The+Middle+East

Terrorism and its Affect:

Over the past decade, the United States and the Middle East have faced a war on Terrorism that officially began with the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The same day, terrorists also hijacked a plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. After the attacks, the United States accused Taliban leader, Osama bin Laden, of being the individual behind these attacks. The United States demanded that the Taliban surrender bin Laden, however, the Taliban refused.

On September 25, 2001, the United Nations secretary-General, Kofi Annan, calls the international community together to help the Afghan people who are faced with famine in their country. The United States believed that the primary focus concerning Afghanistan should be eliminating terrorism. Then, on October 7, 2001, United States and Great Britain began an air strike on targeted sites in Afghanistan.

The United States and the United Kingdom began "Operation Enduring Freedom" in October 2001. This was a military campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The United States launched their attack on Kabul and Taliban strongholds in Kandahar. Then United States Special Forces were deployed into Afghanistan to search for al-Qaeda, with special emphasis on finding Osama bin Laden.

. Click for Bush's speech on bin Laden. []