We will have to wait and see if the world’s most infamous mercenary company, once known as Blackwater and then Xe and now rebranded again as Academi, will, as CEO Ted Wright says, focus on “following the rules” and “be a player in the local economy.” Blackwater is known for killing 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. Academi’s biggest challenge will be changing the company’s reputation, or rather, creating a new one.

DON R. YELTMAN

Elizabeth City