The two defining wars of the decade have been the ‘War on Terror’ in Afghanistan and ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom.’ The main beginning of both of these wars would be 9/11. The attack on America including the both World Trade Centers in New York, as well as the Pentagon in Washington, and the lost plane over Pennsylvania, was the worst American disaster in history. The attacks killed over 3,000 innocent Americans. On September 18, 2001 President George W. Bush asked congress to declare war on those who have attacked us.
On October 7, 2001 the air raid began. US forces sent many bombers over the mountains of Afghanistan to take out the forces that occupied them and were hiding out. The main enemy was Osama bin Laden who was the head of al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda was a terrorist group that was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. After driving out the Taliban in control of the Afghan government in November of 2001 the US was able to take ahold of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Many insurgents would try to take back the capital but were unable to succeed and were driven out into the mountains for a second time.
In March of 2003, the United States and United Kingdom invaded Iraq to capture the dictator Saddam Hussein, even though Congress had not yet given permission to do so. There was great suspicion of Saddam Hussein gathering weapons of mass destruction that would put many countries in danger around the world. After 21 days of fighting, the US was able to take control of the Hussein regime and take them out of power. Although we had yet to find Hussein we had taken control and his government didn’t have to scare the Iraqi people anymore.
On December 13, 2003, US forces were tipped off by former servants and family members of Hussein and was