There is more than a little confusion at the moment over the status of the Blackwater personnel, who shot dead 17 Iraqis. It is reported, albeit unofficially, that they have been granted immunity.
These reports have infuriated the Iraqi government, as they accuse the men of murder and want to try them in Iraq, and has put further strains on the relationship between Iraq and the US.
The Iraqi government has been demanding that the Blackwater guards be handed over for trial, since the deaths on 16th September.
State department spokesman, Sean McCormack, has refused to confirm the reports of the immunity deal. However, he said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had tried to ensure "in as much as we are able, that if people broke the rules or broke the law, that they're held to account".
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, is not mincing any words on the matter; he has described the shooting as a "criminal act". To pour further petrol on the fire, an inquiry by the Iraqi interior ministry concluded the security guards were "100% guilty".
The head of Blackwater denies the killings were unprovoked, insisting his men had been fired upon.
A mess by anybodies standards.
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