Private firms fighting wars

Director Ken Loach has spoken out about the "big, big consequences" of using private security firms in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.His latest film, Route Irish, tells the story of two private security contractors working in Iraq.

He said the thriller explored the "privatisation of war" and its consequences, as it followed ex-SAS man Fergus - played by Mark Womack - trying to find out how his friend and colleague died.

Loach said there were parallels between his story and that of Danny Fitzsimons, who was convicted this month of gunning down two colleagues in the country's Green Zone. He is to serve at least 20 years for killing Scot Paul McGuigan and Australian Darren Hoare in August 2009.

Fitzsimons, 30, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, worked alongside the two men for private security firm ArmourGroup.Mr McGuigan was shot twice in the chest and through the mouth, while Mr Hoare was shot through the temple at close range.

Speaking at a screening of the film in Edinburgh, Loach said: "The Army started being pulled out of Iraq and private security companies came to prominence. It was the privatisation of war. Wars aren't being carried out by soldiers now, but are being subcontracted to mercenaries.

"It's the logical extension of what's been happening elsewhere in the public sector, like in schools, the NHS and the railways - and that has big, big consequences.

"We only heard about it (the Fitzsimmons case) once the film was already done, but the case certainly has things in common with the film. It appears he was suffering from post traumatic stress and shouldn't have been in Iraq, shouldn't have been in a war zone."

The director said he divided the action between Iraq - with Jordan standing in for the war-torn country on screen - and Liverpool to "to bring the war home" from "faraway places and different languages", and admitted that putting the film together had been "harrowing".

He said: "We heard some terrible stories. It was really horrific and very shocking to think of what has happened there. In terms of filming, you just get up every day and do it. The harrowing part comes in the research".

The Press Association

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