The Moyock-based mercenary firm Blackwater USA has had a bad week. First, its employees shot into a crowd of Iraqis on Sunday, killing at least 11 people. A preliminary report by the Iraqi government states that "the murder of citizens in cold blood in the Nisour area by Blackwater is considered a terrorist action against civilians just like any other terrorist operations."

Now Blackwater is being investigated for shipping illegal weapons into Iraq. Today the News and Observer reported that

Two former Blackwater employees have pleaded guilty in Greenville to weapons charges and are cooperating with federal officials investigating Blackwater, based in the tiny town of Moyock in North Carolina's northeastern corner.