So much for the provincial reconstruction teams

I think the notable bit is not so much the what, as the why.

The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials throughout Iraq, except in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.....

"This suspension is in effect in order to assess mission security and procedures, as well as a possible increased threat to personnel traveling with security details outside the International Zone," (said the State Dept. memo.)

The acts of a contractor have so poisoned the waters that the State Dept now feels that any personnel leaving the Green Zone with contractor security faces "a possible increased threat."

How does that effect the broader "hearts and minds?"

Related: (NYTimes) "A preliminary Iraqi report on a shooting involving an American diplomatic motorcade said Tuesday that Blackwater security guards were not ambushed, as the company reported, but instead fired at a car when it did not heed a policeman’s call to stop, killing a couple and their infant.....

“The traffic policeman was trying to open the road for them,” he said. “It was a crowded square. But one small car did not stop. It was moving very slowly. They shot against the couple and their child. They started shooting randomly.”"