Jeremy scahills new book is a brilliant expose and belongs on the reading list of. The work focuses on and compares the activities of the us companies blackwater and dyncorp. The shooting spree, labeled baghdads bloody sunday, was neither the work of iraqi insurgents nor u. Private army in the news again jeremy scahill has been investigating blackwater, a military contractor with a long involvement in the iraq war. Blackwater founder erik prince regrets working for us. Meet blackwater usa, the private army that the us government has quietly hired. Warriors, a book about the life, death and resurrection of blackwater. The book details the rise of blackwater usa, a private military company, and the growth of security contracting in the iraq war and the war on terrorism. Blackwater burst into the publics eye with the murder and desecration of several of its contractors, and with the highly publicized incident involving the murder of civilians in traffic in iraq. The shooting spree, labeled baghdads bloody sunday, was neither the work of iraqi insurgents nor. His book the corpse exhibition puts the blackwater shooting in the context of decades of suffering. In the book, scahill contends that blackwater exists as a mercenary force, and argues that blackwater s rise is a consequence of the demobilization of the us military following the cold war and its overextension in iraq and afghanistan.
Oct 01, 2007 blackwater mercenaries record of murder in iraq by kate randall 1 october 2007 in the aftermath of the bloody shooting incident in baghdad on september 16 involving hired guards of blackwater. The author makes the point that guns were on the ground long before humanitarian aid was deployed. Jeremy scahill is an unembedded, international journalist. Jeremy scahill is one of the three founding editors of the intercept. The book goes into further detail concerning some of the worst days for blackwater such as the ambush in fallujah, iraq, that killed for of blackwater s men, to the shooting in nisour square, to the heroics when the men defended their objective from the mahdi army. The unauthorized story of the epic rise of one of the most powerful and secretive forces. In 2007, blackwater employees were involved in a mass shooting there that. Helps you meet blackwater usa, the private army that the us government has hired. Twelve years after the launch of the war on iraq, its hard to find a better illustration of the business of war, sanitised for us here by prince. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the postinvasion iraqi government. The 2004 fallujah ambush occurred on march 31, 2004, when iraqi insurgents attacked a convoy containing four american contractors from the private military company blackwater usa who were conducting a delivery for food caterers ess. Despite sharing several important characteristics, such as working for the same client the us state department.
In his gripping bestseller, awardwinning journalist jeremy scahill takes us from the bloodied streets of iraq to hurricaneravaged new orleans to the chambers of power in washington, to expose blackwater as the frightening new face of the u. And not just in war zones, where blackwater operates in concert with u. The rise of the worlds most powerful mercenary army kindle edition by scahill, jeremy. Aug, 2010 jeremy scahill talked to students about the practice of investigative journalism and holding officials accountable. But make no mistakemaster of war is not a work of fiction. Hired guns, above the law acting with impunity and immune from prosecution, a shadow army funded by us taxpayers is fueling the spiraling violence in iraq. In his remarks he focused on the war in iraq, blackwater contracts, and the. Sold by adams books and more and fulfilled by amazon. By the height of the iraq war, in october 2007 when chief executive erik prince testified before congress, blackwater had morphed into a rorschach test.
Blackwater on trial for 2007 baghdad murders middle east eye. Jeremy scahill blackwater the rise of the worlds most powerful mercenary army. Blackwater founder erik prince, who got rich off of iraq, now. Jeremy scahill is a puffin foundation writing fellow at the nation institute.
How one perceived the company often revealed ones feelings about the nations post911 wars. Jeremy schahill describes the impact blackwater usa has had on the conduct of the iraq war. Upon president barack obamas arrival in office in 2009, the state. Blackwater founder erik prince, who got rich off of iraq.
Just as the trial took years, the iraq war has dragged on for an unexpectedly long time. Master of war is the riveting true story of eric prince, the exnavy seal who founded blackwater and built the worlds largest military contractor, privatizing war for client nations around the world. Blackwater usas erik prince and the business of war. Jeremy scahill has written a meticulously documented book about an alltooreal threat to democracy. Outsourcing the war to private military contractors such as blackwater has shattered the united states moral authority and its ability to win wars like that in iraq. The nisour square massacre occurred on september 16, 2007 where employees of blackwater security consulting now academi, a private military company contracted by the us government to provide security services in iraq, shot at iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in nisour square, baghdad, while escorting a u. The book details the rise of blackwater usa, a private military company, and the growth of security contracting in the iraq war and the. The rise of the worlds most powerful mercenary army, by jeremy scahill, strongly suggests that prince is a neo crusader, a theocon with a christiansupremacist. Apr 16, 2015 blackwater and the crimes of us imperialism 16 april 2015 this weeks sentencing of four former blackwater mercenaries to prison terms ranging from 30 years to life is an event that, by its. The rise of the worlds most powerful mercenary army, which won the george polk book award.
