Action In Iraq Research Articles

Colin Powell's Speech to the UN: A Discourse Analytic Study of Reconstituted Ethos

Using Colin Powell's 2003 pre-war speech to the UN as a case study, this essay illustrates ways in which discourse analytic methods can serve investigations of constitutive rhetoric. Prior to the speech, Powell's reluctance to go to war and his skepticism of the need for military action in Iraq was well known. His conversion to the administration's position was key to the persuasiveness of the speech. Thus, within the speech he needed to reconstitute his ethos from doubter to advocate. The analysis focuses on how specific linguistic qualities such as modality, positioning, narrative, and evaluation assist Powell in doing so. These discourse analytic tools reveal ways in which discrete linguistic moves contribute to the constitutive work of ethos formation and re-formation.

Foreign Direct Investment in Iraq: Reassessing the Legal Framework

In spite of its troubled past and ongoing internecine violence, Iraq today stands at the threshold of economic opportunity in ways that few developing states — much less war-torn states like Iraq — could imagine. The Iraq National Investment Commission reported, for example, that in 2010, 178 companies filed for investment licenses totaling $10.5 billion. Currently, the primary foreign participants in Iraq’s post-war economic expansion are sophisticated multinational corporations (MNC), many of which have experience investing in politically and economically unstable markets, including those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In their efforts to capitalize on Iraq’s unrivalled natural resources and nascent economic development, these MNCs rely on expert in-house counsel, experienced local counsel, and an expanding group of international law firms to navigate Iraq’s unique legal landscape. “Smaller” and less experienced foreign investors, including some small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), sense the opportunities in Iraq and want a seat at the table. Yet, unlike their larger MNC counterparts, many of these SMEs have limited experience conducting business in the MENA region, are wary of the ongoing political and economic instability in Iraq, and often do not have the financial flexibility to retain expert counsel from large international law firms. Although various think tanks, government agencies, and international organizations have provided useful information regarding the legal framework governing foreign direct investment (FDI) in post-War Iraq, the literature remains fragmented and, at times, outdated. This Article is intended to provide SMEs, theorists, and practitioners an up-to-date, introductory overview of the legal framework governing FDI in post-War Iraq with an eye towards facilitating a greater awareness among SMEs and non-MNC foreign investors of the benefits and challenges attending FDI in post-War Iraq. Specifically, this article briefly explains the broader legal system within which FDI in Iraq takes place and outlines in more detail several common legal issues — such as setting up a business, tax matters, banking, and repatriation of funds — that foreign investors are likely to encounter when preparing for and conducting business activity in Iraq. Additionally, this Article provides investors with practical insights into some of the non-legal issues that accompany investment in post-War Iraq, including sociocultural and security issues. This Article is intended to function as a preliminary, scholarly supplement to professional legal advice.

Steep rise in soldier suicides coincides with military action in Iraq and Afghanistan

Steep rise in soldier suicides coincides with military action in Iraq and Afghanistan

Desipramine for PTSD and Alcoholism in Military Veterans

Military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan has made post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans a major public health focus and, given the

Al-Skeini v. United Kingdom

In Al-Skeini v. United Kingdom, decided on July 7, 2011, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (the Court) found that the human rights obligations of the United Kingdom applied to its actions in Iraq and that the United Kingdom had violated Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Convention or ECHR) by failing to investigate the circumstances of the deaths of the relatives of five of the six applicants. The case deals with the extraterritorial application in Iraq of the Convention, which is part of UK domestic law by virtue of the Human Rights Act, 1998, and involves the concepts of jurisdiction, effective control, and the scope of the right to life.

A New Watershed? Re-evaluating Banković in Light of Al-Skeini

Issues surrounding the extraterritorial reach of human rights treaties, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), have become highly pertinent in the context of military operations abroad, such as the UK occupation and military action in Iraq.1 Until recently, the major authority on the extraterritorial application of the ECHR was the controversial decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Bankovic v Belgium in 2001.2 The Court dismissed a claim against 17 NATO states for deaths and injuries caused by a NATO airstrike in Belgrade during the Kosovo crisis, on the basis that the jurisdictional threshold in ECHR Article 1 was not met. Article 1 requires that states parties secure the rights and freedoms in the Convention to “everyone within their jurisdiction”. This is a necessary condition for the application of the Convention: either the Convention applies or it does not. It is established that the notion of jurisdiction in Article 1 is

