And our hired killers used to be so honest...

Do your best to feign surprise at today's Washington Post article about two ex-Blackwater employees who have come clean about the private security firm's systematic defrauding of the US government during its time in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two former employees of Blackwater Worldwide have accused the private security contractor of defrauding the government for years with phony billing, including charging for a prostitute, alcohol and spa trips.

That's right, kids. Why stop at the occasional unprovoked massacre when you've got a shot at some full-bore war profiteering? And as much fun as peppering unarmed mud people with automatic weapons fire and embezzling hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money might be, think of the chicks...

The Davises assert that Blackwater officials kept a Filipino prostitute on the company payroll for a State Department contract in Afghanistan, and billed the government for her time working for Blackwater male employees in Kabul. The alleged prostitute's salary was categorized as part of the company's "Morale Welfare Recreation" expenses, they said.

This, for me, is the truly revelatory portion of the article. As far as I'm concerned, prostitutes are now 100% tax-deductible. And just in time for this year's filing period!