20 Years of the War on Terror
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Major U.S. Policy Decisions
Within a month after the 9/11 attacks, President GW Bush went to work authorizing bombs to be dropped on Afghanistan. A few weeks later, Congress passed the Patriot Act, which authorized the government sweeping powers to collect our personal data. In just over a year Bush created the Department of Homeland Security, under which Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol operate, to “improve information sharing” of personal data on “invisible enemies.”
Below highlights 20 years of US policy that created a demand for tech.
The Authorization of Military Mobilization
September 18, 2001
President GW Bush signs into law a joint resolution authorizing military mobilization against those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The resolution becomes the justification for many “counterterrorism” efforts, including the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, to surveilling Americans, to establishing the detention camps in Guantánamo Bay. Representative Barbara Lee is the only member of Congress to vote no on the resolution.
NSA Starts Collecting Data
October 4, 2001
President GW Bush authorizes the National Security Agency to collect communications data such as phone and internet records in bulk. The focus was on communications with at least one communicant outside the United States or for which no communicant was known to be a citizen of the United States. The program known as STELLARWIND continued until 2011.
Bombs on Afghanistan
October 7, 2001
The US, with British support, starts dropping bombs on Afghanistan.
The Patriot Act Signed into Law
October 24, 2001
The Patriot Act is passed in Congress with overwhelming support from both Democrats and Republicans. The act authorizes sweeping powers for the government to surveil Americans and even indefinitely detain immigrants who aren’t charged with crimes. Its passage opened the doors for Big Tech to become, first and foremost, the brokers of our personal data, selling to government agencies and private companies at home and abroad and unleashing the era of the data economy.
The Drone Strike
November 2001
The first successful drone strike is completed in Afghanistan, killing al-Qaida’s military chief Mohammed Atef and Osama Bin Laden’s son-in-law.
Guantánamo Bay
January 2002
The first detainees arrive at Guantánamo Bay’s detention camps. Bush calls Iraq a part of an “axis of evil."
National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS)
September 10, 2002
Bush introduces the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), which required any non-citizen from mostly Muslim majority countries entering the United States to register.
Authorization for Military Force signed into law
October 16, 2002
Bush signs the 2002 Authorization for Military Force into law, paving the way for US military force against Iraq.
Homeland Security Act
November 2002
Congress passes the Homeland Security Act by Congress which creates the Department of Homeland Security and the US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement within it. DHS’s sole mission is to “protect the American homeland” against “invisible enemies” and to “improve information sharing among our intelligence agencies” and “look for potential trends.”
Grants given to "combat terrorism"
January 2003
US government begins giving state and local grants via the State Homeland Security Grant Program to supplement federal efforts to “combat terrorism.”
DHS officially begins operations.
March 2003
DHS officially begins operations.
Iraq
March 20, 2003
The US invasion and occupation of Iraq begins.
FISA Amendments Act signed into law
July 10, 2008
George W signs FISA Amendments Act in law. Section 702 requires tech and telecommunications companies to provide the US government with access to emails and other communications to aid in national security investigations. The NSA received access to Microsoft servers in September 2007; to Google in January 2009; to Facebook in June 2009; to YouTube in 2010; and to Apple in October 2012. The act was reauthorized in 2012 and 2018.
Executive orders to close Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp
January 22, 2009
Obama signed executive orders to close Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp and end the CIA’s secret blacksite prison program and post 9/11 torture apparatus. No charges were brought against anyone for the violent treatment of individuals held there.
Drone strike in Pakistan
January 23, 2009
Obama launches his first drone strike in Pakistan.
No funds to close Guantanamo
May 2009
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate unite to vote 90-9 to withhold the necessary funding to close Guantanamo.
The Virtual Border Wall
January 2011
DHS spends $1B on plans for a tech-heavy “virtual wall” along the US-Mexico border. The plans were then canceled.
Peter King and the "radicalization" of Muslim Americans
March 2011
Peter King, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, holds hearings about the “radicalization” of Muslim Americans
Countering Violent Extremism
August 2011
Obama introduces local and national strategies for Countering Violent Extremism. This program has been used to criminalize and spy on Muslim communities.
Syria and Iraq
September 2014
US led coalition bombing of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
The Muslim Ban
January 2017
Trump signs an Executive Order to ban all foreign nationals from majority Muslim countries and Syrian refugees from entering the United States.
U.S. military raid in Yemen
January 30, 2017
Trump conducts first U.S. military raid in Yemen. The attack kills 8-year-old Nawar, whose father Anwar al-Awlaki and brother Abdulrahman, 16, were killed in US drone strikes in 2011.
Trump drops the Mother of All Bombs on Afghanistan.
April 2017
Trump drops the Mother of All Bombs on Afghanistan.
US-Mexico Border Wall
February 2020
Trump diverts nearly $4B in Department of Defense funding to $11B in funding from DHS and other agencies for a wall on the US-Mexico border.
Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention
May 2020
DHS launches Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) as a rebrand of CVE programs.
Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships
May 2021
DHS rolls out the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3), yet another rebrand of CVE. Secretary Mayorkas also announces a new, dedicated domestic terrorism branch to ensure DHS develops the expertise necessary to produce intelligence needed to combat threats posed by domestic terrorism and targeted violence.
Repeal 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force
June 2021
U.S. House of Representatives votes to repeal 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force. Biden announces his National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
Drone Strike on Somalia
July 2021
Biden carries out his first drone strike on Somalia.
U.S. Forces leave Afghanistan
August 2021
US forces leave Afghanistan but Biden makes clear the demand for war tech will continue: “We are developing a counterterrorism over-the-horizon capability that will allow us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on any direct threats to the United States in the region, and act quickly and decisively if needed.
When Start-Ups Became "Big Tech"
Over the same period of time as the Global War on Terror, corporations like Amazon and Google went from tiny operations out of a car trunk and a garage respectively, to becoming among the most profitable corporations in the world.
Below is a very brief history of some important landmarks in Big Tech’s history.
AUGUST 1996
Google launches on Stanford University’s network
FEBRUARY 2004
Facebook launches
JULY 2006
Twitter launches
AUGUST 2006
Amazon launches the first AWS market product for cloud services
OCTOBER 2006
Google acquires YouTube for $1.65B
2008
Microsoft launches the first version of Azure
Microsoft launches the first version of Azure, its cloud computing software. Azure would later take on significant government contracts.
2015
Amazon becomes more valuable than Walmart
JUNE 2017
Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.4B
MAY 2021
Amazon acquires MGM for $8.45B
Developments in Big Tech's War on Terror
As the GWoT progressed and Big Tech corporations grew in usership and scale, the federal government increasingly turned to Big Tech to assist in carrying out their GWoT policies and strategies.
Below are a few important turning points in the relationship between Big Tech and the US government throughout the GWoT.