From Holden:

Did the left side of the blogosphere miss this or am I the one who is out of the loop?

Emails seen by The Observer reveal that employees of Blackwater Security were recently sent a message stating that ‘actually it is “fun” to shoot some people.’

Dated 7 March and bearing the name of Blackwater’s president, Gary Jackson, the electronic newsletter adds that terrorists ‘need to get creamed, and it’s fun, meaning satisfying, to do the shooting of such folk.’

Human rights groups said yesterday that the comments raised fresh questions over the role of civilian contractors operating in Iraq and other world flashpoints.

‘We are very concerned about the increased use of security companies, there needs to be more inspection and regulation of these companies,’ said a spokesman for Amnesty International.

[snip]

‘All of us who have ever waited through an hour and a half movie, or read some 300 pages of a thriller, to the point when the bad guys finally get their comeuppance know this perfectly well,’ says the opening address of the six-page bulletin, which The Observer believes to be authentic.

Called Blackwater Tactical Weekly, the newsletter was sent to environmental activist Frank Hewetson as well as the firm’s staff. Last year Hewetson was offered a job by Blackwater with a salary of up to £85,000 plus health benefits to work with its ‘military crisis operations support team.’ Although he declined, Hewetson remains on the firm’s database.