Executive Protection

Executive Protection

1. Introduction

Threat to life is integral to a competitive society, wherein people, communities, and nations have different and often conflicting objectives. This often results in antagonism and the option of willingly causing bodily harm to another person has increasingly become an acceptable and valid proposition. The twentieth century has been a watershed of sorts in the history of global violence and has been witness to conflict on a gigantic scale. Two drawn out and disastrous world wars, dramatic developments in weapons technology, both conventional and nuclear, the gradual and often bloody evolution of a militarily unipolar society, the depredations of fanatical dictators, and the rise of global terrorism have made the world an infinitely dangerous place.

Nothing illustrates this situation better than the horrific attacks of September 11, when, a group of brilliant and fanatical Islamic terrorists struck dramatically, at 9 in the morning, at the heart of New York City, killing thousands of civilians, and bringing down the Twin Towers, a glorious symbol of American affluence. Osama bin Laden, operating from a remote base in one of the most primitive areas of the world, with the help of a handful of deeply motivated strike soldiers, and a shoestring budget, had been able to do what Rommel's Panzers, Goering's Wehrmacht and Hirohito's Kamikaze squadrons could not think of achieving; a lethal strike at the nerve centre of the United States. The concept of safety changed with the September 11 strikes as Americans realized that even the White House could be hit.

While the Americans, supported by the British, responded to the 9/11 attacks, and to the challenge of terrorism with unprecedented ferocity, both in Afghanistan and in Iraq, little improvement could be achieved in the global security situation. Terrorist attacks have continued to happen, in Bombay, in Madrid, in Bali, in London, and of course, in Baghdad, a city that has verily become the killing fields of the twenty first century.

Business and trade continues to prosper in the midst of global violence. The last two decades have been witness to an explosion in commercial and business activity, caused by the fall of communism, the breakup of the Soviet Union, the establishment of a unipolar order and the emergence of China, India, and the South East Asian nations as centres of trade, commerce and industry. The future of American and European prosperity, and its economic and military leadership, depends upon the exploiting of business opportunities in far flung areas of the world. Executives of American and European business corporations have accordingly been very industrious in mining opportunities, exploiting resources and tapping markets in far flung and potentially dangerous areas.

One such area with enormous business potential is the semi autonomous region of Kurdistan. Officially within Iraqi boundaries, the region is pushing for total independence. It is comparably more peaceful than strife ridden Iraq, and has very significant oil reserves. Revenues from exploitation of the oil reserves, which have the potential of dramatically changing the economic landscape of Kurdistan, are currently helping to fuel its economy and the region is attracting significant economic interest, as well as investment, from US businesses.

The chief executive of a client software company proposes to make regular business trips to the green zone of Baghdad, and thence onwards to Irbil, one of the major cities and the capital of the Kurdish Autonomous Region, also known as Iraqi Kurdistan. This paper aims to study, detail and elaborate the strategies proposed to be adopted for his security on his visits to Ibil, taking account of the various security issues that need to be adequately addressed. The assignment deals first with the features of the planned visits, takes up an assessment of likely risks and threats, and thereafter discusses and details the various executive protection measures needed for optimum results.

2. Features of the Security Assignment

The security agency has the task of ensuring the safety of the CEO of the client company, a large software house with significant business interests in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. He is a seasoned traveler and is familiar with the geography, culture and tradition of the region. The CEO is currently planning a trip to the Green Zone of Baghdad to discuss business possibilities with a number of Kurdish companies and business people. Meetings have also been scheduled to be held at Irbil, a large Kurdish city. The security agency has full responsibilities for planning the trip, ensuring its smooth execution and for providing the maximum security cover possible to the Chief Executive Officer. The agency has authority to use a team of three personal security experts, one leader and two assistants, and the use of a helicopter for internal travel in Iraq. The initial trip could take upto fourteen days depending upon the number of meetings that can be arranged but there is the distinct possibility of the occurrence of repeat trips depending upon the success of this visit.

Kurdish economy depends heavily upon oil for its revenues, even as agriculture and tourism are beginning to significant volumes. The Kurdish Regional Government, headed by Massoud Barzani is pushing for oil drilling contracts with a number of international companies and has already closed a few major agreements. The area has seen better economic growth due to the relatively more peaceful environment compared to other parts of Iraq. The per capita income is 25 % higher than the rest of Iraq and the region has two international airports, at Irbil and Sulaymaniah, which are connected through some international airlines to other cities in the Middle East and Europe.

At a recent Washington seminar, Lavin urged American companies to consider operating from Iraq's northern Kurdistan area - a strategy he called the Northern Gateway Initiative.

"If you're a U.S. company and you are thinking about an Iraq strategy," said Lavin, "think about the Kurdistan region as a possible gateway for Iraq, because the security situation is in hand there. You do have broad latitude for business decision-making. It is easier to expand, build and hire and so forth, and it can be a reasonable platform for serving the rest of Iraq." (Rogers, 2007)

While the area is one of high business potential it is located in a potentially dangerous area, and the CEO, on his visits, will be exposed to a number