The War on Terror

""The government has issued an orange alert, which once again, means nothing.""

- Kent Brockman, The Simpsons

9/11 'till...well, now, actually. Sort of. Might possibly have ended with the COVID-19 pandemic, but as of mid-2021 it's still too soon to tell.

The War On Terror is the current setting for a lot of Present Day media, although how much it features in a given work of media varies considerably. There are multiple levels:

Terror Alert Level Green: It's not really there
The situation isn't really mentioned at all. It's either not relevant (as in the Speculative Fiction genre), or it's pretended it's not happening. This does not bar the show from making comments via metaphor though.

Live-Action TV

 * The Stargate Verse franchise. They've got bigger problems to deal with, such as the Ori and the Wraith. Occasionally an Atlantis character will flashback to being in it though.
 * John Sheppard, the only Atlantis main character who has been part of the US Armed Forces has several references in the story about his time as an Air Force pilot in Afghanistan (he hadn't been let in on The Masquerade yet, which is why he was bothering with the less important conflict in the first place.
 * The new Doctor Who. See Stargate. Maybe less so, Doctor Who being British. The public, in general, doesn't care for the War on Terror and has reached a point of indifference about it, unless a family member is involved, and would have more concern for the giant eye ready to incinerate the Earth, or a visit from the Daleks. Spinoffs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, having more limiting methods of Time Travel, mention Iraq, but never higher than Alert Level Blue. Doctor Who on the other hand, involves frequent use of time travel, on top of having had just nine out of 32 episodes substantially set on present-day Earth between 2009 and 2011.
 * Farscape subverts the "Green" level, even lampshades it: Crichton's father mentions to John that it's a different world than the idealistic one they believed in when he left, what with the War on Terror going on. Crichton is obviously not impressed and is almost glad that's their biggest concern, in contrast with all the atrocities he's seen and felt "out there".
 * Star Trek: Enterprise: While it doesn't mention 9/11 directly, Enterprise was the most blatantly American (or at least Anglo) centric Trek series in existence. This was particularly noticeable because of how relatively multi-ethnic Star Trek had always been in the past. Scott Bakula's performance was at times a fairly transparent impersonation of George W. Bush. The show was more strongly militaristic in focus even than Voyager, as well.

Film

 * Just about completely ignored in The Taqwacores, to the point where it gets a lampshading, because despite what certain news channels would tell you it's really completely irrelevant to the American Muslim's day-to-day life.

Terror Alert Level Blue: It gets cursory mentions
The thing is there in the background, it's acknowledged it's happening, it affects the plot somewhat, but ultimately doesn't directly affect the plot on a day to day basis.

Live-Action TV

 * Alias is the prime example of this. While the increased world tensions are mentioned, people get threatened with the Patriot Act and there's one trip to Afghanistan, the rest of the series is chock full of non-Islamist terrorists and there is never a direct "Al-Qaeda" plot during the entire show. A notable incident is a case in Series Two, where Sydney, as part of a disguise, is wearing a heavily metal-studded shirt. Her comment: "When I last went through JFK, they literally made me take off my shirt". Guess what ends up happening...
 * Comedies like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia like to dig joke material out of it, but that's as far as it goes.
 * Community: 9/11 was pretty much the 9/11 of the falafel business.
 * CSI New York has the main character's wife dead in 9/11, and it gets painfully reminded every other episode like it was some new (to be fair, to the irregular watchers, it is new... until they stop being irregulars) heartbreaking thing that ''didn't happen soon-to-be over 10 years ago. Milked for all it's got, but that's usually as far as it goes, except rare random terrorist involving plots.
 * The War on Terror has tangential effects in The Wire. Mainly, the local Baltimore police discover that drug trafficking has fallen off the FBI's priority list and they can't get Bureau assistance in their anti-drug cases anymore. (Although in Season 3 sympathetic Agent Fitzhugh hooks them up with an expedited wiretap by .)
 * They do manage to crack one case with the help of equipment granted to the Baltimore PD by a Homeland Security grant. Hilariously, none of the cops knew what it was or how to use it, so it was buried on a back shelf for years.
 * There's also one seen in the Western District squad room where a federal agent is trying to train the police officers in how to deal with terrorist threats only to have the police officers crack jokes about how Baltimore is already a war zone or how the city's drug gangs would scare off any potential terrorists.
 * White Collar often mentions how traditional tactics used by crooks have had to change in a post 9/11 world.
 * Scrubs has an episode featuring an Iraq veteran with the entire hospital siding in heated debates. Another episode has J.D. becoming a makeshift US flag due to a shortage of them in wartime.
 * Dr Watson from Sherlock is, as in the original, a veteran who fought in Afghanistan. We see him having a flashback to it in the beginning of the first episode and, as in the original, Sherlock comments upon it when they first meet, but that's about it.
 * The Sopranos, like The Wire example, the Feds lose interest in The Mafia after 9/11. It comes up a few times, notably in the final season when Chris debates whether to sell guns to two Arab men and Tony tries to offer information (violating his Omerta) on terrorists.
 * David Kelley's shows mention it from time to time. Ally McBeal's therapist mentioned that after 9/11, casual sex has become more common because people just felt like they needed some connection they could turn to during that trying time and Alan Shore dealt with the ramifications of the war on terror frequently, even butting heads occasionally with the extremely conservative Denny Crane.

