text: The War on Terrorism (also known as the War on Terror) is an umbrella term coined by the administration of United States President George W. Bush to refer to the various military, political, and legal actions taken to ostensibly "curb the spread of terrorism" following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. Both the phrase “War on Terrorism” and the policies it denotes have been a source of ongoing controversy, as critics argue it has been used to justify unilateral preemptive war, perpetual war, human rights abuses, and other violations of international law.