Terror attacks are now basically treated like bad weather events in Europe.

The war on terror should have never happened. It was another imperialist war by the west. It was orchestrated for years beforehand by the deep state who needed a new boogie man after the USSR fell, they at first tried out Cuba and Yugoslavia (who they saw as two cold war holdouts) but neither gained popular support. Then they caught a lucky break after goading Bin Laden into attacking (the US funded him in the 70's if you remember). Now suddenly the "war on terror" is over now that the military industrial complex sees China as its next threat to its hegemony, despite the fact that Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and other nations are now in ruins because of the neocons.

George Bush first used the term ['war on terror'] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_terror) while speaking to the US Congress after the 9/11 attacks. In this speech, he described the enemy in this war as the "radical framework of terrorists and every government that supports them". He was essentially beginning an anti-terrorism campaign in response to the September 11th attacks, which were carried out by [militants associated with the group al-Qaeda] (https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacks) - though the campaign claimed to be concerned not just with al-Qaeda but with all militant extremist organisations. It is more of a campaign than war because of its [multidimensional nature] (https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/war-on-terror-timeline). It centrally involved US military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as covert operations in other countries. **Did the West win the 'War on Terror'?** You could conceivably argue that they did: - In one sense, there hasn't been an attack on US soil that matches the scope of 9/11 since 2001. And the first few years of Bush's campaign seemed successful - many of al-Qaeda's leaders were killed or captured, most famously [Osama bin Laden] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Osama_bin_Laden#:~:text=Osama%20bin%20Laden%2C%20the%20founder,DEVGRU%20or%20SEAL%20Team%20Six).), who was killed in 2011. **However:** - After the US initially invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban regrouped more quickly than anticipated. And by this time the US had become embroiled in an [invasion of Iraq] (https://www.britannica.com/event/Iraq-War) (supposedly to uncover stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction - which they failed to find). The US presence in Iraq both meant that their efforts were now divided between two countries & it also validated bin Laden's position - that the US was waging widescale war on Islam, ultimately allowing the Taliban to grow their ranks. - The US involvement in both Afghanistan and Iraq as part of its 'war on terror' has proved [extremely damaging to both countries] (https://www.international.ucla.edu/apc/centralasia/article/153245). In Iraq, the US's removal of Saddam Hussein's oppressive regime meant the outbreak of an ongoing civil war. And America's [recent departure from Afghanistan] (https://www.ft.com/content/b2ba76a1-694b-47f9-b077-d48ad88a8cb5) has resulted in a very rapid Taliban takeover - which experts say [could become a breeding ground] (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/08/terrorism-to-increase-under-afghanistans-new-taliban-government.html) for new militant terrorist groups. Despite the US's apparent victories in killing/imprisoning the leaders of terrorist organisations, the reality is that there are actually [more militant extremist groups in the world today] (https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/how-has-terrorism-threat-changed-twenty-years-after-911) than there were in 2001. It's also worth noting that this was a 'war' started in response to the 9/11 attacks, where nearly 3,000 people were killed. And it has resulted in the deaths of not only thousands of terrorists but tens of thousands of innocent civilians.