DOUGLAS GINSBURG, Federal Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit:
The United States fought three major conflicts after the terrorist group al Qaeda attacked us on September 11, 2001. Nine days later, President George W. Bush announced the Global War on Terror.

The United States formed an international coalition to share intelligence and combat terrorism. The next step was to bring to justice those who had attacked us.
al Qaeda sheltered in Afghanistan under the protection of the Islamist fundamentalist regime known as the Taliban. The War in Afghanistan began when the United States and Great Britain struck Taliban and al Qaeda targets. Three months later, the last Taliban stronghold fell. But then guerilla warfare against coalition troops began.
Under the treaty ending the Gulf War, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had agreed to inspections to verify he had no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam repeatedly violated the treaty and finally blocked all inspections – and the War in Iraq began. A coalition led by the United States quickly defeated the Iraqi army. Saddam was captured, tried, and executed for crimes against humanity.
But no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, and the sense of victory proved premature. As the U.S. tried to help Iraq build a new government, civil war broke out. Americans found themselves fighting guerrillas and terrorists.
In Pakistan, U.S. special forces raided a compound and killed Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader who had ordered the attacks of 9/11.
Many Americans judge the war in Iraq a mistake: caused by faulty intelligence. But the world expected America to respond after 9/11. The Taliban continued fighting in Afghanistan for many years. It seems the Global War on Terror may be a more or less permanent state of affairs.