Customer Reviews

Contract Warriors

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Sex sells. And so does the word: mercenary. When I saw CONTRACT WARRIORS in a Washington, DC bookstore it caught my eye. Little credible information has been written about modern security contractors (aka. merc) and private security companies (PSC) who employ them. I am one of those professionals and decided to give Fred Rosen's book a read.

The book cover got my mind turning. It is a close up of a camouflaged face with a pair of eyes fixed on yours. Does it represent the people Rosen will write about? I think not.

The author opens the first chapter with the name, Tim Spicer, who used to head a British PSC called Sandline, and now heads a far bigger one, Aegis Defense, working in Iraq. Spicer's name is familiar to many in this specialized world. Opening with a well known and controversial figure sets the author's tone. But it also limits the scope for the informed reader. The world of today's security contractor is much larger than one person or company.

Rosen's recounting of the `mercenary through time' is his strongest suit. Beginning with Libyan mercenaries during the XXI to XXV Egyptian dynasties (ca. 1100-664 B.C.E.), through Hannibal's march across the Alps, we are lead to the present day mercenary in Chapter 6. A book like this should offer new historical information and I found the 1846 America's "mantle of Manifest Destiny" period, of particular interest. Rosen describes how the Mexican government convinced some US Irish Catholic immigrants to turn on their new country and fight Americans in the name of their religion. The most noted of these was John Riley, who served in a special unit called Saint Patrick Brigade (or San Patricios).

Where the book begins to weaken is in Chapter 8. The chapter offers a jagged presentation of a few companies currently providing services. But it lacks depth which might be sought after by readers. What criterion was used to select these PSCs and not others? For example, it includes a portion of Custer Battles in-house brochures, which makes their marketing pitch for services. The author writes in response, "The brilliant analysis of the situation in Iraq explains what a modern PMC should be doing: identifying and quantifying the risk, offering a solution to a client, implementing it with a clear goal in mind." What he doesn't mention is that Custer Battles was prosecuted for over billing the U.S. government.

Reporting of other companies in this chapter would have been more useful if a business template, or similar device, was used to measure a company against some professional standard. One example would be the code of conduct being promoted through the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA). Focusing in on Iraq, the conflict has been a `comes as you are business opportunity'. The results have been a mixed bag of successes and failures for PSCs. A fresh look through new eyes would have been more practical. Examination of company structures, business plans and due diligence would benefit the reader when separating the good, bad and ugly.

The Special Afterword by W. Thomas Smith Jr. inserts out of context statements and inaccuracies. He says,"In Iraq, for instance, mercs on patrol or conducting other combat operations routinely work 13-hour days, 6 days per week." While he states the work hours correctly, he is misleading in his reference of combat operations vs. defensive security activities.

He states, "Critics continue to voice displeasure over the employment of contract warriors..." and proceeds to quote David Isenberg, a then senior analyst with the Center for Defense Information, in a 1997 monograph titled "Soldiers of Fortune, Ltd.-A Profile of Today's Private Sector Corporate Mercenary Firms." Since I know Isenberg I asked him about the quote. It appears Smith reported what he found useful but changed the context.

Isenberg sent the following in response to our conversation:

"I would note that Smith is selective in what he took from me. For example, he quoted the first part of a graf, but not the second."

Smith concludes this section with an interview conducted with Richard Marcinko, a former US Navy SEAL author of Rogue Warrior and numerous other books. I have personally heard Marchinko speak and think someone else would have been more qualified for the purpose of this interview. When asked one question by Smith, "Why would a merc hopeful contact you for mercenary training, if they are going to be trained by the company contracting them?" Marcinko replied, in part, the applicant can say, "Hey, I'm Dick Marcinko-trained." Then the company will say, "Well, if you are Rogue-Warrior-trained, you must be okay." As a statement illustrating the hype and hucksterism one often finds in the industry it is priceless, but as a serious response to a serious question it is pathetic.

CONTACT WARRIORS is worth the read but holds only limited value for the serious reader seeking to further define and understand the role of modern day security contractors.

About the reviewer: Lyle Hendrick is a former US Special Forcers officer who has worked in Iraq as a security contractor with the Captured Enemy Ammunition (CEA) program, regional security manager for reconstruction projects and is returning as a country security manager.

The author seems to use Tim Spicer's book "An Unorthodox Soldier" as a starting point, and a benchmark by which everything seems to be evaluated. While some historical accounts of the use of mercenaries are covered well enough, there are many that are given little mention, or ignored entirely (Baron von Steuben, Lafayette Escadrille, the Eagle Squadron).

He paints the term "mercenary" with a rather large brush. Some things got hype, some got spin, and that got irritating by about half way through. It felt like I was reading something one would find in one of the mainstream media. From the tone of the writing in some places I got the feeling that the author didn't dig very deep into the subject matter, and merely parroted the sentiments of previous reporters. The editing could have been better as well.

The bibliography was WOEFULLY THIN - only four books - one of which I didn't think much of either. There is an extensive listing of web sites, which leads me to believe the author's research consisted of mostly internet content (take that for what it's worth).

In its favor, there is a good listing of PMC companies and their web sites. So the book might serve as a starting point for anyone researching modern PMCs, but I would not consider it an authoritative work on the subject. Readers are much better off with books by P.W. Singer, Jim Hooper, and James R. Davis. Tim Spicer's book is a worthwhile read as well.

This was an interesting book. The writing (and editing) weren't really that great, but I was expecting a bit more substance.