Web Comics

 * See how Phil Ivey helps to win the war on terror in Plus EV!

Terror Alert Level Yellow: It turns up in a few plots
A common one for the Cop Show that otherwise has to deal with its third Serial Killer of the season. This includes attacks on veterans, possible involvement of someone in Islamist terrorism and asylum seekers.

Live-Action TV

 * Without a Trace is an example here. In one case, an Iraq veteran went missing, some of the team headed to Iraq... then it turned out the guy was killed while doing an armed robbery and the war was nothing to do with it whatsoever. Also had a guy mistakenly shot dead because they thought he was a terrorist by virtue of the books in his library and the fact he looked like he had a gun.
 * The Bill is in this category. It's an interesting example. Despite being set in an area with a considerable number of Muslims, it has not yet done a straight Islamist terrorism story ("Moving Target" was a vendetta over Iraq artefacts).
 * Law and Order has seen a couple of episodes come and go with both attacks on veterans and a (white) Islamic extremist murdering a women's rights activist.
 * NCIS has had several plots featuring Islamist terrorists, most notably Ari's attempt to use a target drone as a cruise missile to attack a crowd at a crew homecoming. When that plot failed . Recent seasons have introduced more elements which connect to the Islamist terrorism,
 * The West Wing falls into this catagory due to the infrequent, but heavy-hitting episodes involving Islamic extremists and Qumar
 * In Numb3rs, Colby is an Afghanistan veteran, and there are a few terror-related episodes, but most of the episodes are close-to-home.
 * In The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard, a plane comes down and extremists are suspected.
 * Arrested Development has both major and minor references to the war on terror. At first glance, the war only seems to get a passing, satirical treatment. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the War on Terror is a central element in this show and that it is actually behind the premise of the series.
 * Such references run the gamut from Maeby offhandedly mentioning that school let out early because an Arabic student parked too close to the gym to.
 * Blue Bloods has several mentions: Frank and Henry were WTC first responders, along with many other cops, and Danny fought in Fallujah. In Season One, the NYPD's Intelligence Division has infiltrated a splinter cell and prevents a major terrorist attack.
 * The Boondocks had a mini-arc where Huey is "helping" via the FBI's hot line. Which is to say, reminds us that it's a good old American tradition by now. Not the hot line, supporting "Moderate Rebels" and then making big eyes when the wind inevitably changes.

Terror Alert Level Orange: It turns up a lot
Islamist terrorists turn up a lot, but there are other people as well.

Live-Action TV

 * Spooks (MI-5), the first example of "terror TV"- a series explicitly set post-9/11.
 * Rubicon
 * Later seasons of JAG had the War on Terror taking a central role in the story arcs. Very justified, as the show centers around career military officers. Notably, the show made a point of depicting at least a few of the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters as being Not So Different, with Bud managing to gain vital information from a prisoner while they bonded over a common interest in Star Trek.

Video Games

 * Army of Two is mostly you vs. Al-Qaeda. However
 * Though Alpha Protocol encompasses a far greater scope than just the War On Terror, the initial part of the game involves fighting an Al-Qaeda Expy named Al-Samaad who  Later on in the game, exploiting fears of terrorism is the entire point behind
 * Postal 2: Paradise, Arizona has an absurd number of Islamic terrorists living or at least operating in and around the town (to the point that the "Tora Bora" complex can be reached from an underground sewer complex within the city limits), but beyond them taking over the church on Tuesday and the National Guard taking out one of their training camps in the expansion, they're just another group of people for you to kill with reckless abandon.
 * WinSP:MBT, a Fan Remake of Steel Panthers II, includes a number of scenarios set in this. The majority are based on actual events in Iraq and Afghanistan, but there's a few hypothetical scenarios as well, including a campaign where Al-Quaeda tries to run operations in the Netherlands and the player has to root them out.

