Greg Aftandilian
Senior Professorial Lecturer at American University's School of International Service and Non-resident Fellow at Arab Center Washington DC, expert on Middle East politics and U.S. foreign policy.
2
APPEARANCES
2
PODCASTS
Sep 11, 2026
Greg AftandilianGUEST
it?Well, we got into this so-called war on terror, which, um, was seemed to be never-ending, um, as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
Greg AftandilianGUEST
We definitely decimated much of Al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, but we had a very long, um, and very unhappy experience in Afghanistan.
Greg AftandilianGUEST
And, uh, we went to war against Iraq in 2003, which really had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks.
Greg AftandilianGUEST
So, uh, you know, we, we were in this kind of endless war period, and, uh, it cost many lives, not only of Americans, but also peoples of those countries, and a huge amounts of, uh, monetary cost.
Greg AftandilianGUEST
Um, we're still paying for the cost of caring for wounded soldiers from that c- from these conflicts.
Gordon DealHOST
Do, uh, ha- have there been successes since, uh, the war on terror following 9/11?
Madi MingesHOST
As a Middle East expert, with the perspective and some distance now, what would you say are some of the long-term successes and failures of the war on terror?
Greg AftandilianGUEST
The successes were that the U.S. decimated the al-Qaeda network as much as it could.
Greg AftandilianGUEST
And eventually, of course, under the Obama administration, you know, Osama bin Laden was killed in that raid and Al Qaeda was never able to mount another attack against the U.S. homeland.
Greg AftandilianGUEST
Now, we know later ISIS emerged from Al Qaeda and then you had these lone wolf attacks in the United States by ISIS sympathizers.
Greg AftandilianGUEST
But in terms of a big event, as a lot of people were predicting, that didn't come to pass.
Greg AftandilianGUEST
And that was largely due to, I think, more resources going into the intelligence community and DOD.
9 MINS LATER
Madi MingesHOST
How has terrorism and extremism changed? post 9 11 and what does it look like today