This opinion piece is on the mark except that it gives the agency responsible for supervising the contract--the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Services--a walk as well. And the author just has to use it as a larger indictment of the Bush Administration; he privilege but it dilutes the relevancy of the piece.

A Whitewash for Blackwater?

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, December 9, 2008; Page A19

The federal manslaughter indictment of five Blackwater Worldwide security guards in the horrific massacre of more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad may look like an exercise in accountability, but it's probably the exact opposite -- a whitewash that absolves the government and corporate officials who should bear ultimate responsibility.