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The Invisible Soldiers: How America Outsourced OurSecurit)/ B)/Ann Hagedorn New York, Simon & Schuster, 2014 320 pages $28.00 (hardback)
Military historians may someday conclude that, despite die emer- gence of die unmanned aerial vehicle (UAY or drone) as a modern marvel of information collection, targeting, and weapons delivery, diis generation's most significant battiefield evolution involved people. Never before has a nation's military enjoyed die capacity, facilitated by die Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP), to deploy an unlim- ited number of warfighters swiftly, without geographical limitation, and indefinitely sustain diat fighting force widi an unprecedented level of readiness. Such surge capacity and flexibility come at a steep price, bodi fiscal and moral, which will be debated for many years to come.
But for all the controversy generated by the government's pervasive outsourcing of battlefield support, it is the post-millennial proliferation of arms-bearing contractors that roiled the human rights community and catalyzed a global conversation about the nature and future of modern warfare. This new breed of weapon-toting contractors - serving as guards, escorts, police, advisors, and trainers, but cumulatively perceived in the contingency area as soldier-like, and called everything from private military and privatized security to mercenaries-draws Ann Hagedorn's ire and anxiety. And she is not alone.
Peter W. Singer's now familiar Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Trivatiged Military Industry, introduced professional readers to the increasingly sophisticated arms-bearing contractor industry and the accelerating trend of state reliance on these firms. Others, including, but by no means limited to, Deborah Avant, The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatising Security, James Jay Carafano, Private Sector, Public Wars: Contractors in Combat - Afghanistan, Iraq, and Future Conflicts,...