Treatment of Trauma Victims: Consideration of the Whole Perspective

As trauma surgeons, we are commonly engaged in treat-ing injuries caused by impacts. For many years, advance-ments in the care and management of the injured were strongly linked to military conflicts (1). Injury is the num-ber one public health problem in the USA, with a price tag of over $260 billion annually (2). In Iran, road accidents are still the most common cause of mortality among civilians (according to annual reports by police officials).Military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and more re-cently in some Arab countries have resulted in a number of important changes on how trauma victims are managed. We must continually ask ourselves: What can we do to better manage and reduce the number of trauma victims and what can others do to help? A multitude of factors must be considered by the government regarding trauma prevention, management and research. Our duty is to extend training of trauma surgeons, trauma teams, and task forces and to upgrade trauma centers with modern state-of-the art medical equipment. In addition to general surgery residency as the minimal requirement for operat-ing as a trauma surgeon, we must train fellows of trauma and critical care. Trauma fellowships are designed to teach the trainee the various components of triage, emergency care and to run an organized trauma center (3). At pres-ent, training of trauma surgeons for general hospitals as well as for trauma centers and preparing them for mass casualties and national disasters is underway; this is nec-essary to decrease the high mortality of accidents (traffic, earthquake, floods, and conflicts) in our country. Addi-tionally, we need active committees in trauma centers to develop and publish a comprehensive statewide trauma system and disaster protocol; these committees must be coordinated with emergency medical services and trauma research centers nationwide and should have a compre-hensive protocol defining responsibilities in disaster man-agement. Modern diagnostic and therapeutic facilities to expedite the management of victims and a scientific data-base for documentation and research are basic necessities to better manage trauma patients in the future. Thus, the current view point and overall perspective remains to be a comprehensive and holistic one integrating governmen-tal and nongovernmental organizations, surgeons and trauma centers in planning, preparing for and managing mass casualties.

The “Global War on Terror,” Identity, and Changing Perceptions: Iraqi Responses to America's War in Iraq

For many years opposition to US foreign policy has frequently been interpreted by cultural commentators and the wider media as “anti-Americanism.” Such “anti-Americanism” has been situated as dangerous, irrational and violent, and this apparent link has been reinforced continuously since 9/11. However, by making a reading of two Iraqi weblogs which have gained significant recognition in Iraq and the West, this article challenges such a simplified definition of alternative perspectives on foreign policy as “anti-Americanism.” This article focusses on the blog entries of two Iraqis, Salam Pax and “Riverbend,” who lived in Baghdad throughout the Iraq War (2003–9) and during the subsequent years of civil unrest. It explores how their online responses to the US action in Iraq illustrate the complexity of perceived “anti-Americanism.” The bloggers do not situate themselves as “anti-American.” Instead they draw a clear distinction between opposition to US foreign policy and hostility towards America and its people, thus problematizing previous definitions of “anti-Americanism.” However, this article also recognizes that whilst these texts highlight this distinction, the negative impact of US foreign policy on Iraq since the occupation, coupled with the militarized image that America projects of itself, has caused the distinction between a disapproval of US foreign policy and an objection to US culture in broader terms to become increasingly blurred. Indeed, these narratives indicate that rather than situating 9/11 as the first move in a campaign of “anti-Americanism,” it could be argued that it is the American government's reaction to the attacks, and the impact of the subsequent occupation of Iraq, which acted as a catalyst for the growth of opposition to US foreign policy, and to some extent a rejection of US culture, in Iraq.

The ‘new home front’ and the war on terror: ethical and political reframing of national and international politics

