Private Warriors [Paperback]

Ken Silverstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001

Widely researched and fast-paced, "Private Warriors" surveys the generals, gun-runners and national security staffers who were cast adrift at the end of the Cold War and who now operate in the private sector. We encounter Ernst Werner Glatt, a right-wing German who was for many years the Pentagon's preferred gun-runner; ex Secretary of State Alexander Haig who now lobbys for China and assists in selling weapons to Turkey and Frank Gaffney, an ex-Pentagon official who has grown rich by promoting Star Wars. Today's private warriors have a direct fiancial interest in war and the connections to push for the maintenance of bloated military budgets.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Journalist Ken Silverstein delivers a broadside against the modern military-industrial complex in Private Warriors. In the post-cold-war world of rising defense budgets and arms proliferation, Silverstein finds plenty to worry about: "Former Defense Department officials serve as consultants to the arms industry, helping lobby for needless Cold War-era weapons systems and promoting greater arms sales to foreign regimes. Retired generals form private corporations that train the armies of foreign nations and encourage U.S. entanglements abroad. Arms dealers linked to U.S. intelligence agencies still trot the globe hawking their wares, sometimes in support of government operations, sometimes acting strictly as private businessmen. Intellectuals who gained their names by hyping the Soviet threat still counsel our political leaders. The advice they offered during the Cold War was of dubious value, and it has decidedly less merit today." Silverstein wisely populates his book with real-life characters such as German arms dealer Ernst Werner Glatt, Nixon- and Reagan-administration veteran Alexander Haig, and missile-defense advocate Frank Gaffney. He also has an eye for vivid anecdotes: the B-2 bomber, he notes, literally "costs more than its weight in gold." Silverstein's on-the-scene reporting includes visits to a weapons bazaar in Rio de Janeiro and a Soldier of Fortune convention in Las Vegas. At bottom, however, Private Warriors is a polemic rather than a piece of journalism; it aims to make a forceful argument against transplanting the mindset of a cold-war hawk into the security policies of the 21st century. Not everyone will be convinced--attitudes on this subject are famously inflexible--but Silverstein's portrait of the industry and people who profit from military buildups will give pause to all its readers. --John J. Miller --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

A book needs to be written on the relationship between retired military officers and the defense industries of their respective countries. A book needs to be written on think tank intellectuals who are for sale to the highest bidder when it comes to describing alarming future military scenarios and their expensive material requirements. A book needs to be written on the post-Cold War diffusion across the globe of sophisticated military technology. For some, this will be that book; others may feel it sacrifices these opportunities in favor of vignettes and frissons. Silverstein, a regular contributor to the Nation, among other journals, documents a shadowy community of freelance individuals and nongovernmental agencies that he thinks is attempting to sustain the high-profit days of the international arms market by propping up Cold War antagonism; by fomenting new tensions, in particular with China; and by insisting on "military revolutions" that Silverstein dismisses as exercises in marketing armaments by generating anxieties. To make his case, he casts a wide, often ragged, net, here equating government support for arms export with private gunrunning, there reaching into the 1950s and '60s for material on former Nazi soldiers who made postwar careers as arms brokers. The best chapter addresses the growing "privatization" of conflict by the emergence of "security consultants," firms willing to provide training, technical expertise and sometimes fighting men to government and businesses. To some readers, Silverstein's criticism of this manifestation will take too much precedence over the reasons for its appearance and its appeal. For others, merely raising the issue and provoking discussion will give this volume value enough.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Verso (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859843255
• ISBN-13: 978-1859843253
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,156,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A skeptic turned believer, November 8, 2000

By 

Amos Rehm (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Warriors (Hardcover)

As a former (low-ranking) officer in the military, I was skeptical about the premise of this book. But reading the first chapter, standing up in Midnight Special, got me hooked. This is a well argued, impeccably researched book. Though I think some of the arguments are overstated, the bulk of "Warriors" confirmed suspicions I didn't even know I had, and resonated with my fellow officers when I brought it up with them. Clearly written without being condescending. A good read for anybody trying to understand the wars popping up around the globe.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars War, Incorporated, June 14, 2001

By 

daibhidh "daibhidh" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Warriors (Hardcover)

Ken Silverstein's "Private Warriors" is an excellent resource -- I wish we had more journalists like him, willing to delve deep into a story and present just the facts, and leave it to the reader to connect the dots. Silverstein doesn't preach: he just offers an incredible amount of information -- all but the most diehard reactionary will find it persuasive.

He names names, and provides an exhaustive account of the ongoing American policy of permanent military mobilization, which was conveniently masked during the Cold War but which continues to grow after the death of Soviet Communism.

The book is broken into six chapters, each exploring a different avenue of the war industry -- from ... arms dealers to private mercenary companies, to the cynical use of military consultants to evade public accountability and oversight and, of course, Star Wars (these days referred to as the Ballistic Missile Defense).

