We’re Here To Make A Difference, Say Contractors Who Risk Life In Baghdad

Taken from the Times, UK, June 4, 2007
By Deborah Haynes

Mortar bombs, rockets and the threat of kidnapping are daily risks faced by hundreds of Western consultants in Baghdad who offer advice and expertise to the fledgling Iraqi Government.

Far from the promise of a fat pay cheque at the end of each month, many of these people say they choose to do the job because they believe their input can make a difference.

The kidnappings last week of a British consultant and his four security guards serve as a grim reminder of the price paid by these experts pay when things go wrong.

“I am not here for the money, I am not here as a mercenary and I am not running away from a broken life somewhere else,” said one Western consultant, who offers government ministries advice on management skills such as how to create IT systems.

“I am concerned about the state of things and the impact on the Middle East and I am worried about US relations with this country. I felt a moral obligation to come because of my relevant expertise,” said the consultant, who has worked in the region for the past 15 years and unlike most lives in the city beyond the green zone.

Another consultant, a Briton who specialises in helping governments to learn basic project management skills and has lived in Baghdad’s fortified green zone for three years, said that his team “really feels we owe it to Iraq to help build back their country”.

He continued: “You are building a government from scratch and the bureaucracy to support that government . . . but it is small steps. It is hard enough to do that in a stable environment. When it is extremely unstable it magnifies the problem 100 per cent.”

Trips by foreign consultants into the “red zone” – namely the rest of Baghdad – have nearly always involved some form of security detail, but the escalating violence since 2004 has reduced the number of places they are able to visit.

Restrictions on movement will likely become tighter still after the abduction of the IT consultant and his security team, who were snatched in daylight from a Finance Ministry building last Tuesday.

“Since the events of last week we have taken additional security precautions. The situation is monitored daily and we take the advice of our security teams,” the British consultant said.

The security threat has slowed progress on training and consultancy projects at the ministries.

It has also prompted many educated Iraqis to flee the country in search of a safer life abroad.

Those Iraqis who continue to work at government offices face an even greater risk from an insurgent attack than their Western counterparts as they are more exposed and few have full-time protection.

“I have nothing but admiration for the resilience and moral strength of some of the Iraqis I work with,” the British consultant told The Times.

Western advisors have been helping with reconstruction in Iraq since the invasion. After ministries regained sovereignty in 2004 the consultants were kept on to implement reconstruction efforts funded by coalition governments and aid organisations.

As a result, trips to ministry offices to train staff or meet Iraqi officials are an important part of the job, despite the dangers.

Foreigners working in Iraq also have the burden of the emotional strain placed on family and friends at home.

The Western consultant said he would consider leaving if abductions became more frequent but added: “I am not going to give up yet. There have been a few occasions when I have been nervous but those are less than you might think. I wouldn’t be coming back if the risks were too high.”

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The rebuilding of Iraq is a must BUT when the rebuilding is done using Iraqi money by allied countries who destroyed Iraq in the first place then something smells really bad and to not call the employees of these private companies MERCENARIES will be unjustified. Lets get it straight - People are there for the money. If these people felt sorry for Iraq and wanted to rebuild it then they would do it for free through various humanitarian organisations. I doubt anyone would feel sorry for them if they met their end.

A lot of money has been invested in Iraq but have disappeared through administration. Most of the companies in Iraq have received favouritism to do the contractual work. Contractors have been given special immunity from prosecution that even the allied troops don't have. Oil has regularly been smuggled out of Iraq from positions guarded by these contractors - lets be honest - did we expect anything less?

Recommended reading:
Independent, UK - The security industry: Britain's private army in Iraq