Posted on 11/12/2003 9:04:18 PM PST by TexKat
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman met with students and teachers Wednesday to see how to help Iraq's universities recover from war and economic sanctions under Saddam Hussein.
Veneman visited the sprawling complex of the Baghdad School of Agriculture in the Abu Ghraib neighborhood, a short distance from the prison complex where Saddam's regime tortured political opponents.
"Agriculture is very important to this country, as it is to our country, and we want to see it rebuilt," Veneman said after meeting the school's faculty. "The people of Iraq need to restore their way of life, and we are ready to help them be a part of the global system."
The school, founded in 1952 with the help of Arizona State University, had received two date palm trees brought from the United States. They were planted at the school's complex in the first years of operation.
The dean, Ahmed Al-Zubaidi, recounted the decay and neglect that had befallen his school under Saddam. The school suffers from shortages in all aspects of academic life, from textbooks to equipment and laboratory materials.
During the U.S.-led invasion, Saddam's forces occupied the campus and stationed 25 helicopters at the site. The helicopters were later bombed by U.S. forces, and shattering the school's windows and greenhouses.
Arizona State has pledged $50,000 to repair the greenhouses, Al-Zubaidi said.
Veneman also met with students, inquiring about their studies.
"You have all the hope of young people here working to make it better," Veneman told the students. "There is great enthusiasm, dreams about the future. We hope others around the world will hear this as well."
Some of the students were disappointed Veneman was not able to make a more thorough visit.
"I'm sure if she had got to my dairy plant, she would have heard about our daily problems," said Yassir Adnan, a 21-year-old student who said his department lacked a generator.
Veneman also plans to visit the University of Babylon in southern Iraq and a veterinary complex in the northern town of Irbil.
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