Day: September 9, 2021

The U.S., Muslims, and a Turbulent Post-9/11 World | Council on Foreign Relations

Media Library

How did the 9/11 attacks affect American Muslims? Muslims were among the thousands of victims of the 9/11 attacks perpetrated by hijackers from Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yet, arguably not since the 1979 Iran hostage crisis had American Muslims experienced the kind of intense scrutiny and distrust that was unleashed after the attacks. Physical assault, emotional abuse, and discrimination, alongside an often-politicized conversation about “real Islam,” have created a toxic environment for American Muslims ever since. Although most Americans did not contribute to the idea…

The U.S., Muslims, and a Turbulent Post-9/11 World

Chin@Strategy

How did the 9/11 attacks affect American Muslims? Muslims were among the thousands of victims of the 9/11 attacks perpetrated by hijackers from Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yet, arguably not since the 1979 Iran hostage crisis had American Muslims experienced the kind of intense scrutiny and distrust that was unleashed after the attacks. More From Our Experts Physical assault, emotional abuse, and discrimination, alongside an often-politicized conversation about “real Islam,” have created a toxic environment for American Muslims ever since. Although most Americans did not…

Winning Ugly: What the War on Terror Cost America

Chin@Strategy

My first mission as a paramilitary officer with the CIA was against a top-ten al Qaeda target. It was the autumn of 2009, and I had been deployed in my new job for a total of two days. But I was no stranger to Afghanistan, having already fought there (as well as in Iraq) as a Marine Corps officer over the previous six years. On this mission, I was joined by the Afghan counterterrorism unit I advised and a handful of members from SEAL Team Six. Our plan was to…

The U.S. War in Afghanistan | Council on Foreign Relations

Media Library

September 9, 2001 A Northern Alliance Assassination Afghans carry a picture of Massoud in Kabul, Afghanistan. Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo Ahmad Shah Massoud, commander of the Northern Alliance, an anti-Taliban coalition, is assassinated by al-Qaeda operatives. The killing of Massoud, a master of guerilla warfare known as the Lion of the Panjshir, deals a serious blow to the anti-Taliban resistance. Terrorism experts believe his assassination assured bin Laden protection by the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks. Expert Peter Bergen later calls Massoud’s assassination “the curtain raiser for the attacks on New York…

Timeline: U.S. War in Afghanistan

Chin@Strategy

The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1267, creating the so-called al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee, which links the two groups as terrorist entities and imposes sanctions on their funding, travel, and arms shipments. The UN move follows a period of ascendancy for al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, who guided the terror group from Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan, in the late 1980s, to Sudan in 1991, and back to Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. The Taliban, which rose from the ashes of Afghanistan’s post-Soviet civil war, provides al-Qaeda sanctuary…

Bin Laden’s Catastrophic Success: Al Qaeda Changed the World—but Not in the Way It Expected

Chin@Strategy

On September 11, 2001, al Qaeda carried out the deadliest foreign terrorist attack the United States had ever experienced. To Osama bin Laden and the other men who planned it, however, the assault was no mere act of terrorism. To them, it represented something far grander: the opening salvo of a campaign of revolutionary violence that would usher in a new historical era. Although bin Laden was inspired by religion, his aims were geopolitical. Al Qaeda’s mission was to undermine the contemporary world order of nation-states and re-create the historical…

The 9/11 Effect and the Transformation of Global Security

Chin@Strategy

The New World of Surveillance The 9/11 attacks fundamentally reshaped the U.S. intelligence community and those of many of its close allies. In the words of a former CIA station chief, the CIA underwent a massive transformation—from gathering to hunting. This new mission supported an emphasis on kinetic counterterrorism, enshrined in the 2002 U.S. National Security Strategy, with its determination to “disrupt and destroy terrorist organizations of global reach.” The global war on terror required a shift in surveillance targets from traditional state threats and their militaries to much more…

Timeline: How 9/11 Reshaped Foreign Policy

Chin@Strategy

In a speech before the UN General Assembly, Bush delivers an ultimatum to Saddam’s government, which he calls a “grave and gathering danger.” He accuses Iraq of violating a slew of UN Security Council resolutions dating back to 1991, including its obligations to destroy all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and allow weapons inspectors unfettered access to facilities. He also says Iraq has refused to end its support for terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, whose members Bush says “are known to be in Iraq” despite U.S. intelligence doubts. He warns that…

When Dictators Find God

Chin@Strategy

What is the 21st century going to be about? If you had asked me 20 years ago, on, say, Sept. 10, 2001, I would have had a clear answer: advancing liberalism. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of apartheid, Deng Xiaoping’s reforms in China, a set of values seemed to be on the march — democracy, capitalism, egalitarianism, individual freedom. Then over the ensuing decades, democracy’s spread was halted and then reversed. Authoritarians in China, Central and Eastern Europe and beyond wielded power. We settled into the…

Hong Kong police raid museum commemorating 1989 Tiananmen victims

Chin@Strategy

HONG KONG, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Hong Kong police on Thursday raided the premises of the closed June 4th Museum, dedicated to the victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The raid came hours after a dozen pro-democracy activists pleaded guilty of knowingly participating in an unauthorised assembly during last year’s June 4 anniversary, when rallies were banned by police, citing the coronavirus. The 2021 vigil was banned for similar reasons. The reason for the raid was unclear. Police did not immediately reply…