suspicious CNN story: "From Iraq with love"

[Cocoa]

CNN portrayed it as a touching story, about an army captain that adopts an Iraqi orphan that has cerebral palsy.

I didn't find it touching, I found it odd, the way I feel about all of CNN's feel-good stories from Iraq...



http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2005/fyi/news/02/15/transcript.wed/

SOUTHWORTH: I didn't choose him, he chose me.

LAWRENCE: Captain Scott Southworth met Ala'adeen a year and a-half ago at a Baghdad orphanage.

SOUTHWORTH: And within a few short weeks began to call me 'Baba,' or daddy.

LAWRENCE: Scott kept visiting, every few days even with his unit under constant attack.

SOUTHWORTH: I didn't know if I was going to make it out alive, and I was afraid to promise him something ...and then get killed and then him not understand that.

LAWRENCE: After about a year, Scott's tour was up, and the Army ordered him home., and he discovered Ala'a was getting too old for the orphanage. He'd be transferred to an adult facility ...where, with his cerebral palsy, he might not survive with the lack of attention and medical care.

SOUTHWORTH: It was a devastating and frustrating moment for me.

LAWRENCE: Now foreign adoption is illegal in Iraq right now. But after six months of work and mounds of red tape, he convinced Iraqi and American officials to grant Ala'a something called "humanitarian parole."

LAWRENCE: It's a special designation that allows him to get medical help in America, with Scott acting as guardian.

(TO SOUTHWORTH) Do you ever think about what his life would be like if he was still in Iraq today?

SOUTHWORTH: Uh....

(Scott takes a long, long pause while looking at Ala'a, gets choked up and can't speak.)

LAWRENCE: It's a hard thing for Scott to explain ...but the emotion makes it clear why he'd take this on.

SOUTHWORTH: People will sometimes say to me, 'Oh what a great thing it is you're doing.' And I always tell them, 'You know honestly, he teaches me and gives back to me far more than I will ever be able to give him.'

LAWRENCE: Scott admits he went to Baghdad hoping to win Iraqis' hearts and minds.

ALA'ADEEN: (laughs loudly)

LAWRENCE: He just never expected a 10-year old to win his. Chris Lawrence, CNN, Wisconsin.

(end video)

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. can you say PROPAGABNDA?

By the way the story may or may not be legit, but it is the spin

[Cooley Hurd]

2. I agree - questionable motives by CNN...

...however, what this military man did for this little boy is touching.

[Cocoa]

4. lookee here...

this guy Southworth is not just a savior of Iraqi orphans, he's also a conservative activist, suing the University of Wisconsin.

Busy guy!

http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/userdocs/updates/2004_0729.html

<snip>

The United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit handed down the latest opinion in Southworth v. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System announcing a victory for Captain Southworth.

It will seem amazing to ADF friends and supporters, but eight years ago, when Captain Southworth was a student at the University of Wisconsin, he became the plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the unfair nature of mandatory student fees used to support controversial campus groups.

Captain Southworth believed, amazingly enough, that students should not be forced to give monetary support through funding in a discriminatory manner to radical groups. Imagine that! Well, we agreed with the captain, and after a long fought battle, the court agreed as well. On Friday, the court awarded attorneys’ fees to those who represented Southworth.

More…

[Cocoa]

7. he also had a Phil Parlock moment

jeez, this guy gets a lot of press...

http://www.620wtmj.com/620programs/charliesykes/weblog.asp?id=8&entry=2573

<snip>

In March, as he was about to leave for the Middle East, legislative aide Scott Southworth received an anonymous e-mail that said: “I hope while your over fighting your oil war in the Middle East with the rest of your warmonger friends, that you catch a bullet right between the eyes, sent to you direct by a soldier of the Republican Guard, you self-important as*****.” Had the email been a racist or homophobic slur, it would have been big news. Admit it: You’d forgotten all about it.

[maveric]

5. Did the US kill his parents?

Is this like a "Little Ali" story where we killed his family and blew his arms off only to use him as a tool and give him prosthesis?

[spanone]

3. CNN in the afternoon has turned into the Comedy News Network

This fucking Kyra Phillips/Miles O'brien show is an embarassment. They just laugh and have a grand ol' time.

[theblasmo]

6. Too Young To Drive

At one point, the little boy is shown behind the wheel of the soldier's parked Humvee. It makes my heart just leap to think of how he's preparing for this kid's future. Also, should a young child with cerebral palsy really be behind the wheel of an armored vehicle? Ahh... Rumsfeld's War...