This article uses the concept of the ‘new home front’ to address the ethical and political reframing of national and international politics in the ‘war on terror’. It examines the links between ethics and politics in the context of links between ‘home’ and the ‘front’. The first thing to make clear is that the ‘new home front’ in the war on terror has multiple dimensions to it. Just as it refers to links between ‘home’ (as in national or domestic) and the ‘front’ (as in the military spheres of action in Iraq and Afghanistan), it also refers literally to the home front, with terrorist attacks and continuing threats of them in the UK, importantly from home-grown as well as internationally networked terrorists. So there is a complex spatiality involved in the ethical contexts of policies and politics related to the war on terror that binds security issues at home to military action overseas in ways that are overt or not. I aim to unpack some of the less obvious dimensions of that complexity in three areas. All three relate to the problematic nature of assumed separations between domestic and foreign policy, between what is considered to be ‘out there’ (overseas, foreign) and what is ‘in here’ (home, domestic). The first area concerns the varied impacts of new media connections as part of everyday life. The new media (the internet and diverse mobile devices linked to it) have disrupted traditional national vertical (top-down) linkages between political agents, the mass media and the public through a myriad horizontal real-time online connections. This means that it is far harder for governments to control the ethical content of information distributed about war, as demonstrated, for example, by the dissemination of pictures of prisoners being tortured in Abu Ghraib prison. The second area of spatial complexity relates to the pervasiveness of security concerns as integrative of domestic and foreign influences, in contrast to the predominant traditional view of security threats as external. The significance of home-grown terrorism, and intelligence and policing efforts to detect, prevent and punish it, have led to new ethical dilemmas for liberal democracies. The winning of hearts and minds is as much about persuading citizens of the legitimacy of the security imperatives that limit their liberal freedoms—the very freedoms such imperatives are ultimately intended to protect—as it is about encouraging them to be vigilant and report on any suspicions they may have about potential threats. The third area of spatial complexity is probably the least overtly recognized in terms of the ethics and politics of the war on terror. It relates to everyday citizenship and multiculturalism and gender. Here the collective and individual arenas are touched on in ways that demonstrate some of the deeper politics of the war on terror, including identity politics. Multiculturalism has been substantially in the foreground of this war and a new reflexivity about liberalism within and beyond the UK. Women and gender relations have been central to ethical tensions in the war on terror. They have frequently featured in links between foreign and domestic policy, including in the contexts of multicultural politics and religious issues.

Preventing Prisoner Abuse: Leadership Lessons of Abu Ghraib

The abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib had far-reaching consequences, leading many people around the world to question the legitimacy of U.S. goals and activities in Iraq. Drawing on extensive unclassified reports from multiple investigations that followed Abu Ghraib, this article considers both psychological and social-situational factors that contributed to ethical failures there. This analysis suggests that leaders need to be more attuned to the developmental stage of subordinates and take appropriate steps to reinforce ethical behaviors. From a psychological standpoint, young adults especially are strongly inclined to behave in accord with social conventions and pressures around them. Particularly in ambiguous circumstances, it is important that standards of behavior be clear and explicit throughout all phases of an operation and that leaders at all levels represent and reinforce those standards.

The United States at War: Taking Stock

The war in Iraq has generated a vast amount of commentary, popular and scholarly, on a broad range of topics. This note reviews literature on three issues of particularly great moral significance that have arisen from the experience of U.S. military action in Iraq. There is the jus ad bellum question of the legitimacy of preventive war, the jus in bello matter of the treatment of detainees, and the jus post bellum concern of the responsibilities of occupiers.

Iran's Nuclear Program: The US Misses Opportunities? –An Examination of US Policies in the Middle East and Implications of those Policies on the US Global Position–

US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan cause people to think that the US can resort to military measures against Iran as well. However the US invasion of Iraq and the uncertainties prevailing because of the invasion make analysts to question the necessity of military operations, because it might bring further uncertainties to region and to world politics. In this paper, it is argued that the US priorities in the Middle East are not well-defined and its policies are contaminated with cultural misperceptions, as seen in the case of the Iran’s nuclear program. Historical, technical and international law aspects of Iran’s nuclear program would be surveyed and the US policies regarding Iran’s nuclear program would be analyzed. The US interests in the region would be discussed and the most known cliches regarding Iran and US relations would be questioned. It is the argument that US policies in the Middle East are not well-calculated in terms of the US global realpolitik concerns; and current US policies in the region harm the US interests in global stage. Thus, the US confrontation with Iran makes the potential cooperation opportunities with the Middle Eastern countries missed. Key words: Iran’s Nuclear Program, US, The Middle East

Whose Views Made the News? Media Coverage and the March to War in Iraq

Criticism of the news media's performance in the months before the 2003 Iraq War has been profuse. Scholars, commentators, and journalists themselves have argued that the media aided the Bush administration in its march to war by failing to air a wide-ranging debate that offered analysis and commentary from diverse perspectives. As a result, critics say, the public was denied the opportunity to weigh the claims of those arguing both for and against military action in Iraq. We report the results of a systematic analysis of every ABC, CBS, and NBC Iraq-related evening news story—1,434 in all—in the 8 months before the invasion (August 1, 2002, through March 19, 2003). We find that news coverage conformed in some ways to the conventional wisdom: Bush administration officials were the most frequently quoted sources, the voices of anti-war groups and opposition Democrats were barely audible, and the overall thrust of coverage favored a pro-war perspective. But while domestic dissent on the war was minimal, opposition from abroad—in particular, from Iraq and officials from countries such as France, who argued for a diplomatic solution to the standoff—was commonly reported on the networks. Our findings suggest that media researchers should further examine the inclusion of non-U.S. views on high-profile foreign policy debates, and they also raise important questions about how the news filters the communications of political actors and refracts—rather than merely reflects—the contours of debate.

