The War on Terror and its Impact on the Trust of Politicians in the 2000s

By Bryan Goodman
Photo: Aidan Bartos on Unsplash

Introduction

Early American foreign policy focused on isolationism: a “don’t bother us, and we won’t bother you” style of policy. Washington warned us of entangling alliances, but nearly 250 years later, the United States has not adhered to his warning. With various alliances developed militarily and economically, the United States – as well as the entire world – is more entangled than ever. These alliances have undoubtedly pulled various nations into different conflicts they may not have necessarily wanted to be directly involved in, and have had their own repercussions domestically as a result. 

There are few days where nearly everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing. For most Americans, September 11, 2001 is undoubtedly one of those days. The deadliest terrorist attack on American soil brought together the citizens of nearly every racial and economic group in a “rally around the flag” effect not seen in decades. In the months immediately following the attacks, no organization, group, or country took responsibility, but the U.S. government and its intelligence agencies had already determined it was Al-Qaeda, an “Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the 1980s … one of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations” (Britannica, 2023). It took until 2004 for bin Laden to formally claim responsibility for the attacks in a recorded video released just four days before the United States Presidential election.

Immediately following the attacks, the War on Terror was launched. It began when the U.S. Congress authorized the use of military force (AUMF), granting the President authority to do whatever is necessary and required to fight back against those responsible for the September 11 attacks as well as to prevent any future acts of terrorism against the United States (Public Law 107-40-Sept. 18, 2001). The AUMF joint resolution passed the Senate unanimously, 98-0, and passed the House nearly unanimously, 420-1. The lone member of the House of Representatives to vote against the AUMF was Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California. 

Representative Lee faced an unquantifiable level of backlash for her lone ‘No’ vote against the AUMF. This backlash included so many death threats that she had a police protective detail for the immediate time following her vote. Lee defended her position by saying this on the House floor: “However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Some of us must say, ‘Let’s step back for a moment, let’s just pause, just for a minute, and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control.’ ” (Brockell, 2021).

Afghanistan

In his September 20, 2001 address to Congress, President Bush put forward a list of demands to the Taliban, the ruling group in Afghanistan. These demands included handing over Al Qaeda leaders sheltered in Afghanistan, releasing all imprisoned foreign nationals, protecting journalists, diplomats, and aid workers, closing “terrorist” training camps, and giving the US access to all such camps to ensure their closure. Bush warned of the punishment for non-compliance: “Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen” (CNN Transcript 2001). He additionally issued a stark warning to any nations providing aid or safe haven to Al-Qaeda members and gave them an ultimatum: you are either with the U.S., or with the terrorists. Bush warned that any nations who provided such aid or safe haven would be treated as a hostile regime. The Taliban ultimately did not surrender the Al-Qaeda network within its border, prompting the U.S. invasion less than a month later.

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001 with a heavy bombing campaign. The U.S. gathered a strong coalition of allies to launch the invasion including Australia, Canada, France, and Germany. By mid-November, the capital city Kabul fell to the coalition forces, with Al Qaeda in full retreat. Afghan militias tracked bin Laden to a cave complex in Tora Bora and engaged in a two week long battle with Al Qaeda, ending in Bin Laden’s escape into Pakistan (Council on Foreign Relations, The U.S. War in Afghanistan).

This missed opportunity to subdue a large swath of the Al Qaeda network was a miscalculation that certainly prolonged the conflict and U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Following the collapse of the Taliban as a governing body, an interim government was appointed in late 2001, which remained until a transitional government was established in the summer of 2002 (Council on Foreign Relations, The U.S. War in Afghanistan). In May of 2003, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld “declared an end to ‘major combat’” (Council on Foreign Relations, The U.S. War in Afghanistan). NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) assumed control of international security forces in Afghanistan, marking the first commitment from NATO outside of Europe (Council on Foreign Relations, The U.S. War in Afghanistan). 2004 brought a constitution to Afghanistan, as well as its first democratically elected head of state, evidencing the strong influence of democratic nations on its restructuring.

In the years after Osama bin Laden’s 2004 video officially claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks, violent insurgencies began to appear more frequently throughout Afghanistan. These insurgencies were fueled by the lack of services provided to the Afghani population, the difficulty in setting up a police force, and lack of international forces to assist in security (Council on Foreign Relations, The U.S. War in Afghanistan). The NATO coalition began withdrawing, setting a target date of 2008 for the Afghans to start taking control of their security (Council on Foreign Relations, The U.S. War in Afghanistan).

