forces in Afghanistan failed to contain the Taliban which had gained momentum since 2016.
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. took a lot of essential measures to foil the possible imminent terrorist attacks. The anti-terrorism measures, including the “enhanced interrogation techniques” was widely debated.
Taliban even operated its parallel government in a large portion of rural Afghanistan.
America was desperate to settle the political situation in Afghanistan and was equally desperate to end the longest war.
The U.S. & its allies had mostly withdrawn their troops to handover the internal security responsibility to Afghan forces.
However, their presence in the country carried out a special military mission to support the Afghan forces. The U.S. forces mostly focused on the fight against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Afghanistan in recent years rather than fighting against the Taliban militant group.
As a strategy to end the relentless war and lessen the burden, the U.S tried to make negotiations with the Taliban as it thought negotiation for a durable political solution was the only solution for a stable Afghanistan.
The US also wants to return its forces to the country. The result of the reconciliation efforts will now depend on power-sharing and the Taliban’s entire separation with al-Qaeda and other global terrorist networks due to which uncertainty loom large. However, peace talks are going to happen in Qatar’s capital of Doha.
To recall, the Bush administration also launched a costly war in Iraq to oust Saddam as part of the “War against Terror.”
The Bush Administration announced ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ on 19 March 2003 which later toppled the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
Amid a ‘shock and awe’, the US military response succeeded in toppling the brutal tyrant. However, the US failed to devise a post-conflict solution.
The U.S-led coalition has also eliminated the Islamic State jihadists’ self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq as well as its regional affiliates in South Asia to Africa.
Failure to manage the aftermath of war and initiatives led to the destabilization of Iraq which subsequently became the hot spot of the global terror network, including the Islamic State. Series of terror attacks, turmoil, and the cycle of violence aftermath are still regular affairs in Iraq.
Global terrorism threats remain
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. took a lot of essential measures to foil the possible imminent terrorist attacks. The anti-terrorism measures, including the “enhanced interrogation techniques” was widely debated.
Skepticism with or without accurate information, evidence, expertise, and relevant times can sometimes be hard enough to judge the actual outcome.
Other alternative lenses and approaches will only make the issue more complex. The U.S. agencies learned many lessons on those “complex engagements” against terrorist groups.
Despite different controversies, the US prevented large-scale terrorist attacks in the country.
Any coordinated terrorist attacks on the U.S. look slim but fears remain. Recurrence of the 9/11 like attacks is unlikely but terrorist groups certainly have interests, ambitions and aspirations.
Terrorist group’s imminent threat capabilities against the U.S. have been overstated but resurge and future threats cannot be ruled out if completely ignored or allowing them to raise their heads.
Terrorist groups have set challenges to the U.S. interests as counterterrorism remains a top priority of the U.S.
Counterterrorism remains U.S. top priority
The U.S. has largely dismantled the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda’s international network. However, this does not mean that terrorism threats are far from over. The threat of terrorism has not gone away and the U.S. is still expanding its counter-terrorism operations in different ways by focusing on strengthening the local agencies.
The U.S. special forces in South Asia, Middle East and Africa are still targeting dangerous terrorist leaders in the region.
Global terrorist groups remain an issue of concern as they continue plotting propaganda and inspiring to attack the U.S. or its overseas interests.
The U.S-led coalition has also eliminated the Islamic State jihadists’ self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq as well as its regional affiliates in South Asia to Africa.
Despite all positive indications and the success in erasing the terrorists’ epicenters in recent years, terrorism can resurge anytime.
The Jihadist groups’ territorial ambitions and ideologies have been weakened along with its military strength and the ability for failing to endure the global counterterrorism pressure.
Global terrorist groups remain an issue of concern as they continue plotting propaganda and inspiring to attack the U.S. or its overseas interests.
The fight against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State and the triumph in the battlefield by regaining their large portion of the stronghold and capturing senior leadership is a significant milestone for the U.S on its counterterrorism effort.
Such terrorist groups’ efforts to expand their footprint have been thwarted but the activities of their affiliates continue.
The terrorist groups’ affiliates remain active in the Middle East, North Africa, the sub-Saharan region and some countries in South Asia.
Despite falling drastically, global terrorist groups remain active to inspire and recruit people from all over the world.
Global terrorist groups still tend to expand their loose networks in various parts of the world and are actively involved in deliberating campaigns against the U.S., inspiring other jihadi groups or local insurgencies, managing financing network chain, and operating training camps.
Combatting the terrorist ideologies are still not effective as they try to motivate, recruit and radicalize at this digital age.
The Al-Qaeda core, Islamic State, and their affiliated groups’ capabilities have weakened due to the effectiveness of the U.S. counter-terrorism efforts.
The counterterrorism efforts of the United States and its involvement is far beyond today’s publicly available information. What is needed is the staunchness to fight against terror.
However, what has to be realized is that the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State are not only a group or an organization as they are resilient global terrorist networks that operate under the shadow. They do not have a fully Central Command-and-Control-authority or mechanism but its radical ideology and networks can exploit any crisis or vulnerabilities in the Muslim world.
Global terrorist groups still tend to expand their loose networks in various parts of the world and are actively involved in deliberating campaigns against the U.S., inspiring other jihadi groups or local insurgencies, managing financing network chain, and operating training camps.
They attract a handful of recruits for the next generation of jihadists and other terrorist tactics that could impact the phenomenon of global terrorism.
The U.S. has been investing huge resources against its counterterrorism effort. However, not many significant achievements have been made on the ground.
The counter-terrorism effort needs coordination among domestic, regional to international partners.
The U.S. assistance, investigations and training are still crucial to various nations’ counter-terrorism efforts.
A single wrong assumption could have a catastrophic consequence in the counter-terrorism sector as it requires multiple efforts to block from its source to the governance in the Muslim world.
Weak states do not have the ability to successfully carry out counterterrorism operations to mobilize all walks of life.
Such countries lack proper training, necessary equipment, and devices, joint investigation mechanism, cross-country information sharing system, travelers’ screening, database access, financial intelligence and anti-money laundering efforts, counter-propaganda narratives, ideologies battles, and other various components required to combat the global terrorist network.
One cannot measure the success of counter-terrorism efforts but can have an immediate impact on the failure.
Conventional warfare against terrorism cannot be succeeded with arrests or disruptions of the terrorist plans and plots.
A single wrong assumption could have a catastrophic consequence in the counter-terrorism sector as it requires multiple efforts to block from its source to the governance in the Muslim world.
Terrorism threat is not only limited to the United States. However, what should not be ignored is that it has made a heavy investment to create a stable state from extremist threats to deploy all forms of power in various parts of the world.
The counterterrorism efforts of the United States and its involvement is far beyond today’s publicly available information. What is needed is the staunchness to fight against terror.
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