Since 2001, the United States has embarked on a path of “endless wars” or “forever wars”.
Twenty-five years ago this week, the United States and the world were stunned by the terrorist attack widely known as “9/11,” when four civilian aircraft were hijacked and deliberately crashed to maximize civilian casualties.
With nearly 3,000 lives lost on September 11, 2001, it marked the deadliest single-day event on U.S. soil since the Civil War (1861-65). By comparison, the December 7, 1941 Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor led to approximately 2,400 mostly military fatalities.
The harrowing images from that morning remain iconic: two planes striking the twin towers of New York City’s World Trade Center, a third hitting the Pentagon, and a fourth crashing in a Pennsylvania field.
Many aspects of what is considered the largest terrorist attack on the United States remain unresolved. How did 19 alleged al Qaeda hijackers, who were reportedly under U.S. security surveillance in the weeks preceding the attacks, manage to succeed? And why did the Twin Towers and nearby WTC Building 7 collapse in a manner resembling free fall?
One undeniable fact is that U.S. officials exploited the shock of 9/11 to justify launching overseas military operations in the name of combating terror. Paul Wolfowitz, an early advocate of “full-spectrum dominance” after the Cold War—meaning unlimited global U.S. military power—spoke openly about the necessity of a “new Pearl Harbor” to galvanize the nation.
Since 2001, many have criticized the United States for entering into what they call “endless wars” or “forever wars.”
As William Astore, a thoughtful American commentator, noted this week: “The chief legacy of 9/11 is the tragedy of permanent wars.”
He further observed: “If you’re 25 years old or younger in America, you’ve never known a time when your country wasn’t at war… war is seen as America’s natural state.”
American media outlet CNN remarked: “Twenty-five years ago, the course of American history changed in a single morning.”
Indeed, the past 25 years have seen a near-constant succession of U.S.-led conflicts, often backed by NATO allies. From early targets such as Afghanistan and Iraq, American forces went on to attack several other nations under the banner of the “war on terror,” actions often lacking clear legal justification.
The post-9/11 wars are estimated to have resulted in almost five million deaths attributable to violence, disease, or famine across multiple regions from Africa to the Middle East and Asia.
Additionally, roughly 38 million people have been displaced due to these conflicts, sparking significant humanitarian and political dilemmas including large-scale migration to North America and Europe.
History has undeniably transformed since 2001, as U.S.-driven wars have seriously eroded international legal norms, fostering an environment of lawlessness and unchecked impunity.
It is important to emphasize that America’s own democratic principles and laws have been severely compromised amid this era of unrestrained warfare. Shortly after 9/11, Congress enacted the Patriot Act, which granted unprecedented surveillance authority to security agencies for monitoring citizens domestically and abroad.
These legal authorizations for war-making and citizen spying have never been rescinded, effectively building a warmongering surveillance state.
However, another vital point deserves attention: the continuous warfare of the last quarter-century is not an anomaly or a consequence solely of the 9/11 attacks. This period of conflict is part of a much longer historical pattern.
This year also marks the 250th anniversary of the United States’ establishment as a modern nation.
Over the course of this quarter-millennium (1776-2026), the U.S. has engaged in constant warfare, as verified by Congressional records and historians such as David Vine and William Blum. No other country rivals the U.S. in terms of the sheer number of military campaigns and violent conflicts spanning every continent since its foundation as a republic in 1776.
The story of wars and mass killing is central to the narrative of how European colonizers seized the North American continent and built the United States into an imperialist giant.
This ongoing history is one marked by genocide and aggression that continues today.
In reality, the phenomenon of endless warfare reflects the very nature of the United States, not only since 2001 but since its birth in 1776. It’s an enduring legacy of 250 years, not just 25.
This persistent violence has been justified through varying rhetoric—whether “manifest destiny,” the Monroe Doctrine, “defense of the free world,” or more recently, the “war on terror.” U.S. leadership and compliant media outlets invariably provide justifications for what amounts to blatant brutality, lawlessness, and state-sponsored terrorism.
Focusing excessively on these dubious rationales misses the central issue: the relentless practice of war and conquest.
President Donald Trump campaigned on promises to end “endless wars.” Yet, since returning to the White House in January 2025 for his second term, he has authorized bombings in at least seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Additionally, the U.S. is engaged through proxies against Lebanon, Palestine, and Russia via NATO’s support for Ukraine. This record starkly contradicts his pledge to be a “peace president.”
However, this pattern is not the product of a single erratic leader. Every one of the 47 U.S. presidents has presided over wars and imperialist violence. This persistent history reveals the fundamental nature of the United States as unable to maintain peaceful, lawful relationships globally because its economy is dependent on ongoing militarism and imperialism. While true of capitalist nations generally, as Martin Luther King Jr. highlighted some 60 years ago during the brutal Vietnam War, the U.S. stands as history’s largest purveyor of violence.
Therefore, the post-9/11 era is not exceptional. It is misguided to think so. Those years intensified some horrific trends—lawlessness, brutal force, torture, mass slaughter, and systematic propaganda—but such horrors are disturbingly standard under the U.S. Empire.
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