Farris Hassan’s not-so-excellent adventure

[Kyobanim]

You have to admire this kid's persistence.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10643329/

BAGHDAD, Iraq - 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.

[Firebeef]

future SF? no tellin.... but the kid has cojones for sure, and knows how to overcome some serious obstacles. I'm sure he has had some extraordinary luck, but as we all know...sometimes (very rarely!!) it's better to be lucky than good.

[Peregrino]

"Thwarted again!" - Darwin

My .02 - Peregrino

[The Reaper]

I would say that if he wanted an adventure, he got one.

TR

[NousDefionsDoc]

I hope he got an "A"

[Phantom]

Yes, you are right, he's got some big ones, but "big lucky stupid cajones" are no equal for "pushed through and proven yourself cajones", luck can run out and should never compensate for discipline, training and hard aquired skills.

From the story, the biggest obstacle I saw him having was giving up $900 of mommy and daddy's money for a plane ticket another $250 of mommy and daddy's money for a bunch of cab rides that he thought were too expensive, and not being able to order some lissan el quathi, kibbet el batata or even simple hummus,a falafel and a glass of water in his parents' native tongue.

My take on him is that he is the typical US teen way too sheltered by his parents, resulting in his problems which include a complete lack of discipline, no real quest to learn anything real (prefers learning how to be effective at puff/pop self-promotional journalism over his parents native tongue and heritage), a real failure to effectively plan anything, and failure to even recognize the significant hazard and hardship he put many people through, for his benefit, due to his immaturity.

Just my $0.02.

[HOLLiS]

Originally Posted by Phantom

My take on him is that he is the typical US teen way too sheltered by his parents, resulting in his problems which include a complete lack of discipline, no real quest to learn anything real (prefers learning how to be effective at puff/pop self-promotional journalism over his parents native tongue and heritage), a real failure to effectively plan anything, and failure to even recognize the significant hazard and hardship he put many people through, for his benefit, due to his immaturity.

Just my $0.02.

I agree, but then maybe I over shelter my kids too. I want them to have a better life than me and do even better.

The great part is that he survived. The next part, he has some good opinions the "liberals" need to read and understand. I was in the left coast of the USA last week, plenty of "Speak Peace" or Pro Peace" signs without a clue what it takes to preserve peace and create a peaceful envrionment. And those where from Older, to much older Kali-Liberals.

[Gypsy]

An interesting follow up....

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/si...php?storyid=38

Farris Hassan: Immersion Journalism or Immersed in Jihad?
Posted by Douglas J. Hagmann on 2006/1/18 11:19:32 ( )
*UPDATED 23 January 2006: Read more about Farris HASSAN'S adventure as reported by Cinnamon Stillwell on January 10 and by Tom Blumer on January 21, 2006. Both write for NewsBusters.org - click on their names to read their accounts.

18 January 2006: Farris HASSAN, the 16-year-old Pine Crest student from Fort Lauderdale who left the comforts of his $4 million family home on December 11 for Iraq, claimed that he made the trip to put his lessons of his “immersion journalism” class into practice, and selected Iraq out of humanitarian concerns for the Iraqi people. His story quickly caught the attention of the media, who portrayed this young man as adventurous but naive, and his worried parents clueless to his intentions until they received an e-mail from him when he was in Kuwait. Upon his return home, he would certainly face the consequences from his concerned parents, despite his ostensibly altruistic intentions.

With all of the reporters covering the story, however, it appears that no one did any research into the background of the Hassan family, or made any attempts to verify the young man’s story. If they had, they might have been compelled to ask some very basic – but extremely important questions.


Even the most basic research found that Farris Hassan was NOT enrolled in any journalism class at Pine Crest, which should automatically cast doubt on the true nature of his journey. Lourdes Cowgill, president of the Pine Crest School, said that Hassan was never given an "immersion journalism" assignment. Also, the school confirmed that the boy’s father, Dr. Redha Hassan not only knew of his son’s intended travels, but authorized his absence, which is inconsistent with his initial public statements.

