This gives a history and account of various misdeeds by Blackwater and their born ultra-rich right wing Christian kook founder Erik Prince. It goes in depth with the infamous Fallujah incident where "civilian contractors" (actually they were former Special Forces guys working for Blackwater) were ambushed, yanked out of the car, burnt alive and their corpses were hung from a Fallujah bridge. It looked like an inside job set up to me when I first saw the incident in the news a few years back and now I am even more convinced. Between it being a last minute assignment, at least one of the guys was in the doghouse with higher ups, the Iraqis not only had a camera there to record the whole event but they had an anti-American sign written up in ENGLISH all ready to show. Plus Bush was on the campaign trail so this would fire up all the dumb rednecks in the States and they needed this as propaganda to justify going full bore into Fallujah. Sorry but the Blackwater/Fallujah incident was a blatant Psy-Op.

Another shocking thing was how politically clueless some of these Blackwater mercenaries seemed to be. There was one where he thought Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 and another was quoted as saying if he was going to die it would be "out with a bang", "defending his country". Somebody please explain to me what the hell shooting at a bunch of Arab hillbillies on the other side of the world has to do with defending America? Put Blackwater on the Mexican border might be of use for defending America but that will never happen because they are really a globalist goon squad that pimp patriotism to morons when its convenient.

Probably the scariest thing is Blackwater is angling to be some sort of global mercenary "peacekeeping" force for the United Nations. If there is a problem area, instead of sending in Nato, or UN forces to the Sudan or where ever they send in Blackwater. But really corporate goon squads for the "elite" are nothing new (ever heard of the Pinkertons?) but Blackwater may end up like America as a whole, a snake eating its own tail out of their lust for short term greed. They already are using a significant number of soldiers from third world nations because they are cheaper to hire. This book does have a big left wing bias but I actually think only a leftist would write a realistic book on Blackwater. I can only imagine the garbage a book about Blackwater would be if it had been written by a Neo-Con Republican.

This book delivered basically what I was looking for, and that was a description of how this company got its start, what its role is in the War on Terror and who are the main players behind it. However, If you are bothered by left leaning beliefs to the point of distraction you may want to look elsewhere for the story of Blackwater. As far as I was concerned, it was a decent book but could have been much better with at least an effort made by the author to be objective.

Point of view unfortunately biased from the extreme left, with glaringly anti-Cristian and anti-American leanings. Descriptions of "torture" and lack of understanding of American interaction with Islamic extremism can only be the
thoughts of an individual who has clearly never been shot at.

I picked up this book this weekend excited about reading it. It didn't take too long to realize that the point of view on it was very biased. The writer is definetly anti-Blackwater. I am not sure where to stand on the group but reading it from a very liberal point of view did not add to my clarity. It would have been a decent book if it was the facts and informative from an open mind.

This book is extremely well written and researched. It is a MUST read for all Americans. Eric Prince and his colleagues are a scary addition to the modern armed forces. Congress needs to hold them all accountable for the atrocities they have committed.

The book was received in a reasonable amount of time and was in good condition.

I have not finish reading the book yet but it is really interesting if all is true. Everybody that reads it will think again everytime he/she hears some war news.

On September 10 2001 D.Rumsfeld stepped to the podium at the Pentagon to deliver one of his first major addresses as Defense Secretary under President Bush.That day Rumsfeld called for a wholesale shift in the running of the Pentagon,supplanting the old DoD bureaucracy with a new model ,one based on the private sector.
The next morning ,the Pentagon would literally be attacked as American Airlines 77-a Boeing 757-smashed into its western wall.
Story of Blackwater doesn't begin on Sep.11 ,in many ways ,it encapsulates the history of modern warfare.
Well,I was suprised to find that some of the chapters have nothing to do with the privatized armies but the war in Iraq and Afghanistan,I wasn't very interested in that ,that stuff is all over the media anyway.

Not at all what I expected, at least in the first couple chapters I could barely stomach. I was looking for a story about a little Blackwater background and the part of the puzzle they bring to the war on terror. What I got was a constant force feeding rant about the "right wing" this and "christian right" that. Obviously Mr. Scahill has a serious problem with anyone right of center and once that's realized (first couple pages), the credibility on the book goes right out the window. Maybe some diversity training is needed so he can learn to tolerate Christians. If you read it, note how many times the words "right wing" and "christian right" are used in the first couple chapters alone. Keep watching for those black helicopters Mr. Scahill.

Jeremy Scahill has an ax to grind and a certain amount of bias shows through in this expose of Blackwater's corporate army. That said, the book is well-researched, reasonably well-written and will definitely switch your paranoia on.

The book takes you through the creation of Blackwater and the background of its CEO, Eric Prince, a neo-conservative Evangelical Christian who believes that he is fighting the Crusades. It's clear that Scahill believes that Blackwater is evil and I can't say that I disagree with him. I'm pretty uncomfortable with the notion of outsourcing wars and mercenary armies make me think uncomfortably of the Italian city states in the 10th to 15th century and their constant state of warfare funded by citizens and waged by mercenary bands.

