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Highway to Hell: Dispatches from a Mercenary in Iraq
For the first time a private military contractor delivers a frontline report on life as a hired gun in Iraq. "Anyone entering Iraq must travel the road from Amman to Baghdad along the Fallujah bypass and around the Ramadi Ring Road. It's the most dangerous trunk route in the world, used as a personal fairground shooting gallery by insurgents and Islamists with rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikovs. For newcomers to the country it's terrifying but hell only really begins when that first journey ends." Amidst the ongoing controversy over the widespread employment of private military contractors in Iraq,Highway to Hell is a mercenary's graphic, first-person expose of life in "the second biggest army in Iraq
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 23, 2006
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October 25, 2017
Did you know that in the fourth quarter of 2016, there were nearly three thousand Department of Defense contractor personnel in Iraq? To be more precise, the DOD reports, 2,992 were in Iraq that year in support of nearly 41-hundred U.S. troops. Civilian and military personnel are apparently still deployed in Iraq as part of a U.S. led coalition advise and assist mission in support of the government of Iraq. In 2016, contract personnel represented about 42 percent of the total estimated DOD personnel presence in that war-torn country. About 61 percent of the individual contractors were American citizens.
One of those who was not was the United Kingdom's John Geddes, author of this book. Geddes’ journal, “Highway to Hell,” is the story of his “work as a private military contractor in Iraq and the huge mercenary army that (was) employed to protect the civilians flooding into the country to work on multi-billion-dollar projects to regenerate the country.”
Geddes tells his readers he’s “not an historian and (doesn’t) pretend to be a political analyst.” But he does spend several pages giving “a practical, down-to-earth soldier’s briefing on the roots and causes of the insurgency in Iraq.” In that analysis, Geddes claims the coalition made a couple of major mistakes. (1) At the end of the Gulf War, “the United States encouraged a Shia uprising, then allowed them to be slaughtered by Saddam’s regime.” (2) What Geddes calls “the total waste of intelligence effort in the run-up to the war in looking for weapons of mass destruction to justify” the invasion.
In this highly-personal account from a member of “Iraq’s invisible army,” private military contractor Geddes pulls no punches. He makes no effort to hide his own personal struggles. For example, Geddes’ three month-long bout with alcoholism. It was a “potentially acute problem,” the author admits because he “was operating with a hangover nearly every day in the most lethal and hostile military environment on the planet.” Geddes confesses, “That was extremely foolhardy and dangerous.” He admits, “I’m not proud of it.”
Geddes is proud, however, of “the hundreds of women involved in security work in Iraq.” Many of them were British. In her own words, Geddes shares the story of Paula, “the first female PMC in Iraq.” One of the original “Baghdad Babes” celebrated in Chapter 9, Paula is a woman Geddes “respects and admires in the male-dominated world of close-protection work.” And we also get to read about the adventures of Mazen Dana, as well as a PMC from Wales named Darren and a Polynesian warrior from Fiji known as Tak.
A former warrant office in Britain’s elite Special Air Service, Geddes has very little good to say in support of former President George W. Bush’s execution of the Iraqi War. Geddes believes that Bush’s May 2003 announcement aboard the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln that the war had been won, “actually heralded the creation of an environment in Iraq where PMCs could flourish.” In fact, Geddes suggests “the Pentagon and the CIA wanted . . . Al Qaeda’s fighters and suicide bombers (to flood) into (Iraq).” The author believes (the U.S.) wanted Al Qaeda to have a focus for their jihad and deliberately set one up. If its fighters flocked to Iraq, then the CIA would know where they were. In effect, a killing ground had been created to suck the enemy in. Better bombs in the street markets of Baghdad then in the shopping malls of the USA. It suited the U.S. government to fight the war against terror on the streets of Ramadi rather than in the center of New York.”
