SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE

“They often describe it as “a pact with the Devil” – risking their lives for more money than they had ever dreamed of.

It’s estimated there are more than 500 New Zealanders currently working in Iraq. They’re often ex-SAS, highly skilled and highly paid – men like Barrie Rice who go there for adventure, for a way to provide for their families, and a chance to use their specialised training in a warzone.

In the last five years, over three thousand US servicemen and women have been killed in Iraq, an estimated 650,000 Iraqis have died during the insurgency, and so too have nearly 400 private security contractors – among them two New Zealanders including Ina Ngamata whose widow, Cheryl, appears in the documentary.

The world of private security contractors is a murky one. Frequently those involved in that world prefer not to speak about it. It took two years to research and film “Soldiers of Fortune” according to producer/director Matthew Metcalfe.

The job of a private security contractor is to provide protection in a hostile environment. Foreign journalists, for example, need minders – and that’s where the kiwis come in. The CBS News Bureau in Baghdad prefers Kiwi security over Americans. CBS Bureau Chief Larry Doyle says “They come with a personality that’s flexible. They never show a glimmer of anything other than even-keeled.”

“Soldiers of Fortune” follows Barrie Rice back to Iraq and it records the everyday realities of life in Baghdad – the checkpoints in and out of the American controlled Green Zone, the roadside bombs, and boredom of life inside the secure compounds." TV3; tv3.co.nz; 12/10/2007