I do have some quibbles with this book. The focus is almost entirely on Blackwater's involvement in Iraq with a few ancillary chapters on their involvement in other localities. I would have liked a broader view of the company and its activities. While his chapter on Blackwater's man on the ground in Chile is interesting, Scahill misses an incredible opportunity to trace the history of US involvement in Central and South America and the teaching of torture at the Academy of the Americas and frankly doesn't do a good enough job of explicating these mercenary's ties to the Pinochet government and why that is problematic. There is another missed opportunity in the chapter on Blackwater after Katrina - to observe that we had boots on the ground with guns on the Gulf Coast before there was humanitarian aid is disturbing, but again I would have liked more information about this and an analysis of how outsourcing is impacting our disaster relief efforts. Lastly, I found myself wishing Scahill was a business reporter - I think there's a big story in where the money is coming from and where it's going and I don't think this is explored well.

Overall this is an interesting book, but very topical. Three years after its publication it is beginning to show its age and in another three years it'll be creaky. I think Scahill has done a great job of investigative reporting, but less well on contextualizing his subject matter.

This type of journalism is what REALLY helps to keep America free. Not the gun-toting lunatics at Blackwater. A company headed by a ruthless killer that hides behind some sort of belief in "God". Sure.
Blackwater and companies like them are a going to go down in the history books as serious stains on our country.
Buy this book and promote this kind of necessary journalism!

This book is good, but it is far left, I can concur with that claim. This book was a good addition to the choppy news coverage on the subject. I'm glad I read it.

When one looks at all the reviews of this book what is striking is that there are almost as many "1 star reviews" as there are "5 star reviews". How can this be? What comes to mind with regards to a book like "Blackwater" where the subject matter is obviously a "highly politically charged" topic, is that the reviews are not necessarily based on the merits of the book but rather on "which side of the political fence the reviewer happens to sympathize with". With this in mind I would like to preface my review stating that I am in total disagreement with much of President Bush's of handling of the war and in many matters( but not all) I am a critic of George W. Bush. I am an avid reader of history, especially those dealing with military issues. Frankly I find it distasteful that any review has to be preface by a political belief, but having said that, onto the review.

By all accounts in "Blackwater" Scahill does an admirable job in researching the facts of this book. Unfortunately for those readers who are interested in learning about the history of Blackwater, it's numerous impressive accomplishments as well as it's inherent problems, there is little to satisfy us. While it is true that the reader is informed about the historical background of how Blackwater began, the book is so inundated with "How Blackwater is connected to the Bush Administration" it becomes painfully obvious to the reader that this is a 452 page political statement disguised as a book. Even for those readers (myself included) who are determined to finish the book in hopes of learning more about the Blackwater organization the tiresome repetition of page after page of the same political comments so distracts the reader that most will give up in frustration. I gave up on page 266.

What separates upper echelon journalism (like those recognized for the Pulitzer) vs propaganda "based on truth" is how the issue at hand is balanced in an objective manner. Scahill's book is certainly not the latter. I was sorely disappointed.

Pretty interesting reading, but found the author's political bias distracting. He spends too much time bashing conservative agendas and the former adminstration instead of presenting facts and historical data. Where this book shines is a thorough history of the Iraq war in a writing style that easy to follow. He brings up some very good points about awful decisions that were made in the occupation of Iraq and their consequences. Definately worth reading so set aside your political views and enjoy.

This is a bad book, because I don't agree with it. I have not looked into it, but I suspect the author has an axe to grind against Jesus and his apostles, and that motivates him to attack Jesus' current disciples in Blackwater. I think this shows the author is biased, and I have faith that these so-called facts of the authors will be proven to be the lies of an anti-religious zealot. Until then, support our Blackwater troops who are fighting to promote the love of Jesus in places where people worship false gods and don't accept that Christ is Lord, and also have camels. I think that this author, whoever he is, needs to repent lest he find himself kneeling in front of the Dark Lord and sucking the infernal dingus.

The only reason one can call this a book is for the format of it. This is a patchwork of quotes from newspapers, interviews and TV talks. I did not expect a book written by a young a journalist to be of much valor, but I expected to be nonbiased. It is not. From the first half page of the book I determined that the author treats the war on terror and Blackwater in a negative way. The copied and pasted quotes are not commented or interpreted. At some point the author tries to make some historical connections between past Iraqi events and actual dealings. Very poor attempt. This to me was a book written by a tree-huger, latte drinker, bottle recycler newyorker.

It took me a while to get used with the style of writing. The first almost one hundred pages were a hassle. One can continually read about the war in Iraq and happenings that seem isolated from the whole war. Blackwater is portrayed as the bad guy all along. Anything that the author could muster and was able to turn into a negative view was written to highlight the evil. As far as I could determine, Blackwater is a business that does whatever other businesses do to turn a profit. If Erik Prince gives money to the Republican Party, good for him. Giving money to parties is a free choice and the amounts constitute public record. If the Republican Party favors him, very nice for them: friends should help each other. Everyone has a reason to support a party and s/he does so in order to benefit of tax reductions or better life. However, if there is corruption and Blackwater gets contracts preferentially, than the parties should be brought under the law and justice should be served.

