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| Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army | 
 enlarge | Author: Jeremy Scahill
Publisher: Nation Books
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $9.78
You Save: $17.17 (64%)
New (7) Used (8) from $6.20
Avg. Customer Rating:  247 reviews
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 480
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.4
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.3540973
Publication Date: March 7, 2007
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| Customer Reviews:
 Scahill is trying to make a name by smearing what he doesn't know.. November 28, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Scahill has obviously never been in the military or in a crisis area. He only has a rabid anti-christian, anti-conservative view and is blind to any good or benefit that organizations such as Blackwater can provide. He is entitled to his views, but nowhere in the nearly 400 pages of this book does he offer alternatives to companies such as Blackwater. The truth is Blackwater and companies like them DO provide essential services faster and cheaper than the government can provide them.
Wake up Scahill and friends. 9/11 happened, I suggest you start thinking about the fact that we are in a WAR against Muslim extremists and need to use every weapon in our arsenal, including private contractors.
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army November 25, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Rather than a serious work of investigative journalism, which I would have appreciated on the admittedly serious subject of the private contracting of military/security action, this book is clearly anti-military liberal advocacy. The author's political views permeate every page. For a clue as to the slant, instead of "when Bush was elected in 2002," (or "took office"), we are told "when Bush took power in 2002." That is among the more subtle but gratuitous editorial comments. Page after page of anti-military, anti-Christian, anti-business, anti-conservative (or anti-moderate), anti-Republican rhetoric is both irritating and tedious.
Like "Alice in Wonderland," verdict first, trial later. This is hardly enlightening. For an accurate (complete) view of Blackwater and Erik Prince, I believe that one must look elsewhere.
 A Possible Threat To Domestic Liberties November 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I first heard the idea of developing a private, professional army in 1996. The objective would be to craft the soldiers of the future into highly trained and better armed units with the best possible technology and at the lowest price. None of these expectations came true. Instead crony capitalism and extremist politics gave us expensive and often ineffective mercenaries limited in their ability to engage in combat and restricted from using the best weapons. What seemed like a practical idea turned into a possible threat to domestic liberties and a source of continuing confusion on the battlefield. I can greater appreciate the ethos of my own military training now that I understand how far off the reservation these unchecked gun slingers can go. Jeremy Scahill has provided us all with a badly needed window into a trend that has underminded our vast and necessary armed forces. Unfortunately I believe that his book is only the begining of all the stories soon to come.
 Can you say "Witch Hunt"? November 19, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book doesn't even pretend to be objective. Scahill obviously has a serious hate-on for all private military contractors (Blackwater especially). This is the "in" thing right now. It's cool to hate on these guys, and Scahill's looking to make his mark as the coolest. So what if his research, while thorough, is biased and guided by his own axe to grind? Blackwater employees wouldn't even have given this guy the time of day, and Blackwater's CEO flat-out refused an interview with him. I'm sure it's because they saw through him and knew he was only there for a witch hunt. I'm not saying don't read this book. What I'm saying is look at more than just his viewpoint. I doubt that this guy's ever been in a combat zone, but he wants to critique every move made by those who work in them. I'd recommend you read Robert Young Pelton's book "Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror". He actually rode along with Blackwater employees and got an interview with the CEO. He's as close as you'll come to an objective viewpoint.
Disappointing November 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Jeremy Scahill's "Blackwater" reads more like a straightforward history book than the explosive investigation the book claims to be. His style is to report the facts and not make assumptions, giving numbers and telling narratives while none of his facts are particularly incriminating and he seems hesitant to look at the big picture. Blackwater is a huge right wing company, but Scahill doesn't really show why that should worry people (it should). If the book is written as a warning, it fails to convey the significance of Blackwater's role in the military nor does it look at the larger picture of having a for-profit private mercenary company that is shamelessly partisan doing the job of American soldiers.
Scahill's cautious reporting leaves a progressive like me not feeling any more or less strongly about mercenaries and I doubt it will change the opinions of those who support, or have no opinion on, private military contractors.
The book is just a series of facts that really prove nothing. For example, Scahill reveals that Erik Prince, owner of blackwater, is a radical right-wing evangelical, but he fails to show any tangible effect that Prince's personal views have had on Blackwater's actual operations. The sheer number of contractors in Iraq is huge, but again, the book does not show why this is a bad thing. Instead, the strongest evidence wrongdoing on Blackwater's part comes from underarming their vehicles and hiring mercenaries from cruel regime's like Pinochet's in Chile. However, the book has little description of how these Chilean mercenaries have acted in Iraq and I'm sure an opponent of the book could argue that government run operations could also be guilty of underarming troops. There is no revelation in the book that really makes you say "wow, these people must be stopped." In fact, I worry that people will have the opposite reaction, especially considering the book's branding as a political bombshell, and say "wow, if that is the worst he could find on Blackwater, they really must not be all that bad."
In the end, the problem with the book is that it assumes that the contracting of government and military operations is bad. Therefore, giving statistics on how much money and priority contractors receive proves a point only if the reader already believes private contractors are bad. In other words, the book's premise is that many operations in Iraq have been run by private contractors, but it fails to show why this is a bad thing. By targeting his book towards progressive readers who already share his views (read:the Nation's readership) Scahill missed a great opportunity to reach a broader political audience. This book really preaches to the choir and is unlikely to convince conservatives or middle-of-the-roaders that America faces any real threats from the mercenary industry. If you're looking for a well written account of the Iraq war's mismanagement, this is a solid book (though there are far better ones), but if you are looking for a scathing indictment of the mercenary industry and our current administration's love of all things private and for-profit, I suggest you look elsewhere.*
*Naomi Klein's "Shock doctrine" would be my recommendation.
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