‘War on terror’: How 9/11 changed the language of conflict

Torture became “enhanced interrogation”. Suspects were seized and removed across borders through “extraordinary rendition”. Detainees held at Guantanamo Bay were designated “enemy combatants”, while deadly attacks were described as “surgical” or “targeted” strikes.In the years after the September 11 attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center, a whole new vocabulary of war, laced with the language of bureaucracy and precision, moved into the political mainstream in the United States.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Tool of oppression’: UK pro-Palestine voices say they’ve been debankedlist 2 of 4Houthis take control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast, reports saylist 3 of 4Philippines ferry fire death toll rises to 35 after bodies recoveredlist 4 of 4Erdogan: The Making of Modern Turkiyeend of listAt its centre was a phrase broad enough to encompass almost everything that followed: the “war on terror”.That phrase came to define an era in which the US illegally invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, established the notorious Guantanamo Bay holding centre for “terrorists” and dramatically expanded its surveillance and national security powers at home. And it was all facilitated, e...