What bothered me a lot was the fact that US military and Blackwater are portrayed as criminals against Iraqi while 9/11 is only mentioned as a point of reference in time. At one point, during the battle of Fallujah in April 2004, the author quotes a doctor that says "there is no law on earth that can justify what the Americans have done to innocent people", while seeing the amounts of Iraqi dead at the US military attacks. Let me remind the Iraqi Sunni that during Saddam's regime, Shiite population was killed, including women and children. The same happened during the Iraq - Iran war, when Iraqis were killing Iranians, including women and children. The same happened during 9/11, when thousands of innocent people were killed, thousands of families were destroyed, and God knows how many kids are growing up having parents killed in the tragedy. I guess, when someone else is terrorized, it's not a problem. The tragedy hits when we are the ones under the bullets. In a poll I read a few years back, only 5% of Iraqis condemned the attacks on 9/11.

To anyone that read and understood history, the human species is inclined not to peace, but war. The fact that we are living peaceful times in the US is a blessing and a miracle. But the norm is war. It has been through History and will continue that way. Arab population will always hate everyone who is not Muslim. That will never change. Christians had their going when killing Muslims, other Christians, Native Americans or Maya's. Having written a book on how armies are bad and mercs are worst is the most unrealistic project.

There are chapters in the book that don't have much to do with Blackwater. The Blackwater name is thrown around just so one might decide this company is connected with everybody and everything. Things as Blackwater mercs are first in saving Katrina's affected people are presented as bad news. Well, if I am in trouble, I don't really care who saves me: could be the National Guard, could be Blackwater, or could be my neighbor! Thank you for getting there in time for me to be saved from the calamity!

All in all, this book is a jock. It is unrealistic, unpatriotic and disrespectful to the people that died and their families, so we can have a very comfortable life, debating about peace and a green world.

I am still to find a book on Blackwater so I can understand who, what, when, why and how much about this company. Everyone has its time and now this is the Blackwater time.

Is it appropriate for the United States to turned the wars we fight into a for-profit business for private corporations that aren't accountable? That's the central thesis (I think...) of this interesting but somewhat inadequately-structured book focusing on one of the biggest beneficiaries of this trend.

Jeremy Scahill has done his best to penetrate the veil of secrecy that surrounds Blackwater and its operations, and has probably done as good a job as anyone could in the circumstances. But he's better at the small-scale stuff (the story of how a bunch of Chilean Blackwater recruits ended up fighting an American war in Iraq, for instance) than he is at the big-picture context, and that's what ended up making this a disappointing read for me. I learned a lot about Blackwater and its founder, Erik Prince, and in particular the latter's ultra-conservative Christian fundamentalist agenda. But, after years of reading books by the likes of Thomas Franks, or James Mann's excellent "The Rise of the Vulcans" (much less Rajiv Chandrasekaran's wonderful Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone (Vintage), much of this has already been discussed, repeatedly, and by the time this book appeared was fairly clear to most of Scahill's potential readers.

I came to this book looking for more. I'm familiar with foreign policy issues, but my knowledge of military policy lags far behind. I had hoped -- I think, reasonably -- to find in a book about Blackwater some insight into how and why the government allowed the conventional military forces to slide into such a state (size, lack of training, etc.) that using Blackwater's resources and ultimately its mercenaries became the only option. Scahill does a very solid job recounting the "what happened", but the reasons why it happened are almost glaringly absent. Were these budgetary constraints? A lack of strategic planning in the post-Cold War era? Complacency? It does seem clear from Scahill's description that there was a large gap between the skills and resources needed to fight the war in Iraq and what the United States military ended up having available. But why? And if so, why didn't the DOD address that? (I can guess why, but I'd rather have had that discussion aired in the book.)

The state of affairs that Scahill recounts didn't appear overnight, or in a vacuum. And yet this is presented to the reader as simply the facts of the matter. So the book is an interesting chronicle, but lacks the foundations I think is necessary to make his broader point -- that Blackwater's growing dominance and power threatens American ideals and even its institutions.

I also found puzzling some stylistic and other structural issues. We hear several times in a handful of pages that Prince's first wife was dying or died of cancer, often when it wasn't necessary to understand the context. Scahill introduces Greystone in the earliest pages as a proactive engagement team, seeming to raise the prospect of Blackwater becoming a global and offensive force rather than one that is a de facto part of a U.S. military defense. That point seems to be central to Scahill's argument about the dangers that Blackwater poses to the US, and yet we don't hear anything more about Greystone until the final pages, when its warmer and fuzzier image is discussed. These are just a few examples of places where I found the book bumpy -- it raised questions that ultimately went unanswered. For instance, I'm still not clear on whether Blackwater delivers lower-cost services as Prince had promised -- the information on that is scattered and hard to follow, or whether they are driving costs up. Again, I assume the latter, but...

