Last night, around 7 PM, a checkpoint in the International Zone: Heavily armed Peruvian security guards working for Triple Canopy search Iraqi soldiers, an Iraqi security detail and me and my driver.
I don’t doubt that higher Iraqi officers can pass unchecked, as can US military. (And others.)
The level of trust in the Iraqi army is not yet universal. But the Iraqi soldiers seemed to have accepted the Peruvians. They didn’t have much choice; they were unarmed.
And I have to say that the Peruvian guards are more congenial than eight months ago.