The author gave an overview of mercenary operations over an extended period of history and then gave relatively short shrift to current operations, particulalry in Iraq, where PMC's (Private Military Companies) are making sinful amounts of money out of the ongoing debacle in Iraq.

The author doesn't appear to have an agenda with this book, other than to get published and make money the sad thing is that with a little more homework and fact checking, he could have done something special.

Contractors in war is certainly the topic of today, especially when you tie the war on terrorism into it, which is probably why a book with such little insight, information, and thought was published. Despite the title, the book does not address how mercenaries have changed history and the war on terrorism.

Rosen starts off making the claim that Tim Spicer changed the way "mercenaries" are perceived by creating a business corporation that could function in the legal realm. An interesting thought but, unfortunately, a conclusion he does not support. Instead he presents 96 pages (out of 202) of anecdotal and poorly written history that superficially traces the historical use of mercenaries from ancient times into the 1990s. None of the 96 pages (Chapters 4-7) supports his argument and generally it is a history of the conventional concept of bad-boy mercenaries. He follows with one chapter (8) that's nothing more that a who's-who of today's government contractors, or Professional Military Corporations (PMC). The last chapter (9) is just a description of stereotypical bad-boy mercenaries who were allegedly involved in a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guiana, yet were not working for a PMC. It's almost as if he can make his argument with a, "guilt by association approach;" if he mentions PMCs in the same book and chapter as evil mercenaries then we'll agree with him.

Another problem is sloppy writing. The book suffers from poor transitions, poor editing, and a lack of precise writing. For example, the nation of Colombia is misspelled as Columbia, a common error made by those not familiar with Latin America. Another example is when he states that Franco led the Loyalists during the Spanish Civil War, then says the Abraham Lincoln Brigade fought, "for the Loyalist cause." He then has the Abraham Lincoln Brigade attacking the Nationalists (with whom Franco was associated) - all within the space of a few paragraphs. As if this were not enough, he makes the statement that "killing technology," as exemplified by the atomic bomb, created less opportunity for mercenaries, which, "partially accounted for all the ill-trained men who fought for the Republicans during the Spanish civil war." Although one can figure out kinda' what Rosen is really saying, the fact that the atom bomb wasn't used until 1945, and the Spanish Civil War occurred in the late 1930s creates a bit of discomfort.

A crucial problem with the book is that Rosen never defines the term mercenary in a book in which he tries to link PMCs with mercenaries. In fact, throughout the book he uses the term mercenary so loosely that he even applies it to immigrants who joined their adopted country's militaries. When he applies the term mercenaries to the Rough Riders of the Spanish American War, the only proof he offers is that there were soldiers with "foreign" names on the rolls. He also says that Americans working for the American CIA in Vietnam were mercenaries as were Irishmen who served in the British army during those centuries when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom.

It's hard to believe that Rosen is both a journalist and a adjunct professor of criminal justice. The writing, poorly thought out concepts, and a basic lack of the ability to support his thesis with information related to his argument belongs to an undergraduate's research paper - and a bad one at that.

This book is not all that it promised to be on the back cover. It seems the author is more interested in questioning our (American) role in Iraq. He takes a dig at President Bush and Vice President Cheney when ever he can. He can't also help but bring up Abu Grahib prison any chance he gets. He also seems to have a personal grudge against Col Spicer. This book is more about the rise of private military companies (PMCs) since the Iraq War. To some PMCs are more security services than mercenary forces; the reader will have to decide.

He spends nearly a page talking about Kirk Douglas and his portrayal of Spartacus, and the breaking of the communist black list in Hollywood. He should have talked about Christopher Walken in "The Dogs of War" or Edward Fox in "The Day of the Jackal"; those would have been more appropriate.

There are plenty of other books that go into the modern mercenary and their history in a lot more detail. Try those first, please.

It did mention the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea and the mercenaries that were captured in Zimbabwe. It also includes a list of PMCs as an appendix; so any one looking for a job can start there.

As for technical details: I am not familiar with the Alpha publishing house and am not sure if it is one of those self publishing firms. The editing for this book was terrible. Just a simple pass through MS Word spell, punctuation and grammar check would have made the read a lot easier.

While there were some interesting tidbits in this book, it was mostly a disorganized mess with no actual point. There are many much better written books on the subject.

This book is poorly researched, and in my opinion, poorly written.
You would think that because of Fred Rosen's background as an investigative reporter he would have done an in depth investigation of his subject matter. This is not the case.
His retelling of the war in Angola is so full of errors and omissions that I don't know why he bothered.

Mr. Rosen - next time leave it to Anthony Mockler.

I enjoyed Contract Warriors and its in depth journey into the history of the "Merc". Having worked with many of them, I feel it was an honest and straight forward portrayal of the men who thirst for the work. It is not for everyone, with the pace at which companys are signing them up, I feel this would be a very good read for anyone interested in getting into the field of the "PMC Merc" business. Just remember it's a long way to the top if you want to "ROCK & Roll"......

Rosen begins with Col Tim Spicer and the development of modern PMCs. He follows with fascinating accounts of famous battles fought by mercenaries over 2,500 years. Finally he returns to the use of PMCs in current conflicts.

I must disagree with the last reviewer. The book is not unfriendly to Col Spicer. Rosen clearly differentiates between the mercenaries who are less savory and those who are more admirable. Spicer is credited for bringing formal guidelines and principles to the modern mercenary world.

It was hard to put this book down at night. That is not common for a book that I learn so much from.

So far this book has good info, but when there are so many typos that it is almost hard to understand, thats ridiculous. What did this guy pay his publishing company for. it hurts how many typos there are.