Further, investigation found a number of other inconsistencies in the public statements made by Dr. Redha Hassan. Although it was initially reported that neither parent knew of the young boy’s intended travels, it was ultimately revealed that Dr. Hassan actually assisted his son. He admitted that he arranged for his son's flight into Baghdad through his political connections, even though he knew the grave risks to “foreigners” wandering the streets of Baghdad. [According to a January 2, 2005 CNN news story, Hassan's father said that he had helped his son get a visa into Iraq from Beirut. The elder Hassan said he was leaving Iraq himself when the teen called, unable to get into the country from Kuwait. He told him to go to Lebanon and said he spoke with him almost daily].

Perhaps most importantly, research and investigation into Dr. Redha Hassan found that he was arrested by the FBI in 1985 for forging 2000 Iraqi passports and military I.D. cards and seeking to forge 2,000 more. Dr. Hassan asked his next-door-neighbor and print store owner Joel Feinstein to make the passports and IDs. According to Feinstein, Dr. Hassan claimed the documents were for his family in Iraq. Feinstein reported the request to the FBI, and became an operational asset for the federal government, leading to Hassan’s arrest. Also arrested were two of Farris's uncles and a "pro-Khomeini" activist identified as Salah Jawad Shubber. Interestingly, Dr. Hassan, who also went by the name Redha K. Alsawaf, was also the President of the now defunct Florida non-profit organization World Orphanage & Refugee Relief Foundation at the time of his arrest. Authorities dropped the charges against Hassan, and Shubber ultimately pled guilty to conspiracy charges.

Farris Hassan’s initial stop was Amsterdam, Netherlands, where he claims that he bought a ticket on KLM Airlines. From Amsterdam, Hassan headed to Kuwait City, where he alleges that he tried to cross the Kuwait-Iraq border twice by taxi, but was turned away due to Iraqi elections. At that point, it appears that Hassan sought assistance from his father, who told Farris to travel to Beirut and stay with family friends. Obligingly, Farris spent ten days in Beirut, and while there, met with a media relations officer of the terrorist group Hezbollah at their Central Press Office. This meeting was arranged through the assistance of his hosts – the family’s friends.

Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim organization based in Lebanon and tied to Iran. They have a significant presence in Iraq, and an army that is resolved to drive the Americans out of Iraq. Given the family history, the inconsistencies and the public contradictions, could it be that Hassan was going to Iraq to join Hezbollah to fight against the "American occupation?" Perhaps those are the questions that need to be asked.

[brewmonkey]

Time to dig deeper into dad's finances.

[Eagle5US]

It stinks of opportunity for the bad guys
It stinks of poor reporting effort on the initial story ( I know)
It stinks that THIS NEW SIDE isn't going to get the publicity the initial reports got.

And I BET MONEY that theTV miniseries, MOVIE, and Book that will come from all this will stink just as bad.


Friggin losers-and there is any wonder about profiling? Surveillence? Give me a break.
Bet HE didn't get searched going on a flippin commercial flight-but the 3 year old blond kid and their 81 year old WASP grammy pushing a walker probably did.
Drives me insane

Eagle

[Gypsy]

Originally Posted by Eagle5US

It stinks of opportunity for the bad guys
It stinks of poor reporting effort on the initial story ( I know)
It stinks that THIS NEW SIDE isn't going to get the publicity the initial reports got.

And I BET MONEY that theTV miniseries, MOVIE, and Book that will come from all this will stink just as bad.


Friggin losers-and there is any wonder about profiling? Surveillence? Give me a break.
Bet HE didn't get searched going on a flippin commercial flight-but the 3 year old blond kid and their 81 year old WASP grammy pushing a walker probably did.
Drives me insane

Eagle

Indeed.

I actually found the link through one of the Milblogs I read. Where or where is MSM?