[sandgk]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeMike80

Disagree all you want, but I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. the UCMJ is meant for military members, not civilians and not contractors.

That's good, it's a stupid decree, but it still won't be retroactive nor should it be.

Although anyone who breaks the updated law will be deported at worst.

Originally Posted by SanAntonioBuck

Yahoo!

Worth revisiting this issue in light of a recent development:


U.S. Charges Contractor at Iraq Post in Stabbing

The American military has charged a contractor with assault in a case that may emerge as a major test of the military?s legal jurisdiction over civilians who accompany the armed forces into the field, military officials and legal experts said Friday.
The charge was made under expanded authority that the United States Congress provided the military to crack down on contractor abuses. It is the first time since 1968 that a contractor has been charged under military law.
While the exact scope of the new authority has yet to be tested in court, experts said there might be some circumstances in which it could be interpreted to apply to security contractors, like those supplied by Blackwater.

As for Blackwater itself - 1-year contract renewal ...

which could be canceled at any time.

Starr said that Blackwater's contract could be pulled at some future point, depending on what the FBI and an internal State Department inquiry conclude. He would not predict whether that is likely, and he said he has no information about when the FBI might act.