I found these "dispatches from a mercenary in Iraq" extremely engaging. It was originally published in 2006. One wonders how things have changed since for the soldier of fortune, the weapon for hire, the mercenary, the rent-a-soldier now in Iraq. (On pages 208 through 211, Geddes offers some very practical survival advice to “any journalist going to a place like Iraq for the first time.”) One also wonders why Geddes didn’t include a dictionary to more adequately explain his use of PMC’s private vocabulary, using words like “dicker, twigged, mallet and bloke.” One also wonders why Hollywood hasn’t produced a full-length feature film about life in Iraq as a private military contractor. Or have they?
One of those who was not was the United Kingdom's John Geddes, author of this book. Geddes’ journal, “Highway to Hell,” is the story of his “work as a private military contractor in Iraq and the huge mercenary army that (was) employed to protect the civilians flooding into the country to work on multi-billion-dollar projects to regenerate the country.”
Geddes tells his readers he’s “not an historian and (doesn’t) pretend to be a political analyst.” But he does spend several pages giving “a practical, down-to-earth soldier’s briefing on the roots and causes of the insurgency in Iraq.” In that analysis, Geddes claims the coalition made a couple of major mistakes. (1) At the end of the Gulf War, “the United States encouraged a Shia uprising, then allowed them to be slaughtered by Saddam’s regime.” (2) What Geddes calls “the total waste of intelligence effort in the run-up to the war in looking for weapons of mass destruction to justify” the invasion.
In this highly-personal account from a member of “Iraq’s invisible army,” private military contractor Geddes pulls no punches. He makes no effort to hide his own personal struggles. For example, Geddes’ three month-long bout with alcoholism. It was a “potentially acute problem,” the author admits because he “was operating with a hangover nearly every day in the most lethal and hostile military environment on the planet.” Geddes confesses, “That was extremely foolhardy and dangerous.” He admits, “I’m not proud of it.”
Geddes is proud, however, of “the hundreds of women involved in security work in Iraq.” Many of them were British. In her own words, Geddes shares the story of Paula, “the first female PMC in Iraq.” One of the original “Baghdad Babes” celebrated in Chapter 9, Paula is a woman Geddes “respects and admires in the male-dominated world of close-protection work.” And we also get to read about the adventures of Mazen Dana, as well as a PMC from Wales named Darren and a Polynesian warrior from Fiji known as Tak.
A former warrant office in Britain’s elite Special Air Service, Geddes has very little good to say in support of former President George W. Bush’s execution of the Iraqi War. Geddes believes that Bush’s May 2003 announcement aboard the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln that the war had been won, “actually heralded the creation of an environment in Iraq where PMCs could flourish.” In fact, Geddes suggests “the Pentagon and the CIA wanted . . . Al Qaeda’s fighters and suicide bombers (to flood) into (Iraq).” The author believes (the U.S.) wanted Al Qaeda to have a focus for their jihad and deliberately set one up. If its fighters flocked to Iraq, then the CIA would know where they were. In effect, a killing ground had been created to suck the enemy in. Better bombs in the street markets of Baghdad then in the shopping malls of the USA. It suited the U.S. government to fight the war against terror on the streets of Ramadi rather than in the center of New York.”
I found these "dispatches from a mercenary in Iraq" extremely engaging. It was originally published in 2006. One wonders how things have changed since for the soldier of fortune, the weapon for hire, the mercenary, the rent-a-soldier now in Iraq. (On pages 208 through 211, Geddes offers some very practical survival advice to “any journalist going to a place like Iraq for the first time.”) One also wonders why Geddes didn’t include a dictionary to more adequately explain his use of PMC’s private vocabulary, using words like “dicker, twigged, mallet and bloke.” One also wonders why Hollywood hasn’t produced a full-length feature film about life in Iraq as a private military contractor. Or have they?
March 23, 2020
In the beginning I wasn't too sure of how well written the book was. The actions without a doubt would have been adrenaline-pumping, but I would have hesitated if I would have been asked about my expectations on how well they would have been penned down. I was genuinely surprised - it's elaborate, only necessary facts, not too full of jargon, and void of macho dialogues. I also liked that there were a few accounts from other mercenaries included in the book, and there were instances where I had to stop and think through some difficult questions - a welcome dab of morality issues in the profession. However, at the end of the book that I felt like had read only a few stories; maybe a few more would have sufficed?
