Atrocity victimization and the costs of economic conflict crimes in the battle for Baghdad and Iraq

Abstract

Economic conflict crimes are defined in this paper as violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, as well as domestic law, associated with military and political conflict and producing significant monetary as well as other forms of suffering for civilians. Criminologists are well positioned by disciplinary emphasis to document and explain military and political violence resulting in economic conflict crimes. Criminal victimization associated with the US-led invasion of Iraq imposed an enormous toll on civilians. Yet there is little attention by criminologists or others to the profound economic costs to Iraqis, whether through lost property, life, or opportunities. We cautiously estimate that the economic losses for households in the city of Baghdad alone were almost US$100 billion, and more than three times this amount for the entire country, with Sunni groups experiencing significantly greater losses than others. So far as we know, our article presents the first estimates of civilian losses from economic conflict crimes that followed the US-led invasion of Iraq. These losses were widespread and systematic, the hallmarks of crimes against humanity.

The Militarization of Mass Incapacitation and Torture during the Sunni Insurgency and American Occupation of Iraq

“…A plausible estimate for Iraq as a whole was nearly one trillion U.S. dollars. Again, these losses were disproportionately concentrated among the Arab Sunni population [29]. As the violence and property losses peaked in Iraq in 2007, the U.S.-led coalition responded with the implementation of the incapacitation-based COIN doctrine and resulting Surge of more than 30,000 additional forces.…”

U.S. sociology and the Iraq War

“…While economists estimate that the monetary costs of the war in Iraq will ultimately total more than three trillion dollars for U.S. taxpayers (Bilmes and Stiglitz ), much less effort has been spent on attempts to tally up the economic costs to Iraqis. Hagan, Kaiser, Rothenberg, Hanson, and Parker () estimate the costs for Iraqis at more than 300 million U.S. dollars, just in terms of property that was destroyed, confiscated, or abandoned due to the war. But it is important to remember that this figure is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of total economic costs, which should also include the health care costs for individuals injured in the war; loss of economic productivity for those killed, injured, or displaced in refugee camps; and losses due to a lack of critical infrastructure and diminished economic activity caused by the ongoing conflict.…”

Neighborhood Sectarian Displacement and the Battle for Baghdad: A Self‐Fulfilling Prophecy of Fear and Crimes Against Humanity in Iraq

“…The U.S.‐led invasion failed to carefully consider the basic structure of Iraqi society—particularly its deep ethnic and religious divides. Given costs in the trillions (on U.S. costs, see Stiglitz and Bilmes ; on Iraq costs, see Hagan, Kaiser, and Rothenberg ), thousands of U.S./coalition military deaths (Fischer ) and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths (Burkle and Garfield ), there is need for sociological reflection on what occurred.…”

“…We treated Sadr City as the omitted reference because this neighborhood was widely regarded as having the lowest levels of resident victimization following the invasion (e.g., Hagan et al. ). Muqtada al‐Sadr maintained a level of control inside this densely populated neighborhood by asking police to return to their stations and to restore and maintain order.…”