Some insight and advice Baghdad
I'm just going to offer a few opinions on this contract. I have worked there previously. I left on my own accord.
Living accom. are adequate for the posting. Food is terrible and you have no alternatives however you can make do with the quality and selection.
It's a ME posting so you deal with culture, environment and so on of management and local authority as you would in any other messed up ME society and culture, enough said.
**The reason they (SERCO) have had openings for so long in Baghdad is the fact they are not compensating for the potential danger looming. Even when the US forces were there it had some serious potential threats from local infiltration. NOW with ISIS so close there is a real danger. I won't go into specifics of the security there but I can tell you the danger is real and no one in SERCO can manage or mitigate it. Yes they have and could go on for years without a significant incident or tomorrow could be an entirely different headline.
Everyone has different comfort levels and some may choose to take more risk than others. If they offered much more money I would be willing to assume the risk.
Make sure you spend a lot of time gathering information on what you are getting into and what you are being compensated for.
Be safe