CIA Hires Blackwater

The CIA has hired Xe, the scandal-plagued private contractor formerly known as Blackwater, to guard its facilities in Afghanistan and other locations in a $100 million contract, The Washington Post reports. The company, which has changed its name to Xe to ease bad PR in the wake of various controversies, beat out two other contractors, Triple Canopy and DynCorp International. Only one day earlier, a federal commission sharply criticized the State Department for its new $120 million contract with Xe to guard consulates in Afghanistan. An anonymous U.S. official insisted the former Blackwater has reformed itself. The company is still battling investigations into a 2007 incident when its guards fired into a Baghdad square, killing 17 civilians. Its owner, Erik Prince, has put the firm up for sale.