Ultimately, it's hard to understand whether Scahill set out to write a book about the Iraq war from the standpoint of 'private contractors' or to examine the significance of the outsourcing of war to for-profit businesses. The book jumps back and forth between the two themes, and given the complexity of the subject matter, ends up doing justice to neither.

One final note, purely about style. Scahill is a footnote junkie, presumably because he knew his book would be scoured by critics looking for some sourcing flaw on which they could hang either a viable critique or even a libel lawsuit. But when I see the number of footnotes creep over 100 in a reasonable number of chapters in a non-scholarly book, and realize that a lot of them pertain to facts that really aren't open to question (such as the date Paul Bremer arrived in Baghdad and the fact that he moved into a former palace of Saddam Hussein), I begin to roll my eyes. Also irritating to me as a reader hoping for a smoothly-flowing narrative were the long chunks of newspaper or magazine articles quoted directly when Scahill could have summarized the salient points in a few sentences -- buildings facing a Fallujah school were riddled with bullet holes, but there was no sign that the school occupied by American forces had been under attack, or that the Americans had aimed their fire at rooftop snipers, X in Y newspaper reported. Instead, we get 2/3 of a page of the article about an incident that Blackwater itself wasn't even involved in. When that happens over and over again, it simply draws attention to the fact that this is a book that -- necessarily -- is based on second-hand sources.

This is a book that I'm glad I borrowed to read. Unless you're an avid military historian, I'd suggest you do the same. Ultimately, this was an adequate chronicle of events in Iraq (there are far better ones out there...) and an intriguing but ultimately unsatisfying look at Blackwater's rise to wealth and infamy against the backdrop of that. But rather than satisfying my curiosity, I found that it simply whetted it. I'll be on the lookout for another book on the subject; those to whom this will appeal will likely be those who already share Scahill's broad views and are looking for some facts to support them. I tend to be alarmed by the same things that concern Scahill, but I wanted more from this book.

Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, by Jeremy Scahill, is an eye-opening look into the exponential new market of private contractors. It explores, in incredible detail, nearly everything you ever wanted to know about Blackwater (now renamed Xe) and a lot more. Scahill's style of writing is both engaging and informative. He writes with a clear bias against Blackwater, but he counters his own strong opinions by bringing up others' points of view. Though much of Blackwater's business actions are secret, Scahill has accomplished an extraordinary feat of investigative journalism and backs up his main ideas and small ideas with full and comprehensive evidence. Blackwater offers an in-depth look into the world of private armies and what it means, now and in the future, for America and the world abroad.

Blackwater is superbly written. Scahill is an extremely talented writer and, for the most part, makes it hard to put the book down. He first presents a major event surrounding Blackwater, like the Fallujah killings. Then, he delves into the backend workings of what caused that event and why it is significant. Scahill writes in an engaging and exciting way, but many times he bores on all the minutest details. At some points in the book, one feels that they cannot put the book down, while at other points one feels they are just reading words and not processing the information. The book is an amazing resource for scholars and those who want to know every little thing there is to know about Blackwater, but is not for (Scahill's main audience) the masses. Scahill would come out a lot stronger if he just focused on his main ideas and trimmed the book about two-hundred-and-fifty pages. His research is very important and all Americans should be able to be presented to it in a succinct and entertaining way. A very good (and popular) documentary could and should be produced on Scahill's findings.

Scahill does not tie his main ideas together well. He disperses the same ideas and evidence throughout the book in rather arbitrary places, offering lots of same evidence that proving the same points. This gets quite irksome and annoying. Not only that, he quotes people saying the same thing over and over again. His book includes great material, but needs to be much better organized.

Scahill's main points, however, are very important and he does get them across. He exposes Erik Prince and the head people at Blackwater as extreme rightwing Christians with neoconservative agendas. He explains how Blackwater's soldiers are free from all punishment and can be an excellent way for a country to indirectly do dirty work without "red tape" and load of negative media attention. Scahill also warns of how powerful Blackwater is becoming and what it means when a private army can "single-handedly take down many of the world's governments" (Page 343). He explains how the head people at Blackwater are cozy with influential Republicans and other law makers and depicts Blackwater as a greedy company that's overcharging the government for their "cut-the-corner" services. Many of Blackwater's business doings are shady and secret, but Scahill comes up with the extensive evidence to make you see his point of view.

Blackwater is a very important book and should be adapted into a shorter paperback or a documentary. Scahill writes with a certain intensity and passion that makes you want to keep on turning the page, but all too often he simply runs you down with details. This book is highly recommended to any academic or researcher interested in Blackwater and other private mercenaries. Scahill does a good job of communicating his main ideas, but his support is scrambled throughout the book. His view is one-sided, but he also tells Blackwater's version of the story. People only interested in the nuts and bolts of Blackwater and other private mercenaries would be better off watching a documentary or reading a shorter book.

