Alberto R. Gonzales, counsel to President Bush and later US Attorney General:  The new war calls for obtaining “information from captured terrorists and their sponsors in order to avoid further atrocities against American civilians.” (176)  “The war against terrorism is a new kind of war. It is not the traditional clash between nations adhering to the laws of war…” (176)

 Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:  (a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) Taking of hostages; (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

 “Concluding that the Geneva Convention does not apply may encourage other countries to look for technical “loopholes” in future conflicts to conclude that they are not bound by GPW either.” (177)

 Al Qaeda is a terrorist organization and therefore not a part of “regular forces”  The Taliban “did not exercise full control over the territory and people” therefore it was not leading a legitimate nation-state that should come under the protection of the Geneva Conventions.

Who was being tortured? The torture warrants debate leaves out the details about the people actually detained after 9/11

KHALID EL-MASRI  German Citizen  Born in Kuwait but married a German woman  Handed over to the CIA and, according to a lawsuit, tortured in Afghanistan. KHALID AL-MASRI  The name of a person alleged to have made contact in Germany with the 9/11 hijackers  No relation to El-Masri

The years after 9/11 Enemy Combatants (not prisoners of war, do not have legal protections) Operatives working for Al Qaeda, Taliban Islamic (and more generally Middle Eastern)

Names someone or something (a force) against the United States Figure of evil Fighter with access to arms, including nuclear, and “weapons of mass destruction” Anti-democratic Isolates actions from other acts of violence (e.g. mass murderers)

Relies on various oppositions: West vs. East Christian vs. Islam US vs. terrorists (enemies) "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” George W. Bush, 9/20/01

George W. Bush State of the Union Speech January 28, om/watch?v=rgwqCd v3YQo whitehouse.archives.g ov/news/releases/200 3/01/ html Watch :30-2:40

Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans -- this time armed by Saddam Hussein.

 Professor of literature at Columbia University  Major influence in literary studies and postcolonialism  Culture and Imperialism (1993)  Reflections on Exile and Other Essays (2000)  Public intellectual and supporter of Palestinian statehood  The Question of Palestine (1979)  Covering Islam (1981)

“Islam’s role in hijackings and terrorism, descriptions of the way in which overtly Muslim countries like Iran threaten ‘us’ and our way of life, and speculations about the latest conspiracy to blow up buildings, sabotage commercial airliners, and poison water supplies seem to play increasingly on Western consciousness.” Said, 1993

Academic and general audiences Interdisciplinary Opposition between Orient and Occident Opposition is “man-made” Not a set of “lies” but a way of thinking A cultural and political fact Creates a relationship of power Situates the Occident as superior

“Orientalism can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient – dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.” (3)

Said draws from the theorist Michel Foucault and presents Orientalism as a “discourse,” a system of thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and ways of perceiving and understanding the world. Discourse creates (constitutes) a relationship between the self and that which is being discussed. It is a theory of power and authority.

“The Discourse on Language” (1970 lecture) “I am supposing that in every society the production of discourse is at once controlled, selected, organised and redistributed according to a certain number of procedures, whose role is to avert its powers and its dangers, to cope with chance events, to evade its ponderous, awesome materiality.”

West as modern, rational, democratic, and ultimately superior Orient as exotic and exaggerated (camels, belly dancers, sheiks, desert) Assumes an essential difference

“Strategic Location” – author’s position or starting point (20) “Orientalism is premised on exteriority” to what is described Not a question of accuracy but rather an emphasis on representation (style, figures of speech, setting, narrative devices, etc) (21)

Does not address what is actually there. The people? What do they say? Presents information as monolithic. What about specifics/breaks? The field of Orientalist studies was more varied than Said’s argument. Does not distinguish between academic work and popular culture.

How do the types of perspectives that Said associates with Orientalism become intertwined with US discourse on the Middle East, particularly in relation to the historical events of the last 14+ years going back to 9/11/2001.