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Zero Footprint

The True Story of a Private Military Contractor's Covert Assignments in Syria, Libya, and the World's Most Dangerous Places

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
This national bestseller is a dramatic insider account of the world of private military contracting.
Armored cars, burner phones, top-notch weaponry and top-secret missions — this is the life of today's private military contractor. Like author Simon Chase, many PMCs were once the world's top military operatives, and since retiring from outfits like US Navy SEAL TEAM Six and the UK's Special Boat Service, they have devoted their lives to executing sensitive and hazardous missions overseas.
Working at the request of U.S. and British government entities as well as for private clients, he takes on jobs that require "zero footprint," with no trace of their actions left behind. Chase delivers firsthand accounts of tracking Bin Laden in Afghanistan and being one of the first responders after the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. We see his teams defuse terrorist bombs, guard dignitaries, and protect convoys traveling through perilous territory — and then there are the really big jobs: top-secret "zero footprint" missions that include searching for High Value Targets and setting up arms shipping networks.
The missions in Zero Footprint will shock readers, but so will the personal dangers. Chase and the men he works with operate without government backup or air rescue. If they die serving their country, they remain anonymous. There are no military honors or benefits. Contractors like Simon Chase are the unsung heroes in the war against terrorism, a strong, but largely invisible force — until now.
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    • Kirkus

      December 1, 2015
      A well-developed look inside the life and work of an accomplished private military contractor. Formerly with the British Royal Marines and British special forces, Chase (a pen name, aided in this absorbing narrative by co-author Pezzullo) found an enticing and lucrative segue as a private military operator in such dangerous hot spots as Afghanistan and Iraq from 1999 until recently. Hired to do "the dirty and dangerous jobs the military and intelligence services can't or don't want to do," Chase initially found his special services attractive to companies like Scimitar Security, which needed to provide security to the prime minister of Qatar. After 9/11, however, the jobs became increasingly perilous and high level, involving the U.S. government's need to arm and support the Afghan Northern Alliance against the Taliban and even track Osama bin Laden in the caves of Tora Bora in 2004--a disastrous mission that accomplished very little and cost the lives of three members of Chase's team. In Iraq, Chase was part of the U.S. government's efforts to rebuild the country. Special-forces units needed to do "recon and hearts-and-minds work" in remote areas where sympathy for foreigners was never ensured. Since the U.S. government could not be caught openly aiding the rebels against the Syrian regime, it hired contractors like Chase to help arm the Free Syrian Army ("zero footprint") and even, according to his spectacular revelations, ascertain firsthand whether President Bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons on the rebels. Another amazing depiction involves the attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, where Chase found himself fortuitously, having been hired to do gunrunning and doing business with some of the same jihadis he had previously been fighting. Throughout, the author candidly shares the emotional toll that the constant danger took on his life and the lives of his colleagues. Detailed, acronym-mad, well-wrought, and exciting.

      COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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  • English

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