BOOK REVIEW: Zero Footprint: the True Story Of A Military Contractor’S Secret Wars
FOLLOWING on the invasion of Iraq in 1992, the growth of the private military contractor (PMC) sector was, pardon the pun, explosive.London-based security firm G4S is now the world’s third-biggest private employer after Walmart and McDonalds. It operates in 125 countries with about 620,000 employees, earning more than $8bn last year. US contractor MPRI boasts that it employs more retired generals than the US Army has in service.Jobs that were once the exclusive purview of national armies are increasingly being transferred to PMCs. This includes static guarding, mobile security teams, air assets, recce teams, intelligence gathering, and quick reaction forces.To all intents and purposes, these are the new frontline units of conventional militaries, especially US and British. So the old military chain of command and accountability is messily intertwined with commercial demands and rewards.No luck with this coding for the book review. Can you see where the problem is?DetailsTITLE: Zero ...
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