At some points in the book, it's a tale of how the mercenary world functioned back in the past, which was not something I was too eager to learn about. But there's a digression to the UN peacekeeping forces which I thought was enlightening, especially since they are generally held in high esteem.
At some points in the book, it's a tale of how the mercenary world functioned back in the past, which was not something I was too eager to learn about. But there's a digression to the UN peacekeeping forces which I thought was enlightening, especially since they are generally held in high esteem.
September 17, 2019
True events by personal bodyguard John Geddes as he protects reporters in need of that awesome shot of news footage and everything that happens in between...The Highway To Hell!
January 18, 2021
Surprisingly gripping, entertaining and frank about sketching out a mercenaries' life during this particular war. A rich read for either research or the airplane.
April 18, 2009
There's no way of knowing exactly how many PMCs have been killed in contacts with insurgents, because it's not in the interests of the companies who hire them to advertise a body-bag count, and back home dead men don't attract any political attention if they weren't killed in the uniform of their country.
Have you ever wondered what it's like in Iraq? I mean this question very, very literally. Have you ever heard or seen a news report and started thinking about day to day life over there? This book will give you a decent idea. Also, it's awesome.
It's pretty obvious they were going to mallet Saddam and his boys whatever [weapons were found:], so once they'd decided to do that, the intelligence effort should have been going into discovering what his long-term plans for retaliation were. If they'd just taken the time to look under the mattress, Western intelligence would have found an insurgency long planned and waiting for activation. Instead of that, they were looking for political excuses and a weapons program that may never have existed.
John Geddes is an ex-British-special-forces officer who now works for (and runs) a private security contractor in Iraq. Mainly, that means bodyguard work, riding up and down the "Highway to Hell" with media crews and other ex-soldiers. Geddes has a great head on his shoulders, and won't write about anything he doesn't know, but as a veteran of the Falkland war, the Bosnia conflict, and someone who's spent years in Iraq, he knows a hell of a lot. No, it's not high literature, but it is absolutely fascinating.
Did Saddam have weapons of mass destruction or didn't he? Everything I've heard on the intelligence grapevine in Iraq suggests that he actually did, but in the nick of time he moved them across the border and handed them all over to the Syrians before the invasion. There are stories of long convoys of Scud missiles being driven to President Assad, which may have marked the end of a falling-out between the Ba'athists of Iraq and those of Syria, where a version of the party also holds power.
There are two more things about the insurgents that you should understand. The first is that they are courageous and tenacious fighters who are worthy of respect. The second is that they can't shoot for shit and inevitably fall when sustained and accurate fire is brought to bear on them.
You see, while the British PMC philosophy in Iraq roughly follows the theory of "No one shoots you if no one sees you" a lot of the American PMCs go for something more like "Here's my head; my arse will follow."
And from the short but incredibly, chillingly informative advice section (helpfully titled, "A Note of Advice to Wanna-be War Reporters"): Most media people do their background briefing in detail and will have boned up on a country's politics, geography, and culture before they get to the airport, but remember to think about surrounding countries. Get entry visas for as many of the neighboring countries of the one you're assigned to as you can. They could prove lifesavers if you have to pull off a hurried exit strategy, and you never know when a situation might spill over and you'll find the story has moved across a border.
Personally, I like the shooting kit we cadged and foraged in those early days. A lot if it was Soviet gear. Such gear is immensely robust and durable, with an inbuilt serviceability, which means the mechanism of an AK-47 will still fire if you fill it with sand and leave a cleaning rag inside it. ...Perhaps more importantly in the context of Iraq is the fact that the Warsaw Pact kit generally packs a heavier punch because the preferred Russian approach to warfare, developed in hellish campaigns against the Nazis, is not just to kill your enemy but to blow a hole through him so that you can see his comrade behind him.
