KALAMAZOO (AP) -- A Western Michigan University professor will be part of a team helping rural Iraqis organize local government.
Matthew Mingus tells the Kalamazoo Gazette that he leaves Wednesday for training in the Washington, D.C., area before heading to Iraq by the middle of next month. He expects to spend the next year as part of a Provincial Reconstruction Team at Camp Taji, about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.
The 42-year-old Mingus says he accepted the assignment from the U.S. State Department, despite his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
He has been a professor at Western Michigan for 10 years and directs the school of public affairs and administration. Mingus will be on unpaid leave.
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