World Central Kitchen Tragedy: A Wake-Up Call to NGOs
As a former Security Director of an NGO in a high-risk war, I know how dangerous doing good can be.
A World Central Kitchen vehicle destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. (Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
My Motorola hand-held radio blared at me in Arabic, “Chief! Chief! Come to the Security office! Fawran!! Immediately!!” The intensity of my radio operator’s voice made me run through a ground-level steel door, up two flights of concrete steps, through another steel door that led to the security office of the non-governmental organization (NGO) ‘Save the Children, USA.’ In late June 2003, we set up operations in Basra, Iraq, to provide medical programs to the Iraqi people. I was responsible for keeping the large expatriate and Iraqi staff alive.
When I reached the top of the steps and entered the security space, a solid steel bar was shoved down behind the door and locked the office from the outside world. The space was full of communications equipment, weapons, a walk-in safe for the accountant, and the millions of dollars of cash needed to run the programs. My radio operator, Asaad, told me something was happening with the United Nations in Baghdad. “Chief, the radio network for the UN security office in Basra is going crazy!! They say there is an attack in Baghdad, but they don’t say where.”
Fortunately, my office had the only satellite television with international news channels. I switched to Al-Jazeera Arabic. I saw a large column of black smoke from a building that was very familiar to me. It was the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, also known as the Canal Road Hotel. It was completely engulfed in flames, and a large part of the three-story structure had collapsed. Millions of dollars of B6 armored vehicles burned in the parking lot.
Al Jazeera News arrived on the scene and went live on air. They managed to get relatively close enough to see the severely wounded being brought out to ambulances. US Army security units rolled up and stood off to the side of the road, unsure of what to do. I knew what I had to do. I grabbed my Motorola and shouted, “Security alert! Security alert! Lock down the building; all guards close all doors and gates! Load all weapons and place them on Safe!” When the director of programs contacted me by radio about what was happening, I asked him to come to my office. I showed him what was happening and explained that this was a suicide bombing from the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in Iraq. And from the size of it, the message to all Westerners was: “Military or NGO, if you are a foreigner, we will kill you.” And kill they did. Twenty-two UN staff died, including the highest-ranking person in the country, Special Commissioner for Iraq, Sergio DeMello.
I explained that I have to assume that this is not one attack but could be a series of nationwide attacks. We had to take defensive positions and prepare to defend the compound. I immediately contacted the United Nations security liaison officer at the Basra HQ. The UN had set up inside one of Saddam Hussein’s guest houses along the Corniche facing the Shat al-Arab waterway, a body that separated Iraq from Iran. To my surprise, the Russian diplomat had no security advice for the NGOs because he was packing his office to leave. The entire United Nations staff was leaving within the hour for Kuwait City. That’s right; the UN abandoned Iraq. He said, “I would like you to take over as interim security liaison and help all the other NGOs.” And in one fell swoop. I was responsible for NGO security information from Baghdad to the Kuwait border.