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An Analysis of the War-Policing Assemblage: The Case of Iraq (2003–2015)

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The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and War

Abstract

The chapter proceeds in the following manner. I first analyse how classical sovereign theorists have systematised the use of violence in relation to its stated objective of protecting the population against a threat. I go on to show how policing can be understood as the way the sovereign function is performed on the ground and how sovereign violence is exercised as law, while going beyond the law in discretionary and rational ways. Finally, I discuss the case of the military intervention in Iraq as emblematic of how military operations and policing are intertwined in producing (in)security.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The police suffered 12,000 casualties, including 4000 killed between 2004 and 2006 (Deflem and Sutphin 2010).

  2. 2.

    ‘It’s not about religion or politics; it’s about money’ says Hosham who joined the army in 2006’ (Aikins 2015).

  3. 3.

    The disbanding is believed to have been a political move, typical of Al-Sadr’s history and tactics (Hagan et al. 2013).

  4. 4.

    ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. “This group grew up from Al-Qaeda in Iraq and now is said to be one of the major groups fighting for territorial control in Iraq and Syria”.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

    Teresa Degenhardt

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  1. Teresa Degenhardt
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Liverpool, UK, LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom

    Ross McGarry

  2. Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Liverpool, UK, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Sandra Walklate

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Degenhardt, T. (2016). An Analysis of the War-Policing Assemblage: The Case of Iraq (2003–2015). In: McGarry, R., Walklate, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and War. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43170-7_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43170-7_13

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-43169-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-43170-7

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