Blackwater Kicked Out of Iraq

Since the Iraqis have democracy, military contractor Blackwater was obliged to apply to be licensed by the government before it could continue its security work in that country. But they were not greeted as liberators: Iraq denied Blackwater a license. The State Department has been using them for protection in that country, and will now have to get it from someone else. The firm has been controversial in the U.S. for its lavish no-bid contracts under the Bush Administration and gang-rape accusations against its workers, and in Iraq for killing people: five of its employees are currently up on manslaughter charges for their role in a shootout in Baghdad's Nissor Square that left 17 Iraqis dead.