The attacks of September 11, 2001 changed the world as we have known it until then. Security, terrorism, economy … These attacks sparked the longest war ever waged by the United States, as well as an eventful campaign for overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq, which has also turned into a never-ending conflict A look back at some of the landmark events and changes that 9/11 brought about.
2001: The Impossible, live
On September 11, the whole world witnessed in dismay the long course of a seemingly impossible event: coordinated air attacks against the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and against the Pentagon in Washington. Almost 3,000 people lost their lives, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in history.
The response of the United States, with a George W. Bush weakened by scandals, was lightning.
In October, the first strikes against Afghanistan were launched, to “prevent the country from remaining a safe haven for Islamist Al-Qaeda terroristsA year later, Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attacks on behalf of the organization.
The Taliban, who condemned the attacks but refused to hand over bin Laden, offered little resistance.
2002: First questions on war tactics in Afghanistan
The US government decides to use the Guantanamo naval base to detain and interrogate suspected Islamists. The Guantanamo camp opened in January 2002 and, not being on American soil, it technically allows the detention and questioning of suspects outside American law. Those who passed, some 800 people, revealed the methods of psychological torture to which they were subjected.
At the time of this writing, around 50 people are still being held at Guantanamo.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban government fell within months. Subsequently, a series of interim governments will occupy power until the return of the Taliban 20 years later.
2003: End of the Iraq campaign
In 2002, and after a relatively easy military campaign in Afghanistan, the Bush administration and its allies are working hard to gather evidence to show that Iraq poses a threat to the international community. This is the famous “axis of evil“with Iran and North Korea. Saddam Hussein’s Iraq is presented as one of”sponsors of terrorism“in the world. For the Bush administration, this was an additional element of the”war on terrorism“launched the day after September 11.
Some supporters of the operation claim that Saddam Hussein harbors terrorists but this has never been confirmed. The 2003 invasion was therefore carried out on the basis of an allegation, unproven to date, that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction.
On May 1, Bush triumphantly presented himself to the world in front of a gigantic “Mission Accomplished” banner from the USS Abraham Lincoln. He never said that sentence; only the banner proclaims it. He then recognizes that a lot of work remains to be done after the invasion of Iraq and the capture of President Saddam Hussein.
2004: Europe becomes a battleground in the war on terrorism
Threats existed, but the brutal attacks in Madrid on March 11, 2004, brutally awakened Europe and turned it into a battleground in the war against terrorism.
Almost 200 people lost their lives in this attack. Other massive attacks will follow, such as those in London in 2005 and Paris in 2013. Islamist terrorism will also strike Turkey, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, among others, in the following years.
2005: elections, bombings, negotiations and more bombings in Afghanistan
Despite the relative success of the campaign in Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, negotiations with the country’s tribal leaders are proving difficult. Four years later, the country holds elections, but attacks continue on a daily basis.
2006: Saddam Hussein is tried, convicted and executed
On December 20, ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein listens to his indictment for crimes against humanity in the trial of the provisional government. He was sentenced to death and executed by hanging ten days later.
2007: The worst attack of the Iraq war, 500 dead in Qahtaniya
The end of Saddam Hussein’s regime did not end tensions in Iraq. On August 19, 2007, nearly 500 people were killed in Qahtaniya, near Mosul, in a truck bomb attack. The victims belong to the Yazidi community, a Kurdish community considered blasphemous by the Islamists. The United States accuses Al Qaeda of being responsible for the attack.
2008: Another year of fighting
Seven years after a rapid first invasion and the formation of a provisional government, fighting continues in Afghanistan. Below, a Marine responds to enemy fire in Helmand Province.
2009: new evidence of abuse by international troops
In 2009, judgment was rendered in the Blackwater trial. Employees of the private security company hired by the United States have been shown to have killed Afghan civilians. That same year, the United States did without their services.
