So what's the story with those silencers Blackwater was smuggling into Iraq? I put the question out to readers who might know more about firearms and/or the private contracting biz. And the verdict seems to be that there's not necessarily any reason to think there's something amiss. Why Blackwater was bringing them into the country without declaring them is a separate issue. But in terms of why they might want them, a number of readers suggest that with modern weapons the use of a 'silencer' can simply be a matter of getting the decibel level of the discharge down to a level that doesn't damage the shooter's ears and/or allows him or her to still here orders at the same time.

I don't say this is necessarily dispositive. But initial information suggests it's not as suspicious as it might seem to a layman.