If a candidate for Congress in a Democratic primary visits Iraq, he'd better conclude it's a hopeless mess if he knows what's good for him. Jared Polis, who's running in Colorado's 2nd District, wasted no time reaching this verdict on a recent trip, even topping one e-mail with the title "Iraq is worse than we thought."

Not only worse than "we" thought, Polis went on to say. Worse than "the media portrays" it. Which is almost difficult to imagine.

Still, not all that Polis said about his trip was of such predictable tenor. His take on contract employees, for example, was detailed and interesting (title: "Inside a Private Mercenary Compound in Iraq"), if also lurid and breathless. "America's use of mercenaries is even more widespread than reports indicate," he wrote. "Peruvian, Angolan, Ugandan, South African, Chilean and other corporate-employed mercenaries man most of the military checkpoints."

Since returning, Polis has vowed that if elected he'll sponsor a bill banning the use of "mercenaries" in combat roles.

Reading Polis' melodramatic musings (replete with such comments as "I think it likely that there will be a mutiny from within the lower ranks of contractors," and "I couldn't help but feel that the armed mercenaries would just as soon shoot me as not shoot me") you might be inclined to discount his overall impression. But in fact he is hardly alone in being struck by the large number of foreign-born private guards (it's a stretch to suggest they're "mercenaries" in the classic sense).

Marine Col. Steve Ward of Littleton, who is a Republican state senator, confirmed as much when I asked him last week. E-mailing from Iraq, Ward said that yes, the foreigners "are ubiquitous. Guarding our compounds at internal and external checkpoints. In Fallujah, the guards are from Uganda. In Baghdad, they hail from Peru. Others handle many computer networking issues. Indians . . . serve food in the chow hall. Turks cut hair in the barbershop. Not sure who works the laundry."

Although it's "inaccurate to call them mercenaries because they are not conducting offensive operations," Ward said, their numbers are "worrisome enough."

"Who is making sure the contractor is paying his employees?" he asked. "Where is their loyalty? . . . Many do not speak English. Literally. Especially in Baghdad at the embassy and palace compound. This is potentially dangerous."

Ward noted, however, that "There are many other American civilian contractors as well. Computers, construction and maintenance, heavy engineering projects such as electricity and water for the camps, etc."

And to be fair, he added, "There are many things that civilians do better and more efficiently than service members. However, we seem to have taken privatization - and perhaps globalization - to a disconcerting level."

By the way, Ward believes the situation in Iraq is better than the media has portrayed it, not worse. But since we don't know what Ward and Polis read or watch, it's hard to know if they really disagree on that point, either.

Uncomfortable assurances

After Attorney General John Suthers concluded last week that state workers will enjoy a right to strike once organized by unions under Gov. Bill Ritter's plan, the chief of a major local made a curious claim.

"We're thrilled with the executive order," said Mitch Ackerman, president of Service Employees International Union Local 105. "We have no plans to draft any legislation" seeking more power to bargain with the state.

Now, this is curious because that's not what Ackerman's boss was saying a few weeks ago. Four days after Ritter's regrettable move last month to empower unions, the SEIU's international president, Andrew Stern, reached an agreement with two other major public employee unions to jointly organize state government. That agreement states at least twice the unions' desire for "collective bargaining legislation." (In the other instance it's referred to as a "collective bargaining bill.")

The unions may be thrilled with the executive order, but they won't be satisfied until they have taxpayers entirely at their mercy. So while such legislation might not surface this year, it's hardly off the agenda.

Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.