Metropolitan Battlefields: Urban Topography and the Weaponization of Governance in Baghdad
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TITLE PAGE METROPOLITAN BATTLEFIELDS: URBAN TOPOGRAPHY AND THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNANCE IN BAGHDAD by Daniel Charles Bisbee B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1994 M.A., University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, 2003 M.A., University of Pittsburgh, 2011 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2021 COMMITTEE ME MBE RSHIP PAGE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Graduate School of Public and International Affairs This dissertation was presented by Daniel Charles Bisbee It was defended on April 28, 2021 and approved by Patrick Manning, Professor Emeritus, History Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Associate Professor, GSPIA Taylor Seybolt, Associate Professor, GSPIA Dissertation Advisor: Phil Williams, Professor, GSPIA ii Copyright © by Daniel Charles Bisbee 2021 iii ABSTRACT METROPOLITAN BATTLEFIELDS: URBAN TOPOGRAPHY AND THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNANCE IN BAGHDAD Daniel Charles Bisbee, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2021 ABSTRACT Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, challenges to the US-led reconstruction escalated into a complex conflict over control of the capital city of Baghdad. The Battle for Baghdad involved military combat, mass-casualty terrorism, extreme criminality, and communal strife, as well as welfare provision, civic outreach, economic development, and local politics. State and nonstate actors used bullets, bombs, and their ability to control the provision and denial of city services to residents in their attempts to achieve a range of strategic aims. During this battle, the city provided both the location for the conflict and the means to wage it – an arena and an arsenal. This study constructs a theoretical framework for analyzing both the spatial and instrumental aspects of urban environments during conflict, demonstrating how governance operates across networks of physical installations and political institutions. Exploiting vulnerabilities to governance systems, combatants pursue organizational aims, compete against rivals, and challenge state authority. The trajectory of the Battle for Baghdad was shaped by dynamic relationships among its belligerents and a complex urban topography of territorial, demographic, and infrastructural features. A three-part analysis of the Battle for Baghdad evaluates how the reconstruction policies of the US-led Coalition converged with the insurgencies of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and Jaish al- iv Mahdi (JAM) to produce a complex conflict in which these combatants weaponized governance to assert control over Baghdad’s urban topography. Evaluation of combatant tactics produces a typology for categorizing efforts as catastrophic or concentrated denial, and legitimate, illicit, or alternative provision of services. Reflecting new approaches to the analysis of urban environments and political violence, this study aims to build bridges between those who understand cities and those who understand conflict. Concluding with recommendations for future research, this study aims to inform discussions on order, conflict, and violence, by highlighting how systems of urban infrastructure influence complex conflict on a metropolitan battlefield. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 War in cities and cities in war ....................................................................................... 3 1.2 Fighting over places and people, in cities ..................................................................... 7 1.3 Governance and infrastructure, in cities .................................................................... 14 1.4 The Battle for Baghdad and the Surge debates ......................................................... 33 1.5 Problems in contemporary conflict studies ................................................................ 42 1.6 Central research questions and policymaking concerns ........................................... 46 1.7 Dissertation overview ................................................................................................... 48 2.0 CASE AND METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................... 51 2.1 The Battle for Baghdad as complex conflict .............................................................. 54 2.1.1 The emergence of a complex insurgency in Iraq .............................................55 2.1.2 A reactionary insurgency ..................................................................................60 2.1.3 A revolutionary insurgency ...............................................................................61 2.1.4 A resistance insurgency .....................................................................................64 2.1.5 Strategies aimed at profit, power, and authority ............................................67 2.2 The Battle for Baghdad and the metropolitan battlefield ........................................ 70 2.2.1 Urban topography: A conceptual framework for complex conflict ..............72 2.2.1.1 Terrain: a landscape of natural and manmade features .................... 78 2.2.1.2 Population: a range of ethnic, sectarian, and socioeconomic identities. ............................................................................................................................. 81 vi 2.2.1.3 Infrastructure: a complex network of socio-technical systems ......... 89 2.3 The weaponization of governance ............................................................................. 110 2.3.1 Non-ideal governance during complex conflict .............................................111 2.3.2 Provision and denial of services for individuals and groups ........................118 2.4 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 123 3.0 SYSTEM RECONSTRUCTION: THE COALITION .................................................... 127 3.1 Fundamental changes to Iraqi administrative law and politics ............................. 128 3.2 A new plan for local governance in Baghdad .......................................................... 131 3.3 Dynamic tensions shaping Baghdad’s governance infrastructure ......................... 135 3.4 Intended and unintended consequences of the 2005 elections ................................ 138 3.5 Chapter summary: Coalition strategy and the Battle for Baghdad ...................... 146 4.0 SEEKING SYSTEM COLLAPSE: AL-QAEDA IN IRAQ ............................................ 150 4.1 Seeking profit, power, and collapse of authority ..................................................... 150 4.2 AQI against the state: Catastrophic denial of public order ................................... 154 4.3 Exploiting transportation: Roads, bridges, and car bombs ................................... 157 4.4 Catastrophic denial of essential services for collapse… and profit ....................... 168 4.5 Rivalry for control: The Battle of Haifa Street ........................................................ 171 4.6 Concentrated denial and alternative provision in Ameriya ................................... 175 4.7 AQI’s organizational imperatives ............................................................................. 178 4.8 AQI’s reckoning: Ameriya pushes back ................................................................... 181 4.9 Chapter summary: AQI during the Battle for Baghdad ........................................ 184 5.0 SEEKING SYSTEM COOPTION: JAISH AL-MAHDI ................................................ 189 5.1 Seeking profit, power, and cooption of authority .................................................... 190 vii 5.2 JAM’s organizational imperatives ............................................................................ 198 5.3 JAM against the state: The Battle of Sadr City ....................................................... 205 5.4 JAM within the state: Coopting public order and other services .......................... 210 5.5 Exploiting expertise: Coopting hospitals .................................................................. 218 5.6 Exploiting entitlement: Sectarian violence for profit .............................................. 223 5.7 JAM’s reckoning: Sadrists caught between politics and predation ...................... 224 5.8 Chapter summary: JAM during the Battle for Baghdad ....................................... 231 6.0 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 236 6.1 The weaponization of governance ............................................................................. 237 6.2 Evaluating the reconstruction of Iraq ...................................................................... 243 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 252 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Baghdad’s population by ethnicity (est. 2007) ......................................................... 82 Table 2.2 Comparison of infrastructural types within sectors ............................................... 95 Table 2.3 Basic typology of goods ............................................................................................ 112 Table 2.4 Modified typology of goods ....................................................................................