Hello Everyone,

In the news.....
"...Blackwater said Friday it will no longer operate under the name that came to be known worldwide
for private security, dropping the Blackwater name for a simple identity: Xe, which is pronounced
like the letter "z."

The decision to give it up underscores how badly the Moyock-based North Carolina company's brand
was damaged by that incident and other security work in Iraq. In a note to employees, president Gary
Jackson said the name change reflects the company's new focus, and he indicated Xe would not actively
pursue new security business.

The 2007 shooting in Nisoor Square involving Blackwater guards left at least a dozen Iraqi civilians dead.
Late last year, prosecutors charged five of the company's contractors — but not Blackwater itself — with
manslaughter and weapons violations. In January, Iraqi officials said they would not give the company a
license to operate. The State Department responded by informing Blackwater it would not renew a contract
that comprises a third of the company's nearly $1 billion in annual revenue...."

Well, I for one am glad that Blackwater is out of the security business. Not that I am against private security
companies but I am against out-of-control companies that operate on the premise that the rules do not
apply to them and their actions have no consequences for them. Blackwater was out of control. Now,
the rumor mills run at full tilt creating anti-Blackwater stories and "incidents" just to pile on negative press
to the point where it's impossible to tell the BS from the facts.

PMC have their place in the world....and they need to realize their place in the greater scheme of things.

Maybe now with "Xe" out of the security business and Blackwater chief Erik Prince having his fortune made
in Iraq, the smoke will clear and the other more reputable PMCs will be able to carry on their missions with
much less visibility in the press.

For the record, I was a Blackwater supporter until the Nisoor Square massacre. It was at that point
that I could no longer defend them and believed then it was time for them to leave the middle east entirely.
I still believe that PMCs should always be answerable to the Military Commander of the Theater of Operations
and that he should have the power to permit or deny PMCs to operate in his zone of authority, regardless of
whether they are guards for another government agency like the State Department.

Respectfully,
Mike W.