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SCOTT HORTON?A Protection Racket |
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Contributed by Scott Horton
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?The core of the relationship is simple,? a U.S. diplomat described the State Department?s dealings with Blackwater USA. ?They protect us, and we protect them.? In fact, incidents involving security contractors in Iraq occur regularly?firearms are discharged every day, and a few times a week lethal force is used in questionable circumstances. The total number of security contractors is officially acknowledged to be 30,000, and may be a bit more than that. And there are a dozen significant players in the game, companies from the United States, Britain, South Africa?even Russia. But until last weekend the issue had not really captured the imagination of the American media. At present there is a strong focus on Blackwater, which has drawn more attention than its competitors. . . .
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