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Hired Guns in the War on Terror
Crown
September 2006
On Sale: August 29, 2006
368 pages ISBN: 1400097819 EAN: 9781400097814 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Robert Young Pelton first became aware of the phenomenon of
hired guns in the War on Terror when he met a covert team of
contractors on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in the fall
of 2003. Pelton soon embarked on a globe-spanning odyssey to
penetrate and understand this shadowy world, ultimately
delivering stunning insights into the way private soldiers
are used. Enter a blood-soaked world of South African mercenaries and
tribal fighters backed by ruthless financiers. Drop into
Baghdad’s Green Zone, strap on body armor, and take a daily
high-speed ride with a doomed crew of security contractors
who dodge car bombs and snipers just to get their charges to
the airport. Share a drink in a chic hotel bar with wealthy
owners of private armies who debate the best way to stay
alive in war zones. Licensed to Kill spans four continents and three years,
taking us inside the CIA’s dirty wars; the brutal contractor
murders in Fallujah and the Alamo-like sieges in Najaf and
Al Kut; the Deep South contractor training camps where
ex–Special Operations soldiers and even small town cops
learn the ropes; the contractor conventions where macho
attendees swap bullet-punctuated tales and discuss upcoming
gigs; and the grim Central African prison where contractors
turned failed mercenaries pay a steep price. The United States has encouraged the use of the private
sector in all facets of the War on Terror, placing
contractors outside the bounds of functional legal
constraints. With the shocking clarity that can come only
from firsthand observation, Licensed to Kill painstakingly
deconstructs the most controversial events and introduces
the pivotal players. Most disturbingly, it shows that there
are indeed thousands of contractors—with hundreds more being
produced every month—who’ve been given a license to kill,
their services available to the highest bidder.
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