The Global War on Terror (GWoT) as the Iraq War Discourse

After the 911 attacks, the US launched a Global War on Terror (GWoT) and this subsequently formed a discourse which had a major role in the Iraq War, particularly the initial phases. The GWoT discourse can be explored through ideas of Orientalism because of the ways it constructed a certain reality of the Middle East, specifically Iraq, predicated on ideas of American exceptionalism to create power relations and allow for political advantage. Media representations of Iraq as well as the language and rhetoric used by political elites such as George Bush also demonstrate how the discourse of the GWoT was used to instigate military intervention in the country.

A discourse can be defined as a way 'of constituting knowledge, together with the social practices, forms of subjectivity and power relations'. Moreover, discourses facilitate the process by which certain information comes to be accepted as unquestionable truth. The GWoT was an international military campaign launched by the US. It can be deemed a discourse because of the ways in which language and norms were so crucial in constructing a certain projection of the Middle East and also stimulating a culture of fear. Therefore, it would be productive to make use of a constructivist lens throughout the essay to further explore ideational factors and how the discourse transmits and produces power. The official phrase, 'Global War on Terror', was constantly used by leaders and the media in the lead up to and throughout the Iraq War and so it would be beneficial to investigate how it was able to create a certain reality and control knowledge through its role as a discourse. The essay will predominantly focus on the beginnings of the Iraq War because the duration spans over 9 years meaning a detailed analysis of the use of the GWoT discourse wouldn't be possible. Furthermore, the use of the discourse can be most effectively shown and explained at the start of the war because this was when the use of a discourse was needed most in order to justify initial military intervention to the population and international audience.

The GWoT as a discourse was produced by the US to perpetuate certain relations in which they could easily and successfully present Iraq within the (Middle) East as a 'backwards enemy' because of the actions of Al-Qaeda. Said's ideas of Orientalism can be used as a theory because many of the ideas of the GWoT discourse were predicated upon its principles like American exceptionalism. Foundational to the discourse is the Orientalist use of binaries and 'othering' by which the US after 911 presented itself as the defender of Western civilization and Iraq as a 'barbarous' threat to their freedom, constructing identities of both sides and subsequently naturalising the discourse. The 'use' and 'them' polarisation presents Iraq as the enemy and threatening which necessitates and justifies actions, grounded on ideas of Western superiority. The GWoT discourse presents Americans as morally elevated people set apart from the rest of the world that serves as a warrant for exploitative and inhumane actions that further US interests and shape power relations, such as the torture that occurred in Abu Ghraib (ISIO).

The use of media played a significant role in embedding the GWoT discourse within US society and has been described as a mechanism through which the population must be brought to support invasions. Television, films, news and other outlets are forms of information management and therefore essential to the constitution of knowledge. Animal and rodent metaphors were used within the news for example reporters lead their stories with 'the vermin have struck again' and 'raid zaps Iraq rat'. This serves to create a discourse which dehumanises the enemy, simultaneously establishing US superiority and providing justification for military intervention. Moreover, constructivist ideas of soft power can also be applied because of the negative cultural associations of using rodent symbolism and so military action becomes not only legitimised, but necessary.

Another form of media that played a key role in facilitating the GWoT discourse is films, specifically those produced by Hollywood that carry the themes of American exceptionalism. The film 'Zero Dark Thirty' depicts the orientalist binaries through portraying the US as liberal and progressive, predicated on freedom and rights, against a backward and regressive Islam grounded in fundamentalism and cultural stagnation. Zero Dark Thirty consistently relays the 911 rhetoric throughout the film and so uses the power of atrocity stories to build on the GWoT discourse, serving as warrants for subsequent military actions. Furthermore, the film demonstrates the binaries of the discourse and how crafting of particular views regarding the West can take place in many different settings, demonstrating a 'positional superiority' such as in the army, bureaucratic settings etc. Although the film was released in 2012 after the end of the Iraq War, it is a beacon of US victory of the war, ending with the killing of Osama Bin Laden, further reinforcing ideas of the GWoT discourse that the West and liberal democracy will always win.

Political elites are pivotal figures in constructing discourses that eventually become perceived as reality by the people, especially because they have the power and means of communication. In the case of the Iraq War, former US President Bush used the strategy of 'framing' which entails establishing priorities when explaining a reality which appeals to ideas shared by the members of the society. Within this strategy, politicians use key words and phrases to project a specific problem and their remedy for it. This framework was applied through projecting the 911 attacks as acts of war and Iraq as an enemy by making use of words like 'evil' and linking it to 'terrorism' which eventually became synonymous with Iraq as a state through ideas of state sponsored terrorism. This reality of Iraq that was constructed was essential in legitimation and providing acceptable grounds for military action as a solution. The effectiveness of this rhetoric can be demonstrated through polls for example, A Program on International Policy AttitudesKnowledge Networks poll conducted in January 2003 found that 68 per cent of Americans believed that Iraq played a role in the 911 attacks.

The possession of soft power is also essential for persuading large populations to allow governments to pursue a certain action and this is derived from status as well as privileged access to mass media. Through positioning the 911 attacks as acts of war, this rules out using limited force to apprehend and try terrorist suspects and deems the only real solution as war. Bush's propaganda was relentless and according to a study by the Centre for Public Integrity, then US president and other top-level officials made at least 935 false statements in the 2 years following 911 about the national security threat posed by Iraq. This can be evidenced by the notion of 'Big Lie'; the idea that if you repeat an idea enough times the public will come to believe it. This demonstrates how the language and discourse created by elites withholds tremendous power and has the ability to enforce a reality which based on lies.

Whilst discourses provide an effective way to analyse power relations and the construction of knowledge, it is important to acknowledge the prevalent dangers that are associated with using them. There is a risk of focusing too heavily on ideational elements and missing the significance of material factors. Conversely, a realist perspective would find it significant to emphasise the role of the GWoT as a policy programme which led to a raised defence budget and development of technologies that could detect nuclear and chemical weapons. In the context of the Iraq War, whilst the use of discourse enables us to examine the realities constructed, it may result in the discussion becoming too caught up in constructivist, abstract ideas of norms and language.

In conclusion, the GWoT was used as a discursive tool by the US in order to further their interests within the Middle East region and to legitimate a war against Iraq. Notions of Western superiority versus the terrorism of Iraq were cemented through the language used by Bush and the media which strategically made use of soft power to connote the country with terrorism and so cement their position as a threat to American values. This proved to be powerful in constituting a perception of Iraq built on Orientalist values which put the US in a position where their only viable option was military action. Whilst, the importance of ideational factors and use of discourses should not be undermined, the essay also acknowledges arguments about the significance of departing from emphasis on 'truths' and 'knowledge' and also paying attention to material concepts.