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<p> A conventional view of events in contemporary Iraq since 1990 suggests that there were two wars in 1991 and 2003 between Iraq and a US/UK led cohort of countries separated by an interval of relative peace marked by the imposition of economic sanctions on the country. This dissertation proposes an alternative view, arguing that the war with Iraq was one continuous war that began in 1991 and ended in 2003, followed by what is correctly called "belligerent occupation". A process oriented model of violence bridges two divergent literatures in the field of Anthropology-the anthropology of war and the ethnography of violence-and acts as a lens with which to see war with greater definition; and subsequently, to see that there was but one war with Iraq. The understanding ofviolence I propose illuminates the substance and process of war and is articulated through a careful analysis of three realms of violence. The Physical Realm is where harm is done to the bodies of individuals. This realm exists in the immediate context of the Network Realm, where violence is embedded in social institutions and processes. The Network Realm is in turn sustained by the Symbolic Realm, where violence is enmeshed in broader cultural symbol systems that have the power to create and sustain an ethos in which harm towards others is enabled. Each of these realms contributes to the creation and sustenance of war, yet the symbolic realm remains the primary key to enabling violence in both network and physical realms. Each realm of violence is illustrated in this dissertation by examples from the US/UK - IRAQ War, 1991-2003, drawn from my experience of living in the country and extensive historical research. The argument of this dissertation imposes a different structure on how the course of events now unfolding in the geographical region of Southwest Asia is understood. In this narrative there is a series of escalating stages. A long-standing conflict between the governments of Iraq and Kuwait was escalated when the Government of Iraq occupied the country of Kuwait in 1990. When a cohort of countries led by the US government intervened in the occupation of Kuwait, the conflict escalated into a state of war which lasted until 2003. Eventually that war was ended by yet another occupation; this time, however, it was the country of Iraq that was occupied. At the time of completing this dissertation there is a great deal of internal resistance to the occupation of the country-the contours of how it will finally unfold remain uncertain.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)