Did America win the ‘war on terror’?

Why can’t America quit the Middle East?

September 11 marked a shift in the American psyche, and altered the way the United States saw its place in the world. Shortly after the attacks, President George W Bush announced the ‘war on terror’, a policy that would implicate the United States in multiple wars, on multiple fronts, in the Middle East over the next 25 years.

But was this the US reaction that al-Qaeda had planned for? And as the US entered into more wars, in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran, are the unintended consequences of the ‘war on terror’ still threatening the US today?

The Global Story’s Asma Khalid speaks to Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, about the event that still dominates US foreign policy today.

Producers: Mhairi Mackenzie and Lucy Pawle

Digital producer: Charlie Firth

Mix: Travis Evans

Editor: Martine Powers

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: U.S. President George W. Bush speaks to Vice President Dick Cheney by phone aboard Air Force One after departing Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, in this September 11, 2001. Credit: Eric Draper / White House Handout