ABSTRACT
Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz outlined two facets of war: its nature, which remains constant under all circumstances; and its character, which encompasses the varying ways and means by which war is fought. The wars began with the al-Qaeda attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001. American combat troops left Iraq in December 2011, and the US-led NATO combat mission in Afghanistan ended in December 2014. The future is likely to see constant intra-state conflict, including terrorism, insurgencies and civil wars. The US provided most of the forces involved in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The United Kingdom also played a key role, as one of the two ‘occupying powers’ in Iraq in 2003–04 and as the second-largest contributor of troops to both wars. There is an abundance of US primary-source documents for both wars.