Live-Action TV

 * 24 is usually cited when people use the term "terror TV" and Islamist terrorists feature in six of the eight seasons thus, while the third season has a Big Bad annoyed over US foreign policy. However, the first season was conceived pre-9/11 and has the Kosovo War as its Backstory (the S3 big bad is partly motivated by the fact he was left to be captured there). Season 2's second part involving "three Middle Eastern countries" now appears to be a rather heavy-handed, slightly inaccurate, but pretty prescient metaphor on what was then the approaching Iraq War. (The Bombers on the Screen use is great, though)
 * The Grid was a Mini Series on an Islamist plot to explode a gas tanker near Chicago.
 * Four Lions, a Black Comedy about four Jihadi suicide bombers.
 * Homeland is about a returned POW from the Iraqi War whom a CIA agent fears has been turned by an Islamist terrorist group.

Film

 * The recent cinematic reboot of Star Trek. Although many would argue otherwise, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which particular recent historical event, the destruction of Vulcan might possibly be alluding to.

Video Games

 * Command & Conquer: Generals.
 * The Modern Warfare series, though it is careful enough to mask everything with fictional names, add USSR Pamyat... uh, Russian ultranationalists into the equation and making things not quite what they seem in Modern Warfare 2.
 * The 2010 version of Medal of Honor basically thrusts you into it.

Afghanistan
Quite a few TV and film examples, including a number of Afghan ones, but nothing stands out so far. Lions for Lambs went down badly with critics and the public alike, as well being criticised for the title being an apparent misquote of the World War I expression "lions led by donkeys". Studio 60 featured Tom's brother being kidnapped in Afghanistan in its closing five-parter, then ended in Fairy Tale style.

An Afghanistan D20 role-playing boardgame has been published, doing a fairly serious job with describing the early stages of the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan. Times have changed however, and today (this is written in Kabul in the autumn of 2008) the war looks quite different.

"The Road to Guantanamo" is a 2006 docu-drama about the detention in Guantanamo of three British men picked up in Afghanistan in 2001. It won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature, and the Silver Bear for Best Director at 2006 Berlin Film Festival. Contains archive news footage from the period, and recounts the men's experiences from their travels into Afghanistan to their capture and imprisonment.

And then there's the new Medal of Honor video game that has you as both a soldier and a Tier 1 Operator fighting in Afghanistan. It semi-accurately depicts the war, centering on a fictionalised version of Operation Anaconda, with, in true Medal of Honor fashion, everyone who isn't American (Or in this case, Afghan) conveniently excised.

Iraq
Outside of Iraq itself, movies and TV (there's a few novels out there and a number of computer game mods on the conflict, the latter of which raises the moral issue of playing games involving an ongoing war) that directly deals with the conflict and is actually set in Iraq is few and far between. The first attempt at a TV series in the US, Over There, was critically acclaimed, but ultimately cancelled(some speculate it was cancelled for "political reasons"). In contrast, the 2008 HBO miniseries Generation Kill is based on the 2004 book of the same name about an embedded reporter's experience with his unit of Marines and has at least one character played by his real-life counterpart (Sgt. Rudy Reyes as himself).

All the movies are pretty obscure and have effectively flopped at the box office, with some commentators arguing that "war movie fatigue" on the part of the public was responsible. On the other hand, some have argued that "anti-war movie fatigue" is responsible.

One exception would be The Hurt Locker, which won an Oscar for Best Picture. However, it should be noted that it is also the lowest grossing film to win that award.

A good past example that may serve as a guide for the future (due to general perception, accurate or not, on the Iraq War) is The Vietnam War. It took four years after the fall of Saigon for the first widely-known (Go Tell The Spartans isn't that well known) period and area set film to come out and that, Apocalypse Now, is also Heart of Darkness in Vietnam. Full Metal Jacket wasn't until 1986. On the other hand, during previous American conflicts films were produced expressing a pro-war position (if not quite actual propaganda). During World War Two Hollywood was essentially co-opted by the US war department to produce pro-war films and cartoons (although every country did the same thing, except, ironically, Germany, which mainly produced period films). During the Vietnam War films in support of the war like The Green Berets (with John Wayne) were made, and the vast majority of 80s action films were supportive of the Reagan administration's foreign policy. In contrast, The War on Terror hasn't produced many films or TV shows that expressly support it (with the possible exception of a Post Nine Eleven Terrorism Movie or two).

