I get these questions from time to time; this one was from a woman with a son who suffers from a physical impairment of his legs. My captain knows more of their details, so if you want them, write a comment and ask…. The point is that some of the local population believes that because I am American, I possess some additional powers that allow me to help them more than they can help themselves.
I swallowed hard and told her in my best bedside manner, “I will try.” She began to cry and in a mixture of Arabic and broken English said “Thank you sir. I am sorry..baby..Ipky (cries)….sorry sir.…”
Her son Hussein is probably only five years old, and he has this smile that is broad and innocent, and, well, boyish. I met him after she brought him here to my compound because of her inability to care for him, her other son and her ailing husband.
My first reaction when I saw the little boy was “Why in the world is this child in my compound? This is no place for a child!” I talked to my Captain, a Kurdish man who has worked with me for two years now, and asked him to tell the woman not to bring the child again.
Despite my request, two days later I saw her with the child, half-hidden in a restroom area that she was cleaning. Though my first reaction was anger, once I began to tell her to never bring the boy again she began to cry. She told me of how she had been kidnapped for three days and released after being severely beaten. She showed me the scars on her wrists from the restraints and repeated “Sorry sir, sorry sir.”
It was then that I took another look at the boy and saw his smile. I grumbled something about keeping the child clear of the men and she said softly, “Thank you sir.”
Since then he has become part of the family. The men have taken him in, and the little boy has begun to mimic them, wearing a beret, attempting push-ups and giving a “thumbs up” when we walk by.
It may not be a “thrust,” but I can tell you that this little boy may have helped me and my men more than we could ever help him.
His story is like so many other children here. Except his choices for a positive life, even despite the violence that will surely impact his future, are made nearly impossible by the challenges of being disabled in Iraq.