US private security firms in Iraq under probes

According to a news report in the Los Angeles Times, US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates " has ordered U.S. military commanders in Iraq to crack down on any abuses they uncover by private security contractors in the aftermath of a deadly shooting involving American guards that infuriated Iraqis" . Meanwhile, Asia Times also reports that the Blackwater USA incident has caused political problems for Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki who is now seen to be, or accused of being, incapable to enforce an independent decision for his own country.

By the way, I was told by a friend in Singapore that there is a very comprehensive study on the proliferation of private security firms in the post-Cold War world, namely P.W. Singer's Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry (New York, Cornell University Press, 2004). I am certainly interested to know or learn more about the subject but I really do not think I would purchase one simply because of budgetary constraint.

I only hope someone could lend it to me for a month or two when I can afford the time to peruse it. Anyway, I still have a few books like Kevin Cooney's Japan's Foreign Policy Since 1945 (New York, East Gate, 2007) that have not been read with attention or concentration.

Bush ' concerned ' about Blackwater squabble

New books on American IR in personal library