Wow! What an eye opener this was. Fascinating read. It should be on everyones "must read" list.

This is a hard book to read. It's long and the print is small. Still, read it anyway, even if you read it between other books. It has some eye opening info and exposes some dangerous issues. I had a friend in Blakwater who was killed in Iraq. He never denied the New Word Order but would never talk about it. Read this book...

this book impugns the character of every contractor in Iraq and afghanistan by associating them with the few yahoos ad ne'er do wells that slip through the cracks. how about some objective journalism? Or is that too much to ask?

Jeremy Scahill's sedately-told history, up to that date, of Blackwater, INC., NOW named "XE," is very accurate, and it pulls no punches, though it is NOT a work of "Liberal Scaremongering," to paraphrase another reviwer on this book.
When he speaks of Eric Prince, the controversial founder of Blackwater, and Prince's apparent conversion to Catholicism in order to receive "ABSOLUTION"[?] for his-his company's use of deadly violence against Muslim extremists, etcetera, Mr. Scahill doth also, fail to mention that the Catholic Rite of Absolution, is meant, ONLY for a "Just and trulyDEFENSIVE WAR," such as, e.g. the maltese Knhights and the Knights of Rhodes fighting against Arabic Islamic, and then Ottoman Turkish Islamic INVADERS against those island states, etcetera, and it, ABSOLUTION, should NEVER be used to Falsely "Justify, from God," ANY WAR of AGGRESSION and PLUNDER, including America's ongoing lawless war and occupation, in IRAQ.
Overall though, a very well done work by Mr. Scahill.

Scahill quickly sets the scene in Blackwater, explaining how one of the most infamous companies in the U.S. got its start. Scahill's negative opinion of Blackwater, the reliance on private military contractors, and the lack of law binding their behavior overseas is clear, but even if you disagree with his assessment, it must be acknowledged that this is a thoroughly researched book, written in a very engaging manner.

The book was well researched, but the author had an obvious agenda against Blackwater and George W. Bush. While I agreed with some aspects, I would rather not read such a biased book.

Although not 100% on Blackwater "Licensed to Kill" was a much better book and was more of an unbiased researched book.

I guess watching some videos on the internet and reading articles qualifies the author to write a book with a slant and misleading information. I quess working in both Iraq and Afghanistan might give me a different out look. I did not work for BW, but I did work with them. I attended serveral briefings on BW operations good and bad. I do not know if the author saw the whole video on Najaf? The author claims there was NO Report on Najaf that a US General flew into the scene to assess. Maybe the author does not have clearance to such material, provided it does exists. Come on a General arrives on scene rumorer has it a very pissed off General and there is no report according to the author.

In the Najaf incident pg 181, there was a U.S. Military officer present that was overcome by events as was an officer from another country. No mention of that in this book. The person that took charge was a retired chief from the SEAL's. No mention of the IP's driving around shooting. No mention of the Polish Speical Forces assisting. No mention of requests for assistance - What Happened? One BW pilot against orders loaded up his little bird and with an operator flew in ammo and took out the injured. Did I mention the FOB near by? Ask the author the investigate what they did or did not do?

No organization is perfect. BW, MVM, Triple C, USIS, Dyncorp, DOD, or DOS. I could go on about other incidents in this book, but it will not change anything. I do not know where the author obtained his facts from or how he vetted them. I do know where my infomation came from.

I was looking for a book that told the whole story. There were numerous times BW guys came to the rescue of others. I quess if I want a book like that I will have to write it myself.
I will be sure to include the videos and pictures from someone that was there.

I couldn't read the book because the font was so small. It's smaller then my small dictionary.

Very biased writing. The author had an agenda and twisted the facts to make it fit his vision. Don't buy this book.

Full disclosure, although I come from an academic background I represent the industry that provides support services in peacekeeping and stability operations. Always happy to answer direct questions - see our web site at IPOAonline DOT org.

First, Mr. Scahill shockingly omits the fundamentally important fact that the overwhelming majority of contractors doing security and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan are Iraqis and Afghans - the very people who should be doing security in reconstruction in their own country. While military operations certainly have their place in stability operations, it is wages and capacity building from the stability operations industry are the building blocks for long term state viability.

Second, while the U.S. military is designed to be the most capable organization in the world, it is not designed to be cost effective. It is estimated that the Pentagon is paying $15-25,000 per month per soldier in Iraq. Contractors, brought in to support the effort from a hundred different countries, bring remarkable cost effectiveness, capabilities and expertise. And yes, not surprisingly they cost far less than trained combat soldiers. There are tasks that only the military should be doing, but supporting the military can been done better and cheaper utilizing private services. Mr. Scahill, perhaps more interested in ideological point scoring, misses or ignores this reality completely.

