In recent years, the U.S. military has grown increasingly dependent on private contractors. From servicing equipment to training indigenous forces to providing security, contractors are now deeply woven into the fabric of American warfare. In Iraq, there are now more private contractors than non-U.S. foreign forces.

How did contractors become...

So far as I can tell, no one in this administration has denounced the new wave of oppression, as one would have expected them to have done. Why the silence?

What happens when U.S.-backed dictators around the world die?