4 ms·
The book "Dogs of War" by Frederik Forsyth is an excellent semi-fictional description of a mercenary operation very analogous to the ones described in the artic
by fsloth 5y ago
The book "Dogs of War" by Frederik Forsyth is an excellent semi-fictional description of a mercenary operation very analogous to the ones described in the article. The book is mostly concerned not with gratuitous violence, but hiring, logistics and finance in a legally gray-and-illegal territory and such is a fascinating read.
- JackFr 5y agoI remember reading that — I don’t remember the precise bureaucratic details - but the gist was if you tried to buy a single machine gun you wouldn’t be able to. “Of course they’re illegal for private citizens.” If you tried to buy 5000 machine guns, “Oh, just get this form filled notarized.”
- notRobot 5y agoI've had that book on my shelf for years, but have never found the motivation to read it until I read your comment, but now I'll be giving it a read ASAP. Thanks!
- jksmith 5y agoIn addition, "No Mean Soldier" by Peter McAleese. The autobio account of an SAS soldier turned mercenary.
- sec400 5y agoA documentary about the attempt to kill Escobar that he was involved in has just come out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nTCjg40WCw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nTCjg40WCw
- atlasunshrugged 5y agoFor a nonfiction read (although biased toward the authors perspective) I highly recommend Eeben Barlow's book on his founding and work via Executive Outcomes
- abvdasker 5y agoDogs of War is an incredibly racist and misogynistic novel (goes well beyond mere depictions of racism and misogyny). I'm not suggesting the book is valueless, but it's concerning to me that someone can give a full-throated endorsement of such a text without at least mentioning these problems. One can only be left to assume that someone giving such an endorsement either 1) didn't notice these issues due to a shallow reading of the text 2) doesn't care about them or 3) agrees with Forsyth's racist/misogynistic views
- quacked 5y ago"Sir, your Publication on the many Causes of War is most interesting; but I notised that in all the course of your Text ye made not a single Reference to our Lord, who is of course resposible for all things. I can only then assume that such a lack of References reveal ye as 1) ignorant of God and Christ which as an Englishman I can hardly believe of ye; 2) a heretic, such as a Catholic or even a Jew; or perhaps even worse 3) an Atheist, may God forgive me for uttering the Word."
- marktangotango 5y agoI recall the 1980 film inspired by the book to be "not bad", but it's been decades since I saw it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dogs_of_War_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dogs_of_War_(film)
- the_watcher 5y agoThat book is fantastic. I found it via Byrne Hobart, who accurately pointed out that it's as much about project management as it is about a coup.