Submission on the UK's Legal Basis for Military Action in Iraq

The submission aims to shed light on the meaning of the single phrase in Security Council resolution 678 (1990) on which, in the final analysis, the UK’s legal justification for its military action in Iraq rests. On the basis of close textual comparison with Security Council resolutions adopted in the context of the Korean War, it argues that resolution 678 was intended to authorize military action to remove Iraq from Kuwait and no more.

Sample preparation method for analysis of swipe samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

International nuclear safeguards have been applied for over 30 years to control nuclear activities. Following the recon of undeclared nuclear activities in Iraq in 1991, strengthening of the safeguards system became necessary (1995). From 1996 the detection of undeclared nuclear activities using sensitive and precise analysis of swipe samples became one of the most important parts of IAEA inspections. The aim of this study was the development of a fast and easy sample preparation and analysis method for the bulk uranium and plutonium analysis of swipe samples. For the sample preparation low power microwave-assisted digestion followed by extraction chromatography using TRU® resin was applied. The concentration of analytes of interest and their isotopic composition were determined by inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS). The analytical performance of the method is in good agreement with the requirements (accuracy, precision, repeatability) of the International Atomic Energy Agency–Network for Analytical Laboratories (IAEA–NWAL) and can be applied for routine analysis. The low detection limits achieved enable the determination of the isotope ratios and isotope concentrations of U and Pu (234U, 235U, 236U, 238U and 239Pu, 240Pu, 241Pu) present in ultratrace concentration levels in swipe samples. The method was tested with real swipe samples collected at Hungarian radioactive source producing facilities.

Iraqi Unions and Their American Labor Allies

Since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, images of suicide bombings, religious violence, and general chaos have come to mind when most Americans have thought about Iraq. Counterposed are thoughts of US military efforts to separate the combatants and restore order. Whether one has supported or opposed the US actions in Iraq, the actual Iraqi people, almost all of them ordinary working people, remain remote and unknown.

Долгая война с терроризмом

In the article, different reasons for the long-lasting war against international terrorism under the Islamist banner are analysed. Notwithstanding the "Al-Qaeda's" weakening, since autumn 2001, many new groups have sprung up threatening the international security. Till now, the war has been waged only against terrorists, but no serious attention has been paid to neutralization of radical Islamism as an ideology causing terrorism. In connection with the military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, anti-western feelings have been growing up breeding radical Islamism. It is emphasized in the article that the antiterrorist coalition in its present state is unable to fulfill its mission. It can become really efficient only if Muslim régimes would increase their input into the common struggle. Standing on the ground of traditional Islam they could easier curb Islamism and thus cut the roots of terrorism.

Imbedding Care in Armed Conflict

Abstract Each May, During Nurses Week, we formally, on a national level, celebrate our work and our profession. Given recent events and the military action in Iraq, it seems timely and appropriate to pay special attention to the fine work of the nurses in the military — to the contributions they make to our national safety and well-being, and to the powerful contributions they have made to the development of the profession. The present action in Iraq places many men, women, and children in harm's way, including those Americans who are there to provide care and foster and protect the values of our society.

