U.S. Chaplain says Iraqis aren't capable of maintaining a water pump so we have to stay

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.startribune.com/scripts/setpass.php?goto=http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1330290.html

Sounding off: Iraq veterans look back

<snip>Chaplain Erik Feig, 43, was assigned to the 134th Brigade Support Battalion for its full 22-month deployment. Although he carried no weapons, he often went out "in-sector wearing full battle rattle." The Lutheran pastor also served the Guard in Kosovo in 2004. His wife and two teenage daughters moved the family to White Bear Lake during his time away.

Our battalion helped open up irrigation channels for a large portion of southern Iraq because, for the longest time, they'd been closed. And you can't farm in the desert without water.

We took a look at that and, being good Minnesotans used to agriculture, we asked how we can help raise a crop not only in the rainy season, but also in the summer. We worked really hard to pull the water out and get it to the fields, and the farmers were able to do a double set of crops for the first time in years.

We needed to clean the culverts, reconnect them to the Euphrates River, and we needed to put a pump on the Euphrates. Who's going to supply those? Who's going to do the maintenance on those pumps?

Here is the Google cache link to this story:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:ILDQnd5EKY8J:www.startribune.com/462/story/1330290.html+Sounding+off:+Iraq+veterans+look+back&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us