OK, so how many of us haven’t dreamed of just taking off on the spur of the moment, going someplace exotic, experiencing the warm, tropical breezes, and the laid-back lifestyle…not to mention the IEDs, the death squads, and the random car bombs? OK, so maybe not the last part so much, but for 16-year-old DUMB@$$ Farris Hassan, a trip to Baghdad was just the thing to break up the boredom of his pampered life in Florida..,and, hey, his family is of Iraqi descent, so why shouldn’t he be welcomed with open arms, right? Well, given that the only Arabic Hassan speaks comes out of a English-Arabic phrase book, one might understand how the poor kid might not exactly be greeted as a conquering hero, eh? Honestly, he’s lucky no one slit his throat.
Ah…to be young and indestructable again….
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Maybe it was the time the taxi dumped him at the Iraq-Kuwait border, leaving him alone in the middle of the desert. Or when he drew a crowd at a Baghdad food stand after using an Arabic phrase book to order. Or the moment a Kuwaiti cab driver almost punched him in the face when he balked at the $100 fare.
But at some point, Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old from Florida, realized that traveling to Iraq by himself was not the safest thing he could have done with his Christmas vacation.
And he didn’t even tell his parents.
So…how’d you like to get a call from your son…in Baghdad? (Damn…and I thought he was just making a quick run to the grocery store….)
Using money his parents had given him at one point, he bought a $900 plane ticket and took off from school a week before Christmas vacation started, skipping classes and leaving the country on December 11.
His goal: Baghdad. Those privy to his plans: two high school buddies.
Given his heritage, Hassan could almost pass as Iraqi. His father’s background helped him secure an entry visa, and native Arabs would see in his face Iraqi features and a familiar skin tone. His wispy beard was meant to help him blend in.
But underneath that Mideast veneer was full-blooded American teen, a born-and-bred Floridian sporting white Nike tennis shoes and trendy jeans. And as soon as the lanky, 6-foot teenager opened his mouth — he speaks no Arabic — his true nationality would have betrayed him.
Traveling on his own in a land where insurgents and jihadists have kidnapped more than 400 foreigners, killing at least 39 of them, Hassan walked straight into a death zone. On Monday, his first full day in Iraq, six vehicle bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing five people and wounding more than 40.
The State Department strongly advises U.S. citizens against traveling to Iraq, saying it “remains very dangerous.” Forty American citizens have been kidnapped since the war started in March 2003, of which 10 have been killed, a U.S. official said. About 15 remain missing.
OK, so Hassan can be forgiven, I suppose, for being your typical overzealous and not particularly thoughtful teenager. Even so, what sort of a DUMB@$$ travels into the most dangerous war zone in the world on a whim? Hassan is very lucky to be alive, and while someday he and his family will no doubt laugh about his escapade, there is nothing funny about it now. Farris Hassan is lucky he didn’t become the latest nominee for a Darwin Award…which are only awarded posthumously.
Jesus, what a DUMB@$$….
