Fresh Air, P.W. Singer and John Murray

By: Terry Gross

Narrated by: Terry Gross

P.W. (Peter) Singer, security analyst at The Brookings Institution and writer and physician John Murray on this edition of Fresh Air. P.W. Singer is an Olin Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and Coordinator of the Brookings Project on U.S. Policy towards the Islamic World. He is also the author of the new book, Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry. Over the last decade, private companies have provided tactical support, advice, training, security and even intelligence to the military. In the recent war against Iraq, private military employees handled everything from feeding and housing U.S. troops to maintaining sophisticated weapons like the B-2 stealth bomber. The practice raises troubling ethical questions. John Murray has written a new collection of short stories, A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies. Many of his stories are informed by his experiences as a doctor with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemic Intelligence Service when he traveled to developing countries like Burundi, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Murray is also a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. (Broadcast Date: July 9, 2003)Want more Fresh Air?

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