After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Bush declared a global war on terrorism and, in October 2001, ordered an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, destroy the terrorist group al-Qaeda, and capture Osama bin Laden. That same month, he signed into law the controversial Patriot Act in order to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists. In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq, asserting that Iraq possessed stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1441.