I don't know how I missed this article on Blackwater and all the taxpayer money it wastes in exorbitant wages and profits. Plus, there's this little gem about military wages: An unmarried sergeant given Iraq pay and relief from U.S. taxes makes about $83 to $85 a day, given time in service. A married sergeant with children makes about double that, $170 a day. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad overseeing more than 160,000 U.S. troops, makes roughly $180,000 a year, or about $493 a day. That comes out to less than half the fee charged by Blackwater for its senior manager of a 34-man security team. Is that pay "to each according to one's needs?" What is this, the Red Army?