It's certainly true that the Blackwater employees who killed the Iraqis recently will likely be whisked out of the country, if not fired. As of now no Blackwater employee has ever been tried for killing Iraqis--and it's not likely to start now.

The Bush regime will, if they haven't already done so,, make it clear to Maliki that Blackwater must stay in Iraq--since they protect State Dept bigwigs and others Bush feels tenderly about. The Bush "team" will insist that if Maliki wants US support, Blackwater cannot be terminated. In fact, since US troops are to be--slowly--leaving Iraq, the call will be for more, not fewer, security contractors. But Blackwater can be criticized, the Bush regime will imply to Maliki-- -and criticism has already garnered Maliki some support.

As to Maliki getting "lippy" and therefore being removed--not likely. Bush has put all his cards on Maliki--and there's no one else who'd have any better luck in holding together an artificially cobbled-together country (put together by Europeans) which is falling apart more every day.

If Maliki does by some chance insist on the termination of Blackwater's contracts, that will be the end of Mr. Bush's excellent adventure in Iraq--and the retreat to "Kurdistan" will follow.