Guns, Girls, and Greed: I Was a Blackwater Mercenary in Iraq

Written by Morgan Lerette

Narrated by Jay Mohr

Guns, Girls, and Greed is an unvarnished, behind-the-scenes, tell-all account of the scathing and dangerous life of mercenaries at war in Iraq.

Experience the world of private contractors conducting high-threat missions for a nascent Iraqi government in the hopes of rebuilding after the fall of Saddam Hussein. With limited support, the men of Blackwater protected US diplomats as the country descended into sectarian violence. It was a hazardous mission complete with rockets, mortars, improvised explosive devices, and not knowing who or where the enemy was.

Morgan Lerette’s irreverently honest memoir shows the good and bad of injecting private armies into active combat zones in the name of diplomacy and digs deep into the bonds of brotherhood created by war. With gut-wrenching tragedy, dark humor, and parties that make Animal House seem like a Disney film, this memoir offers a firsthand perspective on how men act and react in war.

Lerette, a private contractor employed by the notorious Blackwater in the early days of the Iraq War, pulls no punches in calling out the incompetence of both the US military and the Department of State during the collapse of Iraq. You can decide if the insertion of private contractors in Iraq assisted or detracted from the war effort and if the costs in blood and treasure were worth the carnage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798892730464

Morgan Lerette

Morgan Lerette was first deployed to Iraq in 2003 to provide security for the first aerial supply route in Iraq at Tallil Air Base, which was the staging point for the Jessica Lynch rescue. He joined Blackwater in 2004 and was sent to Iraq to protect diplomats. He participated in hundreds of combat missions protecting the Regime Crimes Liaison Office, which gathered evidence for the trials of Saddam Hussein. He completed his undergraduate degree in 2007 at Northern Arizona University and is commissioned as an Army Intelligence Officer. In 2009, he deployed to Iraq where his team fed reports to Chelsea (Bradley) Manning that were given to WikiLeaks. He left the army as a Captain. Morgan received a Master’s of International Banking and Finance in 2013 at Tufts University. Lerette assisted the FBI in convicting Matt Marshall of fraud in 2022 by debunking his “proof” that he worked for the CIA.

Reviews for Guns, Girls, and Greed

[Joe Windham · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brutal raw honesty. Thank you for sharing Morgan. I'm an Army Chaplain deployed right now and I wasn't offended. Love the truth.