Naval War College Review Volume 61 Article 20 Number 4 Autumn
2008 Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army R. G. Bracknell
Jeremy Scahill
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Recommended Citation Bracknell, R. G. and Scahill, Jeremy (2008) "Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army," Naval War College Review: Vol. 61 : No. 4 , Article 20. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol61/iss4/20
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bracknell and Scahill: Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army
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effective tactics, techniques, and proce- has nothing of substance to offer seri- dures against the mujahideen. Russia’s ous students of al-Qa‘ida and terrorism. trial-and-error efforts there could prove JOHN R. SCHINDLER important to Western audiences. A Naval War College good book on this subject is therefore something very much to be desired. Unfortunately, Yossef Bodansky’s Chechen Jihad isnotthatbook.Theau- thor is a prolific writer on terrorism in Scahill, Jeremy. Blackwater: The Rise of the general and its radical Islamic variant in World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. New particular, but his viewpoint lacks per- York: Nation Books, 2007. 480pp. $26.95 spective and subtlety. Bodansky’s treat- Jeremy Scahill, an investigative journal- ment of the Chechen conflict follows ist for The Nation, takes on Blackwater his usual pattern of offering a detailed, and the privatization of war and secu- chronological narrative, veering into a rity with a vengeance. His fervor and “you are there” account, devoid of any intensity, no doubt prized characteris- real analysis. Moreover, the author tics in the world of investigative jour- boasts of many unnamed sources in nalism, are on display here in spades. Moscow’s security and intelligence Scahill deconstructs the legal, political, agencies that have given him the “real” and moral issues that are interwoven story to which others are not privy. The with the use of private security contrac- reader is bluntly told that all is to be tors like Blackwater Lodge & Training taken on faith, with no endnotes, as is Center, Inc., in admirable fashion, customary in Bodansky’s writings, so as pointing out the substantial and vexing to protect his sources. It is, therefore, issues that are presented by corpora- impossible to determine where the au- tions engaging in activities formerly thor gets his material or what its valid- and traditionally reserved for the armed ity may be. In this connection, forces of nation-states. Regrettably, Bodansky’s silence on many controver- however, his passion generates stray sies relating to Russian intelligence in voltage as his manuscript degenerates its struggle with the mujahideen is both into an attack on the Bush administra- revealing and troubling. tion’s Iraq war policy, and further re- In spite of all this, however, a close ex- gresses into an assault on the Bush amination by anyone well versed in the administration generally, political con- subjectwillrevealthatmostof servatism, and the Christian right. By Bodansky’s information is in fact the final pages, Scahill’s vitriol discred- gleaned not from clandestine meetings its him and takes the wind out of the in dark alleys but from (translated) sails of any reasonable argument he press accounts (it appears that otherwise presents regarding the dan- Bodansky knows none of the relevant gers posed by Blackwater and its sister languages). In other words, the author companies. This is too bad, because the is relying on practices associated with author’s meticulous research and will- sensationalist journalism, not serious ingness to take on an administration analysis, much less scholarship. patsy are commendable and necessary. Chechen Jihad is best left on the shelf; it
Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2008 1 Naval War College Review, Vol. 61 [2008], No. 4, Art. 20
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A cursory review of Scahill’s online medium to take stock of the myriad is- postings, blogs, and congressional testi- sues that confront policy makers on this mony reveals a clear and evident bias. controversial subject. Yet Scahill’s an- But hardly any reasonable military pro- tipathy toward all things Bush, Republi- fessional would argue that the actions can, and the Christian right ultimately of companies like Blackwater have not takes over. Coupled with untidy organi- harmed the coalition forces’ counterin- zation and the author’s tendency to re- surgency effort in Iraq. Downstream peat himself, this renders his work less and third-order effects of these some- constructive and credible than it other- times reckless and frequently arrogant wise might have been. mercenaries are not part of the calcula- R. G. BRACKNELL tion—they get paid for keeping the Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army principal alive and unharmed. On the Regimental Judge Advocate, other hand, Scahill’s rejection of private Regimental Combat Team 5, Al Asad, Iraq security companies as a concept leaves little room for the possibility that com- panies like Blackwater could be useful in the national security apparatus if fu- ture administrations and Congress Slim, Hugo. Killing Civilians: Method, Madness, could muster the political will to con- and Morality in War. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 2008. 300pp. $29.95 trol them under an effective and feasi- ble system of accountability. Moreover, Hugo Slim has written a remarkable and while there is plenty to condemn about disturbing book that everyone con- Blackwater’s legacy, tactics, and man- cerned with the safety of “civilians” agement, that is only half of Scahill’s should read—and then join the public story. That Blackwater founder Erik debate about protecting them. Slim Prince is a deeply and evidently reli- states that while the word “civilian” has gious conservative is prima facie evi- long been an ambiguous concept, it is dence, according to Scahill, that he and one we must do more to support be- his business is or should be thoroughly cause it is grounded in basic Western discredited. values. He encourages wide public dis- cussion about defending and expanding Finally, Scahill laments that Blackwater the civilian concept in an age of terror- has been able to recruit seasoned intelli- ism, failing states, and ethnic strife. He gence and operational professionals, has fulfilled this purpose admirably, with such as Cofer Black, without acknowl- a deep and wide breadth of scholarship edging that it is a common practice for that should spark serious debate at all corporations to recruit talent from the levels. government, and vice versa. He paints Black, in particular, as a sellout, when This book is remarkable because the au- Black’s hiring by Blackwater only fol- thor, who has worked in humanitarian lows the typical pattern of Washington assistance for more than twenty years, professionals across many vocations. tells of the horrendous evil that men do Faulting his decision to move to the with a dispassionate tone that allows private sector is shallow and naive. both the deadly logic of civilian killing and its terrible results to seep into the ThebottomlineonBlackwater is that it reader’s mind. It is disturbing. This is worth reading. The book is a useful
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