The US is widely quoted has having 100,000 civilian "contractors" in Iraq. Many of them are performing duties which probably belong to the military, such as guarding convoys of military supplies. The contractors are extremely expensive, but using them enriches Halliburton, et al., and they do not show up on the rolls as military personell.

Now, however, they are apparently being used as direct combat forces. The article says they were "responding".

"Contractors shot execution style, officials say. 4 of 5 Blackwater employees shot after crash; fighting flares in Baghdad."

"The helicopter was shot down after responding to assist a U.S. Embassy ground convoy that came under fire in a Sunni neighborhood in central Baghdad, said a U.S. diplomatic official in Washington."

There is a certain legitimacy in these cruel and inhuman executions. Bush has stressed to the max the concept that civilians in combat in a war zone do not have any rights. Historically, combatants out of uniform have limited protections, if any.

A new low.

Arf