Sanctioning Foreign Policy: The Rhetorical Use of President Harry Truman

Throughout his presidency, George W. Bush actively drew connections between the war on terror and World War II and/or the Cold War (see Chernus 2006; Ivie 2005; Noon 2004; Smith 2007). At the time, Bush also drew parallels between his presidency and that of his predecessors. For example, in a speech before the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Bush made comparisons between his administration and that of Harry Truman. He stated, As we advance the cause of freedom in Iraq, our Nation can proceed with confidence that we have done this kind of work before. After World War II, President Harry Truman believed that the way to help bring peace and prosperity to Asia was to plant the seeds of freedom and democracy in Japan. Like today, there were many skeptics and pessimists who said that the Japanese were not ready for democracy. Fortunately, Harry Truman stuck to his guns. He believed, as I do, in freedom's power to transform an adversary into an ally. And because he stayed true to his convictions, today Japan is one of the world's freest and most prosperous nations, and one of America's closest allies in keeping the peace. The spread of freedom to Iraq and the Middle East requires the confidence and persistence, and it will to the (Bush 2005) Here, Bush analogized the circumstances in postwar Japan to that of Iraq in the midst of the war on terror. For President Bush, the parallels between Truman's presidency and his own were undeniable and served as tacit evidence to justify his activities in Iraq. You could read Bush's message to the nation as this: Harry Truman was right about Japan, and my ability to the United States in Iraq is the as his. Thus, my efforts will be conducted with the same confidence and persistence and will lead to the results. Certainly, President Bush's use of the past is not an isolated example. Historical events and persons are often called upon in all aspects of society to celebrate some political purpose or appropriated in some way to meet the needs of the present day. For example, in American popular culture, the 1990s saw a resurgence of World War II nostalgia. Texts such as Saving Private Ryan and Tom Brokaw's best-selling book The Greatest Generation celebrated the contributions of the World War II generation, but more importantly, they offered up a civics lesson to the American people on the virtues of sacrifice and its own exceptionalist nature (Biesecker 2002). In the realm of politics, our discourse, particularly presidential rhetoric, is rife with references to past events and the great presidents of the past, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. When presidents invoke their predecessors, they are calling upon what Philip Abbott (1990) termed the exemplar presidents. Donald Rice (1992) referred to this kind of invocation as the rhetoric of the authorizing figure. Whatever terminology is used, appropriating the memory of historical heroes for present-day purposes is a form of collective memory that performs important political and symbolic work in American politics, in particular presidential foreign policy rhetoric, and is the subject of this inquiry. Specifically, I focus on the presidential foreign policy rhetoric of three contemporary presidents--Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush--and consider how they invoked the memory of Harry Truman. I chose these three presidents because enough time had passed between their presidencies and Truman's to allow for reflection on a number of events that occurred during the Cold War, which may have influenced their foreign policy worldviews. Moreover, these three presidents are the only contemporary ones who served two full terms that were not interrupted by death (JFK) or scandal (Nixon). That is not to say that one-term presidents such as Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush did not call upon the Truman legacy. …

Regime Change in North Korea?: Economic Reform and Political Opportunity Structures

IntroductionThe issue of regime change in North Korea began to draw international attention after the fall of the communist regimes in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Many analysts predicted that North Korea would have followed Poland and Czechoslovakia in their abandoning of communism. However, North Korea has successfully kept its political system intact. Throughout the 1990s, North Korea intensified its ideological campaign to prevent unhealthy bourgeois culture and ideology from infiltrating the society and contaminating the youth and intellectuals.However, since the U.S. military action in Iraq in 2003, policy discussions on preemptive strikes and regime change in North Korea have been abounding in Washington. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration in its 2002 National Security Strategy unveiled that one of its main security schemes would include preemptive strike strategy. Washington's aim was to destroy any threats from terrorists and rogue states before they could ever reach U.S. borders, with or without the support from the international community.Although the act of war can be clearly viewed as one of the pathways to regime change as witnessed in Iraq, in the case of North Korea, such an option seems to remain only remote possibility. Rather than through war, many argue that North Korea's regime change could be brought about through an implosion. Recent North Korean efforts to liberalize its economy through experiments with bold economic reforms have led some analysts to assert that its civil society may eventually experience ascendance, or even exercise similar kind of power against its state as witnessed in Eastern Europe.The purpose of this article is to analyze the prospects for regime change through civil society mobilization in North Korea. It offers an analysis of North Korean exceptionalism in regard to its economic crisis and economic development theories of regime change. It argues that several components of political opportunity structures salient to North Korea work as constraints on regime change, which could be triggered by either economic crisis or economic development. The article first examines existing theoretical frameworks for regime change, probing the theses that both economic crisis and economic reform give rise to political pluralism, activate civil society, and thus lead to regime change. This section is followed by an analysis of the changes in North Korea's economic policies. The article then explores the relevance of political opportunity structures in accounting for regime change in North Korea. Finally, it offers an assessment of prospects for activation of North Korea's civil society and regime change.Theoretical Frameworks for Regime ChangeRegime denotes more permanent forms of political structures than government and refers to a government or sequence of governments in which power remains essentially in the hands of the same social group.1 The governments formed within particular regime embody common set of norms and procedures, and, on this account, change of government does not necessarily involve change in regime.2 Regime change pursues fundamental alteration of the norms and principles, while change within regime involves alterations of rules and decision-making procedures, but not of norms or principles.3 North Korea experienced change of government when Kim Jong Il came into power after the death of his father, Kim Il Sung. However, the regime remained in place, as the junior Kim adhered to the fundamental norms and values of his father's government. Therefore, any efforts to change the North Korean regime should involve attempts to destroy the fundamental values and structures of Kim's government, and alter the governing principles and norms, including the socialist values and the Juche (self-reliance) ideology.The structuralist perspective of regime change views economic constraints as the principal explanatory variable of regime collapse. …