The Term ‘War On Terror’, First Used By George W. Bush

The term ‘war on terror’, first used by George W. Bush in the citation above is commonly used as a metaphor of war to designate the international military campaign that started after the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001 and is still going on today. Even though the expression has later been rejected by the Bush administration as well as Barack Obama (Shinkman, 2013), it has since been widely used in the media to label the political and military struggle against terrorism, particularly directed against Islamic terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Afghanistan and Iraq. Because of the ‘war on terror’ and the significant economic, military, cultural and†¦show more content†¦2.1 Oppressed Muslim women, American saviors Among the different narratives used to justify military intervention by the Bush administration one of the most prominent was the narrative of women being oppressed by men (Deylami, 2013 :180). The vision of women as victims of the Taliban regimes was indeed used to point out to the necessity for an American intervention in Afghanistan. In his speeches and addresses to the nation, George W. Bush made constant references to Muslim women, insisting particularly on them being â€Å"not allowed to attend school† (September 20, 2001), â€Å"executed in Kabul’s soccer stadium† and â€Å"beaten for wearing socks that are too thin† (November 10, 2001) as well as â€Å"prisoners in their homes† (September 11, 2006). Similarly, his wife, Laura Bush, on a speech to the nation on November 17, 2001, where she used twenty times the word ‘women’ also put a strong emphasis on the situation of Muslim women in Afghanistan. Throughout that speech, she for example stated that Afghan women â€Å"have been denied access to doctors when they are sick†, â€Å"cannot work outside the home† or â€Å"leave when they are homes by themselves† (Bush L., 2001). 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