Will Sec. Clinton Ban Private Military Contractors?

Over at TPMmuckraker, Justin Elliott remembers that during the Democratic primary, Secretary of State-designee Hillary Rodham Clinton was an enthusiastic advocate of banning private military contractors from “combat-oriented and security functions in Iraq.” The State Dept. that President-elect Barack Obama tapped her to take over has, over the past five years, signed lucrative deals with at least three large security-contractor firms — Blackwater (they of the Nisour Square massacre), DynCorp and Triple Canopy. So, Elliott asks: will Clinton end that practice? And if so, who’s going to guard her diplomats in shooting-war places like Iraq and Afghanistan?

Neither Clinton’s Senate office nor the Obama transition has responded to him yet. If nothing else, it’s a good pair of questions at Clinton’s confirmation hearings.