blackwater

[Daniel]

Has anyone read "blackwater: the rise of the world's most powerful mercenary army" by jeremy scahill?

[shaftbass]

I haven't.

[Guest Medic908]

Plan to purchase when out in paperback.

[Daniel]

i just borrowed it from the library. meant to read it since it came out but hadnt gotten around to it.

[Guest Len]

Paperback coming May 26. Here's a review of the hardcover. Does not sound overly impressive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Scahill, a regular contributor to the Nation, offers a hard-left perspective on Blackwater USA, the self-described private military contractor and security firm. It owes its existence, he shows, to the post–Cold War drawdown of U.S. armed forces, its prosperity to the post-9/11 overextension of those forces and its notoriety to a growing reputation as a mercenary outfit, willing to break the constraints on military systems responsible to state authority. Scahill describes Blackwater's expansion, from an early emphasis on administrative and training functions to what amounts to a combat role as an internal security force in Iraq. He cites company representatives who say Blackwater's capacities can readily be expanded to supplying brigade-sized forces for humanitarian purposes, peacekeeping and low-level conflict. While emphasizing the possibility of an "adventurous President" employing Blackwater's mercenaries covertly, Scahill underestimates the effect of publicity on the deniability he sees as central to such scenarios. Arguably, he also dismisses too lightly Blackwater's growing self-image as the respectable heir to a long and honorable tradition of contract soldiering. Ultimately, Blackwater and its less familiar counterparts thrive not because of a neoconservative conspiracy against democracy, as Scahill claims, but because they provide relatively low-cost alternatives in high-budget environments and flexibility at a time when war is increasingly protean. (Apr. 10)

[shaftbass]

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[TripleDigitRide]

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+1

[Im Neero]

A liberal friend of mine loved it, which was enough for me to lose interest.