During yesterday's Senate hearing on government oversight of security contractors, an interesting tidbit emerged. In his prepared testimony, Fred Roitz, executive vice president of contracts and chief sales officer for Xe (a.k.a. Blackwater), disclosed that his company, through its subsidiary Presidential Airways, evacuated a congressman from Niger during a recent military coup.

That caught the eye of Mother Jones reporter Daniel Schulman, who decided to figure out who, exactly, the congressman in distress was.

Turns out it was none other than Rep. Alan Grayson, the Florida Democrat who has made his reputation by going after military contractors. Irony alert! Grayson spokesman Todd Jurkowski confirmed that Grayson was spirited out of the country on a Xe helicopter, and offered this statement to Schulman: "The flight was arranged through the State Department ... The congressman did not know, and frankly did not care, who owned the plane.”

If anything, this little episode further underscores some wisdom from our pal Peter Singer. Contractors: Can't win with 'em, can't go to war without 'em. Or more precisely, can't have diplomatic security without 'em.

As I've noted here before, the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security – which would have the lead in protecting members of Congress traveling outside the country – has relied heavily on outsourcing. Blackwater/Xe has (rightfully, in many cases) come in for a lot of criticism, but very few questions seem to be raised about the "customer," i.e., the federal government.

[PHOTO: Grayson.house.gov]