With the end of the combat mission in Iraq, we have our next big reporting project: who’s getting those security contracts from State for Iraq? How long do they last and for how much money? What oversight measures will State’s congenitally dysfunctional Bureau of Diplomatic Security provide?

In a Reuters article on Sunday, we see yet another call from Hamid Karzai’s government in Afghanistan for the disbanding of US private security firms. It is undisputed that these firms represent a huge destabilizing presence, as seen by the small riot that ensued in Kabul on July 30 when a vehicle driven by DynCorp personnel was responsible for the deaths of four Afghans in a traffic accident. But in calling for the disbanding of US security contractors, is Karzai promoting peace or simply consolidating businesses controlled by his brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai?