Readers of this story should keep in mind that the US has maybe 140,000 troops in Iraq PLUS maybe 140,000 or more mercenaries - - at an absolutely staggering cost for the unfortunate US taxpayers. Readers should also bear in mind that a soldier paid $40,000 or $50,000 can quit the army, join the mercenary force, and the cost to the taxpayer then inflates from $40 to $50 thousand, to $500,000. Per year. Per soldier/contract private security agent.

Another good piece by Jeremy Scahill on the mercenary company Blackwater.

I'm not quite sure what the story is here. The author, who has written a book about Blackwater, seems desperate to keep Blackwater in the news. His writing style is VERY bias, actually taking away his credibility as an analyst. He sounds like he has an ax to grind.