Panel probes lawless Blackwater contractors

? A Senate investigation accuses the Army of turning a blind eye when a Blackwater subsidiary hired violent drug users to help train the Afghan army and declared “sidearms for everyone” even though employees weren’t authorized to carry weapons.

The findings by Democratic staff on the Senate Armed Services Committee paint a picture of lawlessness that contributed to the May 2009 shooting deaths of two Afghan civilians and fed anti-Western sentiment in the region.