Ah, to be an American mercenary in today’s world. Yeah, you get shot at, but you get ridiculously high pay, no adult supervision, and if you do wrong, you don’t get punished.

This is quite an article which outlines how screwed up this merc system has become.

Immunity Deal Hampers Blackwater Inquiry

The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month’s deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

The immunity deal has delayed a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 killings and could undermine any effort to prosecute security contractors for their role in the incident that has infuriated the Iraqi government.

“Once you give immunity, you can’t take it away,” said a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

State Department officials declined to confirm or deny that immunity had been granted. One official _ who refused to be quoted by name_ said: “If, in fact, such a decision was made, it was done without any input or authorization from any senior State Department official in Washington.”

UPDATE: The Justice Dept unofficially now says the the State Dept. has no authority to grant immunity, but that the case may be tainted and prosecution difficult or impossible because they were told they had immunity before talking. Everybody act confused while the Blackwater guys slip out the back entrance!