Master of War LP: Blackwater USA's Erik Prince and the Business of War [Large Print] [ペーパーバック]

Simons begins "Master of War" telling us us that "No company has ever amassed Blackwater's size, strength, and full-service military capabilities . . . within a few short years it boasted more weaponry, manpower, and high-tech systems than many small countries." A good buildup, but the book fails to deliver any information of significance.

Erik Prince, its founder, grew up in a well-to-family (family business was sold for $1.35 billion after father died at an early age) with family friends that included Chuck Colson, Gary Bauer, and James Dobson. Erik's was admitted to the Naval Academy, but left in his sophomore year because of "overly stringent rules," then enrolled in and graduated from Hillsdale College, became a White House Fellow, and ended up transferring to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's office. Prince became enamored with Navy OCS and becoming a Seal, which he accomplished. However, after about two years, Prince resigned at a time when his wife was battling cancer (eventually died) and his family was dealing with issues following his father's death.

Prince decided to focus on providing training facilities for Navy Seals that would be superior to what he had experienced. Soon was providing assistance training local law enforcement, then began picking up Navy contracts after getting on the approved contractor's list. (Prince was also a major Republican donor, though the book does not link those donations to favors received.) Eventually became a contractor providing security for Paul Bremer in Baghdad - State Dept. supposedly lacked the ability to do so in a combat zone. Prince's wealth also allowed the company to provide helicopters, according to Simons.

Blackwater became famous when four of its contractors were killed and hung from a bridge in Fallujah. There were about 170 private security companies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Blackstone alleges that it was constantly being blamed for the acts of the others - eg. running a U.S. division commander off the road, unwarranted killings of Iraqi civilians, etc. Blackwater started with $200,000 in contracts in 2000, and ended up with over $1 billion income in the next seven years. Simons explains very little of how that occurred. Blackwater employees were paid $500-$600/day for a variety of duties, including training Afghan police and other personnel.

Blackwater's downfall began in Sept. 2007 when it's contractors shot up the area in Nisoor Square - alleging they were fired upon first - 14-17 civilians were killed. By the time investigators initiated their inquiry, the evidence had been "cleaned up." Five contractors have been charged, one is cooperating with authorities; the company has not been charged. Regardless, the Iraq government banned Blackwater from operating within its borders.

"Master of War" offers little to commend reading it - my suspicion is that the author did little research beyond interviewing its CEO. If you're looking for an expose, this isn't it.

This excellent account compares favorably with Jeremy Scahill's 2007 book about Blackwater, in that it is based on interviews with Erik Prince and other key Blackwater execs, and reviews the private military contractor's accomplishments as well as failures. It also carries the story forward to the end of 2008, including all the legal difficulties at the end of the company's existence. It is very enjoyable to read but could have benefited from at least some footnoting of sources relied upon.

I bought this book after hearing the author interviewed on NPR. The last book I read even remotely concerned with military history was Massie's excellent "Peter the Great", so I was surprised to find how riveted I was by "Master of War".

While the book seems to get off to a slow start, it begins in earnest with a fairly brief bio of Erik Prince, a seriously Type A man, who left the Naval Academy but who later trained as a Navy SEAL. Prince, having inherited some $1 billion from a family business, initially set Blackwater up as a law enforcement/special forces training facility, which expanded rapidly (thanks to Prince's deep pockets) into providing military zone security forces for the State Department and other government agencies. Blackwater burst into the public's eye with the murder and desecration of several of its "contractors", and with the highly publicized incident involving the murder of civilians in traffic in Iraq.

This book condenses to the very essence, the distinct differences between an enormous military and governmental bureaucracy, as opposed to the fairly nimble and adaptable capabilities of a business run with a nearly inexhaustible supply of immediate money, and an extremely zealous chief executive. When the State Department wanted security in Iraq, Blackwater provided it. When the US government believed that there was no clear picture of the number and operations of contractors operating at the behest of various US government agencies - it hired a contractor to provide that oversight.

The tale of Blackwater then becomes one of flouting and exceeding the mandate they were given. Blackwater calls the people they send out on these jobs, conractors, and treats them as such for tax purposes. This is a thin veil which should be pierced, as they then use this as a corporate excuse for lawless behavior performed by individuals while performing assignments for Blackwater.

That said, this is also a tale of American capitalism: Erik Prince saw a gaping hole in training, and security provision abroad, and used his financial wherewithal to fill that need - quickly. He is a driven man, with a business that he has set up with no board of directors to answer to. With his enormous wealth, he is able to deliver quicker than any governmental agency could ever hope to.

The lack of coordination amongst the various contractors, together with those well publicized incidents, as well as a plane crash (due to lack of proper training) - and the arrogant, lawless behavior of some of the contractors, ultimately lead to Blackwater being banned from operating in Iraq, and the beginning of Prince's withdrawal from daily operations of Blackwater.

The book left me feeling even more bewildered about the US war machine around the world: governmental inefficiencies exist on a much more massive scale than imagineable; private enterprise can fill some of those gaps; government is so big that it can't oversee the private contractors, let alone coordinate with other agencies to allow the various contractors to work cooperatively, much less under the ultimate purview of the US military command.

This book serves as a strong indictment of big government at its most critical, and its very worst, and chronicles a man who saw opportunity there.