The Circuit Read online

  THE

  CIRCUIT

  THE

  CIRCUIT

  An ex-SAS soldier’s true account of one of the most powerful and secretive industries spawned by the War on Terror

  BOB SHEPHERD

  with M. P. Sabga

  MACMILLAN

  First published 2008 by Macmillan

  This electronic edition published 2008 by Macmillan

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd

  Pan Macmillan, 4 Crinan Street, London N1 9XW

  Basingstoke and Oxford

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-0-330-46519-9 in Adobe Reader format

  ISBN 978-0-330-46518-2 in Adobe Digital Editions format

  ISBN 978-0-330-46521-2 in Microsoft Reader format

  ISBN 978-0-330-46521-2 in Mobipocket format

  Copyright © M.P. Sabga 2008

  The right of M.P. Sabga to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by M.P. Sabga in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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  For Vince Phillips

  A Soldier

  CONTENTS

  Glossary

  List of Plates

  Preface

  PART ONE

  A Steep Learning Curve

  PART TWO

  The Boom Years

  PART THREE

  Bust & Beyond

  237

  Summary

  GLOSSARY

  MILITARY TERMINOLOGY

  AK47 7.62 mm short, Soviet-designed assault rifle

  APC armoured personnel carrier

  Beaten Zone area of ground upon which the cone of fire falls

  Comms communications

  Contact situation in which an enemy attacks your position

  Cot military fold-up bed

  Drones pilot-less aircraft used for surveillance

  FOB forward operations base

  GPS global positioning system

  LZ landing zone

  M16 US-made 5.56 mm assault rifle

  MSR main supply route

  NCO non-commissioned officer

  OP observation post

  PRT provincial reconstruction team

  Recce reconnaissance

  RPD Soviet-designed, belt-fed, light machine gun

  RPG rocket-propelled grenade

  Rupert commissioned officer

  RV rendezvous

  Sig Sauer 9 mm automatic pistol

  SOP standard operating procedure

  CIRCUIT TERMS

  BAPSC British Association of Private Security Companies

  CP close protection

  CSC commercial security company

  IED improvised explosive device

  Level B6/7 highest-rated armoured vehicle available commercially

  SIA Security Industry Authority

  TELEVISION NEWS TERMS

  B-roll footage

  DV camera digital video camera

  Embed assignment in which a journalist or group of journalists report from inside a military unit

  Fixer individual retained by the media to help out in a foreign country

  Fly Away mobile satellite dish

  Live Shot live report

  Live Truck vehicle with a satellite dish

  Minder government official who oversees journalists

  Phoner live report delivered over a phone

  PAO public affairs officer

  Presser press conference

  Snapper stills photographer

  Stand-Up brief, on-camera commentary by a correspondent

  Shooter cameraman or camerawoman

  Soundbites on-camera quotes; also known as voxpops

  OTHER

  ANA Afghan National Army

  ANSO Afghan NGO Security Organization

  ISAF International Security Assistance Force

  NGO non-governmental organization

  LIST OF PLATES

  1

  Another violent day in Ramallah. West Bank, 2002.

  2

  An IDF patrol rests on a street corner in Ramallah. The Russian-Israeli soldier put the gun to my head approximately 600 metres from this location. West Bank, 2002.

  3

  Palestinians rally in support of Yasir Arafat during Operation Defensive Shield. Ramallah, 2002.

  4

  My favourite photograph. One of Arafat’s PLO bodyguards stands inside a large hole punched into the Mukhata by Israeli forces during the ten-day siege of Arafat’s compound. Ramallah, 2002.

  5

  The bridge leading to Basra where ITN’s Terry Lloyd and his crew were apprehended by the Fedayeen. Basra, 2003.

  6

  The destroyed Iraqi ammunitions truck where young children were playing with live shells. Basra, 2003.

  7

  Statues of Iraqi generals who commanded during the Iran-Iraq War lining the Shaat al Arab waterway. The statues were torn down by the British following the 2003 invasion. Basra, 2003.

  8

  A motorway sign indicating we’re not far from Baghdad city centre. I first saw this sign driving to Baghdad from Amman, Jordan, when doing so was still considered reasonably safe. Abu Ghraib, 2004.

  9

  First light outside the Palestine Hotel, surrounded by rings of physical security. Baghdad, 2004.

  10

  A view of a mosque from behind the security of the Palestine hotel. The statue on the right replaced the statue of Saddam Hussein that was pulled down by US troops following the fall of the Iraqi capital. Baghdad, 2004.

  11

  An old man dressed in traditional Kurdish clothing. Northern Iraq, 2004.

  12

  What remained of Nabil’s restaurant, a favourite among westerners, including journalists, after it was attacked by a suicide car bomber. The incident was a wake-up call for internationals who believed they were somehow immune from Baghdad’s escalating violence. Baghdad, 2004.

