Xe Day 2009

Has anyone written an essay about the misery that deja vu yields? Because:

Four U.S. contractors affiliated with the company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide fired on an approaching civilian vehicle in Kabul earlier this month, wounding at least two Afghan civilians, according to the company and the U.S. Army.

The contractors were off duty, apparently. One of these dudes had been drinking. Why not just give the Taliban money and guns and say, “On second thought, you guys care more about the Afghan civilian population after all”?

For that matter, what will incoming commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal say about contractors in Afghanistan? Does “The Pope” consider them holy? (Sorry.) As Iraq commander, Gen. David Petraeus considered it problematic for contractors like Blackwater Xe to be outside the military chain of command.

Update: For more fun with Xe — including lawsuits, racism and ‘false imprisonment’! — see Noah Shachtman.