Twenty-Five Years After 9/11, the Wars It Set in Motion Continue

On September 11, 2001, hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 people. The attacks became the basis for a far-reaching U.S. security and military response. [1]

The George W. Bush administration initially invoked 9/11 to justify invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Congress passed an Authorization for Use of Military Force three days after the attacks, giving the president continuing authority to pursue people tied to terrorism anywhere, according to the historical account. [1]

That authorization was later used to support drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and interventions in Libya and Syria. The account describes the wars as moving to new battlefields rather than ending with the initial campaigns. [1]

Brown University's Costs of War project estimates more than 940,000 direct deaths in the post-9/11 war zones, including over 432,000 civilians. It estimates indirect deaths from disease, displacement and damaged health and water systems at 4.5 million to 4.7 million. [1]

The financial burden also continued: Brown's accounting put post-9/11 war costs above $8 trillion as of 2022, while the assessment says total U.S. war spending since September 2001 had passed $10 trillion. These figures come from the cited analysis and its sources. [1]