There are things you will never see reported in the news - primarily because journalists don't know how to see such things, nor do they know how to report them so that they make sense to their readers and viewers.
The vast majority of non-soldiers in Iraq who have been kidnapped or killed had armed guards (or were themselves guards). Those released quickly did not have armed guards.
I know this because I know how organizations in conflict zones work and I know which organizations don't use armed guards. This may come as a surprise to people but most of the large, experienced NGOs in Iraq do not use armed guards.
Of course, it seems like common sense to have armed guards in a conflict zone. It seems obvious that those without armed guards should be easier targets. Common sense is wrong. In fact, having armed guards often makes you a target, while those organizations who work closely with communities and make security a common goal don't usually have the same worry.
I'm not suggesting that somehow never using armed guards is what makes things hunky-dory, because the guards are not the key element of security. A commitment to not using armed guards forces organizations to develop different strategies to keep themselves, their work, and their beneficiaries safe. A reliance on guards tends to limit the ways organizations think about security. Actually, they often stop thinking about security entirely, assuming that the guards are taking care of it.
There may come a moment in Iraq when NGOs as a group become targets regardless of whatever measures they've taken. That is a danger, and no one in a conflict zone is ever completely safe. But for now, in Iraq, it is safer to be without armed guards.
Why should this be the case? In a conflict zone, people with weapons appear to be part of the conflict in a way that people without do not. The guns send a message about power and security, power and the threat of violence. In Iraq, people are largely in favor of assistance in reconstructing the country. They are deeply suspicious of outsiders who insist on directing the reconstruction. The symbol of armed foreigners speaks to Iraqis as a statement of control.
Posted by Martial