I should have guessed that this would appear here after yesterday's little e-mail spat. I thought enough linen had been washed in public yesterday?
In case it had escaped your notice, the contract to Basra is to carry armed forces personnel. If you get shot down then so do 100+ UK soldiers. I hardly think the MoD would be asking an unarmed civilian airline to fly there if it thought there was any risk of that happening - it is in their interest to avoid it as much as it is in yours.
I don't mind the sound of a three-day trip to Cyprus to do this flight. It's got to be better than sitting on your backside at home doing nothing or one or two other flights that I could name!