invasion of taliban afghanistan
During the same day as his milestone congressional speech, President Bush delivered an ultimatum to the Afghan Taliban government demanding they hand over Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda operatives or face invasion. (Bush, 2001) The Taliban refused unless evidence was provided they destroyed the World Trade Centre. The United States, United Kingdom and many other NATO allies in retaliation invaded and started bombing Afghanistan on October 7th in the cadre of Operation Enduring Freedom. By the end of the year, Kabul, Herat and Kandahar fell to the coalition forces while al-Qaeda operatives and the Taliban regime and remaining fighters fled to the east into the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2002 to wage a currently on-going guerrilla war. (Lambeth, 2005, p. 85, p.130)
Various Islamists and Taliban insurgencies have also sprung up in the country in occupied territories. Shortly after, to combat terrorism, the PATRIOT Act was enacted by the President that drastically increased the power of American law enforcement agencies in the country as well as internationally, which also increased the scope and power of the now controversial National Security Agency. In 2002, the Department of Homeland Security was also created as response to more effectively fight terrorism. Furthermore, the global nature of Operation Enduring Freedom was shown when it was expanded to encompass operation in the Philippines and the Horn of Africa, where Abu Sayyaf and Al-Shabaab extremist terrorists were operating. The invasion of Afghanistan severely hampered al-Qaeda’s operational and logistical command, making most subsequent acts of terror attributed to al-Qaeda affiliate militant groups instead of the main organization itself.