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epersonae's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. Depressing and astonishing. The stories of individual mercenary disasters are actually pretty heartbreaking, even if you think the guys are jerks for getting into it. Prince, on the other hand -- the founder of Blackwater -- gives me the heebie-jeebies. And the guys in DC who were all gung-ho to outsource the military: I got nothing good to say, at all.
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
herlifewithbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Completely not up my alley, a little dense for audio, and a bit repetitive. But thought-provoking, certainly, in a horrifying "Oh my God, these people have been/are in power now" kind of way.
kavinay's review against another edition
5.0
You go into the book thinking Erik Prince is Darth Vader.
He's not. He's more akin to Director Krennic: a manipulator of corrupt institutions that simply don't value life.
The real shock of Scahill's excellent coverage is just how banal the evil of the mercenary business is. Much like imperialist and colonial military dogma, the expansion of the private security contractors--mercenaries--boils down to exploitation and indifference. Exploitation of government policy to procure highly suspect security contracts and indifference towards the lives of the foreign populations affected by private militaries that are not beholden to account for war crimes.
He's not. He's more akin to Director Krennic: a manipulator of corrupt institutions that simply don't value life.
The real shock of Scahill's excellent coverage is just how banal the evil of the mercenary business is. Much like imperialist and colonial military dogma, the expansion of the private security contractors--mercenaries--boils down to exploitation and indifference. Exploitation of government policy to procure highly suspect security contracts and indifference towards the lives of the foreign populations affected by private militaries that are not beholden to account for war crimes.