Kerry's Words Suddenly Matter

Senator John Kerry's doing a lot of new posturing against Blackwater, saying the State Department should not renew its contract to provide high-end personal protection services to US officials - including visiting senators and congressmen - in Iraq.

“The era of Blackwater must finally end. The incoming Obama administration can proceed with the knowledge that even the Bush administration acknowledges that outsourcing overseas security to private firms like Blackwater is a mistake,” Kerry says.

Kerry's words matter now, because the Massachusetts senator is replacing Vice President-Elect Joe Biden as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which authorizes the money for the State Department to pay Blackwater.