Making a Killing: The Explosive Story of a Hired Gun in Iraq

by James Ashcroft

In the tradition of Andy McNab's Bravo Two Zero comes an explosive insider's account of life as a private soldier in Iraq. In September 2003, James "Ash" Ashcroft, a former British Infantry captain who served in West Belfast and Bosnia, landed in Iraq as a gun for hire. It was the beginning of an 18-month journey into blood and chaos. Ashcroft provides a firsthand view of the secret world of private security where ex-soldiers employed to protect United States and British interests can make up to $1,000 a day. He also reveals a new kind of warfare where the rules are still being written; although hostilities are officially over, the fighting goes on. Scores of U.S. soldiers die every day and Coalition Forces struggle to defend their own bases, let alone bring order. The death of every insurgent killed only recruits a dozen more to fight Western forces.

Genres: Military Fiction, Nonfiction, War, History, Autobiography, Military History, Middle East

242 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Making a Killing gets a quick 4 Stars for an entertaining and thoughtful account of a former British Army captain who takes a job with a private security contractor in Iraq shortly after the invasion is over. Starts out in Oct 2003, just before the Iraq insurgency starts really building. "Ash" is traveling with another new hire into Iraq from Jordan for the first time:
We carried on talking threats and tactics.

We began spotting potential enemy positions overlooking the highway, and vehicles that could have been full of explosives parked on the side of the road. We overtook a taxi crawling along under its heavy load.

‘Look at that fucker, the wheels are scraping the arches.’

‘He must have a ton of Semtex on board,’ I replied. ‘And he’s cunningly disguised the bombs as a family of twelve.’

‘Suicide bombers,’ said Les knowingly, ‘fresh from Gaza.’

‘Don’t make eye contact -’

‘Too late. Ally Akbar, KABOOM!’

Mohammed winced and drove faster.

Ash and his fellow new hire are going through all the admin to get on board. Wives and/or girlfriends are a topic:
We added our signatures on various contracts and filled in bank details for our salaries. We had both gone through the complicated process of setting up US dollar offshore accounts, which is not as easy as you might think and had hardly seemed worth the effort at the time. Now we were in Iraq, it was eminently sensible. We also signed insurance policies. The monthly premiums were paid by Spartan. If I got greased Krista would get £250,000.

‘Best not to let her know that,’ Jacky said. ‘She can hire a hitman here to take you out for a hundred dollars.’

‘For fifty I’ll do it myself,’ said Les. ‘Bit of all right, is she?’

‘Don’t even think about it,’ I said. ‘She’s got taste.’

I guess we were becoming mates.
Ash is tasked to lay out a training range near their base. A couple of South African members of his team are along for security:
I got up bleary eyed and carried on my job as an infantryman building a four-sided range out on the farmland to the south. This was where our new recruits in the guard service would be training and for now I was supervising an Iraqi bulldozer, a ‘shovel’, the locals called it, into completing twenty-foot-high sand berms. Hendriks and Etienne were tasked with security, but seemed to have different ideas on strategy. Etienne was standing on top of the berm like a tourist.

‘Why are you fokken standing up there silhouetting yourself?’ demanded Hendriks.

‘I am trying to draw fire so I can shoot the bastards. Why are you hiding down there?’

‘Man, I’m waiting for you to draw fire so I can shoot someone.’

Spartan gets a contract to protect the vital water lines. The Iraqis are wary of doing business with the coalition and especially the Americans. The Brits and French…no problem:
We scored a lot of points announcing that we were there to keep the water flowing not rob the country of its oil.
‘And they are British,’ added Sammy, standing to attention.

The old men nodded wisely like magistrates and Ibrahim had a slight look of distaste as Sammy spoke. This was a mixed area, but there were more Shia, like Ibrahim, than Sunni. Yet all of the sheikhs in the room were Sunni.

I am not sure why being British always helped. Hadn’t we and the French raped and pillaged Iraq before the Americans got in on the act? Whatever the reason, as Iraqis moved into administrative posts to prepare for the handover from the Coalition Authority to an elected Iraqi government, there were many officials who refused outright to deal with Americans. As soon as we identified ourselves as Brits, the tea was laid on and we’d discuss the pros and cons of Manchester United versus Liverpool and the chill weather before getting down to business.