Have you ever wondered what it's like in Iraq? I mean this question very, very literally. Have you ever heard or seen a news report and started thinking about day to day life over there? This book will give you a decent idea. Also, it's awesome.
It's pretty obvious they were going to mallet Saddam and his boys whatever [weapons were found:], so once they'd decided to do that, the intelligence effort should have been going into discovering what his long-term plans for retaliation were. If they'd just taken the time to look under the mattress, Western intelligence would have found an insurgency long planned and waiting for activation. Instead of that, they were looking for political excuses and a weapons program that may never have existed.
John Geddes is an ex-British-special-forces officer who now works for (and runs) a private security contractor in Iraq. Mainly, that means bodyguard work, riding up and down the "Highway to Hell" with media crews and other ex-soldiers. Geddes has a great head on his shoulders, and won't write about anything he doesn't know, but as a veteran of the Falkland war, the Bosnia conflict, and someone who's spent years in Iraq, he knows a hell of a lot. No, it's not high literature, but it is absolutely fascinating.
Did Saddam have weapons of mass destruction or didn't he? Everything I've heard on the intelligence grapevine in Iraq suggests that he actually did, but in the nick of time he moved them across the border and handed them all over to the Syrians before the invasion. There are stories of long convoys of Scud missiles being driven to President Assad, which may have marked the end of a falling-out between the Ba'athists of Iraq and those of Syria, where a version of the party also holds power.
There are two more things about the insurgents that you should understand. The first is that they are courageous and tenacious fighters who are worthy of respect. The second is that they can't shoot for shit and inevitably fall when sustained and accurate fire is brought to bear on them.
You see, while the British PMC philosophy in Iraq roughly follows the theory of "No one shoots you if no one sees you" a lot of the American PMCs go for something more like "Here's my head; my arse will follow."
And from the short but incredibly, chillingly informative advice section (helpfully titled, "A Note of Advice to Wanna-be War Reporters"): Most media people do their background briefing in detail and will have boned up on a country's politics, geography, and culture before they get to the airport, but remember to think about surrounding countries. Get entry visas for as many of the neighboring countries of the one you're assigned to as you can. They could prove lifesavers if you have to pull off a hurried exit strategy, and you never know when a situation might spill over and you'll find the story has moved across a border.
Personally, I like the shooting kit we cadged and foraged in those early days. A lot if it was Soviet gear. Such gear is immensely robust and durable, with an inbuilt serviceability, which means the mechanism of an AK-47 will still fire if you fill it with sand and leave a cleaning rag inside it. ...Perhaps more importantly in the context of Iraq is the fact that the Warsaw Pact kit generally packs a heavier punch because the preferred Russian approach to warfare, developed in hellish campaigns against the Nazis, is not just to kill your enemy but to blow a hole through him so that you can see his comrade behind him.
December 6, 2008
A quick read after starting to read it in the library whilst looking for something to read to kill 30 minutes of time. Decided I had to take home and finished - was up late last night finishing it.
An exciting but scary and depressing read about life as a Private Military Contractor (PMC) - some call them mercenaries but it's really more of a guide/bodyguard with guns and a strong sense of whats going on.
The author paints a realistic view about the chaos,danger and the monetary rewards that is happening in Iraq.
Interesting to see that George Bush also reckoned (and announced) the war was over in May 2003 - unfortunately I don't think anyone mentioned this to the people in iraq. Most people seem to have forgotten that this "win" was declared - yet the bloodshed continues and our troops are still over there.
An exciting but scary and depressing read about life as a Private Military Contractor (PMC) - some call them mercenaries but it's really more of a guide/bodyguard with guns and a strong sense of whats going on.
The author paints a realistic view about the chaos,danger and the monetary rewards that is happening in Iraq.
Interesting to see that George Bush also reckoned (and announced) the war was over in May 2003 - unfortunately I don't think anyone mentioned this to the people in iraq. Most people seem to have forgotten that this "win" was declared - yet the bloodshed continues and our troops are still over there.
