The worst international terrorist attack ever involving four separate but coordinated aircraft

hijackings occurred in the United States on September 11, 2001. The 19 hijackers belonged to
the al-Qaida terrorist network. More than 3000 persons were killed in these four attacks. Citizens
of 78 countries perished at the World Trade Center site. “Freedom and democracy are under
attack,” said President Bush the following day. Leaders from around the world called the events
of September 11 an attack on civilization itself.
The coordinated attack was an act of war against the United States. President Bush said in a 20
September 2001 address to a joint session of Congress: “Our war on terror begins with al-Qaida,
but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been
found, stopped, and defeated.”

Virtually every nation condemned the attack and joined the US-led Coalition to fight terror on
several fronts: diplomatic, economic, intelligence, law enforcement, and military. Operation
Enduring Freedom, the military component of the Coalition, began on 7 October. The first
targets were the al-Qaida training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan. Islamic extremists from around the world including North America, Europe, Africa,
the Middle East, and Central, South, and Southeast Asia—had used Afghanistan as a training
ground and base of operations for worldwide terrorist activities. Within months, the Taliban was
driven from power, and nearly 1000 al-Qaida operatives were arrested in over 60 countries. At
year’s end, the war continued to be waged on all fronts and was certain to last well into the
future.

The first step has been to deny terrorists access to the world’s organized financial
structures; simultaneously, we have been moving to prevent the abuse of informal money-
transfer systems and charities. Both lines of attack have produced results.
• President Bush launched the first offensive in the war on terrorism on 23 September by signing
Executive Order 13224, freezing the US-based assets of those individuals and organizations
involved with terrorism.
• All but a handful of the countries in the world have expressed their support for the financial
war on terror. The naming of the campaign uses a metaphor of war to refer to a variety of actions
that do not constitute a specific war as traditionally defined. U.S. president George W. Bush first
used the term "war on terrorism" on 16 September 2001,[34][35] and then "war on terror" a few
days later in a formal speech to Congress. [36][37] In the latter speech, George Bush stated, "Our
enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them." [37][38] The term
was originally used with a particular focus on countries associated with al-Qaeda. The term was
immediately criticised by such people as Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
and more nuanced terms subsequently came to be used by the Bush administration to publicly
define the international campaign led by the U.S.[33] While it was never used as a formal
designation of U.S. operations in internal government documentation, [39] a Global War on
Terrorism Service Medal was issued.
• Approximately 150 countries and jurisdictions have issued orders freezing terrorist assets, and
the international community was helping others improve their legal and regulatory systems so
they can move effectively to block terrorist funds.
• At the end of 2001, the US had designated 158 known terrorists, terrorist organizations, and
terrorist financial networks, whose assets are now subject to freezing in the US financial system.
• Between September 11 and 31 December 2001, the US blocked more than $34 million in assets
of terrorist organizations. Other nations also blocked more than $33 million. The funds captured
only measure the money in the pipeline at the time the accounts were shut down, which is a
small fraction of the total funds disrupted by the closing of the pipeline.
• On 7 November, the US and its allies closed down operations of two major financial networks
—al- Barakaat and al-Taqwa—both of which were used by al-Qaida and Usama Bin Ladin in
more than 40 nations as sources of income and mechanisms to transfer funds. As part of that
action, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) was able to freeze $1,100,000 domestically
in al-Barakaat-related funds. Treasury also worked closely with key officials in the Middle East
to facilitate blocking of al-Barakaat's assets at its financial center of operations.
• On 4 December, President Bush froze the assets of a US-based foundation—The Holy Land
Foundation for Relief and Development—that had been funneling money to the terrorist
organization HAMAS. In 2000, the foundation had raised $13 million.
• International organizations are key partners in the war on financial terrorism. Since 28
September, over 100 nations have submitted reports to the United Nations on the actions they
have taken to block terrorist finances, as required under United Nations Security Council
resolution 1373 which calls on all nations to keep their financial systems free of terrorist funds.
• The Financial Action Task Force—a 29-nation group promoting policies to combat money
laundering—adopted strict new standards to deny terrorist access to the world financial system.

Definitions
No one definition of terrorism has gained universal acceptance. For the purposes of this report,
however, we have chosen the definition of terrorism contained in Title 22 of the United States
Code, Section 2656f(d). That statute contains the following definitions:

The term “terrorism” means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against
noncombatant1 targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence
an audience.

The term “international terrorism” means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more
than one country.

The term “terrorist group” means any group practicing, or that has significant subgroups that
practice,
international terrorism.

The US Government has employed this definition of terrorism for statistical and analytical
purposes since 1983.

Domestic terrorism is probably a more widespread phenomenon than international terrorism.

Because
international terrorism has a direct impact on US interests, it is the primary focus of this report.
However, the report also describes, but does not provide statistics on, significant developments
in domestic terrorism.
United Nations
The Security Council has taken the leading role, introducing the Counter-Terrorism Committee –
established in 2001, based on Resolution 1373 (2001) – which oversees the implementation of
counter-terrorism policy.

In 2005, the UN Secretary General proceeded to the introduction of the Counter-Terrorism

Implementation Task force for the combating of Terrorism, an organ which oversees the
involvement of all the services of the UN. In September 2005, Resolution 1624 was adopted by
the Security Council, condemning every form of terrorist action, regardless of origin, and calling
on states to take the necessary measures to prohibit any incitement to the commission terrorist
attacks.

In September 2006, the General Assembly passed the United Nations Global Counter Terrorism
Strategy. This strategy is the central political instrument of the UN and is the basis for shaping
anti-terrorism policy on individual issues. The Strategy text has been revised four times (2008,
2010, 2012, 2014).

Under the auspices of the UN, the international community, continuing a process initiated prior
to Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001), has adopted 16 international legal instruments on
terrorism. These instruments set out the obligations undertaken by states within the framework of
terrorism, cover a broad range of actions characterized as terrorism, and contain the general
guidelines and overall policy outlook against terrorism.

To confront the new challenges that have arisen recently on the terrorist front – including the
Islamic State (ISIL), the phenomenon of foreign fighters, and the financing of terrorism – in
2014 the Security Council adopted Resolutions 2170 and 2178, followed, in 2015, by
Resolutions 2199 and 2214, which call on states to work together to deal with these threats.

At the upcoming UN General Assembly (September 2015), a Summit Meeting is to be held on

the level of heads of state and government to look at the issue of confronting violent extremism.
In the context of the European Union, the fundamental text on this issue is the European Union
Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which was adopted in November 2005 and focusses on four key
areas: prevention, protection, pursuit and response.

The EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the harmonization of

national practices and the policy followed by the EsU on terrorism issues.

In January 2015, the EU Foreign Affairs Council adopted a Strategy for Combating the
Phenomenon of Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq, which sets action priorities aimed at
minimizing the threat to Europe, drawing up a European communication strategy, and
contributing to the strategic defeat of ISIL.

At the Informal European Council of 12 February 2015, a statement was adopted to guide the
work of the EU and its member states with regard to confronting terrorism, focusing on three
main areas: ensuring the security of citizens, preventing radicalisation and safeguarding values,
and cooperating with international partners