Nor should we become overly obsessed with Iraq as the private sector provides critical support services to stability and peace operations in Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Somalia and other vital humanitarian missions where the West does have the political will to send their own militaries. In fact IPOA member companies have more personnel working in UN and African Union peace operations than all but a handful of countries. It is difficult to imagine how Mr. Scahill would hope to replace these personnel and capabilities if companies were banned from providing these services. When asked, he has no idea and changes the subject.

Third, despite what Mr. Scahill claims, many companies have been held to account or penalized contractually - that has been less of a problem (for some light reading pull out the thousands of pages that make up the U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulations sometime . . .). More complex under international law is the difficult issue of holding individual foreign contractors accountable - and again it is important to remember here that local contractors which make up the overwhelming majority of contractor numbers are under local law (for better or worse).

Fourth, while Mr. Scahill portrays himself as an expert his most obvious expertise is ignoring anything that challenges his assumptions or perspectives. Don't expect balance in his book or in the interviews. While he loves to kick out total number of contractors and imply they are all Blackwater `operatives', only about 5% of contractors are in security, mostly local nationals.

Fifth, if one bothers to read Mr. Scahill's book it becomes clear that his primary objection to Blackwater is the fact that it was founded by Republicans - the book would be little more than a ten page pamphlet if you remove his deep-seated horror at that shocking reality. As a Democrat who used to work for the Democratic Party let me say there are far better works available which actually provide reasonably balanced examinations of the use of the private contractors.

Sixth, contractors are not new. They serve in peace and stability operations because we - as humanitarians - want them there. They have been used in pretty much every recent conflict, including hundreds in support of the UN in Sierra Leone, 700,000 supporting U.S. efforts in WWII, and some 80,000 in support of U.S. efforts in Vietnam. We need them: their skills and capabilities are irreplaceable. Problems that arise need to be addressed, accountability enhanced and IPOA has suggested how this can be done (see our web site at IPOAonline DOT ORG or our Journal of International Peace Operations at peaceops DOT com for more information and insights on this). Good oversight and accountability are good for good companies. But we can ignore the private sector's value to peace and stability operations only at great humanitarian peril.

Finally, despite numerous citations in his book, and frequent mention in his articles and media appearances, Mr. Scahill, who has shockingly won numerous awards for `investigative reporting' has never - NEVER - bothered to interview anyone at IPOA, the association representing contractors in contingency operations. On the contrary, IPOA made numerous efforts to meet and talk with him, all have been rebuffed or ignored. Indeed, few of his subjects have ever been given the opportunity to present their perspectives on an issue. Even if he fundamentally disagrees with the use of the private sector in support of stability and peace operations, considering the focus of his book, wouldn't a chat with the primary industry trade association or the actual subjects have made at least a wee bit of sense?

It is appalling that Maher, Moyer and others have utterly failed to challenge any of Mr. Scahill's `facts' and claims when he is on their shows. The big loser is the audience and the folks who read his book without fully comprehending the breathless patter for what it is: classic deceptive journalism. Worse, Mr. Scahill's selective third-hand accounts undermine the real investigative journalists who actually go in the field and risk their lives to report the truth, and that are increasingly rare in an era of the print media's collapse.

Doug Brooks, IPOA

The enormous cost and rational behind the creation of mercenary armies is something that should be of considerable concern to all of us. I appreciate Mr. Scahill's effort to keep us informed and updated on this issue.

I heard of this book from watching real time with bill maher. it is amazing that we can outsource our military operations to mercenaries who get paid two and three times what our hard working soldiers make. The idea that are not subject to the same rules can lead to many potential problems, which Jeremy details in his book.

...in exposing this mercenary army for what it is. I could not imagine being in the military now, in a combat zone, and encountering contracted soldiers who make my yearly salary in one month, and who are above the law.



Read this book. Educate yourselves.

The reality of Blackwater cannot be denied and this author makes points that the media at large has wholey ignored or downplayed dramatically. This is a book that everyone should read and then form an opinion on. I would totally recommend this book

claiming he is a propagandist and "conspiracy theorist", whatever that means, you are the ones who are blind to what is happening in this world!

I just watched Jeremy Scahill on Bill Maher show. The author indicated that there are 130,000 armed contractors in Iraq and 70,000 in Afghanistan. He is wrong. The number of contractors in each country is correct but they are not armed. Only a small number of U.S. contractors are armed for self-protection purposes. Self-protection is required because the contractors go "outside of the wire" to work with host nation personnel. Most of the contractors in both countries provide services that our military is no longer able to provide. Those services range anywhere from MWR support to medical. Blackwater or now Xe only has about two hundred personnel in Afghanistan. They train Afghan police and provide protection for the U.S. Embassy. Their services enable our diplomats to do get out in town, meet with host nation officials and conduct important U.S. government business. The Diplomatic Security Services does not have enough resources for the protection mission. Congresswoman Schakowsky on the show accused the company of starting the war in Fallujah. Where is she getting her facts? Between her and her highly idealistic and uninformed staffers we are in trouble. The Blackwater personnel(veterans) were going from one base to another when they got attacked by Al Qaeda. Mr. Scahill did nothing to correct Bill Maher, or Congressowman Schakowsky. This goes to show the author has no clue about contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its sad to see that publishing standards are so low and they allow Mr. Scahill's mistakes get published.