March 9, 2015
I really struggled with this book. It was hard to reconcile my interest in the story and the events, with my dislike of mercenaries. Given that it is written by a participant not a writer the story is quite good. I thought there was good insight into those locals who assist the mercenaries and the trouble they bring down upon themselves because of what they do. I can see how the mercenaries would piss the military and the locals off in equal measure - but I can also see that they have a job to do because no one else is providing the service. I hate that they are earning so much money for what they do, but then can see how some of them might actually earn it. What a shame that all mercenaries can't be screened not only for their technical skills but their morals and virtues.
May 17, 2009
I generally avoid war books/movies because they tend to be cliché and gratuitously gory. Not so with Highway to Hell. Written by an English private military contractor (a former SAS man; comparable to the Delta Force on this side of the pond), it's full of delightful understatement and Britishisms. He makes a very strong case for how much more effective the mercenary army in Iraq is than the national armies of the US and other allied forces-- with the exception of one company called Blackwater and a few other unnamed PMCs who behave similarly. In general, a fascinating look at a world that I never really knew existed.
October 3, 2011
My only complaint about this book is that there's not more of it.
A fascinating look at Iraq from the perspective of a private security contractor in the war zone. X-SAS officer John Geddes provides security for business men, media reporters, and the occasional insane tourist. He tells his story in the relaxed conversational way that veteran's tell their war stories. There's plenty of Bruce Willi blow 'em up movie type action, but there's also unique boot-on-the-ground insights on not just the war and the military participants, but the history of the Sunnie and Shia conflict and the UN's less than stellar track record in war zones.
A fascinating look at Iraq from the perspective of a private security contractor in the war zone. X-SAS officer John Geddes provides security for business men, media reporters, and the occasional insane tourist. He tells his story in the relaxed conversational way that veteran's tell their war stories. There's plenty of Bruce Willi blow 'em up movie type action, but there's also unique boot-on-the-ground insights on not just the war and the military participants, but the history of the Sunnie and Shia conflict and the UN's less than stellar track record in war zones.
July 26, 2012
I stumbled across Highway to Hell in the bookshelf and figured, looks interesting, I'd give it a read. The amount of detail and insight into the PMC situation in Iraq struck me as most intriguing - particularly because the author isn't American and I'd never heard anything about the PMC market before.
For anyone interested in recent and/or current military conflicts involving mercenaries, Highway to Hell offers a first-hand account which isn't exactly presented in best-seller prose but interesting none the less.
For anyone interested in recent and/or current military conflicts involving mercenaries, Highway to Hell offers a first-hand account which isn't exactly presented in best-seller prose but interesting none the less.
January 4, 2011
Once you get over the horrible editing and pacing, you'll be surprised by this book. It lays out plain and simple, why mercenaries are such an integral part of life in everyday Iraq after the war "ended." It's a good look at the thought process of a Private Military Contractor, and if you can get past the coarse language and insults, you'll find a cautionary tale and an interesting take on the future of global military operations.
Read
August 4, 2011Some really interesting, enlightening observations about private military contractors in Iraq from one. Esp. about Americans and Blackwater and how trigger happy they are and how they don't even try to fit in but ride around pointing their guns at everybody and shooting up intersections as they drive up. The book is, sounds, dated a bit now but still worth the read esp. if you have read Blackwater or any other books in that genre. Easy reading. Interesting bloke.
January 13, 2009
Interesting look at Private Military Contractor(PMC) in Iraq. Geddes is British, and has nothing good to say about Blackwater, but believes that PMCs will be a fixture for all governments in their military strategy in the future. The book is basically a collection of vignettes from Geddes time in Iraq and Africa.
March 25, 2011
A rather rambling and unfocused book. John clearly knows his stuff and has some interesting stories to tell, but I think an editor was desperately needed to give the book a bit of structure. Also, I don't think the author is quite as impartial to the situations as he makes himself out to be.
April 8, 2013
Took a while for me to get into the book but turned out to be a brilliant book!
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