At a hefty fee too. What upsets me more is that these mercenaries have better armor than some of the troops in the Army wear. If you were a hammer, you'd be hitting the nail right on the head. I just saw a program about that.

No, I do not. I think they use them because we have to. Before you go bashing us for using them here's some things you might not have thought of. Using Mercenaries goes back to Greek times and every military out there uses them. Not just us. Everyone of those insurgents is pretty much a mercenary and they're doing far worse things then even Blackwater. The media just doesn't like to focus on that because it doesn't sell as well as focusing on the few bad apples on our side does. The second is that our governement is using them to avoid having to reinstate the draft. So if you don't like us using them then you'd better sign up so we don't have too. What I think has happened is the same thing that's gone on through out this war plain old mismanagement and incompentence of those in charge so that the unscrupulous pretty much have free rein. It would be one thing if these men were under the full supervision and control of our commanding officers, but they're not. They're are contracted by us to do a job and we pretty much leave them alone till they screw up. They also do not have the training or the discipline of our soliders. They're body gaurds and we're utilizing them in away we shouildn't be. There's the real problem.

no, they'll commit atrocities with or without them.

If the government is using Mercenaries, such as Blackwater, and the public has knowledge about it, how in the world can they really have deniability? CNN, The Times, and other news reporters have repeatedly issued stories about Blackwater activities, and it's well known that we're using that particular group in Iraq. So, if that's the case, how can the government really not be held accountable? They're the one's paying the bankroll, and we know it. At this point, the Government doesn't have deniability no matter what it does. It's committed far too many atrocities and stepped all over the constitution far too many times for it to regain it's integrity.

No they have a rough and dangerous job and certainly takes the pressure off of our troops in doing similar jobs...Plus were not paying for it...Their bodyguards that's all and most all the atrocities come during attempt on their lives, what about the "atrocities" against them?

LEt us be reasonable, you can bash Bush about the war, etc., but Blackwater is a private company hired by private contractors to protect their people. They are not mercenaries of the US military. We have to stop with all the insanity and start looking at reality on some level no matter how much you might hate policies of the government. Next we will hear that Bush is actually a member of Al Qaeda and Bin Laden is Cheney's long lost son. Just stop with the nonsense.