Gerry Schumacher retired as a colonel in 1997, after 32 years of service with the U.S. Army, including 20 years in Special Forces
U.S." Naval Institute Proceedings," August 2006
"A Bloody Business" provides insight to the selection and training
regimes for contractors in Iraq. It then goes on to relate many
personal accounts of their work and combat action in that war-torn
country. Colonel Schumacher underscores the dangers of
'uncontrolled contracting.' At the same time, he closes with the
common-sense view that, while U.S. soldiers will be respected for
their service in Iraq, 'American civilian contractors deserve
nothing less.'"
"California"" Bookwatch," July 2006 ""A Bloody Business" tells of a
new kind of American army overseas: one which is a private
mercenary-run establishments which takes over as the U.S. military
shrinks. The lives of such men and women who work in Iraq are
controlled by few laws or regulations: they must rely on instinct
and their own codes of conduct. Civilian contractors in Iraq number
some fifteen thousand: their experiences and daily lives, recounted
here, are riveting testimonies to their duties and hardships."
Publishers Weekly," March 27, 2006
"Retired army colonel Schumacher polishes the public image of
private wartime contractors in this informative, if relentlessly
glowing, account of these 'unrecognized and unappreciated patriots'
in Iraq and Kuwait. Schumacher gained access to employees from
contracting firms MPRI and Crescent Security, and his perspective
is one of deep affection and respect - for people who put
themselves in harm's way to provide security for diplomats, to move
convoys of precious materials and to rebuild the broken
infrastructure of war-torn countries. The author's voice is
unpretentious but swaggering, tough but sentimental; he's as
critical of the Bush administration for its ill-conceived
strategies as of the media for what he considers prejudice. There's
not much in the way of subtle policy debate or comprehensive
analysis ('Department of Defense outsourcing to civilian
contractors is an efficient, short-term solution'), but Schumacher
writes with a keen sense of justice and empathy as he recounts the
harrowing tales of these contractors-for-hire."
"Military Book Club, "April 2006
"It's impossible to fully comprehend the future of warfare without
a complete understanding of the role war-zone contractors will
play. Iraq, the testing ground for the privatization of our
military, is teeming with contractors today, whose efforts will
determine the future of military privatization. "A Bloody Business"
is, in our estimation, the most informative book on the subject
today. Inside, you'll read story after story of insurgent ambushes
and exploding IEDs in a land where life as a truck driver can be as
dangerous as that of a soldier."
"Publishers Weekly," March 27, 2006 (circ.: 34,456)
"Retired army colonel Schumacher polishes the public image of
private wartime contractors in this informative, if relentlessly
glowing, account of these 'unrecognized and unappreciated patriots'
in Iraq and Kuwait. Schumacher gained access to employees from
contracting firms MPRI and Crescent Security, and his perspective
is one of deep affection and respect - for people who put
themselves in harm's way to provide security for diplomats, to move
convoys of precious materials and to rebuild the broken
infrastructure of war-torn countries. The author's voice is
unpretentious but swaggering, tough but sentimental; he's as
critical of the Bush administration for its ill-conceived
strategies as of the media for what he considers prejudice. There's
not much in the way of subtle policy debate or comprehensive
analysis ('Department of Defense outsourcing to civilian
contractors is an efficient, short-term solution'), but Schumacher
writes with a keen sense of justice and empathy as he recounts the
harrowing tales of these contractors-for-hire."
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