KEY POINTS:
When two United States Air Force officers were crashed into by a blacked-out SUV driven by a bearded man in civilian clothes, they raced off fearing a terrorist attack.
A little later while stuck in traffic, the driver approached the officers, both lieutenant colonels, screaming and threatening abuse. There followed a scuffle, with weapons pointed and clicked as the Air Force officers beat and finally subdued the man.
That's when their troubles really began. The man turned out to be a mercenary employed by Blackwater USA, the secretive private defence organisation with close connections to the CIA and the Pentagon.
Charged with assault, the officers came to the brink of being kicked out of the military. There were allegations of witness tampering, attempted bribery, falsified evidence and doctored documents by the civilian contractor.
The case, which has just been dismissed, is the latest in a series of lawsuits between Blackwater and enlisted men, or their surviving families. It is part of a growing battle over the lack of oversight of US and British mercenaries in war zones.
As the US prepares to begin withdrawing its armed forces in Iraq, contractors like Blackwater are moving centre stage, providing more and more of the core fighters deployed by the US, but with the advantage of deniability and lack of accountability when things go wrong.
The kidnapping of five Britons from Iraq's Finance Ministry in Baghdad included four bodyguards employed by Canadian security firm GardaWorld, another contractor that operates below the radar of direct military supervision.
Today there are about 50,000 mercenaries operating in Iraq. They escort convoys, train the Iraqi Army, guard diplomats and interrogate prisoners. They operate in a legal twilight zone fostered by the Bush Administration, while enabling the US military to remain as slim as possible.
But four years into the Iraq war little is known about how they operate or what their rules of engagement are.
Since Iraq the US has become dependent on armed mercenaries and it has done so without any formal oversight by Congress or even, it appears, the military.
One of the grisliest episodes in the war in Iraq was the killing of four American civilian contractors in Fallujah after they were overcome by an angry mob in 2004. The image of their charred bodies strung up from a bridge was among the most disturbing of the war.
But for the families the torment has continued as they still do not know why their husbands - employees of Backwater - were sent out without enough protection to escort a convoy of empty trucks. They are suing Blackwater alleging that the men should have had fully armoured vehicles and a rear gunner to protect them. Blackwater is countersuing the families for US$10 million ($13.26 million), saying that they have violated contracts that forbid the men or their estates from suing the company. So far, Blackwater is winning and the families have been forced into arbitration.
Blackwater's de facto victory over the families may make it a bit more difficult for companies to recruit.
"Lots of young men and women are tempted to leave the military and make lots of money as a contractor," said Scott Sillman who runs Duke University's Centre on Law, Ethics and National Security.
"Now they may want to talk to somebody first."
With deep roots into the military and close links to the White House, Blackwater is one of the US's largest private security companies but has lost about 900 contractors in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Blackwater's lead lawyer told a Congressional inquiry that the four men killed in Fallujah were appropriately equipped on the day of their fateful mission, the mother of one, Scott Helvenson, disagreed: "They did not have heavy weapons. When Scott asked for a map of the route he was told, 'It's a little too late for a map now'."
- INDEPENDENT
