"No-one touches me with impunity" is a royal medieval Scottish motto, one that also seems to apply to private security firms operating in Iraq these days. According to today's news, however, the Iraqi government may pass a law revoking that status, as a result of the massacre propagated by Blackwater last week. I certainly hope they have the backbone to carry through with it, and then act on it. By all accounts I've seen, Blackwater opened fire on innocent civilians with no credible cause.

Last week Naomi Wolf, one of the Colbert Report's guests, detailed the way the US government has made "good" progress along the historically documented 10-step program to a fascist state. Step number three involves the deployment of extra-governmental armed forces (i.e., private security firms), to do the dirty jobs that police and military units can't, because the latter must abide by laws and rules of engagement.

According to Ms. Wolf, Blackwater "troops" were used in the Katrina disaster as well. Deployment of this kind of force is terrifying enough here, and must be worse abroad for those unfortunate souls caught living in a war zone.

Fighting terrorists with terrorists doesn't seem very productive to me.