|
|
|
|
|
Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq
List price: $26.00
Sale price: $17.16
You save: $8.84 (34%)
Author(s): Steve Fainaru
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 956.70443
EAN: 9780306817434
ISBN: 0306817438
Label: Da Capo Press
Language(s): English Original LanguageEnglish UnknownEnglish Published
List Price: $26.00
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Package Dimensions:
Height: 0.9"
Width: 6.4"
Length: 0.9"
Weight: 1.1 lbs.
Product Group: Book
Address: 2008-11-10
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Studio: Da Capo Press
Editorial Reviews
Product Description:
Travelling in Iraq with a group of US security contractors - mercenaries or mercs - a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter reveals in gritty detail the men who live by Big Boy Rules. A parallel army lives on the margins of the Iraq war - nearly 100,000 armed men, invisible yet in plain sight, doing jobs the overstretched and understaffed military can't or won't. The US media call them 'security contractors'. They call themselves 'mercs' and operate under their own rules. Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Steve Fainaru travelled with several groups of security contractors to find out what motivates them to put their lives in danger every day.What emerges is a searing, revealing and sometimes darkly funny look at the men who live and work in the battlefields of Iraq: some are desperate, some are confused and some are just out for a lark. Some disappear into the void that is Iraq and are never seen again. It's not a pretty picture, but it's brutally real and shockingly honest. "Big Boy Rules" is an unforgettable leap into the mayhem of Iraq and the dark recesses of the minds of American policy makers and the warriors they hire.
Customer Reviews Average rating - 4.5
Rating - 4 Date: 2009-01-06
Content: Steve Fainaru's new book Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq is an eye-opening story of what is being done in the name of America in Iraq. The need for private security contracting became clear early on in Iraq, as our volunteer army was spread thin. Fainaru presents what this contracting entails, using one company, Crescent Security Group, and one contractor, Jon Cote, as his primary focus. What Fainaru describes is a degree of lawlessness that will lead to the discomfort of most readers, and the sadness of how individuals who are trying both to help America in Iraq as well as make money are treated when things don't work out as planned. The tattoo on a former Marine summarized the situation: "The unwanted, doing the unforgiveable, for the ungrateful." (p. xii). Sammy Jamison, the convoy manager for one contractor, ArmorGroup, said, "We can't ask the Iraqi people to respect the law if we don't do it ourselves." (p. 131). As for Jon Cote and those like him, Fainaru noted, "But it was an ugly business he had gotten himself into, perhaps the ugliest business there was." (p. 215). Big Boy Rules makes for uncomfortable and informative reading. The book expands on the Pulitzer prize-winning reporting that Fainaru has done for The Washington Post. There are costs to this war that higher than most reports describe, and Fainaru's book puts a human face on these costs.
Rating: Four-star (Highly Recommended)
Summary: Ugly
Rating - 5 Date: 2009-01-06
Content: Ironic title.. It should have been titled 'No Rules!'. I was blown away at the total lack of regard for human life on both sides of this issue. Well written tragic story.
Summary: Powerful book, a story that needs to be told.
Rating - 4 Date: 2008-12-20
Content: This book is not only true, but is still currently in the news. The recent charges against 14 of the mercenaries for killing innocent civilians (women and children) will keep this story on the front pages for quite some time to come. As for the writing itself , the author won a pulitzer prize for the story. What more needs to be said? I live very near one of the men in the story so I had a special interest in reading it. It is a book for all to read regardless of your views on the war. You will find things out that no T.V. or newspaper will take the time to report....HIGHLY RECOMENDED!!!!!!!!!!!
