State Dept. Blocks Review of Mercenary Army

The State Department is being evasive about its plans to run an army of private contractors in Iraq after the U.S.military withdraws. The department is using a team of 5,500 private soldiers to provide security for its diplomats, but they keep blocking inquiries by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction into how exactly they've assembled their team, saying it's out of his jurisdiction. Congress may be preparing to intervene. A bill written by the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week includes a provision instructing State to let the Inspector General audit their Iraq operations.