Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
by Jeremy Scahill

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
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Book Summary Information

Author: Jeremy Scahill
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-03-07
ISBN: 1560259795
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Nation Books
Product features:

Book Reviews of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Book Review: "Political Statements In Search of A Book"
Summary: 1 Stars



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 prefaced 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.

Summary of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Meet Blackwater USA, the powerful private army that the U.S. government has quietly hired to operate in international war zones and on American soil. With its own military base, a fleet of twenty aircraft, and twenty-thousand troops at the ready, Blackwater is the elite Praetorian Guard for the "global war on terror"-- yet most people have never heard of it. It was the moment the war turned: On March 31, 2004, four Americans were ambushed and burned near their jeeps by an angry mob in the Sunni stronghold of Falluja. Their charred corpses were hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River. The ensuing slaughter by U.S. troops would fuel the fierce Iraqi resistance that haunts occupation forces to this day. But these men were neither American military nor civilians. They were highly trained private soldiers sent to Iraq by a secretive mercenary company based in the wilderness of North Carolina. Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army is the unauthorized story of the epic rise of one of the most powerful and secretive forces to emerge from the U.S. military-industrial complex, hailed by the Bush administration as a revolution in military affairs, but considered by others as a dire threat to American democracy.

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