Guards Held to Military Rules; Asked to Sign Documents

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Byline: Sharon Behn, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Even before the State Department's announcement that rules for contractors would be tightened, private security guards hired by the Pentagon for Iraq were being asked to sign documents subjecting them to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and other rules.

"Everyone is jumping through their [expletive] since the Blackwater stuff came out," said one private contractor working for the Pentagon in Iraq's Anbar province.

"The [contracting officers] turned a blind eye on a lot of this required government paperwork for armed contractors. Now everyone is scrambling to get things at least looking correct," he said, on the condition that his name not be used.

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