It's one thing for a city or county to "privatize" some services, whether it be mental health care or trash collection or supervision of parking decks -- though some who've tried it have found it's not always a good idea. But it's quite another thing when the private employees are taking on core responsibilities traditionally assigned to the military. Yet the United States has for some time been relying heavily on private contractors such as Blackwater Worldwide, which handles security for diplomatic personnel in Iraq and also conducts training operations at its facilities in the States.

The Bush administration has been resistant to most questions about its clumsy handling of this war. At last, however, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in response to Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, is asking some pertinent questions of top military leaders.

Webb's office, the Associated Press reports, released a memo from Gates to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gates wants to know why the military relies on private contractors for "combat-related security training." And he asks the chairman if the military can be "comfortable" with the practice and the implications of it. Certainly there is a risk that tangled lines of oversight may blur accountability.

The contracts are enormous in some cases. Webb wants "more rigorous, senior-level oversight" of the contracts, which have to go over $78.5 million before they are reviewed by the secretaries of the Army, Navy or Air Force. That is too high.

Gates also wants to know what percentage of military training is done by private contractors and how much has been spent on it in the last decade. Further, whose training doctrine is in control -- the U.S. government's or that of a private company, possibly run by people who have their own ideas about what amounts to smart and proper conduct? Information is a good place to start. And it's about time.