i couldn't have chosen a better word than

"murky" myself. the article uses it in the context of blackwater employee's legal standing but i'm using it ALL AROUND. they are "murky". the company is "murky", the individuals are "murky", their purpose in the universe is "murky". what sort of man (i'm guessing 99.9% of those deployed by blackwater are men. i could be wrong but i don't think so) wants to be a soldier of fortune? the answer is i don't know. i DO know i don't want to share a bed with one of 'em

(whose fault is it if blackwater's actions are ummmmm less than above board? well ultimately it's the king and his court. but as we all know they're made of teflon and shite and NOTHING sticks to them)

U.S. Security Contractors Open Fire in Baghdad
Blackwater Employees Were Involved in Two Shooting Incidents in Past Week


By Steve Fainaru and Saad al-Izzi Washington Post Foreign Service

Employees of Blackwater USA, a private security firm under contract to the State Department, opened fire on the streets of Baghdad twice in two days last week, and one of the incidents provoked a standoff between the security contractors and Iraqi forces, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
A Blackwater guard shot and killed an Iraqi driver Thursday near the Interior Ministry, according to three U.S. officials and one Iraqi official who were briefed on the incident but spoke on condition of anonymity because of a pending investigation. On Wednesday, a Blackwater-protected convoy was ambushed in downtown Baghdad, triggering a furious battle in which the security contractors, U.S. and Iraqi troops and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters were firing in a congested area.........

...........Blackwater's security consulting division holds at least $109 million worth of State Department contracts in Iraq, and its employees operate in a perilous environment that sometimes requires the use of deadly force. But last week's incidents underscored how deeply these hired guns have been drawn into the war, their murky legal status and the grave consequences that can ensue when they take aggressive action.............