Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq

273 Pages·2008·2.53 MB·English

by  Steve Fainaru

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BIG
BOY
RULES
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BBIIGG
BBOOYY
R U L E S
AMERICA’S MERCENARIES
FIGHTING IN IRAQ
STEVE FAINARU
winner of the 2008 pulitzer prize
for international reporting
DA CAPO PRESS
a member of the perseus books group
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Copyright © 2008by Steve Fainaru
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored
in a retrieval system,or transmitted,in any form or by any means,electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise,without the prior written
permission of the publisher.Printed in the United States of America.
“King Midas in Reverse”
Words and music by Allan Clarke,Tony Hicks and Graham Nash.Copyright ©
1967Gralto Music Ltd.Copyright renewed.All rights in the U.S.and Canada
controlled and administered by Universal—Songs of Polygram International,
Inc.All rights reserved.Used by permission.
design by jane raese
Set in 12-point Adobe Caslon
Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this book is available from the Library
of Congress.
isbn 978-0-306-81743-4
Published by Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.dacapopress.com
Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases
in the U.S.by corporations,institutions,and other organizations.For more
information,please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus
Books Group,2300Chestnut Street,Suite 200,Philadelphia,PA,19103,
or call [phone],or e-mail [email protected].
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FOR DAD AND WILL
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CONTENTS
Prologue: On the Border xi
1 Social Studies, Inc. 1
2 I Want to Kill Somebody Today 16
3 The Last Train 36
4 We Protect the Military 48
5 The Stories You Tell 68
6 Now You Are Going to Die 85
7 Your Blood 102
8 Scope of Authority: God 122
9 Hostage Affairs 143
10 BlackRwatey for Special Security 161
11 Faith that Looks Through Death 182
Epilogue: The Book of Wisdom 205
Source Notes 219
Selected Bibliography 235
Acknowledgments 237
Index 243
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