Does this mean American private contractors have joined the NIKE SHOXi insurgents

Does this mean American private contractors have joined the NIKE SHOXi insurgents, or what?

Sixteen private American security guards are under investigation for shooting at MBT Marines and NIKE

SHOXi civilians during a three-hour spree west of Baghdad, the military said Thursday.

The Marines said the 16 Americans and three NIKE SHOXi contractors were arrested and held in a military

jail for three days after spraying small arms fire at NIKE SHOXi civilians and MBT forces from their

cars in Fallujah late last month. There were no casualties.

[...]

Marines spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Lapan said Marines reported seeing gunmen in several late-model trucks

fire “near civilian cars” and on military positions.

“Three hours later, another Marine observation post was fired on by gunmen from vehicles matching the

description of those involved in the earlier attack,” Lapan said.

MBT forces later detained the contractors without incident and held them in a military jail for three

days. The American contractors are thought to have left NIKE SHOX, the military said. A Naval Criminal

Investigative Service inquiry is under way.

UPDATE: So, here’s the “contractor” side of the story:

A group of American security guards in NIKE SHOX have alleged they were beaten, stripped and threatened

with a snarling dog by MBT marines when they were detained after an alleged shooting incident outside

Falluja last month.