Product Description

War Dog deals with mercenary action in a score of wars: Angola, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, the Congo Republic, Ethiopia, Lebanon and others. One of a handful of correspondents that saw action with the South African 'guns for hire' group Executive Outcomes, Al Venter's revelations about this organisation as well as what has recently been taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo are remarkable. So are many of the 150 photos in this volume. In this book you get up close and personal with hardened pro's on the ground, joining them for missions where quick thinking and a will of steel are the only things separating them from success or failure, life or death. While the major world powers such as the USA and leading European nations grapple with more serious global issues, mercenaries might very well increasingly be the answer for dealing with some of the brush fire wars that continue to plague the developing world. In this book, the author sets out a plausible evidence for such a trend and one that is likely to become more commonplace in the future. Al J. Venter has made a career of covering other peoples' conflicts. As a long serving Africa and Middle East correspondent for Jane's International Defense Review his reports over the past thirty years have spanned four continents. Twice wounded and now well into his sixties, he recently flew combat in Sierra Leone alongside Neall Ellis in an aging Russian Mi-24 gunship (that leaked when it rained) and he still tries to go on operations when the opportunity presents itself. Of late, he has been spending a lot of time in West Africa.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #459789 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 664 pages

Customer Reviews

The Way Of The Warrior
Al Venter made his name with books like CHOPPER BOYS which were essentially photographic collections for rotorheads with some text. In WAR DOG he starts to deliver the sort of text that makes for a more rounded book. Venter is never going to be producing works of political and military analysis (there are plenty of academics doing this) but he does produce exciting accounts of military operations and within these some gems of analysis.

This book centres on three areas of "mercenary" involvement (Sierra Leone, Angola and the DRC) and on a review of how the mercenary world has altered since Les Affreux were in the Belgian Congo to the world of Blackwater in Iraq. The main theme is a tight band of Venter's South African chums who served in the Border War and now fight across Africa. Sierra Leone takes the biggest page count as Venter warms to three themes; firstly, the ineffective performance of UN forces, secondly, the effectiveness of Executive Outcomes (the then South African company), and thirdly, the derring-do of Neal Ellis, the South African pilot of a Mi-24 Hind who acts as a force multiplier for the local forces. This is good well-paced adventure writing, except that it is also what actually happened.

Venter's heart has always been with his South African and Rhodesian friends, but he is perfectly happy to compliment some UNITA units, and to give due weight to the views of the black (as against white) Africans who make up the majority of these mercenary forces (and even the Hizbullah supporting door gunner).

The events covered by Venter are often incredibly savage, savage not because of an inherent African brutality but because of the tactics of a few men whose skill is terror. You may have doubts about whether mercenary armies are the best way forward (Venter has some solid arguments for you to consider) but there can be no-one in favour of the slaughter that has struck so many African nations from the new resource-based insurgent movements.

An Excellent and Disturbing Account of Modern Africa
The rules in Africa are different. When faced with the degree of corruption, greed, cruelty and homicidal mania prevalent in some parts of the continent it takes a more than a bunch of incompetent buffoons in UN blue berets to impose control. Thanks to the mercenaries, the war dogs, the paid security professionals - not a rag tag bunch of adventurers but a highly trained, disciplined and vastly experienced combat unit capable of routing the rebels and imposing some law and order. This is not fiction - it is told as it actually happened and the truth will astound and horrify some of us soft, spoilt Westeners. What a great book! Highly Recommended!

War Dog
Very detailed and informative look into the world of the Contract soldier.Shows that in many cases peoples idea of the 'Dogs of War' is completly wrong.Yes they are fighting for money but then why not.Their skills were saving peoples lives and defending countries when the True Governments were unable to or just didnt have the heart to do it themselves.A great read and one that will change your views on Merceneries.