The author is so obviously biased, but doesn't state his bias upfront. He just mixes opinion and fact in a way that becomes very difficult to discern the difference.

For everyone, there is a movie, lover, childhood friend, unforgettable character, rotten so-and-so, great historical figure, wonderful novel, stunning political book, and so on, that comes to mind FIRST in any discussion of these things. For me, the political book of our age is Jeremy Scahill's Blackwater expose. I can't add a thing to the raves already written about this book, am only staking out a little ground here because I see the predictable, unashamedly biased one-star reviews plastered on by the blind political "right" who make a mission of putting their finger on the scales without ever having to actually read.

"Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" is the book I recommend first and most often in any discussion of politics today. That has not changed with the new administration (so much for hope as well as change), or with Blackwater's new name, "Xe."

Xe is in Iraq, by the way, so that makes it technically "true" that, respecting the command of the Iraqi government, Blackwater is no longer in Iraq. Can I get an L-M-A-O?

This book gets another richly warranted five stars, thanks to me, huah!

Mr. Scahill, it's almost time for "Blackwater II: The rise of Xe".

Above all...I wish it were not so.

Everyone should read this book so we can all band together and do nothing about it because we're all lazy, ignornat, reality TV watching fat slobs.

Everyone should read this book. This is what the Bush era has done to how we fight wars. With members of Bush's inner circle like Dick Cheney trying to privatize as much of the armed services as possible, the result is the formation of the largest private army in the world.
More insidious thou is how the largest private army in the world is accountable to 'no-one'.The mighty dollar is their only master.
Blackwater has pretty much changed how America fights its wars.

The rise to prominence of the Blackwater mercenary group and others like it is a troubling development, particularly as these groups steadily scheme their way into U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Under a cynical veneer of patriotic duty and lending a helping hand to the United States' War on Terror, these mercenaries charge a fee for their service. Terms like "private soldiers" and "civilian contractors" simply sugarcoat the truth.

Jeremy Scahill's "Blackwater" book, a highly informative expose of the notorious mercenary company, covers the company's rise from an idea among ex-military members to the heights of power and influence with the former Bush administration. With the rise of the neocons in the 1990s came an almost religious ideology where government was the enemy and privatization was the answer. One of the main areas this ideology--coupled with the absolutist religious ideology of many neocons--was put into practice was with the defense industry. Privatization of military duties became an ever-growing industry to mercenary firms, and Blackwater has been there almost from the outset.

Author Scahill meticulously chronicles the predatory capitalism and attendant corruption that powered this drive to privatize the defense establishment in the 90s and especially so from 2000-2007 (when the book was published). From its first contract to the explosion of work Blackwater maneuvered itself into in the aftermath of post-Saddam Iraq, the blatant corruption of Bremer and the CPA in Iraq, along with the sweetheart deals awarded by the Bush Administration's subservient and highly-partisan cronies in the Dept of Defense, are brought to light.

While the book was an eye-popping and troubling read, the author's tone deserves mentioning. He barely disguises his contempt of anyone connected with the former administration, and the majority of the characters in the book are despicable and worthy of contempt.

But he paints with a broad brush in one area--the military. Members of the armed forces come off looking like barbarians, highlighted in an incident where an airstrike is called on a mosque. The impression is that the Marines involved callously destroyed the religious center, but what is left out is that if a religious structure is used in a military manner (a tactic the insurgents are known to exploit) it becomes a legitimate (and regrettable) military target. The descriptions of the insurgency as the "bold resistance" are...aggravating. Perhaps the author could have become more acquainted with the military and the insurgency's tactics in writing that portion of his book. But it is nevertheless an engaging and troubling book.

The number of one-star reviews, obviously written by individuals who didn't bother to read this work (some even written before its release), continue the story begun in its pages. I find the uncontested history of Blackwater's antics to be nothing new, tell-tale signs of glaring war profiteering, patently obvious to all but the most parochial of readers.

From highly skilled, very dangerous low-level Chilean war criminals, to flunkies from anywhere on the globe they could get them, Blackwater built an army for hire. The hunger for profit outweighed all. The taxpayer paid a price only surpassed by the bloodier victims of this diabolical opportunism.

This writing pounds home the fact that those who defend the use of such an army should be cognizant that this and others like it contemplate working for the other side, if there is more profit to be had there. The makeup of this and other private armies is multi-national and devoted to itself alone.

Patriots? Any army paid by our tax dollars must be allegiant to our country first, under the penalties of treason for violation of that oath, in direct chain of command to the President. Any failure thereof has been a failure of our President and our country.

The author just today on Bill Maher show, said that we shouldn't even go to Afghanistan. He also believes that any civilian who died in the Iraq War is the fault of the United States. This guy is a complete propagandist.

His book is shameful. His research is flawed, using false statistics to prove points.