Summary: Big Boy Rules
Rating - 5 Date: 2008-12-17
Content: As an honorably discharged Viet Nam era veteran I try to keep an insightful eye on the transformations that seem to inevitably take place in every war... as assuredly as night follows day. From the battle field strategies maneuvering battalions... to the increasing use of sniper teams... to the current... almost unbelievable use of large... larger... and largest... *PRIVATE ARMIES*. Call them mercenaries (merc's) if you desire... but in today's reality it has almost become a militarized-privatized-Fortune-500 Army. There's an old expression that says "art imitates life"... well I am a witness to "life imitating art"! About a year ago I read a military novel that was built around a Bill Gates type character... who instead of owning Microsoft... he owned a gigantic private military company that would fight America's wars. I thought that was a ridiculous premise... until I read this book. One of the many deceitful things that the author pulls out from behind a very thick government curtain, is how a large company gets a contract from the state department for security forces... then that large company... sub-contracts the contract to a smaller company... who sub-contracts to another smaller contractor... Ad Nauseam. Embedded in the heretofore unexplored upsurge in "merc's" in Iraq, is the fact that the Government doesn't include the number of "sub-contracted" private army personnel, when they divulge to the public how large a fighting force they're using. The government also hasn't been including the "merc's" in their casualty counts.
Once the reader feels indoctrinated into the daily brutality of the war in Iraq... and is shocked as to the almost "lawlessness" of the military contractor's... just when you feel you can't be taken aback any further... you're hit with the legal order that governs "merc's": "COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY ORDER NUMBER 17 (CPA-ORDER 17) GRANTED MERCENARIES AND OTHER CONTRACTORS IMMUNITY FROM IRAQI LAW. THE IMMUNITY WAS TO REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL THE DEPARTURE OF THE FINAL ELEMENT OF THE MNF (MULTINATIONAL FORCES) FROM IRAQ, OR UNTIL THE NEW IRAQI GOVERNMENT OVERTURNED IT. THAT, EVERYONE KNEW, WAS UNLIKELY AT LEAST IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE." The "merc's" were basically given a license to kill... and their utter disdain for treating the local people with respect... defeats the entire concept of winning the Iraqi's hearts. As the author Steve Fainaru (whose brother Mark, is the co-author of the book "Game Of Shadows" that unleashed documented evidence against Barry Bonds and his steroid use.) travels with one military contractor and becomes close with some of their employees, he gets a call from home that his elderly cancer ridden Father is close to dying. This is a beautifully written pivotal point in the story. The entire direction of the story changes... and the author handles it like the beauty of a metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. Though there was death all around him in Iraq... this is more than the dying of a man's Father... it is the utter loving compassion of a son to a Father... and it is the strength and dignity of a Father facing death... with an energy for life... even though cancer... has taken his natural energy.
What happens next would not be believed if created in a movie script. Right after Steve leaves Iraq the "merc" that he had personally gotten closest to, was part of a group of "merc's" that were taken hostage. The ensuing part of the story leads the reader through the sad... yet beautiful ending of a Father's life... and the untold horrors of the hostage situation... through the eyes of the author and the hostage's poor anguished families. This story will open your eyes to a "new" part of today's war that has not been scrutinized near enough... and it will open your heart... on more than one front. This is simply an exquisite reporting job by the author.
Summary: RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "THE UNWANTED, DOING THE UNFORGIVABLE, FOR THE UNGRATEFUL."
Rating - 4 Date: 2008-12-05
Content: I recently completed this read. I found Mr. Fainaru's depiction of the experiences and lives of the mercenaries to be frank, eye opening, sometimes humorous and in many cases very heartrending.
Steve describes the chronological events in graphic detail and paints a picture of life and death in Iraq. His portrayal of the months leading up to and the last days of Jon Cote's life describe a young man obviously tortured by events from his past and struggling to find peace. His outlet, the Iraq War.
The spotlight on the irrational decisions and careless actions of Jon's employer, that set the stage for the events that stole Jon's life and those of his comrades, as well as, Mr. Fainaru's descriptions of the actions of other unscrupulous private security companies, show how volatile situations are for those serving or simply surviving in Iraq.
I would recommend this book to others seeking to read a well written human interest on the War in Iraq.
Summary: Very well written and engrossing account of the war in Iraq and it's unseen impact on the lives of those who serve it's cause
|
|
|
|