They used to call them mercenaries. Retired soldiers, wanna-bees, and those who want to walk around looking like Dog "The Bounty Hunter" Chapman. They used to work in Rhodesia; now they wear mirror sunglasses, carry M-4's, and work in Iraq for exorbitant salaries.

Not surprisingly, there are no records available of how many private contractors are currently working in Iraq, and even today, the Administration cannot provide a list of how many companies they've hired. Various DoD estimates are "around 160,000, with 50,000 engaged in private security." The cost is equally vague – except for the cost to the United States in reputation and credibility.

Most of the contractors work in the chow halls or build housing or drive the honey wagons to pump the heads, or some such job that frees up our military for more important assignments. That was the initial intent of hiring contractors, and it could have been a good one. Be it catering, logistics, or sanitation, these companies have their own areas of expertise, and it allowed the Marines and Army to put more troops in the field. A few companies hired former military and provided armed private security. Companies like Blackwater, DynCorp, and Triple Canopy provide armed security for everyone from Ambassador Crocker to the huge food convoys running north from Kuwait to reporters needing bodyguards.

But like too many other incidents with this Administration, there is no oversight and no accountability. Under J. Paul Bremer, the CPA issued a rule that gave any Coalition contractor immunity from anything they did while in Iraq, as well as immunity under American law. The American military is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice; the contractors are subject to nothing; It was private contractors who gave the orders to those poor Army schooks at Abu Ghraib; the contractors went home; the enlisted men (and one woman) went to jail. It might be fair to say that the private security contractors are out of control.

While 99.9 percent of the contractors are honorable men and women who work hard for a reasonable salary; Blackwater USA seems to operate in their own shadowy world. Prior to last weeks' incident where they killed 17 civilians, Blackwater has had to fire 122 people over the past three years for problems ranging from misusing weapons, alcohol and drug violations, inappropriate conduct, and violent behavior, according to a report released today by a congressional committee. According to the report, Blackwater has had more shooting incidents than DynCorp and Triple Canopy combined.

Blackwater has fired one-seventh of their Iraqi workforce, a ratio that should questions about the quality of the people they hire.

The report, prepared by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, also says:

• Blackwater has been involved in 195 shooting incidents since 2005, or roughly 1.4 per week.
• In more than 80 percent of the shooting incidents, called "escalation of force," Blackwater's guards fired the first shots even though the company's contract with the State Department calls for it to use defensive force only.
• In the vast majority of instances in which Blackwater fired shots, Blackwater fired from a moving vehicle and did not remain at the scene to determine if the shots resulted in casualties.
• Blackwater was paid to ‘up-armor' their vehicles, but instead pocketed the money and sent their employees out in soft-skin vehicles.

When you fire almost 15% of your workforce within 2 years, the problem is not a few rogue employees; it's hard to not conclude that the issue is most likely a rogue company.

Since the Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad's Nasoor Square, Blackwater officials continue to insist that their guards were responding to fire from "armed enemies." Yet an extensive file including documents, maps, sworn witness statements and a police video, put together by the Iraqi National Police, appears to contradict Blackwater's version of events. The Iraqi National Police (not known for either objectivity or professionalism) have provided a report to American military, State Department, and civilian officials which concluded that the Blackwater vehicles "opened fire crazily and randomly, without any reason." 

The incident has strained American – Iraqi relations to the point that a special FBI team was dispatched yesterday to handle the forensic and investigative parts of the incident. This will not be swept under the rug in a similar fashion to when the drunken Blackwater employee shot and killed an Iraqi Government security guard inside the Green Zone on Christmas Eve. (The employee was hustled to the American embassy and flown home the next day; no charges were filed against him).

Iraqi officials have long chafed at what they perceive to be arrogance on the part of American contractors, and the fact that they are not technically subject to any local laws. Blackwater's convoy tactics include hurling bottle of frozen water at car windshields or side-swiping private Iraqi cars as a method of "traffic control." It's hard to win the hearts and minds of the local Iraqi with such tactics.

The Marines and Soldiers in the field work too hard and too long with the local Iraqis for these sort of tactics to be allowed to continue. Blackwater claims that they recruit only SNCO's and higher, along with only Marine Recon, Navy Seals, and Delta Force operatives. Such claims dishonor these groups, whose skills include specialized training in local relations.

Erik Prince's Blackwater – prior to the GWOT – earned less than $ 1 million annually, but now the company's revenue has grown one thousand fold. Impressive performance, no doubt.  If only his corporate culture had kept pace with the professionalism and competence of the special operations communities from which Blackwater employees supposedly come.