RT: In recent years the Iraqi Security Forces have been helping to protect corporate projects in Iraq, for example I spoke to Luay al-Khairullah who was at Dhi Qar's Provincial Investment Commission last year and he said the ISF would provide security for foreign companies. What kind of capability can a company like Al Sajer Security Services bring to the security environment that the ISF might not be able to contribute?
HA: The ISF are responsible for national security but not specifically for individual elements in any particular place. They therefore respond principally to central government priorities in the country and not necessarily to specific individual entities anywhere. Individual security companies are focused on their clients and that is not the mission of the ISF. Security companies are generally more flexible and able to meet specific client requirements than the ISF.
The ISF is subject to changes of mission as directed by the government. Security companies are dedicated to their client requirements, notwithstanding changes in the security and political situations.
When you look at the history of the ISF, it was manned, equipped, trained and organised by the Coalition Forces to perform a defensive mission. The original size was close to 27 Battalions and lightly armored. In time as the security situation deteriorated more troops were needed-- and fast. There were not sufficient funds, training establishments or time to do the job effectively.
Worse still someone in the coalition came up with the idea of recruiting soldiers and officers near the US divisions each from its own area of operations, to compensate for the deficiency in manpower. This meant soldiers who had no formal training & officers with no formal education, but some knowledge of the English language, were recruited.
The security situation deteriorated even further over time and the new ISF were able to rub shoulders with the best of the best, and got first hand training while fighting the insurgency. But at the same time corruption started to creep in and the new army leadership started enjoying the spoils of war. To add salt to the injury there was political reconciliation and militias that belonged to different political parties were inducted into the ISF.
It must be remembered that the ISF perform a role and not a service, private security is a service dedicated to supporting a client’s specific needs and requirements. Private Security Teams and the Military also have conflicting responses when confronted with hostile action. The primary objective of a security team is to extract the client safely and securely without further exposing them to harm.
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