Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
As the U.S. Army shrinks, a private army steps into the breach. A Bloody Business offers an unprecedented look behind the scenes and into the ranks of this mercenary force (numbering as many as 15,000 today) who guard supply convoys, train foreign soldiers, provide security for foreign leaders and dignitaries—and whose workplaces are the most dangerous hot spots on the planet. With its insights into who these men are, what drives them, where they come from, how they prepare, and what they do, this book provides a uniquely close-up and complete picture of the private army behind America’s military muscle.
The author interviewed security contractors and their families, high-ranking coalition officials, and was in Iraq, where he witnessed how private soldiers fought ambushes, trained Iraqi forces, escorted high-level officials in dangerous conditions, and saw the contractor side of the Iraq war. Includes action on the supply lines and front lines of this unique conflict, and the stories of the contractors who live it every day.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Interesting, but too much Message
Customer Rating:
This book had tons of information and great stories but it also had almost 3 pages of political jargon at the start of each chapter. If you can wade through the "commercials" for private contracting you will enjoy this book.
A Balanced, Objective Account
Customer Rating:
While Jeremy Schall's book on Blackwater is very well reported and informative, it is infused with anti-contractor bias, whereas Schumacher's account allows for the necessity of contractors to the military to fill voids left by U.S. (and other Western countries') policy. Pelton's book, while it contains some anti-contractor bias, is exciting and the best of the lot in my view.
An interesting read on the PMC world
Customer Rating:
A Bloody Business looks at the world of the Private Military Contractor from the inside out. Col. Schumacher's views on the PMC and the niche that they occupy in the world of security are made fairly evident in the first chapter. He sees the contractor as the "redheaded stepchild" that performs an important and valuable task yet recieves no respect for carrying it out. Schumacher's organization of the prose sometimes left me wanting. I found myself constantly saying "so what?" through out the reading. I would like him to have spelled out his point a little more. That being said, the Colonel's chapter on the trucking contractors was compelling to say the least. The journalistic style during this chapter really brings an interesting question to the forefront; What are we to do if civilians are killed in a combat zone? Why are they there in the first place? These questions unfortunately do not the space they deserve in the book, however the overall information that the Colonel provides makes it worthwhile.
A Bloody Business
Customer Rating:
I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book. I was pleasantly surprised. I initially had a very negative view of military contractors, mostly due to the media bias in our country. The book spells out what type of contractors serve in Iraq and what I enjoyed the most, gives personal accounts of the contractors who serve. I am considering taking a position as an International Police Officer in Iraq and I found the personal accounts of the officers who served there quite compelling.
The author remains very politically neutral, unlike recent books I have read about this subject, and lets the reader decide how he or she feels about the involvement of "civilians" in the warzone. I only wish he could have dug a little deeper and gathered more personal accounts, but this is still a good read nevertheless.
A Bloody Buisness
Customer Rating:
Gerry Schumacher brings the gritty world of security contractors into focus in this very informative book. War stories from actual contractors, re-told from the vantage point of a battle seasoned veteran. Plus, the experiences of a retired soldier who was in Iraq, met the people, and ran some of the missions. If you are looking for a political agenda, this is not your book:) If you are looking for a window into life in Iraq, this is an excellent collection of stories that changed my view about contractors and about what life in Iraq is like outside the spin zone.
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