Appears as Backstory quite a bit, especially in Brothers and Sisters, where Blonde Republican Sex Kitten Kitty, trying to prevent her brother going to Iraq, tries to bribe the Senator she later gets engaged to and performs on an on-camera volte-face. One can't help feel someone's going Strawman Political on this one (supporting a war until it directly affects you). Justin eventually goes of his own free will anyway and is seriously wounded there.

Film

 * Home of the Brave, about four National Guardsmen who deal with various hardships after returning home from the war in Iraq.

Live-Action TV

 * In The Unit, Jonas Blaine's daughter Betsy is kidnapped while serving in Iraq.

Iran
While Iran is somewhat a separate issue - Iranians aren't Arabs but Persians, they don't speak Arabic but Farsi, and they're Shias not Sunni - they're lumped in these days because of two main reasons. One: the apparent threat, real or otherwise, of the regime in Tehran. Two: they're brown and live in the same general direction (exactly between Afghanistan and Iraq, in fact), what more do you want?

Smaller Scale Conflicts (Those that do not usually involve the US, at least not directly)

 * Philippines
 * The Mediterranean Sea
 * Somalia, the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden (a continuation of the Somali Civil War)
 * Saudi Arabia (ended around August 2008)
 * Pakistan (though it's usually included with Afghanistan)
 * Southern Thailand
 * Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories
 * Nigeria
 * Northern Caucasus (the period after the Second Caucasus War/South Ossetia War)
 * Algeria and The Maghreb (The Northern Half of the former French West Africa)
 * Yemen (had ended in 2008, but showed signs of another flare-up)
 * The Arab Spring.

The War On Terror,
There are a couple of shows out there that use their settings and plots to make points, usually rather Anvilicious, on the War On Terror:

Film

 * 300 sparked an enormous amount of controversy from all corners of politics on release because of its plot involving asymmetrical warfare, swarthy Mediterraneans, Freedom™, extremely stylized history, and even disagreement about its real subject matter between co-creators. Not least of its problems is that some people are still very fussy about the historical figures it portrays, and Greece and Turkey are still going at it.
 * On a related note, many recent movies about treacherous regimes and war, such as Harry Potter, V for Vendetta, and Star Wars couldn't help but slip in allegory of varying subtlety (or lack thereof) about The War On Terror.
 * 9th Company is a strange example: The events in the film predate the War On Terror by nearly two decades, as it focuses on the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan. That said, it was made in 2007 and there are numerous, subtle parallels to the current war. It is almost as if the director was saying "We went through that hellhole. Now it's your turn".
 * Star Wars Episode III. "If you're not with me, you're my enemy!" Whether that was meant as a reference to George W. Bush or not is debated.

Literature

 * In John Birmingham's Without Warning and After America the war on terror takes a bizarre turn in 2003 when an energy field of unknown origin and composition wipes out about three-quarters of the population of North America. An energized Saddam Hussein takes the offensive against a demoralized US military just before they were going to invade and drives them out then allies with Iran to declare a universal jihad against Israel. . Other ripples from this include the French Intifada and the United Kingdom deporting or interning all of its Muslims while parts of Germany, especially Cologne become functionally converted to sharia.

Live-Action TV

 * The new Battlestar Galactica, which over the course of the series has dealt with themes such as military occupation, suicide bombing and whether it can be justified, an enemy that blends in with the public, the results of a nuclear holocaust, and religious conflict.
 * The 2006 Robin Hood in the first season actually has the Sheriff use the words "war on terror" in late 12th century England and uses the Crusades as a (rather inaccurate) metaphor for the whole thing. It's toned down a lot for the second.
 * Stargate SG-1 with the Ori arc.
 * Star Trek: Enterprises third season drew heavily on current events. Earth is savagely attacked, apparently out of nowhere, and the NX-01 (bringing along a cohort of Army Guys) heads into a treacherous region of space to find the culprits. Many fans were afraid this storyline would be untrue to Treks philosophy, but they needn't have worried: the aliens aren't all bad, Archer's new hard-edged attitude isn't always endorsed, and there's enough ambiguity all round to keep it from being Strawman Political in either direction. Prior to that, a couple of first-season episodes -- "Fortunate Son" and especially "Detained"—examined elements of the war on terror. But contrary to a common assumption, the decision to name the first season's bad guys "Suliban" happened long before 9/11. They were named after the Taliban, but only because Rick Berman thought that name had the exotic sound he wanted; no one was expecting it to become a household name.

