Posted on 01/02/2008 4:50:32 PM PST by SandRat
ISLAH VILLAGE, Iraq — Farming is a difficult life under the best of circumstances.
And Iraqi farmers are finding the price of materials, the lack of government help and the amount they get for their produce in this troubled Middle East nation is not providing anything more than a basic subsistence level of existence.
For Sheik Hamid Rohayim Ali Al Humayri, it is hard life in the farming-based Islah Village of 40 homes — in Iraq, areas are defined by the number of houses, not population — even though the soil is fertile and water is easy to obtain through a canal system.
“Farming is a love, of God and your mother,” the 53-year-old village leader said, noting the occupation is what provides food for people. “It (farming) provides for you. Yes, we love it.”
However, the price of seed and fertilizer “has doubled,” increasing the selling price, but nowhere near what it costs to raise crops, the sheik said.
During a tour of his 15-acre farm, where he raises beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, potatoes, tomatoes and wheat, Sheik Hamid said the canals bring more than enough water to help all the farmers in the village.
Much like Arizona’s Central Arizona Project, the canals bring water from the Euphrates River to the area.
The village is served by a dusty dirt road that is a half mile long. When the soldiers of 2nd Platoon, Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) arrived on Tuesday, they were met by throngs of children, curious women and smiling men.
“They love us in this village,” said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Maurin, the platoon’s senior noncommissioned officer.
A small store sold sweets, cigarettes and other sundries.
The platoon’s leadership was met by the sheik and taken to his home for a meeting.
Platoon Leader 1st Lt. James Watson said the sheiks are important to helping the Iraqi people.
As Watson and a few soldiers sat in the meeting room of the sheik’s home, the initial emphasis of the meeting was business.
Watson wanted to know how many people the sheik shared American-provided fertilizer — 770 pounds — and wanted assurances it was not sold on the black market.
Sheik Hamid said 60 farmers were given the material and said it was a high-quality fertilizer, requiring less of it to be used than would be with a more inferior product. The lieutenant was told none of the material was sold.
As the meeting progressed, traditional sweet tea, along with cookies, was served as soldiers and Iraqis smoked. Outside, the sheik’s daughters made and fried flat bread.
Sheik Hamid said all members of a farming family work the fields, planting and harvesting.
But there are other needs, such as a school for the children, the sheik said. Most of the kids walk more than two miles to be educated.
Sheik Hamid, who is a Sunni, is proud that his village is a mixture of Sunni and Shi’ite families.
To the sheik, too much is being made of the problems between the Sunnis and Shi’ites.
However, another leader of Khusum Hillan Village, not too far from Islah Village, sees the problems going on for many years, at least through two more generations.
Sheik Khalid Farthan Abbud Al Jabori said reconciliation “will not happen now, but, yes, it will happen.”
The Sunni also has Shi’ite friends, and he said life is hard enough in the farming communities without adding political turmoil into the mix.
“It will get better” when the nation comes together, Sheik Khalid said.
With an Arabic-language aerobics show playing on a television set as he spoke, Sheik Khalid’s concern was that he received a notice from the Iraqi government to report for training to become a solider or a policeman, which confuses the former Iraqi Army non-commissioned officer.
The 53-year-old sheik said it must be a mistake. About four dozen other villagers have been called to national service, too, some of whom are old, he added.
Watson was equally as confused. He said he thought the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, which controls the Army and police, only takes volunteers between the ages of 18 and 32.
The platoon leader said he will look into the call-up list to see if a mistake was made.
The U.S. Army cannot overturn Iraqi government decisions, but can express concerns about some issues, Watson said
Sheik Khalid is bothered that the Ministry of Interior is Shi’ite-controlled, which may have a harmful impact on Sunnis.
It’s a concern that personally bothers Watson and Maurin, too.
The sheik said he also has worries that the primarily Shi’ite Iraqi national government “is loyal to Iran, not to Iraq.”
The two platoon leaders didn’t respond to that comment.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
FR WAR NEWS!
bump
The government in this case should subsidize the price of fertilizer so farmers stay motivated to keep farming. This is a very human, warm story - nothing like what the NYT portrayed at year’s end.
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