The author just today on Bill Maher show, said that we shouldn't even go to Afghanistan. He also believes that any civilian who died in the Iraq War is the fault of the United States. This guy is a complete propagandist.

His book is shameful. His research is flawed, using false statistics to prove points. His book is another ultra-liberal conspiracy theory. I bet he is a 911 truther.

I find that this book is one of the best I have read. It is a must read in my opinion. If you don't know much about Blackwater & the Iraq War, read this book and your eyes may begin to open.

item delievered fast...was given to family member as a gift...happened to be a book that this person was going to buy later...trip-out

The author's agenda is clear from the outset. What bothered me most was his consistent use of editorials as "sources". Scahill, like most extremists, refuses to let facts get in the way. Statistics are cited when they back up his viewpoint and ignored when they don't. Readers from the left will hear nothing new. Readers from the right, if they can finish the book, will lose their minds. A complete waste of time.

Sometimes hard to read but it is a real eyeopener to the mercenery connection in Iraq.

The rise of the world's most powerful mercenary army.
"Jeremy Scahill actually doesn't know anything about Blackwater." So says Martin Strong Vice President Blackwater Worldwide. With the greatest respect to Mr Strong, if he is right, it is a pretty facile comment on 550 pages of detailed research and information. Unless, or until Mr Strong or anyone else from Blackwater elaborates on this blanket rejection, we must conclude that what Jeremy Scahill tells us is correct.

Blackwater is at once a compelling and frightening read. It is a detailed exposé of the private security industry generally and Blackwater in particular. It introduces us to the founders and their associations with the people and policies of the last US administration. It describes in minute detail how this cozy relationship enabled Blackwater to become an adjunct of American foreign policy.

Knowing Scahill's background, one might have expected a scathing attack - but no, all his arguments are reasoned and nonjudgmental. Indeed, his portrayal of Eric Prince the company founder is complimentary. He tells us that Mr. Prince came from a very wealthy and successful family, but chose to join the military. While in the military, he excelled as a Navy Seal, and would have remained as such but gave it up to support his ailing wife and their children. The first Mrs. Prince died in tragic circumstances shortly after.

Not content to bask in considerable family wealth, Prince emulated his successful father by starting a business. The business he chose was one of which he had expert knowledge. He identified a need for military and law enforcement training and established a state of the art training facility at North Carolina.

It is then that sinister opportunities presented themselves in the form of the Iraq war. Blackwater were not alone in exploiting this opportunity they were just better at it than others were. The Bush administration identified a benefit in employing civilian contractors in a variety of functions previously carried out by the military. From a certain perspective it worked very well and like Topsy it grow'd until the number of civilian contractors almost equaled the military.

Using civilian contractors checks many boxes. There are considerable financial benefits to companies and individuals. There are benefits for government with fewer political problems than there might be with serving military. Activities can be pursued beyond the public glare. However, in all this there is one thing missing military discipline and legal restraint. Scahill describes how Blackwater was able to slip between the rock of military discipline and the hard place of the law. In a time of left of center politics, a rightwing mercenary army numbering around 30,000, is ominous indeed.

This is a truly excellent book, and should be read by everyone who wants to really know what is happening on the ground in Iraq, and elsewhere including mainland USA.

This is a first (and hopefully last) negative review I will give on Amazon. I actually bought this book on impulse in a brick and mortar store. BIG MISTAKE! Its title is extremely deceptive. It is an example of some slick marketing rewarding another piss-poor product. The author should be ashamed of how he exploits the books name and purpose to bolster sales. Ironically, the author rants about unrelated topics with an obvious left-side agenda. I am not privy to the qualifications necessary for winning a George Polk Book Award. However, after reading this train wreck of a book, I am certain that this book's author should NOT BE ELIGIBLE!

By reading this book, you shall learn how and why the Iraqis don't like Americans. This book will show you how criminal and private the war has become. A MUST READ!

Writing in a style reminiscent of the Yahoo Chat rooms you will be treated to every left-wing cliché from the Bush years.

'Nixon henchman Chuck Colson...'

"America's insatiable appetite for conquest"...

"President Reagan's wars of aggression against South America"

'Theo-cons' right-wing religious fanatics develop 'Blackwater' as a Knights Templar to destroy Islam.

Ironically the author narrates a video made on 4-4-04. In it he describes a battle in which 13 Americans hold off between 1,000 to 2,000 Iraqis. Down to their last clips of ammo the 10 remaining defenders face their 'Black Hawk Down' moment. Blackwater helicopters arrive just in time to reinforce the defenders and evacuate the wounded. I almost cried with pride reading the passage but how did the author wrap it up?

- The 'civilians' storming the gates were armed with AK-47s, RPGs and Sniper rifles.
- The single Marine defender was taking orders from the 12 Black Water Mercenaries.
- The Marine, when he feared his position was about to be over run called the Iraqis the 'N-word'.

You owe it to yourself to read this book and learn what America is up against in our new Obamanation.