  13

  CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson and me on a hilltop overlooking the Afghan capital. Kabul, 2004.

  14

  A diversion on the Kabul to Kandahar road, one of many possible ambush locations. Afghanistan, 2004.

  15

  The left side of our convoy driving across the desert to Lashkar Gah. We opted to drive off-road in order to avoid Taliban and bandits. Afghanistan, 2004.

  16

  Our local drivers and guards blow out air filters during one of several stops on the way to Lashkar Gah. Afghanistan, 2004.

  17

  Sculduggerers-in-arms: poppy farmers, Afghan police, drug lords and Taliban gather for the eradication of a poppy field outside Lashkar Gah. Afghanistan, 2004.

  18

  Taliban observing the token eradication of a poppy field outside Lashkar Gah. Afghanistan, 2004.

  19

  In Paktia, mixing with Patcha Khan’s people during his road closure. I was very aware that I was the only westerner for miles. This picture was taken by my local driver us
ing my ‘small camera’. Afghanistan, 2004.

  20

  My dress to travel in vehicles around southern and eastern Afghanistan. I’m not trying to be covert, just low profile enough that I won’t stick out to those looking to target westerners. Afghanistan, 2004.

  21

  This picture was taken right after Patcha Khan had lifted his road closure just for our convoy. The crowd is a mix of Patcha Khan’s supporters and truck drivers. Afghanistan, 2004.

  22

  A graveyard of Russian armour east of Kabul. Afghanistan, 2004.

  23

  Three Afghan women clad in burkas - garments which, in my view, are oppressive and dangerous because they rob women of peripheral vision. Afghanistan, 2004.

  24

  A mountain range between Kabul and Kandahar, an example of Afghanistan’s diverse landscapes. Afghanistan, 2005.

  25

  An Afghan landmine disposal worker hard at work north of Kabul. He and others like him are the unsung heroes of post-Taliban Afghanistan. By co-operating with the international community, these brave men have become prime targets for insurgents. Afghanistan, 2005.

  26

  Riyadh’s glittering city centre. Saudi Arabia, 2004.

  27

  Two traumatized brothers stand outside their bullet-ridden school, located in the neighbourhood where Saudi troops engaged in a heated battle with militants at an al-Qaeda safe house. Many have mistaken the location in this photograph for Baghdad. Riyadh, 2004.

  28

  A footbridge over the filthy Kabul River, a health hazard which has yet to be tackled by the international community. Kabul, 2005.

  29

  Security on a mosque rooftop. Kabul, 2005.

  30

  A US commercial CP team looking after Afghan President Karzai assumes what I view as an overly aggressive stance. This kind of modus operandi reflects very poorly on a client. Afghanistan, 2005.

  31

  You’re never far from poverty in Kabul. A mother and two children begging on a street corner. Afghanistan, 2006.

  32

  Instructing a diplomatic CP team on a live fire drill. I’m second from left. Afghanistan, 2006.

  33

  Yasir Arafat holds his first meeting following the ten-day siege of his compound. Ramallah, 2002.

  34

  Me with Yasir Arafat following Operation Defensive Shield. Ramallah, 2002.

  35

  Me with Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the father of Palestinian suicide bombing. Gaza City, 2002.

  36

  The man claiming to be an ex-bodyguard of Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Omar. I took this picture covertly whilst observing him through my ‘big camera’ prior to our arranged meeting on the banks of the Helmund River. Lashkar Gah, 2004.

  37

  The group of young Taliban I approached by the banks of the Helmund River. Lashkar Gah, 2004.

  38

  Afghan warlord Patcha Khan of Zadran addressing his tribal elders. He had just closed a critical commercial route through his fiefdom. Paktia province, 2004.

  39

  Me with Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law, Mohammed Khalifa. This photograph was taken following CNN’s interview with him at his restaurant. Saudi Arabia, 2004.

  40

  My private meeting with Patcha Khan at his safe house in the dark side of Kabul. Qadeer, my good friend and interpreter for almost four years, is pictured to the far left. Kabul, 2006.

  41

  Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the radical cleric from Islamabad’s infamous Red Mosque. I took this picture prior to CNN’s interview with him. Weeks later, Ghazi and scores of others were killed when Pakistani troops stormed the mosque. Islamabad, 2007.

  42

  Me with Mullah Zaeef, former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, following CNN’s interview with him. Kabul, 2007.

  43

  Looking for Taliban in an area of Quetta populated by Afghan refugees. Pakistan, 2007.

  44

  A Talib (student) from a madrasah in Quetta. Pakistan, 2007.

  45

  A Kutchi family travelling between mountain ranges. Afghanistan, 2007.