The Iraqi obsession with courtesies was impressive. Even when trying to obtain information from a site under attack, I would always have to earnestly answer that I was fine, that my family’s health was fine, that all of us expats were very well indeed; then I’d have to ask the guard commander how he was, and how his wife and children were, before slipping in, ‘By the way, I hear that you are currently under attack, how many men are shooting at you?’ It could be trying at times, but these exchanges were fundamental to the Iraqi character and, when they weren’t trying to kill you, the people were friendly and good-natured.

The daily pleasantries occupied a lot of time, particularly first thing in the morning, and this drove Americans crazy. Hey, what the hell is this? Can we cut to the chase? They wanted to do things the American way.
Training Iraqis to take over simple guard posts has its challenges, especially after insurgents attack some of the water infrastructure:
I arrived at the office straight into a mess of contacts from the previous few nights. Our guards at Site Juliet had been unable to return fire because they had shot all their bullets weeks ago after Iraq beat Portugal at football, but had been afraid to request more ammunition. At Site Bravo, they had sold their ammunition and at a third site, Golf, they did have ammo but had not wanted to fire back on contact since they recognised the attackers as cousins of two of the guards and didn’t want to start a feud. We were still working out whether or not to pay compensation to the families of four guards killed at Bravo because, although they had died on duty, they had been killed in a shoot-out inside the site, feuding with each other.
The second morning I found myself having to draw up yet another radio training package after a more serious mortar incident overnight at Site Alpha. Radios had been lost when guard vehicles had been hijacked and we were sure that the enemy listened in on our radio traffic. Sure enough, that night the guards ended up correcting enemy fire on to their own position, i. e. one mortar bomb landed way off target, not surprising as it was pitch black, the enemy had set up one kilometre away and was using the lights of distant radio towers as aiming markers.

‘Help, Alarm! They are shooted mortars at us! It explosions 500 metres to the south.’ Thirty seconds later another bomb landed, closer.

‘Help! This explosions only 200 metres away, they are come closer, but now to the south and the east!’ I could just picture the insurgent listening to the radio and adjusting the dials on his mortar. Thirty seconds later five bombs hit the compound directly on target.

‘Help! They are killing us! The explosions shoot directly the building! Fire is everywhere!’ Thirty seconds later, fifteen bombs hit the compound, again exactly on target, and the enemy withdrew.

Normally during emergencies no one could hear the call signs under contact because two of the guards on more powerful base stations would be overspeaking everyone chatting about what they had for dinner, or someone would find it really cool to press transmit and hold his walkie-talkie next to the car radio so we could all listen to his favourite song.
The perils of working with the Iraqis:
Major Razak came in looking gloomy with his report that morning. First, Nabeel, his driver, had been arrested for carjacking. He had confessed to twelve car thefts and four murders. He had been driving around in our vehicles with our weapons permits, a shame because he was a damned good driver. Next, the road to Site Delta was currently impassable since a benzene pipe alongside it had been hit the day before. The insurgents had not done that much damage but the repair crew had. Although they were in the middle of a large lake of petrol mending a pipeline full of residue petrol and fumes, this ‘experienced’ repair crew failed to take any precautions. As soon as the welder sparked up, the fumes and then the lake ignited and exploded in a huge fireball. The locals estimated it would be at least 24 hours before the tarmac had cooled and re-solidified enough for us to use the road.
Interesting to hear what Ash has to say about the news coverage and what Iraqis have to say about Abu Ghraib:
Coalition Forces, and particularly the Americans, received a lot of negative reports in the press and on TV. I was disappointed to see that the insurgents often came off in a sympathetic light. The prime example was coverage of the siege of the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf, where Moqtada al-Sadr and the active remnants of the Mahdi Army were holed up. Constant TV coverage forced the CF and the Iraqi National Guard (ING) to pussyfoot around outside because they were afraid of offending people by attacking such a holy place.