What I was struck with on reading this book is how cynical and amoral the participants are -- they may be flag-waving Americans, but the brotherhood of warmongers really transcends nationality, which is probably a sign of the changing times. It's frightening and infuriating when you see the level of corruption at work, here, and the incredible success achieved by these individuals, and the degree of networking they engage in to ensure that American policy remains firmly locked on a wartime footing.

The only drawbacks I saw in this book was there was so much information presented, it was a little hard to keep track of all of the players -- I would have liked to see some graphs or lists to illustrate some of the points Silverstein enumerated. Also, I thought there ought to be a concluding chapter to the book, to sort of wrap everything up.

Get this book if you want to get a sense of why the "peace dividend" was a short-lived concept (I recall it being talked about for about two weeks, after the collapse of the USSR); I recommend it as a gift for anybody who wants a sense of what's wrong in American policy, and also for anybody too enamored of the status quo.

26 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eisenhower Warned: Beware of the Military-Industrial Complex, November 14, 2000

By 

Philip Greenspan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private Warriors (Hardcover)

Ken Silverstein's excellent book `Private Warriors' exposes the underside of that vile, despicable trade the making and marketing of implements to destroy wholesale-lives, properties, cities, countries--yes, civilization itself. WAR!

It is a megabillion dollar business and with big money at stake greed prevails and morality is easily compromised. Just imagine the size of the business. Start with a US defense budget for next year of $305 billion (that is $8,000 per second) and add what other countries around the world will spend.

The book consists of a preface and six chapters that explore six aspects of the business. Each chapter consists of areas that provide important connections in the mosaic of the military-industrial complex. Upon completion one gets an overall perspective of the whole messy business.

Early in the century munitions makers were known as "Merchants of Death" and dispatched agents and salesmen around the world to promote their business. To control this unconscionable activity governmental regulation was effected. With their strong influence over a period of time the merchants were able to gain acceptance. Now instead of restraining their activities governments actively promote the interests of the arms makers. And in spite of the regulations-where big money is involved--clandestine trading proliferates. According to Jane's Intelligence Review black market sales are about $1 to $2 billion dollars a year in bad years and five times as much in good years.

Among other services, arms brokers set up shell companies and offshore bank accounts and secure vital documents such as end user certificates stating which nation the goods are headed to. If all end user documents were legitimate Peru would have a bigger army than the United States. Most importantly, the brokers provide governments with `plausible deniability'.

Two brokers profiled in the book are former unrepentant Nazis. Their wealth from the business is enormous. They have close connections to our military and are held in high regard. Yet for the right price they do business with just about everyone, frequently dealing with both sides in a conflict. When the military wanted to compare a Soviet helicopter against an expensive anti-aircraft gun, a dealer was able to acquire the helicopter.

Formerly it was considered unconscionable to use the influence and knowledge obtained on a military job for personal enrichment. That prohibition no longer exists. Often the companies that officials regulate become the official's next employers.

Former government officials trade on their vast connections to procure contracts on behalf of defense firms and represent foreign governments desirous of expanding their military. Alexander Haig is a wheeler-dealer who has used his connections to open doors for corporations who seek foreign investment; and has represented such individuals as Sun Myong Moon and governments as China, Indonesia, etc.

With the end of the Cold War there was panic. Arms makers feared a significant reduction in their business. Employees in occupations connected with the military were threatened with a loss of jobs. What to do?

Consultants and think tanks provided the PR to convince the Congress and the public of the new dangers that confront us around the world and pressed for additional spending for defense and a nuclear buildup.

With the reduction of armed personnel, private mercenary firms came into existence. The firms absorbed former officers to create a staff with the proper experience and connections. They provide the military and police training for any allied government under contract. The firms provide many benefits: the legislature does not have to authorize sending our troops; if casualties occur there will be no popular backlash; and no spotlight is put on the human rights abuses of the recipient regime.

The sheer waste of our military budgets are exemplified by some of these choice nuggets in the book: According to a Brookings study, Pentagon spending from between 1948-1998 was $19 trillion dwarfing second place social security at $7.9 trillion! In 1999, dozens of M-60 and M-48 tanks were dumped off the Alabama coast to form artificial reefs! The world's second largest air force-after the Pentagon's-is mothballed in Arizona so that new aircraft can be delivered! As of 1998, four major defense firms-Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon-had more than 250 influence peddlers on their payrolls and the firms collective spending for lobbying that year topped $22 million! Trent Lott, providing pork for his state, added $1.5 billion to a defense appropriation bill for an assault ship the Pentagon did not even ask for!

After reading this book I realized how prescient President Eisenhower was when he delivered his farewell speech on leaving office. Some pertinent remarks were: `...we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence...by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist...we must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together...'

Read the book. Learn how the skullduggery of the warmongers have caused terror, death and destruction throughout the world. Learn how to satisfy their insatiable appetite for greater profits they have bamboozled us with fears of non-existent enemy threats. Our pusillanimous politicians rather than heeding Eisenhower's warnings outbid each other so that our defense outlays continually increase. Meanwhile our infrastructure deteriorates and the poor are relegated to hunger and homelessness.