2010: WikiLeaks unveils diplomatic cables on Iraq and Afghanistan
In 2010, the WikiLeaks website revealed details of “collateral murders“committed by the United States in Iraq. Private Chelsea Manning is arrested for allegedly one of the sources of the biggest leak in history …
Then comes the publication of tens of thousands of diplomatic cables on the actions of the US military in Afghanistan. The “war diaries“Afghans reveal, among other details,” collateral “civilian deaths, kidnappings, torture and Pakistan’s participation in the defense of the Taliban.
2011: Bin Laden captured a decade after the September 11 attacks
On May 2, 2011, Barack Obama appeared before the press to announce that Osama bin Laden was captured and killed during a special operation, ten years after the September 11 attacks. The night had been very long, interminable, in the “Situation Room”.
The United States then withdrew most of its troops from Iraq, leaving the field open to the proliferation of terrorist groups such as the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
2012: Julian Assange finds refuge in the Embassy of Ecuador
Prosecuted in the United States for treason and espionage, and indicted in Sweden and the United Kingdom on various charges – his defenders will say it is because of American pressure – Julian Assange finds refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London .
He will not leave until seven years later, in a very degraded physical and mental state. All the while, WikiLeaks has continued to publish material damaging to governments and businesses. After losing the support of the new Ecuadorian government, Julian Assange was finally arrested in 2019 by the British authorities, who still hold him.
2013: Edward Snowden denounces the fact that we can all be under surveillance
In June 2013, Edward Snowden, a former employee of the US National Security Agency (NSA), met four journalists in Hong Kong. He hands them a series of documents revealing an impressive large-scale global spy program.
The amount of intelligence documents revealed is still unknown, but the role of the United States in weaving a global spy network via the internet and mobile devices is clear.
If the original objective was to limit terrorist threats, published documents suggest that this program was also used to spy on rival political leaders, allies, or persons and entities who posed no threat to the United States.
2014: The Islamic State group declares its territory in Iraq and Syria
Under the cover of bombs and raging conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State group is growing and occupying a large swath of territory, in which it proclaims its own “caliphate”.
Alliances are forming with other international terrorist groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria.
2015: Europe discovers the plight of refugees at its gates with the terrible image of Aylan Kurdi
The influx of Syrian refugees into Europe continues unabated, but it is the image of little Aylan Kurdi, drowned and stranded on the tourist beaches of Bodrum, which has awakened Europe to the drama that is playing out in its waters territorial. This tragedy, one among many, was so echoed that it alone sparked several campaigns for European governments to welcome refugees.
2016: Europe facing the scale of the refugee tragedy
The flow of refugees continues to increase, fueling tensions in Europe over the management of migrants and giving a boost to some far-right parties in several countries. Germany and its Chancellor Angela Merkel are at the forefront of reception policies.
2017: The nightmare of migrants in Libya
As Europe and Turkey tighten entry conditions at their borders, the flow of migrants trying to reach Europe via Libya is increasing. Human traffickers commit all kinds of horrors against would-be immigrants.
2018: Western leaders consider withdrawal from Afghanistan
New President Donald Trump is in a hurry to leave Afghanistan. During his campaign, he severely criticized the wars in which the United States was engaged. He sees them as an unnecessary waste of money. At the NATO summit in July 2018, Alliance leaders discuss a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
2019: death of the head of the Islamic State
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in Barisha, Syria, in October, during a drone operation. The Trump administration then has “its” Bin Laden. The Defense Ministry is providing full details of the operation, including infrared images of the drone that destroyed the house in which the terrorist leader was located.
2020: The United States negotiates its withdrawal from Afghanistan … with the Taliban
Even if Donald Trump recently criticized Joe Biden’s strategy, the withdrawal from Afghanistan was nevertheless negotiated with the Taliban by his administration and his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The deal called for a withdrawal in May, but Mr Biden said more time was needed. The deal included guarantees that the Taliban would prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorists like those who carried out the 9/11 attacks.
Withdrawal from 2021: What now?
Twenty years after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the invasion of Afghanistan, the Western powers once again left the country in the hands of the Taliban, in great uncertainty for the population who had become accustomed to living with a little more. freedom, but never or rarely with stability.
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