ABSTRACT
This chapter interrogates the war on terror (WoT), from its pre-9/11 era, through 9/11 to post-9/11. It is contended here that the Islamist terrorists are after the United States and its allies because, amongst other reasons, of America’s policy in the Middle East—ranging from its acclaimed support for Israel, the support for the Shah of Iran, to the alleged American troops presence in otherwise sacred Islam’s holy places. There is also the perceived humiliation that Islam is said by the Islamists to have suffered in the hands of Anglo-French imperialism’s defeat and partition of the Ottoman Empire in the Sykes-Picot lines, which allegedly dealt a big blow to the ascendancy of the Sunni Islamic group. Among other issues, this chapter also examines the characterization of the war on terror—from Mao Zedong, through Samuel Huntington, to the former U.S. President George W. Bush and the Pope Francis. The making of the ISIS, the international coalitions against the terror groups, the stubborn suicidal bend or insistence of the terrorists, the drone solution that the United States applies, and the anomaly in designating the terrorists as “combatants” are also discussed here.
