Working The Kill Zone An American Mercenary In Iraq

Author : William Craun
Publisher : Koehler Books
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2021-05-26
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1646633458

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Working the Kill Zone: An American Mercenary in Iraq by William Craun Pdf

Alex is a former US Army Ranger who signs up with private military companies to work government contracts in the war zone. His antagonist, Haider, is a humble Iraqi engineer who has been out of work for a year when he is recruited to make bombs for the fledgling Islamic State. Run the most dangerous roads on earth and kick in doors with Alex, and journey with Haider as his scientific mind struggles with the message from his God. Working the Kill Zone is a unique view into convoy, static, and personal security performed by contractors in Iraq. It is about life and death in the early years of the war as could only be properly told by someone who was there on the cutting edge of this brutal struggle. Told in such vivid detail that you will feel like you are there, here you'll find all the right ingredients: action, romance, brotherhood, and tragedy.

Author : Craun William (author)
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 1901
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1646633466

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Working the Kill Zone by Craun William (author) Pdf

Author : neil Reynolds
Publisher : Jonathan Ball Publishers
Page : 237 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2018-06-15
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781868428571

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In Kill Zone by neil Reynolds Pdf

When Neil Reynolds was first asked in 2003 whether he'd like to work in Iraq as a private military contractor, he didn't even know where it was on the map. But he would soon learn the ins and outs of working and surviving in one of the world's most violent conflict zones. Reynolds was part of one of the first groups of South Africans to start private military security companies in Iraq. His refreshingly honest account tells of all the numerous challenges they faced: from finding a safe hotel in Baghdad to being forced to buy guns on the black market and dodging bullets on several hair-raising protection missions. He describes their successful low profile strategy where they tried to blend in with the local Iraqis in their choice of vehicles and clothing. Reynolds also tells the tragic story of his four South African colleagues who were kidnapped and killed in Baghdad in 2006. His candid observations and dry humour offers a unique perspective on the harsh realities of the life of a private military contractor.

Author : Neil Reynolds
Publisher : Jonathan Ball Publishers
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1868428567

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In the Kill Zone by Neil Reynolds Pdf

When Neil Reynolds was first asked whether hed like to work in Iraq as a private military contractor, he didnt even know where it was on the map. But he would quickly learn the lay of the land and what it entails working in one of the worlds most violent conflict zones. When he left for the Middle East at the end of 2003, he was part of one of the first groups of South Africans to start private military security companies in Iraq. In this honest and often humorous account he tells of all the everyday and major challenges they had to face: from finding a braai-able chop, a safe hotel to stay in and buying guns on the black market and dodging bullets on several hair-raising protection missions. He also tells the story of four South African colleagues who were kidnapped and killed in Baghdad in 2006.

Author : Sgt. Jack Coughlin,Donald A. Davis
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
Page : 356 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2007-11-13
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781429928175

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Kill Zone by Sgt. Jack Coughlin,Donald A. Davis Pdf

An American general is captured in the Middle East by terrorists who threaten to behead him within days. One strange fact: moments before he is rendered unconscious during the attack, the general notices that his captors speak American English. What's going on? Gunnery Sgt. Kyle Swanson, a top Marine sniper, is vacationing on a yacht in the Mediterranean when he receives orders to mount a top secret mission to rescue the general. But as the Marines prepare to land in the Syrian desert, they fall victim to a terrible accident. Swanson, the only survivor, then discovers they were also flying into an ambush. How did the enemy have details of a mission known only to a few top American government officials? Swanson takes off across the desert alone to find the captured general and realizes he is fighting a particularly ruthless and dangerous enemy: American mercenaries working for a very-high-level group of U.S. officials with ties to the White House itself, part of a clandestine conspiracy whose hidden goal is nothing less than total control of the American military. Their sworn enemy is the captured general whose fate now rests in Swanson's hands. Filled with the kind of action that author Jack Coughlin lived during his career as a Marine sniper, Kill Zone marks the debut of an extraordinary new series.

