Timeline (The Eagle Looks to the Right)

1996

 * June 25: A truck bomb was detonated adjacent to Building #131, an eight-storey structure housing members of the United States Air Force's 4404th Wing (Provisional), primarily from a deployed rescue squadron and deployed fighter squadron. In all, 19 U.S. servicemen and a Saudi local were killed and 498 of many nationalities were wounded.
 * September 27: The Taliban captures Kabul from Massoud's forces, establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Massoud retreats the north, where he forms an alliance with the ethnic leaders dubbed as the Norther Alliance.

1998

 * August 7: The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania are bombed by Al-Qaeda terrorists and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, killing 244 people.
 * August 20: In response to the embassy attacks, the U.S. Navy launches cruise missiles into suspected Al-Qaeda training camps into Khost Province, Afghanistan and Khartoum, Sudan. Al-Qaeda takes some causalities and structural damage, but overall the strikes fail and is a propaganda win for the terrorist group.

1999

 * December 24-31: Indian Airlines Flight 814 is hijacked by Islamic radicals upon entering Indian airspace from Kathmandu, Nepal. Hijackers ordered the aircraft to be flown to several locations. After touching down in Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai, UAE the hijackers finally forced the aircraft to land in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which at the time was controlled by the Taliban. The hijackers released 27 of 176 passengers in Dubai but fatally stabbed one and wounded several others. The Taliban surrounded the plane and pressured the the Islamists to release the hostages. Due to the lack of diplomatic relations between India and the Islamic Emirate, it became harder to negotiate.  India agreed to release three militants – Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar. This Taliban took this chance to boost their stage on the international community.

2000

 * October 12: USS Cole is bombed by a small fiber glass boat while docked in Aden, Yemen, killing 17 American sailors, the 2 Al-Qaeda perpetuators and injuring 39 others.
 * November 7: U.S. Presidential Elections of 2000. George W. Bush narrowly defeats Al Gore, Jr. in one the closest elections in U.S. history.
 * December 30: The Abu-Sayaff Group bombs several passenger trains and public transportation terminals in Manila, Philippines. This event known as the Rizal Day bombings.

January

 * January 20:
 * George W. Bush is inaugurated the 43rd President of the United States.
 * In the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo becomes the President after the ouster of Joseph E. Estrada.

April

 * April 11: Hainan Island Incident occurs. A U.S. Navy EP-3 Poseidon collides with a PLAAF fighter jet, forcing the U.S. plane to land on Hainan Island. The crew was detained for several days before being released alongside their plane. This incident caused a stir between U.S.-China relations and one of the first challenged of the Bush administration.

August

 * August 6: George W. Bush recieves a warning in his daily briefing that Osama Bin Ladin is determined to attack the United States.

September 9

 * Ahmad Shah Massoud is killed by two Al-Qaeda suicide bombers posing as Belgian journalists. Russian President Vladimir Putin warns bush Bush that the attacks are a plot of something bigger.

September 10

 * Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield announces that a big portion of the Pentagon's budget was reported missing.

September 11
POD