Civilian Warriors

About Civilian Warriors

No company in our time has been as mysterious or as controversial as Blackwater. Founded by former Navy SEAL Erik Prince in 1997, it recruited special forces veterans and others with the skills and courage to take on the riskiest security jobs in the world. As its reputation grew, government demand for its services escalated, and Blackwater’s men eventually completed nearly one hundred thousand missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both the Bush and Obama administrations found the company indispensible. It sounds like a classic startup success story, except for one problem: Blackwater has been demonized around the world. From uninformed news coverage to grossly distorted fictional portrayals, Blackwater employees have been smeared as mercenaries, profiteers, jackbooted thugs, and worse. Because of the secrecy requirements of Blackwater’s contracts with the Pentagon, the State Department, and the CIA, Prince was unable to speak out when his company’s opponents spread false information. But now he’s able to tell the full and often shocking story of Blackwater’s rise and fall. In Civilian Warriors, Prince pulls no punches and spares no details. He explains his original goal of building an elite center for military and law enforcement training. He recounts how the company shifted gears after 9/11. He honors our troops while challenging the Pentagon’s top leadership. And he reveals why highly efficient private military contractors have been essential to running our armed forces, since long before Blackwater came along. Above all, Prince debunks myths about Blackwater that spread while he was forced to remain silent-myths that tarnished the memory of men who gave their lives for their country but never got the recognition they deserved.

He reveals new information about some of the biggest controversies of the War on Terror, including:

• The true story of the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad.
• The actual details of Blackwater’s so-called impunity in Iraq.
• The events leading up to the televised deaths of Blackwater contractors in Fallujah.

Prince doesn’t pretend to be perfect, and he doesn’t hide the sometimes painful details of his private life. But he has done a great public service by setting the record straight. His book reads like a thriller but is too improbable to be fiction.

About Civilian Warriors

The founder of Blackwater offers the gripping, previously untold story of the world’s most controversial military contractor
Blackwater is one of the most misunderstood companies of our time. As Erik Prince, its founder and former CEO, writes:

“Hundreds of American citizens employed by private military contractors, or PMCs, would lose their lives helping our government wage wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, only to have their memory tarnished by the unfair and/or ignorant depiction of PMCs as profiteers, jackbooted thugs, or worse.”

Because of the secrecy requirements of Blackwater’s contracts with the Pentagon, the State Department, and the CIA, Prince was unable to speak out when his company’s opponents spread false information. But now he’s free to tell the often shocking story of Blackwater’s rise and fall. 

Blackwater hired Special Forces veterans and others with the skills and courage to take on the riskiest security jobs in the world. As its reputation grew, demand for its services escalated. Its men eventually completed nearly 100,000 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Prince’s narrative includes newly-revealed details about many controversial events. It debunks myths that have been spread by TV shows and movies. It honors our armed forces while challenging the Pentagon’s top leadership. Above all, it will make people rethink exactly who the “good guys” and “bad guys” have been since 9/11.