Civilian Warriors

'I'm done keeping quiet. What's been said before is only half the story - and I won't sit idly by while the bureaucrats go after me so that everyone else can just go back to business as usual.' No company in our time has been as mysterious or controversial as Blackwater. Founded in 1997 by former Navy SEAL Erik Prince, Blackwater recruited special forces veterans and others with the skills and courage to take on the riskiest security jobs in the world. Both the Bush and Obama administrations found the company indispensable, and Blackwater's men eventually completed nearly one hundred thousand missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. It sounds like a classic start-up success story, except for one problem- Blackwater has been demonized all over 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 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. Forget everything you think you know about Blackwater. And get ready for a thrilling, true story that will make you rethink who the good guys and bad guys have been since 9/11. 'You should read this because we have preconceived notions about what this force is and what it means to the United States, and it's important to get the view of an individual who experienced it and dealt with it.' Jon Stewart on The Daily Show