Video Games

 * The Halo series, while debuting a few months after 9/11, has Scary Dogmatic Aliens who are religious extremists going to war with the UNSC (humanity's united military, modeled after the United States Marines). It was subtle in the first game, but was more obvious in Halo 2, where the War was on the developers' minds more. The aliens' religious motivation ceases to be an Informed Attribute. The allegory, if it was intentional, sort of falls apart when the Flood shows up.
 * The UNSC were also in a revolution by "The Insurrection," which had turned to terrorism to fight for freedom. However, in many ways this is more reminiscent of the troubles then any more recent conflict.
 * However the developers have also said that The Culture was an influence. Seeing as how that series had Scary Dogmatic Aliens in the first book it might just be coincidental.
 * Deus Ex is a rare example, since it came out before 9/11. The game deals with the issue of if terrorists are doing their actions because they are simply violent, or because they have been left with no other option. The issue of increasing security at the cost of personal freedoms comes up throughout the game, especially as the Crapsack World setting becomes more so.
 * There is also the infamous Harsher in Hindsight example of the missing World Trade Center Towers in the New York skyline. The real reason for it was due to memory limitations. The developers justified it by saying it was due to a terrorist attack sometime before the game. The game was released in 2000.
 * Deus Ex Invisible War had the tagline "The future War On Terror" since it came out in 2004 when it was fresh on people's minds.

Western Animation

 * South Park had Cartman kill Osama Bin Laden (actually, a soldier delivered the final shot) the Episode after 9/11. Team America from the same creators fits this Trope better; it takes place during the War on Terror.
 * The Simpsons touched on this in their 2006 Halloween special, where Kang and Kodos decide to invade Earth. Incidentally, the scene originally ended with the line "This sure is a lot like Iraq will be", tossing an anvil straight through the Fourth Wall. This was wisely cut at some point down the line, but it still aired on some channels.
 * Many other recent episodes, such as "Bart-Mangled Banner", have satirized post-9/11 America.
 * The entire plot of "MyPods and Boomsticks" is about Homer's attempt to reveal that the family of Bart's newest friend are terrorists.
 * In The Legend of Korra, Tarrlok's treatment of non-benders is similar to this, especially as of the most recent episode.

Tropes from media set in this period

 * Anonymous Ringer
 * Anvilicious
 * Atomic Hate
 * Child Soldiers: Of the "just plain tragic" variety.
 * Israelis With Infrared Missiles
 * Knight Templar
 * Mission from God
 * No Woman's Land: Islamic nations.
 * Our Presidents Are Different
 * Qurac
 * Renegade Russian: Most often ex-Soviet men, businessmen or non-Communist political extremists.
 * Ripped from the Headlines
 * Suicide Attack
 * Strawman Political
 * Terrorists Without a Cause: Though, exceptions are sometimes made for religious organizations, those whose motivation is to get the US out of their country or those involved in the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
 * The UK Armed Forces
 * Too Soon
 * Canucks With Chinooks
 * Western Terrorists: Occasionally, Slavic, Far Eastern and African terrorists.
 * Yanks With Tanks

Pro-US Portrayals

 * America Saves the Day
 * Big Damn Heroes: Generally, the US military does this in such portrayals
 * Black and White Morality
 * Eagle Land Type 1
 * Patriotic Fervor
 * Semper Fi
 * The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Iraqi insurgents, Palestinians.

Anti-US Portrayals

 * Armies Are Evil
 * Big Brother Is Watching: The security measures of tin-pot tyrannies and the United States.
 * Black and Grey Morality: The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized.
 * Crapsack World
 * Day of the Jackboot: The United States.
 * Eagle Land Type 2
 * Government Conspiracy: To 9/11 conspiracy theorists.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Natch.
 * Hero Syndrome
 * History Repeats: Allusions are drawn to Vietnam, most commonly, though CIA activities in South America or the First Gulf War are also popular
 * My Country, Right or Wrong: The more decent soldiers, USA or otherwise.
 * No Blood for Phlebotinum: "It's all about oil" is a common motif.
 * Sociopathic Soldier: The less decent ones, particularly on states like Sudan, of tin-pot tyrannies or of the United States.
 * The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: Iraqi insurgents, Palestinians.
 * Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Some works go to this extreme, especially if Armies Are Evil is present.

See Post Nine Eleven Terrorism Movie for the subject of terrorism in some depth. Also see Turn of the Millennium. Not to be confused with the Australian comedy series The Chaser's War on Everything, though they've certainly touched on the matter on occasion.