The correspondents never showed that al-Sadr had been using this holy of holies to store ammunition and weapons. Security forces were kept outside during negotiations and, while CNN and Sky News showed the terrible conditions the defenders were forced to live in, the Mahdi Army rounded up policemen, councilors, local elders, and even Shi’ite clerics who had made the mistake of denouncing al-Sadr. Away from the cameras, inside the mosque, these innocent men were beaten, tortured, sentenced in al-Sadr’s courts, then garroted, beheaded or shot. When the siege lifted the Iraqi National Guard discovered more than two hundred bodies piled up in rooms.
During this time, dozens of people died after kidnaps, beatings and torture including Dublin-born Margaret Hassan, married to an Iraqi and an aid worker living in Iraq for thirty years. Her body has never been found. But the murder of Margaret Hassan and many other innocent people was overshadowed in the world news by the torture of Iraqis in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison by Americans. When our Iraqis saw the photos they agreed this was terrible behaviour, but said by no means was it torture. They had lived under Saddam and all had stories of real cruelty involving eye gouging, gang-rape and power tools.

Moyed, Colonel Faisal’s driver, took off his shirt to show us holes in his armpits where he had been hung on meathooks and beaten for disobeying orders in the army. When the news came out that the prisoners were being released from Abu Ghraib, the local village elders were horrified. ‘These are bad people! Just kill them instead,’ was the typical suggestion.
Early on, Ash didn’t think much of the US Forces. Later on, his opinion changed:
When I guided 1st Cav units around Baghdad, in one of the contacts the soldiers had refused to fire because they didn’t have clear targets, and again in another because the fire was coming from a mosque and they preferred to sit it out and trust their home-made armour. That was never reported, but I suppose ‘American Soldier Doesn’t Shoot Mosque’ doesn’t make a good headline. Nor did I see much publicity about the children used as camouflage for suicide bombers, or even as suicide bombers as in the case of one poor child with Down’s syndrome and another in Kirkuk who was only ten years old. The enemy had learned how to use the press as another tool. No one seemed to query why so many journalists and press teams, even Americans, were now being released after being kidnapped. It wasn’t out of mercy, because often their Iraqi drivers would just get slotted by the side of the road, instead the insurgents realised the importance of staying on the right side of the press.

I was just as much a victim of press bias as anyone. I had arrived in-country believing the propaganda that the CF were trigger-happy thugs, and although that was unfortunately true in some cases, the overwhelming majority turned out to be professional, dedicated and sympathetic soldiers doing a tough job under extremely difficult circumstances. I now had the utmost respect for all of them.
Iraqis can’t accept the chaos after the invasion isn’t intentional:
They thought America was unarguably the most powerful country in the world. The Iranians had fought against Iraq for eight years and had been beaten, at least from their point of view. The Americans had walked through them in three weeks. There had been an anti-aircraft unit on the base where Colonel Faisal had flown from. He told us that the gunners didn’t have to activate their radar scanners to attract hostile American aircraft. Even turning on the equipment to run a diagnostic check was enough to have radar-seeking missiles dropping out of the sky.

It was inconceivable to them that such a powerful country could let Iraq crumble into medieval anarchy with hundreds of thousands of people living with no utilities, fuel, food or medical aid. Not through incompetence. To them it was a deliberate plan, orchestrated to punish the Iraqi people. They had no doubt of that, and just wanted to know how much they needed to be punished before this time would end.

Trying to explain ground truth to “leadership”, a US Colonel asked Ash for assistance in preparing a briefing:
He had asked for my input for a briefing to a two-star general about insurgent threats and we had ended up having a vigorous discussion in the Embassy chow hall. I refused to call it an argument because that implied two opposing but informed views, and as far as I could work out Colonel Hind was woefully ignorant. The problem was he insisted on lumping together all enemy forces under the politically correct title of AIF or ‘Anti-Iraqi Forces’.

