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Yesterday I sort-of-wanly wished that rumors of Blackwater’s exit from Iraq might (all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding) somehow “signal the coming end of contractor horrors as a theme in the news.” A nice flowahy thought — but, um, as to its fruition: not so much. Today, three stories show how far we are from any such relief. Let me dispense with the two Blackwater-related ones first, then on to a Wall Street Journal stunner.

For starters, McClatchy’s Warren P. Strobel reports that, according to U.S. officials, Blackwater is “likely to be eased out of” guard-duty over U.S. diplomats in Iraq:

While no decisions have been finalized, Blackwater’s role in Baghdad is likely to be taken over by one of two other contractors who provide security for the State Department in Iraq, the officials said. They are Triple Canopy and DynCorp International.

“There will be some sort of disengagement process, but it won’t be that they’re shown the door,” said a State Department official. “As one builds down, another builds up.”

(Like that switch from “stands” to “builds”? I think it’s cute. Anyhow,) Blackwater’s current $834 million contract with State runs out in May, according to Strobel, but

[i]t’s unclear whether Blackwater employees in Iraq could simply switch employers. And, according to congressional officials, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security service argues that it cannot operate without the helicopters that Blackwater provides for escort and rescue efforts.

Ah, Air Blackwater . . . Strobel’s story also mentions a weird tale that rates a headline all of its own from the AP, so I swear I’m not making this up: Two years ago, it’s said, Blackwater made off with two of Iraq’s military aircraft and wouldn’t give them back. No kidding, it’s right here in House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman’s letter (pdf) to Erik Prince:

According to a military official who has contacted the Committee, in 2005 Blackwater attempted to transport at least two Iraqi military aircraft out of lraq. The official stated that the Iraqi Ministry of Defense attempted to reclaim the aircraft, but that Blackwater would not comply. Please provide the Committee with the following information:

16. All documents related to efforts by Blackwater to remove Iraqi aircraft from Iraq and the current whereabouts of such aircraft.

This was one of three letters Waxman fired off yesterday — to Prince, Condi Rice, and Bob Gates — all requesting “further information on Blackwater’s no-bid contracts, additional incidents involving their personnel in Iraq, and payments made to the families of Iraqis killed by Blackwater” (pdfs linked at Waxman’s website). In short, it sounds as if he wants everything they can tell him about Blackwater — including Prince’s own financial take — and he wants it by November 2. (No harm in asking, of course, but given BushCo’s recent “responsiveness” to hot Waxman letters, he might just as well spend his time prepping to trick-r-treat.)

Now I don’t mean to make light of this next story at all, but “trick-r-treat” does echo ironically here. Back in September, I discussed Maj. John Lee Cockerham, who, while working at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, allegedly orchestrated what the New York Times called

the largest single bribery scheme against the military since the start of the Iraq war. According to the authorities, the 41-year-old officer, with his wife and a sister, used an elaborate network of offshore bank accounts and safe deposit boxes to hide nearly $10 million in bribes from companies seeking military contracts.

Now, the last NYT saw of the Cockerhams, they were singing and preaching in prison “at such peace, with such zeal for the Lord that we know this is exactly where we are supposed to be for this short time " (according to the major). Well, today the Wall Street Journal provides free access to a Camp Arifjan-datelined story involving much smaller numbers but no peace or zeal-with-the-Lord whatsoever. This one’s so strange, I urge you to read it in full. Here’s the intro:

Marshall Gutierrez was classic military material, a working-class kid whose father and both grandfathers served in the armed forces.

He joined the Army and marched steadily up the hierarchy, ultimately becoming a lieutenant colonel and chief logistics officer at this sprawling base in Kuwait. His Army record was spotless, and he developed a reputation as a bit of a straight arrow.

So it isn’t surprising how Lt. Col. Gutierrez reacted in 2005 when he discovered signs of rampant overcharging by the Army’s main food supplier for the Iraq war. Bags of Coca-Cola syrup available in the U.S. for about $10, for example, were going for $90. He blew the whistle. That triggered a massive criminal probe of Kuwait-based Public Warehousing Co. that is now raising questions for such major American food companies as Perdue Farms Inc. and Sara Lee Corp., and is shaping up as one of the biggest fraud probes of the Iraq War.

The rest of the story, you’ll find, asks us to believe that this whistle-blowing officer who’d handled multi-million-dollar transactions for years suddenly lost his head, bigamously married an 18-year-old Kuwaiti while his high-school-sweetheart wife was on a quick trip back to the States, asked for a $3,500 bribe from a Kuwaiti businessman, and finally drank antifreeze.

Perhaps he did. Maybe Col. Ted Westhusing shot himself too, perchance no one purposefully silenced Spec. Ciara Durkin, and possibly the Cockerhams enjoy peaceful-zeal-with-Jesus. Who knows, maybe the Iraqis will even wrest that 10% of their air force out of Blackwater’s mitts.

But, friends, I just have my doubts.

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