This essay argues that the emergence of al-Qaeda as a new kind of enemy has resulted in the paradoxical de-militarization of the war waged against it. The much-publicized incidents of abuse at the... Show moreThis essay argues that the emergence of al-Qaeda as a new kind of enemy has resulted in the paradoxical de-militarization of the war waged against it. The much-publicized incidents of abuse at the U.S. detention centre of Abu Ghraib provide an example of the way in which the Global War on Terror has increasingly become a criminal rather than military operation. By reclassifying Iraqi prisoners into “criminal-like” enemies they became mere human beings rather than prisoner of war properly defined, which meant that their captors, too, were ironically defined merely as human beings and not as soldiers subject to a set of positive regulations. Show less
