War on terror


Axis of Evil still relevant 10 years on

David Frum helped to write George W Bush’s iconic “Axis of Evil” speech a decade ago. That speech was heavily criticised at the time, but Bush’s claims have all been proved true, says Frum.

War on terror: how to calculate if it has been worth it

There’s a way to calculate how much value we’ve got from our war on terror spending. The result isn’t encouraging.

The winners from the war on terror

Our $16.7 billion spending on the war on terror had ended up in some interesting hands — and hasn’t necessarily reduced the threat of terrorism.

Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Common sense is cheap, which is why it has no lobby group

Crikey readers have their say.

What has the war on terror cost taxpayers, and did they get value for money?

Spending on the war on terror is higher now than at the height of 9/11 hysteria. Budget papers show the Howard, Rudd and Gillard governments have spent more than $15 billion on the war since 2001.

Guy Rundle: The strange twilight nature of the war in Afghanistan

Prime Minister Gillard’s and Opposition leader Abbott’s words on Lance Corporal Andrew Jones and Lieutenant Marcus Case showed the strange twilight nature of the war.

One lawyer, countless miscarriages of justice

For more than three decades defence lawyer Gareth Peirce has represented high profile defendants in war on terror cases, arguing they have been miscarriages of justice. She’s all too often been proved right, writes Colin Murphy.

America wrestles its conscience post-bin Laden

Hillary Clinton stood shoulder to shoulder with Kevin Rudd earlier today in Washington, two life-long opponents of the death penalty, praising the extra-judicial killing of an unarmed man. But it changes everything when it’s Osama bin Laden.

How the war on terror may finally succumb to ridicule

There’s been a bit of talk in the last couple of weeks about what a blow the wave of Middle Eastern revolutions has been to al-Qaeda and its terrorist agenda.

Drones in Pakistan halt terror attack on Europe

Remember how the Eiffel Tower was evacuated recently? Plans for a Mumbai-style terror attack on Britain, France, and Germany were intercepted by international intelligence organisations and then foiled by missile drones on Pakistan militants last week.

USA: now at war with Pakistan?

Officially the US and its international troops in Afghanistan are not fighting a war in Pakistan. But with air strikes launching into Pakistan last week, Pakistan is angry with the cross-border invasion. The Atlantic Wire wraps the latest.

The War on Terror ends, the War on Al-Qaeda begins

The US National Security Strategy was announced last week, finally bringing an official end to the War of Terror. The war strategy shows Barack Obama as a very different president to his predecessor, writes Waleed Aly.

Why it’s time to give up on bin Laden

US government and military leaders have been obsessed with capturing Osama bin Laden for ten years now. They’re wasting their time, says Rafia Zakaria: it won’t make one iota of difference in the war on terrorism.

Why assassinating terrorists won’t win the war on terror

Sending targeted missiles into Pakistan to kill individual terrorists isn’t just legally dubious — it’s counterproductive, explains Robert Wright: they’ll just be replaced by newer, angrier terrorists.

Bush “knew Guantanamo prisoners were innocent”

A former senior aide to Colin Powell says Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld knew that “the vast majority of Guantánamo detainees were innocent”, but thought releasing them would harm their case for war in Iraq.

Henderson: Different leaders, same ideas

Although Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama lead supposedly more progressive governments than their predecessors, national security and terrorism policies have remained essentially the same, writes Gerard Henderson.

Warning to the US: tip toe softly, softly into Yemen

It’s still not clear exactly what US military intervention is going to occur in Yemen, but Barack Obama needs to be careful of the ripple effect that intervention will have in the Horn of Africa, writes Simon Tisdall.

Great unsolved mysteries in the War on Terror

It’s been a year since Bush left the White House, yet so much about his “War on Terror” is still unknown: what did Cheney really know? Where have all the CIA’s prisoners gone? Who forged the Yellowcake documents?

Friedman: Why I can’t support the Afghan troop surge

Formerly an avowed supporter of Bush’s “war on terror”, NYT columnist Thomas Friedman explains why he can’t support Obama’s decision yesterday to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Documents reveal Blair’s Iraq cover-up

Documents leaked to the Telegraph have revealed Tony Blair mislead British MPs in 2002 by claiming that his goal in invading Iraq was “disarmament, not regime change” and that the military action was unplanned.

CIA kept detainees alive to torture them more

A human rights lawyer claims that under the Bush administration, the CIA tortured some terror suspects so badly during interrogation sessions, it had to keep them alive so they could continue being tortured.

Anti-war movement struggles without Bush

For many on the Left, opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was really about opposing George W. Bush, says Byron York. Even though the US still has hundreds of thousands of troops fighting in the Middle East, without Dubbya, anti-war campaigners are now struggling to find support.

‘Global War on Terror’ over

US President Obama’s assistant for counterterrorism and homeland security, John Brennan, has declared the idea of a “global war on terror” over, promising a significant ideological shift in the US’s approach to combating extremism, and its root causes, around the world.

Afghanistan: a mess wrapped in a blood-soaked riddle

Pro-war pundits contrast the theocratic rule of the Taliban circa 2000 with an Afghan future that exists only in their imagination, neatly ignoring the real Afghanistan that the war has brought into being, writes Jeff Sparrow.

New dirty words: war on terror

Nearly eight years on from the 9/11 attacks, the Federal Government is launching a review of the official language used to discuss terrorism, and terms like ‘jihadist’ are within their sights.