“The State Department’s mismanagement of security contractors in Iraq has had deadly consequences, and thankfully the Pentagon is taking over a job it should have had from the beginning.

“Protecting diplomats outside war zones should be the job of the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. But in cases like Iraq and Afghanistan, where government convoys require helicopter escorts, armor, platoons of body guards and tailgate gunners swiveling .50-caliber machine guns, the term ‘diplomatic’ seemed absurdly out of place.

“These are military operations, and the State Department has been out of its depth, as was obvious on Sept. 16 when hired gunmen from Blackwater USA fired on civilians in Baghdad. Seventeen Iraqis died so U.S. diplomats could conduct a meeting. But the problem didn’t begin there. Such contractors have repeatedly engaged in controversial behavior in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“These troubling signs suggest that a broader realignment of responsibilities is in order. It’s time for the State Department to stop protecting its contractors and start defending the interests of American taxpayers. If its mismanagement continues, Congress should consider removing the department from the contracting business altogether.”

— Dallas Morning News, “Pentagon right to take over contractor oversight,” on Monday

“Nancy Nord, the acting chairwoman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, doesn’t want the U.S. Senate to give her agency more employees, more money or more authority. She made that clear in a long letter she sent last week to the leaders of the Commerce Committee.

“That’s a novel approach for a federal government official, and in most cases it would be welcome. But in this case, it’s wrong. Nord’s agency has been decimated by staff cuts and hamstrung by rules that limit its ability to warn people about dangerous products.

“The CPSC Reform Act, introduced by Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., attempts to change that. But Nord seems intent on thwarting the effort.

“The legislation is far from perfect. The CPSC can’t handle the duties it has now, but the Pryor bill would give it the additional job of protecting whistleblowers from retaliation by their employers. Investigating workplace retaliation should be left to the Labor Department.”

— Chicago Tribune, “An odd concept of safety,” on Saturday