RT: Thinking about southern Iraq, between 2003 and 2008, a major threat to foreign companies and private security contractors would have been the Jaish al-Mahdi. Moqtada al-Sadr has changed his public statements regarding foreign companies a lot recently, first saying that US diplomats and workers would be threatened by his forces, as he said in 2011, "What if the U.S. forces and others stay in our beloved lands? What if their companies and embassy headquarters will continue to exist with the American flags hoisted on them? Will you be silent? Will you overlook this?"
Later, al-Sadr banned his supporters from working with foreign oil companies. More recently, his language has become softer, and he condemned the attack on the British G4S employee in Rumaila. Are Sadr and his followers a security concern in southern Iraq any more, or are you more concerned about some of the smaller organizations such as Kata'ib Hezbollah, or even al-Qaeda (although of course they struggle to operate far south.)
HA: Moqtada al-Sadr has been called by some media “a weathervane” that turns with the wind. Currently it is the winds of the National Election which will take place in April and the Sadrists want to win as many seats as possible. With that in mind they have become a force for peace and reconciliation between the warring factions.
Asaib ahl al Haq has joined hands with the Dawaa Party and hence is out of contention too. That leaves al-Qaeda and ISIS as the main threat for foreign companies plus of course some local Sheiks who threaten for personal gain. As a company that specializes in protection, any threat is a concern. All of our operations are threat assessment driven and we do not overly concern ourselves with the perpetrators of the attack, more the reasons behind it, the methods used and of course whom the intended target is.
It is the threat that dictates a client’s tactical footprint and their ability to safely complete whichever task brought them to Iraq in the first place. Area specific threats are studied before the commencement of operations and a very thorough ground appreciation is made. That tactical understanding is evaluated and the correct levels of protection required to mitigate the threat are supplied to the client.
What is of vital importance is to understand the nature of your client’s business and who will be naturally opposed to them performing it. If any person or group were to make a public statement citing their opposition to a client we were supporting, we would naturally respond to that increased threat by strengthening our tactical profile.
Southern Iraq, compared to other parts of Iraq is fairly benign; however, historically it has been the scene of some of the most severe fighting in Iraq. It is therefore imperative that security operations conducted in the south are given the same levels of support as those launched in areas where the threat is more prevalent.
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