  46

  A Blackhawk helicopter coming to collect my clients and me from a US base in Kunar province. Afghanistan, 2007.

  47

  Mountain ranges surrounding the Afghan capital. Kabul, 2007.

  48

  A US military defensive position in eastern Afghanistan close to the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan. Afghanistan, 2007.

  49

  Tribal elders in Khost province. These men and others like them hold the key to winning local support for Afghanistan’s coalition-backed government. Afghanistan, 2007.

  50

  Another tragic day for coalition forces in Afghanistan. An American flag flies at half-mast to honour a fallen soldier. 2007 proved the deadliest year to date for coalition forces since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Somewhere in Afghanistan, 2007.

  PREFACE

  I thought it would be useful to explain why I’ve selected and omitted certain terms from this book, starting with the title. ‘The Circuit’ is shorthand for the international commercial security circuit, an industry which caters to government, military, commercial and individual clients. The Circuit’s activities encompass a vast array of services including, but not limited to, the following: protective services, asset tracing and recovery, employee screening, counter-surveillance and anti-surveillance, Kidnap & Ransom response, information security, political and security risk analysis, business and intelligence investigations, fraud awareness and investigation, crisis management and security audits.

  The core of this book is the biggest growth area for The Circuit in recent years: the market for protective services in hostile environments. These services include Close Protection or CP (bodyguards in layman’s terms) for commercial clients and outsourced military jobs including CP for government personnel, securing government installations, running convoys and security sector reform (i.e. training national military and police in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan).

  The Circuit uses several terms to describe firms which provide security services: PMCs (Private Military Companies), PSCs (Private Security Companies) and PMSCs (Private Military and Security Companies). Though they appear similar, each of these acronyms is politically charged. For instance, the British Association of Private Security Companies, a trade group of British security firms with operations abroad, refers to its charter members as PSCs due to what it terms ‘cultural reservations’ surrounding the term PMCs.1

  As for myself, I take issue with applying the term ‘private’ to security companies. Though technically accurate – we are talking about private sector firms as opposed to government owned – it can be misleading because ‘private’ can refer to non-profit companies.

  Throughout this book, I will refer to the firms comprising The Circuit as CSCs, Commercial Security Companies. CSCs don’t exist to do good works in the world. They are not fundamentally noble in nature. The primary goal of CSCs is to make money. They are above all commercial, profit-driven enterprises and should be referred to as such.

  That’s not to say that the people doing the actual work on the ground in hostile environments place financial gain above all other considerations. This is why you will also note a conspicuous absence of the term ‘mercenary’ in this book. I have often heard the media refer to the men and women working on The Circuit as ‘mercenaries’; a label as offensive as it is inaccurate. Let me explain.

  Mercenaries are hired guns who sell their services to the highest bidder. They have no national loyalty, no sense of duty to country and no moral foundation. They’ll take up arms against their own government if the price is right.

  Security advisers, by contrast, are a relatively new phenomenon (and by ‘advisers’ I mean the people putting their lives on the line in the field, not the managers and executives sitting in plush offices back in London). Se
curity advisers first appeared in the 1970s, when The Circuit was still very much in its infancy. Today, the vast majority of advisers work on contracts servicing their own governments, governments closely allied to their own or industries regulated by their home countries, their allies or international law. Many security advisers have served in the military or supported their communities as police officers. They regard their employment on The Circuit as a continuation of their public service, not an end to it.

  In fourteen years on The Circuit, I have never accepted an assignment that I felt ran counter to Britain’s national interests. I served my country proudly as a soldier for twenty-three years and continue to serve it through my work in the commercial security sector. I see myself as a patriot and a security adviser. Never call me a mercenary.

  PART ONE

  A STEEP LEARNING

  CURVE

  CHAPTER 1

  ‘I told you to STOP!’

  I could tell by the accent that he was Russian. His voice certainly matched the rest of him. He was a blond-haired, blue-eyed monster. Even with half of his body hidden in the hatch of his APC, he looked about six foot tall. All in all, a stereotypical Russian soldier – except for his weapon (an American-made M16) and his uniform (IDF, Israeli Defence Force).

  Only in Ramallah.

  It was April 2002. I had arrived in the West Bank just two weeks earlier to look after a CNN crew reporting on the largest incursion of Israeli troops into Palestinian lands since the 1967 Six Day War. It was a typical spring morning in that part of the world; drizzly and cold with the heavy scent of wet concrete dust hanging in the air. The pavement had been reduced to rubble, chewed up by Israeli tanks ploughing through everything in their paths. Flattened cars, like pages from a book, and piles of rubbish waiting to be burned lined the silent, undulating streets. The residents of Ramallah were battened down indoors observing the Israeli-imposed curfew that promised to shoot on sight any Palestinian – or anyone mistaken for a Palestinian – who disobeyed.