In 2008, President Barack Obama was elected 44th President of the United States. Within the first 30 days, he announced plans for a troop surge that would see a drastic increase in activity in Afghanistan to counter a resurgent Taliban. President Obama committed to sending an additional 30,000 forces in December 2009, bringing the total up to 98,000 in the region, with a troop drawdown established for 2011 (Council on Foreign Relations, The U.S. War in Afghanistan). 

American presence in Afghanistan continued interminably until August of 2021, when President Joe Biden withdrew American forces from Afghanistan. The task was not simple, nor did it bring long-awaited stability to the region; the U.S. was faced with a chaotic and catastrophic withdrawal that saw the deaths of thirteen Marines along with over 100 Afghanis in a suicide bombing attack outside an airport in Kabul. Almost immediately following the U.S.’s withdrawal, the Afghani government collapsed. 20 years of war, occupation to root out the Taliban, and progress to democratize Afghanistan was gone in a matter of weeks.

Iraq

On October 10, 2002 the United States House of Representatives passed an Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq by a vote of 296-133 (Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives 2002), with a smaller margin of support than the AUMF that was issued for the broader War on Terror following 9/11. The AUMF passed the Senate the next day 77-23 (U.S. Senate 2002). Nearly all opposition in both the House and Senate came from the Democratic Party. The resolution was justified by the allegation, “members of Al Qaeda, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq” (Public Law 107-243).

Before the invasion began, the United States Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations Security Council, explaining the rationale for the Iraq War and attempting to gather a broad coalition of support for the effort. He stated, “My [second] purpose today is to provide you with additional information, to share with you what the United States knows about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, as well as Iraq’s involvement in terrorism” (U.S. State Department Transcript). Powell also stated in his address “Indeed, the facts and Iraq’s behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction” (U.S. State Department Transcript). Powell, who was personally a critic of this plan to invade Iraq, additionally reassured the world of the verifiability of his claims. “These are not assertions,” he said. “What we are giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence” (U.S. State Department Transcript). The U.S. began its invasion of Iraq in March of 2003.

Within three weeks of the initial invasion, Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers toppled a statue of Iraq’s ruler, Saddam Hussein, in Baghdad, symbolically ending the conflict (Council on Foreign Relations, The Iraq War). In May of 2003, President Bush declared an end to the major combat portion of the invasion, with a banner on a US Navy ship reading “Mission Accomplished” in the background. By the end of May 2003, the Iraqi Army and Iraqi intelligence services were disbanded by L. Paul Bremer III, who served as the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. This decision would lead to hundreds of thousands of military trained Iraqis being released into the general population – an action with lasting repercussions (Council on Foreign Relations, The Iraq War). 

Saddam was captured by U.S. troops in December of 2003. He would later be convicted of crimes against humanity and was sentenced to death. On December 30, 2006, Saddam was executed (Council on Foreign Relations, The Iraq War).

Less than a year after the invasion, the Bush administration admitted that their arguments and evidence for weapons of mass destruction were mistaken. “A presidential commission concludes in March 2005 that ‘not one bit’ of prewar intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction panned out” (Council on Foreign Relations, The Iraq War). There were large scale protests against the war at the time, even before it was discovered that there were no WMDs. President Bush faced attempts of impeachment by House Democrats which were unsuccessful. The first four articles of impeachment explored included illegally creating a case for war, falsely representing Iraq as responsible for 9/11 and falsely representing Iraq as an imminent danger to the U.S. The false pretense for the war in Iraq and its destabilization of the region has been weaponized politically against multiple presidential candidates. The United States withdrew its forces from Iraq by the end of 2011, bringing to an end the foreign occupation.

The chaotic exit of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, compounded with the never discovered WMDs in Iraq have created an environment ripe for distrust in the foreign policy establishment in the United States. 

Political Backlash

While at the beginning of the War on Terror there was near universal support, as time went on, the public grew frustrated with the decisions that political leaders were making both in the US and abroad. The British Labour Party has not been in the majority in the British House of Commons since 2010. Labour dominated British politics in the early 2000s, but Prime Minister Blair’s unwavering support for the U.S. and its doctoring of truth – in support of the invasion did not come without consequence. These actions have led to increasing distrust of the government among the British public (Wintour 2023). This issue was not solely limited to Great Britain, however. In the United States, following the September 11 attacks, President Bush saw his approval rating skyrocket to levels never seen before. According to Gallup polls, Bush peaked in his approval ratings at 90% in the week following the attacks (Gallup). Bush rode this mighty approval rating through the 2002 midterms. Though it did cool off and dip into the 60s where it plateaued through the elections. Republicans expanded their majority in the House and regained control of the Senate. This was the first midterm election since 1934 where an incumbent President’s party gained seats in both houses of Congress (Wikipedia). 

