Building From The U.s. "war On Terror" Anti-terrorism International Law

Recent years have witnessed a strong surge of international terrorism, particularly in the aftermath of September 11 terrorist attack against the United States. A host of international terrorist groups coordinated and plotted terrorist attacks worldwide, ranging from the Middle East, the United States to Asia, Europe and Africa, characterized by globalization, mobilization and hi-tech orientation. Being fallen as victim of the September 11 terrorist attack, the United States launched the unprecedented "War on Terror" and adopted a series of policy initiatives on military, political, diplomatic, law enforcement and intelligence fronts both domestic and abroad, with sympathy, acquiescence and support of a majority of countries of the international community. In the first stage of the War on Terror, the US overthrew the Taliban government of Afghanistan, hunted down the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden and then culminated in invading Iraq in the name of curbing terrorist threats and eliminating weapons of mass destruction (WMD), regardless of the UN opposition. Viewing from the international law and the self-defense rights enshrined in the UN Charter, the US-launched War on Terror at its first stage is justified to some degree. With expansion and enlargement in size and scope, however, the War on Terror developed itself into a serious estrangement from and detriment to the principles of the international law, especially after the US invaded Iraq and toppled down the Saddam Hussein regime. As a consequence, more terrorist attacks are occurring within Iraq and without. To sum it up, when the War on Terror entered into the phase of Iraq War, it reached the peak of fighting terrorism globally indeed, facing most daunting challenges ahead. It seems that the international coalition against terrorism is falling apart, with the War on Terror losing the ground and there is no easy victory on the horizon. Therefore, it's necessary and imperative to construct and develop the international legal system against terrorism.By analyzing international practices of fighting terrorism as well as the main features of the international terrorist activities in recent years, this dissertation takes the US-led War on Terror as its case study, exploring the War's historical background,development, fundamental characteristics and US major policy concerns, displaying the contravention of the War on Terror against the international order and the fundamental principles of the international law. Based on these, the dissertation is to further summarize the present anti-terror rules and regulations and point out the inherent shortcomings and the challenges, proposing the legal ways and means for the future buildup and perfection of the international legal system on fighting terrorism.The dissertation divides itself into six parts. Part I is the preface, expounding the historical development, current state of affairs, development trends and characteristics of the international terrorism. Part II introduces the background, strategic considerations and the claimed legal evidence by the United States on launching the War on Terror. Part III analyzes the defections of the conceptual framework, strategy, tactics and practices by the United States on the War on Terror from the perspective of international law. Part IV explains the present status, existing problems and challenges of the international legal system on fighting terrorism. Part V puts forward the guiding principles, transformational substance and development path of the legal system construction for future international campaign against terror, so as to conduct the international cooperation more effectively in fighting terrorism. Part VI is the concluding remark that puts the international fight against terrorism and the legal construction into broad perspective.