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My Friend the Review
Hey,
So I just finished up My Friend the Mercenary by James Brabazon. Mr. Brabazon is a journalist and in 2002 he wants to go into Liberia to cover a civil war that no one seems to know much about. He needs protection and through his sources he meets up with Nick du Toit, former member of the South African Special Services, high-ranking member of the mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes and now just working his own jobs freelance. He agrees to accompany Brabazon into Liberia and watch his back while he films the war.
Although du Toit has a very shady past, he routinely steps in to cover Barabazon's ass and the two men form something of a bond. As the war in Liberia progresses, Nick tells James that he's got something else in the offing and he's hoping that James will come along to film the action and legitimize the upcoming "regime change".
It turns out the "regime change" was a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. You may remember that sometime in 2004 a whole bunch of mercenaries got rounded up -- this is that mission. Supposedly Mark Thatcher, Margret Thatcher's son was involved in backing a deal to have an exiled ruler of Equatorial Guinea back in control (why? Oh, huge amounts of oil and other natural resources why does anyone care about the mish-mash of countries in Africa?).
Mr. Brabazon digs into the coup in part to try and help save his friend and to figure out what really happened.
I liked this book. The grueling slog to get into Liberia, Brabazon's ethical dilemmas and the various choices he made all of that was interesting, but I also liked reading about all the planning and effort that went into setting up the failed coup. It's a whirlwind of trips to London, Geneva, New York, Capetown, shady arms deals, massive funds being passed around, covert logistics, intelligence work, all kinds of stuff. At one point, Brabazon is walking down the street in London, on his satellite phone to a guy in the Congo discussing the details of an ammo shipment. The fact that this whole thing was carried out like a wild-eyed start-up was pretty striking.
Anyway, fascinating reading if you're interested in that part of the world or the shadowy business that keeps it so awash in blood.
later
Tom
So I just finished up My Friend the Mercenary by James Brabazon. Mr. Brabazon is a journalist and in 2002 he wants to go into Liberia to cover a civil war that no one seems to know much about. He needs protection and through his sources he meets up with Nick du Toit, former member of the South African Special Services, high-ranking member of the mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes and now just working his own jobs freelance. He agrees to accompany Brabazon into Liberia and watch his back while he films the war.
Although du Toit has a very shady past, he routinely steps in to cover Barabazon's ass and the two men form something of a bond. As the war in Liberia progresses, Nick tells James that he's got something else in the offing and he's hoping that James will come along to film the action and legitimize the upcoming "regime change".
It turns out the "regime change" was a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. You may remember that sometime in 2004 a whole bunch of mercenaries got rounded up -- this is that mission. Supposedly Mark Thatcher, Margret Thatcher's son was involved in backing a deal to have an exiled ruler of Equatorial Guinea back in control (why? Oh, huge amounts of oil and other natural resources why does anyone care about the mish-mash of countries in Africa?).
Mr. Brabazon digs into the coup in part to try and help save his friend and to figure out what really happened.
I liked this book. The grueling slog to get into Liberia, Brabazon's ethical dilemmas and the various choices he made all of that was interesting, but I also liked reading about all the planning and effort that went into setting up the failed coup. It's a whirlwind of trips to London, Geneva, New York, Capetown, shady arms deals, massive funds being passed around, covert logistics, intelligence work, all kinds of stuff. At one point, Brabazon is walking down the street in London, on his satellite phone to a guy in the Congo discussing the details of an ammo shipment. The fact that this whole thing was carried out like a wild-eyed start-up was pretty striking.
Anyway, fascinating reading if you're interested in that part of the world or the shadowy business that keeps it so awash in blood.
later
Tom