Author : Steve Fainaru
Publisher : Hachette+ORM
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2008-11-11
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780786726608

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Big Boy Rules by Steve Fainaru Pdf

There are tens of thousands of them in Iraq. They work for companies with exotic and ominous-sounding names, like Crescent Security Group, Triple Canopy, and Blackwater Worldwide. They travel in convoys of multicolored pickups fortified with makeshift armor, belt-fed machine guns, frag grenades, and even shoulder-fired missiles. They protect everything from the U.S. ambassador and American generals to shipments of Frappuccino bound for Baghdad’s Green Zone. They kill Iraqis, and Iraqis kill them. And the only law they recognize is Big Boy Rules. From a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter comes a harrowing journey into Iraq’s parallel war. Part MadMax, part Fight Club, it is a world filled with “private security contractors”—the U.S. government’s sanitized name for tens of thousands of modern mercenaries, or mercs, who roam Iraq with impunity, doing jobs that the overstretched and understaffed military can’t or won’t do. They are men like Jon Coté, a sensitive former U.S. army paratrooper and University of Florida fraternity brother who realizes too late that he made a terrible mistake coming back to Iraq. And Paul Reuben, a friendly security company medic who has no formal medical training and lacks basic supplies, like tourniquets. They are part of America’s “other” army—some patriotic, some desperate, some just out for cash or adventure. And some who disappear into the void that is Iraq and are never seen again. Washington Post reporter Steve Fainaru traveled with a group of private security contractors to find out what motivates them to put their lives in danger every day. He joined Jon Coté and the men of Crescent Security Group as they made their way through Iraq—armed to the teeth, dodging not only bombs and insurgents but also their own Iraqi colleagues. Just days after Fainaru left to go home, five men of Crescent Security Group were kidnapped in broad daylight on Iraq’s main highway. How the government and the company responded reveals the dark truths behind the largest private force in the history of American warfare. . . . With 16 pages of photographs

Author : Charles W. Sasser,Craig Roberts
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2004-07-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781416503620

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Crosshairs on the Kill Zone by Charles W. Sasser,Craig Roberts Pdf

From the jungles of Vietnam to the unforgiving deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq, one breed of soldier has achieved legendary status in the arena of combat—the sniper. From the authors of the classic sniper chronicle One Shot-One Kill comes a new generation of true tales from some of the most expert and deadly marksmen in the world. Meet Adelbert Waldron II, whose 109 confirmed kills in Vietnam made him the most successful sniper in American military history, and Tom "Moose" Ferran, who coined the term "Fetch!", whereupon the infantry would retrieve the sniper's dead quarry. Also included are stories from snipers in Beirut, the Bosnian conflict, and both wars with Iraq—including the feat of Sergeants Joshua Hamblin and Owen Mulder, who took down thirty-two enemy soldiers in a single day outside Baghdad in 2003. The military sniper has evolved into one of the most dangerous and highly-skilled warrior professions. They suffer through weather, terrain, and enemy action, lay unmoving for days on end, and take out their targets with unerring accuracy—proving that the deadliest weapon in any battle, anywhere in the world, is a single well-aimed shot.

Author : Gerald L. Hunt
Publisher : AuthorHouse
Page : 89 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2007-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9781434326317

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The Kill Zone by Gerald L. Hunt Pdf

As a civilian contract driver for K.B.R. (a Halliburton company), Gerald Hunt transported supplies through Iraq from Kuwait to Turkey.

Author : Sean McFate
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2017-05-10
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780190621087

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The Modern Mercenary by Sean McFate Pdf

In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate lays bare this opaque world, explaining the economic structure of the industry and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. A former U.S. Army paratrooper and private military contractor, McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts and bolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war. While at present, the U.S. government and U.S. firms dominate the market, private military companies are emerging from other countries, and warlords and militias have restyled themselves as private security companies in places like Afghanistan and Somalia. To understand how the proliferation of private forces may influence international relations, McFate looks back to the European Middle Ages, when mercenaries were common and contract warfare the norm. He concludes that international relations in the twenty-first century may have more in common with the twelfth century than the twentieth. This "back to the future" situation, which he calls "neomedievalism," is not necessarily a negative condition, but it will produce a global system that contains rather than solves problems.

Author : Gerald Schumacher
Publisher : Zenith Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : History
ISBN : 0760323550

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A Bloody Business by Gerald Schumacher Pdf

Provides a behind-the-scenes look at America's civilian contractors in Iraq, following the activities of workers for MPRI and Crescent Security, two contracting firms who provide protection for diplomats, move convoys of precious materials, and help rebuild the infrastructure of the wartorn nation.

Author : Robert Young Pelton
Publisher : Crown
Page : 367 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2007-08-28
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781400097821

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Licensed to Kill by Robert Young Pelton Pdf

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.

