Understanding the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan demands that we confront the complexity of their origins, their prosecution, and their legacies - and the ongoing uncertainty about their outcomes. it also depends, to an extent often underappreciated, on recapturing the sense of shock, of fear, and of powerful resolve that gripped the nation in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. That's not to suggest that histories of these wars should begin with that date; this volume clearly argues otherwise. Nor is it to suggest that the events of 9/11 were the sole cause of these wars, or that the decisions to go to war in Afghanistan and then Iraq were the only, or even the most logical, possible reactions to those attacks. The authors of this volume, in the main, make other claims. Nonetheless, the profound shock of 9/11 shaped America's course to war; the emotions unleashed by those attacks made possible actions that might otherwise never have been taken - or that would, at least, have provoked longer and more difficult debate. The attack on the U.S. "homeland" changed the political dynamic of America's foreign relations.

Introduction /Beth Bailey and Richard H. Immerman -- Part I. The wars and their origins -- The wars' entangled roots: regional realities and Washington's vision / Michael A. Reynolds -- 9/11: Bush's response / Terry H. Anderson -- Part II. The possibilities and limits of American military and diplomatic strategy -- Intelligence and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan / Richard H. Immerman -- Assessing strategic choices in the War on Terror / Stephen Biddle and Peter D. Feaver -- Military strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq: learning and adapting under fire at home and in the field / Conrad Crane -- Human rights as a weapon of war / Jonathan Horowitz -- Part III. Waging and the wages of war -- The combatants' experiences / Lisa Mundey -- Fighting (against) the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan / David Farber -- Limited war in the age of total media / Sam Lebovic -- "Watching war made us immune": the popular culture of the wars / Andrew C. McKevitt -- Part IV. Lessons and legacies -- Veterans' readjustment after the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars / David Kieran -- The lessons and legacies of the War in Iraq / Robert K. Brigham -- The lessons and legacies of the War in Afghanistan / Aaron B. O'Connell.