Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and beyond: Tracking US strikes across the world since 2001

In the years since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States has carried out military strikes, wars and air campaigns across multiple regions, reshaping global geopolitics and defining American foreign policy for more than two decades. Under four presidents, Washington has fought full-scale wars, conducted drone campaigns and launched air strikes across several continents as part of what former US President George W Bush described as the “war on terror.”According to an analysis referenced by Al Jazeera, the United States has bombed at least 10 countries since 2001. These include Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, Nigeria and Iran. The strikes have ranged from large-scale invasions and air campaigns to targeted drone operations and missile strikes.

Despite repeated political pledges by successive administrations to reduce American involvement in overseas conflicts, the pattern of military engagement has continued across different presidencies.“Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the US capital, the US has engaged in three full-scale wars and bombed at least 10 countries in operations ranging from drone strikes to invasions, often multiple times within a single year,” according to Al Jazeera. The renewed military confrontation involving the United States, Israel and Iran has once again brought attention to the scale and cost of American military interventions since 2001.

The war on terror and the transformation of US foreign policy

The attacks carried out by al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001, which killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States, triggered one of the most significant shifts in American foreign policy in modern history. Within weeks, President George W Bush announced a global campaign against terrorism that would involve military action across multiple regions.Bush described the effort as a “war on terror,” framing it as a long-term campaign against militant organisations and states accused of supporting them.The strategy led to large-scale wars, covert operations, drone strikes and military partnerships around the world. The conflicts expanded over time, involving not just Afghanistan and Iraq but also several countries where Washington carried out counterterrorism operations.According to Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, US-led wars since 2001 have caused enormous human and financial costs.

The human cost of two decades of war

Research conducted by Brown University’s Costs of War project estimates that nearly 940,000 people have died directly in the wars connected to the US-led campaign since 2001.“According to an analysis by Brown University’s Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs, US-led wars since 2001 have directly caused the deaths of about 940,000 people across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other conflict zones.”These figures account for direct deaths resulting from combat, air strikes and other war-related violence. However, the actual human toll is likely much higher.The estimate does not include indirect deaths, such as those caused by the collapse of healthcare systems, food shortages, displacement, disease or infrastructure destruction during prolonged conflicts.Millions of civilians were also displaced during these wars, contributing to refugee crises that affected regions far beyond the original battle zones.

The financial cost: Trillions of dollars spent

The financial cost of the United States’ military campaigns since 2001 has been enormous.According to the Costs of War project, the United States has spent an estimated $5.8 trillion funding conflicts linked to the war on terror over the past two decades.This spending includes multiple categories of military and security expenditure:

In addition to the $5.8 trillion already spent, analysts estimate that the United States will spend at least another $2.2 trillion over the next three decades on veterans’ healthcare and related support.If those projected costs are included, the total financial burden of US wars since 2001 could reach nearly $8 trillion.

Afghanistan: America’s longest war

The first major military response to the September 11 attacks was the invasion of Afghanistan.On October 7, 2001, the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, aiming to dismantle the al-Qaeda network and remove the Taliban from power for sheltering its leadership.The initial phase of the war moved quickly. Within weeks, US forces and allied Afghan groups succeeded in overthrowing the Taliban government.However, the conflict soon evolved into a prolonged insurgency. Taliban fighters regrouped and began waging a sustained campaign against US and NATO forces.Over the next two decades, the war became the longest military conflict in American history, lasting across four US presidencies.According to the Costs of War project, approximately 241,000 people died directly in the Afghanistan war.The conflict also resulted in significant military casualties. At least 3,586 soldiers from the United States and NATO allies were killed during the war.Financially, the Afghanistan conflict cost the United States an estimated $2.26 trillion.In 2021, the United States completed its final troop withdrawal, ending its two-decade military presence. Shortly afterwards, the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, effectively reversing the original outcome of the invasion.

The Iraq war and the search for weapons of mass destruction

The second major war launched by the United States in the post-9/11 era took place in Iraq.On March 20, 2003, the Bush administration launched a military invasion of Iraq, arguing that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and posed a threat to global security.The claim later proved to be false, but the invasion proceeded with the support of a US-led coalition.Within weeks, US forces captured Baghdad and toppled Saddam Hussein’s government. On May 1, 2003, President Bush declared the end of major combat operations and delivered his well-known “mission accomplished” speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.However, the years that followed were marked by widespread instability. Iraq descended into sectarian violence and insurgency, with armed groups targeting both US forces and civilians.The conflict also contributed to the rise of ISIL (ISIS), which later seized large areas of Iraq and Syria.In 2008, the United States signed an agreement to withdraw combat forces from Iraq, a process completed in 2011 under President Barack Obama.

The rise of drone warfare

Beyond Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States increasingly relied on drone strikes and targeted air campaigns in several other countries.Beginning in the mid-2000s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began conducting drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions along the Afghan border. These strikes targeted al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders believed to be operating in the area.Drone warfare expanded significantly during the presidency of Barack Obama, who authorised a substantial increase in such operations.At the same time, the United States carried out air strikes in Somalia against suspected al-Qaeda affiliates and later against fighters linked to the militant group al-Shabab.In Yemen, US forces conducted missile and drone strikes targeting leaders of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.Although these campaigns were not formally declared wars, they represented a major expansion of American military operations beyond traditional battlefields.

NATO intervention in Libya

In 2011, the United States joined a NATO-led intervention in Libya during an uprising against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.Western forces launched air and missile strikes aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone and preventing government forces from attacking rebel-held areas.The campaign eventually resulted in the collapse of Gaddafi’s government. The Libyan leader was captured and killed later that year.However, the aftermath of the intervention led to prolonged instability in Libya. The country fragmented into rival political factions and armed groups, triggering years of internal conflict.

The fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria

Another major phase of US military engagement began in 2014, when Washington launched operations against ISIL (ISIS).The militant group had seized large territories across Iraq and Syria, declaring a so-called caliphate.The United States led a coalition that conducted extensive air strikes in both countries while supporting local forces on the ground.In Iraq, US troops worked with Iraqi forces to retake territory captured by ISIL and later continued advising Iraqi security forces.The confrontation with Iran-backed groups in the region also intensified during this period. One of the most dramatic moments came in 2020, when President Donald Trump authorised a drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, a key commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Continued military engagement

More than two decades after the launch of the war on terror, the United States continues to maintain military operations and security partnerships across several regions.While the scale of large ground wars has reduced compared with the early 2000s, air strikes, counterterrorism missions and strategic military deployments remain a central feature of US foreign policy.The recent escalation involving US and Israeli strikes on Iran has again highlighted the enduring role of military power in Washington’s approach to international security.For critics, the long list of conflicts since 2001 raises questions about the effectiveness and consequences of sustained military intervention. Supporters, however, argue that these operations were necessary to counter terrorism and protect American strategic interests.What remains undisputed is the scale of the human and financial cost: hundreds of thousands of lives lost and trillions of dollars spent, making the post-9/11 era one of the most consequential periods in modern US military history.