The “rally around the flag” effect that developed after the attacks is arguably what kept Bush in office after the 2004 presidential election. Bush’s approval rating around election day was in the low-to-mid 50% (Gallup), which proved to be enough to propel him to a second term in the White House. The 2004 presidential election in the U.S. was nearly as close as the 2000 election. President Bush beat Senator John Kerry in the Electoral College, 286-251, and also secured the first popular vote victory for Republicans since George H.W. Bush in 1988 (Wikipedia). As far as approval ratings go, Bush almost immediately saw a decrease once his second term commenced. Towards the end of 2005, his ratings fell into the low 40s and by the summer of 2006, just mere months before the 2006 midterms, his ratings dropped into the 30s (Gallup). 

The timing of his decreases in approval could not have been worse for Bush. He had led the country into two large-scale military operations in the Middle East, with the aim of retaliating against those responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks. Since the administration had all but guaranteed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the public began to grow concerned about the possibility that they were misled or lied to about the existence of such weapons. As a result of his declining approvals and poor results in the two conflicts, the 2006 midterm elections were an utter disaster for Bush and his Republican Party. 

In the House, Republicans lost 30 seats as well as the majority, handing the Speakers’ gavel back to Democrats for the first time since the early 90s (Wikipedia) . In the Senate, Republicans lost six seats, as well as their majority (Wikipedia). 

In the last two years of his presidency, Bush’s approvals went into free fall. It held steady in the low 30s and sometimes even the high 20s (Gallup). This was not solely due to the wars and occupations, however. There was the Great Recession which began under Bush’s watch, as well as an unpopular legislative agenda. The downward trend of approval for Bush led to a Democratic landslide in the 2008 elections. Democrats expanded their majorities in the House and Senate, gaining a ⅗ supermajority in the Senate, as well as a resounding victory in the presidential election from Senator Barack Obama. 

The extreme turbulence of the early 2000s along with the missteps of leadership by politicians ultimately led to this change in administration. However, it created a larger problem – an overall loss of faith in government by some. The 2000s can be pinpointed as a shift in view for many Americans, splitting the American political sphere into various factions that have only continued to grow to this day.

References

2001. “Transcript of President Bush’s address.” 2001. CNN, September 21. https://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush.transcript/2024 “al-Qaeda” Encyclopedia Britannica, January 12. https://www.britannica.com/topic/al-Qaeda

“2002 Midterm Elections” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_United_States_elections

“2004 Presidential Election” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_United_States_elections

“2006 Midterm Elections” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections

Brockell, Gillian. 2021. “She was the only member of Congress to vote against war in Afghanistan. Some called her a traitor” The Washington Post, August 17. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/08/17/barbara-lee-afghanistan-vote/

Clerk, 2002. U.S. House of Representatives, October 10. https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2002/roll455.xml

“How Iraq war destroyed UK’s trust in politicians and left Labour in turmoil.” 2023. The Guardian, March 20. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/20/iraq-war-destroyed-uk-trust-politicians-labour-turmoil-tony-blair

Pilkington, Ed. 2009. “Rumsfeld let Bin Laden escape in 2001, says Senate report.” The Guardian, November 29. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/29/osama-bin-laden-senate-report

Powell, Colin L. 2003. “Remarks to the UN Security Council” U.S. Department of State, February 5. https://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/2003/17300.htm

“Public Law 107-243.” 2002. 107th Congress, October 16. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-107publ243/html/PLAW-107publ243.htm

“Public Law 107-40” 2001. 107th Congress, September 18. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-107publ40/pdf/PLAW-107publ40.pdf

“Presidential Approval Ratings – – George W. Bush” Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/116500/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx

“Roll Call Vote 107th Congress – 2nd Session.” 2002. U.S. Senate, October 11. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1072/vote_107_2_00237.htm

“Timeline: The Iraq War.” Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/timeline/iraq-war Wintour, Patrick.

“The U.S. War in Afghanistan.” Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan