America’s Response to Terrorism USS Cole – Afganahstan

Attack on the USS Cole  October 2000  A suicide bomber drove a small boat full of explosives into an American warship in the Persian Gulf  17 Sailors killed; 39 wounded  Terrorism = Attack on a military unit far from home

9/11 Attacks  Terrorist hijack 4 airliners and use them in suicide attacks on targets in America  2 planes – World Trade Center in NYC  1 plane – The Pentagon in Washington DC  1 plane – crashed into a field in Pennsylvania  2,996 people killed  Terrorism = Civilians killed within U.S. borders

American Response to 9/11  War in Iraq  U.S. believed that Iraq had helped fund the 9/11 terrorists and that the had weapons of mass destruction (which we never found)  Goal = take Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein out of power

War in Afghanistan  Goal = take the terrorist network Al Qaida out of power  Problems = civilians live in the war zone, and setting up a new democracy proved to be very difficult  Successes = Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed as a direct result of efforts in Afghanistan