Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert Young Pelton
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 7841
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1400097827
Dewey Decimal Number: 355.3540973
EAN: 9781400097821
ASIN: 1400097827
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
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.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 38 more reviews...
 More than just PSC or PMC October 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Robert Young Pelton's Licensed to Kill is a witty, provocative, inside look at private security companies and their explosive growth after 9/11. More than simple history or commentary, Mr Pelton explores every aspect of the PSC's involvement in the war on terror, their necessity in the face of large-scale military down-sizing, and role in the future of military conflict. With a keen eye for detail and the cultural sensitivity of a poet, Mr Pelton tells us a story that should be required reading for everyone in the Western world.
I married into an Assyrian family who continues to communicate with trapped family members in Baghdad and those who've made their way over long years to Syria and Jordan in hopes of finding a way out. Mr Pelton doesn't just tell us the stories of the private security operatives, but gives us the impact on the people of Iraq and Afghanistan in ways that only a person of his ability and experience could.
I have a much fuller appreciation for the jobs they do and for theater in which they do it. And coming by that experience was no mean feat. The book deserves an award and its author a medal. If you read no other book on the subject, read this one.
Anybody got a $500,000 bullet ? August 26, 2008
Problems need solutions... the solutions create new problems... so now we need solutions for the solutions. I get it !, we got to come up with Doctor Evil and kill him so we can rationalize spending all this money and keep Superman in business . Follow the Worm Hole, a great book by a great author.
 Good Book on the dangers and ethics of Personal Security July 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I wanted to learn more about Security contractors after I heard so much about them in the news on Iraq and Afghanistan. I found this book and read it quite quickly for it was very interesting and for the most part worth the money. Robert Pelton has written a engaging investigation where you feel for both the contractors and the opponents against their existence. There is one chapter about a con artist that I felt didn't need to be included in the book but nonetheless I commend Mr Pelton for his good writing ability.
RAGINGLY RABID! May 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Licensed to Kill : Hired Guns in the War on Terror is a damn good book. It's an unfiltered and unjudgemental look at the security contractors who do security, assault and intelligence work on behalf of governments around the world. If you've heard of companies like Blackwater, DynCorp or Aegis, then by all means, pick up this book.
1. So who are these guys? Who are these guys are all over the news these days, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Basically, security contractors are highly-trained masters of warfare. They are usually ex-special operators (e.g. Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Marine Recon) or at the very least, ex-infantrymen or cops in the governmental forces. Some do security detail work for top dogs like Afghan President Hamid Karzai and former Iraq administrator Paul Bremer. Others guard escorts and convoys, and other work as non-official spies.
On one extreme end there is a guy like Billy Waugh, an ex-Green Beret-turned-CIA-turned-contractor. He is extremely experienced, guile and professional. Most of all, he is very patriotic, and his zeal to defend America keeps him going even though he's almost 80.
And just like sports teams, there are the walk-ons. This one guy named Shannon Campbell is the security contractor's answer to Rudy. He's not a veteran of the Special Forces or SAS, but a regular Joe who had a dream of making it. He trained in martial arts and firearms until he could break in to the industry, and he did!
2. And what are these guys like? They are basically just humans, just like us. They just happen to be extremely alpha. Although many media outlets portray them to be these monsters who have no remorse and shoot kids on the streets of Baghdad for fun, Robert Young Pelton does a great job keeping things in perspective. Security contractors have fun; they have camaraderie; they have fear; they worry about family and finances; they surf the web for porn. They are just like guys out there in the regular "world." It's like asking what NBA players are like, or what NFL players are like. Until you've lived in their world, you don't know what it's like. But if you want to know what they are like as human, just look at the people around you.
Of course, with the good and normal, you have the bad and the ugly. Besides the possibility of someone going berserk on some women and children after having seen too much war, you have guys motivated greatly by greed, greed and more greed. On one hand, you have companies like Sandline and Executive Outcomes and guys like Niek du Toit and Timothy Spicer, who scour for unstable nations rich with resources like Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea and try to capture the market - even overthrowing the government is not out of the question. Niek du Toit sits in a Equatorial Guinean jail, and is unlikely to ever see daylight again.
And in a market that is exclusive, secretive and relatively unregulated, you must always watch out for the opportunists, like Jack Idema. Portraying himself as a well-connected and well-informed ex-Special Forces member, Idema scammed journalists, filmmakers and locals in Afghanistan. Like Niek Du Toit, Jack Idema is currently rotting away in an Afghan prison.
3. And what is the future of the private military/security industry? Only God knows, but the faithful founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, has ambitious dreams. He visions Blackwater fielding a battalion-sized force of security operators with small-arms, heavy weapons and planes, that can be deployed globally on short notice. It may sound bolsterous, but with Blackwater's capital, reach, and track record, Prince's plan is certainly not unrealistic.
Also, with small conflicts popping up everywhere, urbanization, and the rise of mixed martial arts, I can certainly imagine more Shannon Campbells popping up. With more manpower neededm with elite war vets who decide to pass on becoming contractors, and with companies that offer tactical training, it is not unrealistic to envision young males decide to get in shape, learn hand-to-hand and weapons, and join in for some gold and glory.
I don't want to go on forever, but Licensed to Kill : Hired Guns in the War on Terror by Robert Young Pelton was a great read, and I could not put the book down. And I don't think you'd be able to either.
A genuinely fascinating book! April 13, 2008
Completely devoid of preaching, no axes to grind, no ideology to promote... you have to wonder how this ever got published in the USA. Not a trace of faux compassion. No uplift. In short, an almost miraculous book. Remarkable achievement.
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