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Mercenaries or "Contractors"?

One of my big complaints about the American Imperial Propaganda Corps (US Media like CNN, FOX, MSNBC etc.) coverage of the several wars we have going on right now is the sanitized and whitewashed way they present things. My most persistent complaint has to do with the use of the term "Private Contractors" when referring to the mercenary forces we hire to do the really dirty work in Iraq. It was, therefore, a pleasure to see this article in Spiegel Online today, it really is important to get news from sources other than just those directly controlled by the Empire:

BLACKWATER BLACKLISTED

'Whores of War' Under Fire

By Marc Pitzke in New York

Mercenaries have become indispensable in Iraq. But after Blackwater employees killed 11 civilians on Sunday, the government in Baghdad wants them out. The problem is, private security companies operate above the law -- and the US wants to keep it that way.

Mercenaries in Iraq are under fire.
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AFP

Mercenaries in Iraq are under fire.

They were harsh words: Iraq's government speaker Ali al-Dabbagh announced that the Iraqi Interior Ministry had revoked the license of US security contractor Blackwater, adding that Baghdad would "review the situation" of all private security firms.

In addition, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for the government to ban all foreign security contractors in the country. "This aggression would not have happened had it not been for the presence of the occupiers who brought these companies, most of whose members are criminals and ex-convicts in American and Western prisons," al-Sadr said in a statement.

Harsh words, but in the end it will probably turn out that this barking dog has very little bite. Sunday's deadly shootout involving Blackwater -- resulting in the deaths of 11 Iraqis under circumstances that remain unclear -- has prompted some swift diplomatic shadow-boxing: Baghdad blustered and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice personally phoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday night to express her regret. Complete Story here.

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