Private Guards Fire on Taxi; Three Iraqis Hurt, Police Say

I'll just ask this: Isn't it pretty clear mercenaries aren't a good idea?

Two men and a woman were wounded Thursday in a quiet Kurdish village in northern Iraq when guards from a British security company raked a crowded taxi with automatic weapons fire, local police said. It was the third shooting of Iraqi civilians by a private security firm in the past month.

A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said the guards were employed by Erinys International. The British firm provides security for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under a contract that has paid the company about $175 million since 2004, $125 million more than originally budgeted. The contract is set to expire next month after Erinys failed to win renewal.

Via WaPo.