I tried to explain that the situation was more complex than that. Much of the rural ‘AIF sabotage’ against infrastructure targets was carried out by the very same tribes hired as guards in order to extort more money. When the sheikhs demanded more money to ‘hire more guards’, the biggest mistake was to pay them. The situation would quieten down again until either the sheikh wanted even more money, or the neighbouring sheikhs were furious that they were being paid less. Then, all the tribes would be out blowing pipelines and claiming that they needed to hire more guards. We knew who was blowing up the pipelines because (a) insurgents would not wander into tribal areas because the tribes would kill them and (b) the inexperienced tribesmen often blew themselves up setting the devices

There are few things more tragic than going to a village to inspect corpses who are ‘strangers I have never seen before’, when the sheikh is after reward money for killing dead terrorists, and all of the grief-stricken women and half the men are there weeping and having to be pulled back from the bodies of the ‘strangers’. The only solution was to penalise the sheikhs and deduct payments if any…
Finally leaving Iraq for the last time with a buddy:
‘Tell you fucking what, mate, I’m fucking not ’appy about this fucking next bit. Fuckin’ Route Irish, mate, the most dangerous road in the fucking world,’ Dai said with relish and lit up a fag. ‘Last trip out after a year in Dad’s Bag, I tell you, mate, we’re bound to get fucking walloped.’

‘Well, it’s all right for you, isn’t it? I mean you’re Welsh and butt ugly. I’m the one that’s going to get it.’

‘Fucking ----.’

‘I mean it, it’s the Hollywood ending. Good-looking hunk gets it, while his beautiful, pregnant girlfriend and small child are waiting for him on Christmas Eve. I don’t stand a chance. Ally Akbar KABOOM.’

We both laughed.

And then I became deadly serious. ‘Mate, you’re not going to smoke that in the wagon are you?’

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a easy yet entertaining book. It takes a look at the Iraq war from a somewhat outsiders point of view through the eyes of an ex-British officer, John Ashcroft, hired as a private security defense contractor. The main body of the story is about some of his more exciting actions and experiences in Baghdad which are well expressed and vividly written. Weaved into the stories he gives his opinion on the failings of the American Government as well as the bias representation in how the war was handled and covered by the media. The book lightly touches on the relationships of the different Iraqi groups throughout the country from the tribes to insurgents and the perceived feelings of the inhabitants about the occupation. In the end it is just one man's opinion based on his experiences, but having lived it first hand his opinion is far more educated then of those sitting on their couches getting info from CNN or Fox News either praising the American liberators or cursing the Tyrant Bush. He had many well thought out points and it was a pretty well written book that is easy to follow.

[Myles Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the early to mid 2000's, Private Military Contractors/Companies(PMCs) were a very prevalent part of the conflict in Iraq, specifically Baghdad. The media portrayed these "mercenaries" as ruthless privatized killers, who traded blood for money. Making a Killing simply and accurately showcases the lifestyle and motives of someone who was a PMC, James Ashcroft. This memoir of Ashcroft's time working in Baghdad, mostly around The Green Zone, or the center of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Set in 2004-2006, Ashcroft tells of his and his fellow contractor's exploits in what at the time was known as the most dangerous place on Earth. This novel also gives a unique point of view on topics such as international politics, war, different cultures, and variety of different subjects from an educated hired gun. Overall, if you are a person fascinated with the life, concept, or structure of private military, I highly recommend this book.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining easy read that gives an insight into daily life for a PS team in Iraq and dispells the popular bleeding heart myth that PSC,s are no more than mercyless blood thirsty killers, willing to work for the highest bidder. Like the idea of private security contractors in war zones, or not, they have a conscience and they earn their pay.

[Angus McLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining with plenty of action and insight into the reality of the scene in Iraq in 2003-04.
Huge risks, huge pay and big thrills for those that were there. Probably he made it through such an intense time without the team experiencing a real tragedy, given the environment they worked in.
Well written and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting a look inside a PMC team in Iraq at that time.

[Kelvin Agboh · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading "Blackwater", I wanted a first hand account from a merc on the ground. This is is a no nonsense and at times quite touching account of a former soldier turned contractor working in Iraq just after the war had officially ended. I liked it a lot and would definitely recommend.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I got kinda caught up in the Blackwater (trial) thing, so I read this to see what they were doing over there. Pretty informative.

