ABSTRACT
The war in Iraq was (and remains) a discursive war. In this chapter, the author examines the political subjugation of hostages within Occupied Iraq as a means of articulating the de-huinanization of neoliberalism and the business of war. Hostages, certainly within Occupied Iraq, are de-humanized subjects. And it is for this reason that author follows in the footsteps of George Orwell. Rooted in classical liberal ideals of British philosophers, neoliberalism premises that states should play a minimal role in the day-to-day workings of markets. The chapter highlights six concepts—neoliberalism, neoconservatism, militarism, globalization, transnationalism, and security. These six concepts provide the reference points for the invasion and occupation of Iraq as well as the subsequent abductions and killing of hostages. The Iraqi war constitutes "a radical, punitive, 'extra-economic' restructuring of the conditions necessary for expanded profitability—paving the way, in short, for new rounds of American-led dispossession and capital accumulation".