The world is a battlefield was published by nation books on april 23, 20. Apr, 2017 prince founded blackwater, a private security firm that contracted with the u. This was murder, says judge, sentencing exblackwater. This book explores the use of deadly force by private security companies during the iraq war. Oct 02, 2007 outsourcing the war to private military contractors such as blackwater has shattered the united states moral authority and its ability to win wars like that in iraq. Blackwater usas erik prince and the business of war by suzanne simons book assessing the state department inspector general. Jan 15, 2014 by the height of the iraq war, in october 2007 when chief executive erik prince testified before congress, blackwater had morphed into a rorschach test. He lives in exile in finland now, but theres no distance in his writing. This book condenses to the very essence, the distinct differences between an enormous military and governmental bureaucracy, as opposed to the. Princes book belongs on the shelf next to the memoirs of the other iraq and afghanistan war chieftains.
My next guest writes, blackwater is a reminder of just how privatized the iraq war has become. From running roughshod all over iraq with no fear of having to answer for war crimes, to being an armed militia on the streets of new orleans after katrina, this book exposes how the bush administration allowed erik prince and his blackwater guards to cost the taxpayer billions of dollars. Dec 27, 20 by the height of the iraq war, in october 2007 when chief executive erik prince testified before congress, blackwater had morphed into a rorschach test. However, for the wars in iraq and afghanistan, this force was not. Blackwater and the crimes of us imperialism world socialist. Blackwater and the iraq war time warp the atlantic. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 iraqis were killed in the first three to four. However, i was unprepared for the section on blackwater and hurricane katrina. The iraq war was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of iraq by a united statesled coalition that overthrew the government of saddam hussein.
Slatten, a former blackwater security contractor, was convicted of firstdegree murder a charge. The biggest book of the year is jeremy scahills blackwater. Afghan war 2001 armed forcescivic action authors, american biography blackwater usa blackwater worldwide bodyguards businessmen civilmilitary relations combat competition, unfair counterinsurgency defense contracts dyncorp economics employees employeesevaluation fallujah, battle of iraq. Princes book, a testament to the lucrativeness of the war industry, is also part of a memoir industry of sorts, in which unsavoury folks are. The book is a remarkable and bracing wake up call about the privatization of war and how that subverts even basic notions of democracy. He is an investigative reporter, war correspondent, and author of the international bestselling books dirty wars.
Blackwater%3a%20the%20rise%20of%20the%20world%27s%20most%. Taking us from the bloodied streets of iraq to hurricaneravaged new. Blackwater mercenaries record of murder in iraq world. Apr 14, 2015 the blackwater trial can seem like a microcosm of the broader iraq war.
The book goes into further detail concerning some of the worst days for blackwater such as the ambush in fallujah, iraq, that killed for of blackwaters men, to the shooting in nisour square, to the heroics when the men defended their objective from the mahdi army. Jun 27, 2018 jeremy scahill blackwater the rise of the worlds most powerful mercenary army. This book covers iraq and mercenaries in great detail. Nov 19, 20 erik prince, the founder of the private security firm, blackwater inc. The rise of the worlds most powerful mercenary army and coauthor of the assassination complex. Blackwater operates in war zones, in concert with u. Murder conviction in blackwater case thrown out, other.
Jeremy scahill born october 18, 1974 is an american investigative journalist, writer, the founding editor of the online news publication the intercept and author of blackwater. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading blackwater. We created the very threat we claim to be fighting. Blackwater, whose license to work in iraq was revoked by baghdad, was renamed xe services in 2009 and then academi in 2011. Nov 29, 2010 set to talkingheads psycho killer, this video is a tribute to jeremy scahills book blackwater. On september 16, 2007, machine gun fire erupted in baghdads nisour squ. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.