BlackWater, Ugh

BlackWater, State Dept Sought to Cover-Up Incidents

This Blackwater thing to me is very fucked up and likely been going on (and off) for some time. I know that "war is hell," but these guys seem particularly unaccountable, and well over-paid. I don't think our occupation can be successful if not only are we undermanned and unwanted, but also have a large security presence that is quick to shoot and not to help. Besides the obvious fact that such 3rd party contrators should not even be in a war zone to the large extent that they are, Blackwater has seemingly been allowed to operate under the radar for quite some time. Their actions have largely been ignored until the very recent incident two weeks ago. Surely they are a security force and nothing more, but their behavior should be conservative, not aggressive, and they should be held to the same standards as our soldiers. They are probably undermining many efforts by the soldiers to work with the people. It's an extreme example of how extremely poor this war and resulting occupation has been managed.