[James Piper]

I found it an interesting read. So much behind the scene action of mercenaries in Iraq.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastically written book. No over egoe'd bombastic wannabe wrote this book. It's plain to see that James Ashcroft is a thoughtful educated ex-officer from the British armed forces not some hyped up fool with a gun and a whole load of weak and helpless people to destroy because they believed all the bullshit their government leaders spout. Ashcroft towards the end of this book sums up totally how the British & American forces were involved in a war without truly knowing the reason. and the reasons they were given are so much bullshit.
I highly recommend also reading Ashcroft's follow up book (Escape from Baghdad) - which is Sammy's story after the events of this book. Another high speed, high adrenaline read.
Basically we see that Iraqi while under the boot of Saddam was at least mainly at peace. Now, it's a hot bed of civil war and uncertainty. Another pawn in a game of religious madness and tribal stupidity.

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, this!

This is the true story of a former soldier, turned white collar worker who turns his back on a steady, stable job to go to Iraq as a contractor working for Spartan.

The book gets straight into the action, unlike many of the military books I've read over the last few years, it doesn't dawdle over the author's life before the army.

It's non-stop action, well written as well.

If you're into your military books, especially about Iraq / Afghanistan then I can recommend this book.

[Bjorn Hardarson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know I do not understand Iraq and I believe many of the things are true Michael Moore says. Making a killing gives a true real insight into post war status in Iraq has been. Captain James Ashcrot "Ash is a mercenary (is that what the call it?) a part of contractors in Iraq playing bodyguard to press and et.c. Lots and lots of dollars are being spent on the problem USA made in Iraq and there is no stop in the problems, riots and...

[Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are 70,000 Private Military Contractors (or PMC's) in Iraq now with at least 30,000 in active combat. Though personally, the idea of private armies scares the crap out of me, there are many reasons why it also makes sense economically and politically. This book is a memoir of a British PMC who writes about the good and bad intentions of good and bad people in Iraq.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intense read full of emotion

[Newfad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutally honest account from a brave man who knows what hes talking about. Great to read some good, honest reasoning as to why things unfolded as they did and why the mainly US coalition forces just didnt connect with or win the hearts of the beleaguered Iraqis. Ashcroft speaks plain common sense in what often was a terrifying and desperate environment. Paid well but deserving every Dinar, Ashcroft was in deep and yet still did his utmost to understand and communicate with the local population in what must have often felt like a futile situation. Made me proud to be British - which is a rarity atm. Thankyou.

[Aleksandrs Safronovs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This page-turner goes down like a pint on Friday, too bad it lacks a journalistic angle. A one-sided memoir, this account is rather illuminating, if prejudiced look at the conflict.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay.

The book is best when the author describes the street level day to day life of a security contractor. His description of navigating between the Coalition Authorities and the Iraqis, the types of jobs his group handled (guarding visiting journalists, maintaining security of a water treatment plant) as well as the type of personalities who are drawn to the industry are interesting.

The book loses something when the author vents his frustration about the overall war in Iraq. The book is filled with frequent asides and criticism of US policy and tactics. As a military professional his insights into US tactics and the siutation on the ground in Iraq are interesting, his views on geopolitics do not rise much above dining room/bar room debate. You may agree/disagree with his observations, but you are not likely to hear anything insightful or that you have not heard repeatedly on the news.

[Alejandro Shirvani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lively and interesting insight in to the life of a private military contractor which reveals what the situation was like on the ground in Iraq during the first year or so after the invasion when the situation gradually deteriorated and went out of the Coalition's control. James Ashcroft is honest and articulate, a soldier doing an honest job. Lots of action scenes and detail on coming in to 'contact' with insurgent attacks as well as the difficulties in training and trusting the Iraqi guards they were trying to prepare to maintain security after they had left.

[Chloe Thurlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most important and informative books to come out of the Iraq so far. By describing exactly what's going on 'on the ground', rather than behind the bomb-proof barriers of the Green Zone, Ash Ashcroft brings us a clear picture of the day to day life in Baghdad where ordinary people are trying to weave a path among the terrorists, troops and private security forces fighting over their city.