Author : Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2006-09-19
Category : History
ISBN : 9780307265920

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Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran Pdf

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • National Book Award Finalist • This "eyewitness history of the first order ... should be read by anyone who wants to understand how things went so badly wrong in Iraq” (The New York Times Book Review). The Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, 2003: in this walled-off compound of swimming pools and luxurious amenities, Paul Bremer and his Coalition Provisional Authority set out to fashion a new, democratic Iraq. Staffed by idealistic aides chosen primarily for their views on issues such as abortion and capital punishment, the CPA spent the crucial first year of occupation pursuing goals that had little to do with the immediate needs of a postwar nation: flat taxes instead of electricity and deregulated health care instead of emergency medical supplies. In this acclaimed firsthand account, the former Baghdad bureau chief of The Washington Post gives us an intimate portrait of life inside this Oz-like bubble, which continued unaffected by the growing mayhem outside. This is a quietly devastating tale of imperial folly, and the definitive history of those early days when things went irrevocably wrong in Iraq.

Author : John Bechtold
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2024-08-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781040099582

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U.S. Militarism and the Terrain of Memory by John Bechtold Pdf

This book analyzes how the Iraqi city of Fallujah became registered as a setting for military heroics in American memory. In 2004, the U.S. military conducted two disastrous assaults in Fallujah, Iraq. More than 1,000 citizens were killed, and, according to the military’s own estimate, upwards of 200,000 people were displaced because of the violence. Yet, despite this human catastrophe, the kind of information that emerged in the public domain during the battle foregrounded the soldier's experience in war while effacing the destruction of Iraqi bodies. This tendency to foreground the soldier body is a direct result of the military’s intervention in what they conceptualize as the "information environment." This book draws from the second assault in Fallujah as a case study to explicate the military’s investment in this perspectival space, which is a consequence both of the mediatization of contemporary war and of the need to influence knowledge considered unfavorable to military operations. In short, the military enlists the media in their targeting process to produce information that is then deployed as persuasive force to modify the beliefs of specific target populations. When the cultural texts produced by the media are remediated in the public domain after war, they can be thought of as martial constructs because they originated during war through the military’s systemized attempt to influence knowledge. That is, these texts trace to a specific battlefield objective. This book reframes the notion of propaganda as a generalized public relations strategy into a more acute and coordinated attempt to decontextualize specific knowledge in the information environment. This book will be of much interest to students of media and communication studies, war studies, memory studies, and international relations.

Author : Scott Fitzsimmons
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2015-07-16
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317541714

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Private Security Companies during the Iraq War by Scott Fitzsimmons Pdf

This book explores the use of deadly force by private security companies during the Iraq War. The work focuses on and compares the activities of the US companies Blackwater and Dyncorp. Despite sharing several important characteristics, such as working for the same client (the US State Department) during the same time period, the employees of Blackwater fired their weapons far more often, and killed and seriously injured far more people in Iraq than their counterparts in DynCorp. In order to explain this disparity, the book undertakes the most comprehensive analysis ever attempted on the use of violence by the employees of these firms. Based on extensive empirical research, it offers a credible explanation for this difference: Blackwater maintained a relatively bellicose military culture that placed strong emphasis on norms encouraging its personnel to exercise personal initiative, proactive use of force, and an exclusive approach to security, which, together, motivated its personnel to use violence quite freely against anyone they suspected of posing a threat. Specifically, Blackwater’s military culture motivated its personnel to fire upon suspected threats more quickly, at greater distances, and with a greater quantity of bullets, and to more readily abandon the people they shot at when compared to DynCorp’s personnel, who maintained a military culture that encouraged far less violent behaviour. Utilizing the Private Security Company Violent Incident Dataset (PSCVID), created by the author in 2012, the book draws upon data on hundreds of violent incidents involving private security personnel in Iraq to identify trends in the behaviour exhibited by the employees of different firms. Based on this rich and original empirical data, the book provides the definitive study of contemporary private security personnel in the Iraq War. This book will be of much interest to students of the Iraq War, Private Security Companies, Military Studies, War and Conflict Studies and IR in general.

Author : National Defense University Press,Sean McFate
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 56 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2019-12-18
Category : Mercenary troops
ISBN : 1678665231

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Mercenaries and War by National Defense University Press,Sean McFate Pdf

Mercenaries are more powerful than experts realize, a grave oversight. Those who assume they are cheap imitations of national armed forces invite disaster because for-profit warriors are a wholly different genus and species of fighter. Private military companies such as the Wagner Group are more like heavily armed multinational corporations than the Marine Corps. Their employees are recruited from different countries, and profitability is everything. Patriotism is unimportant, and sometimes a liability. Unsurprisingly, mercenaries do not fight conventionally, and traditional war strategies used against them may backfire.