The Orphan He Couldn’t Leave Behind

Soldier Helped One Of The Baghdad Orphans Years Ago — Can He Do It Again?

(CBS)  From the moment they met four years ago in a Baghdad orphanage, one little Iraqi boy reached out to Maj. Scott Southworth and decided he was going to be his dad.

What neither of them could have know then, was that by bringing Alla'a to the United States and adopting him, Southworth would save him from starvation and filthy conditions at the government-run orphanage where 24 orphans were found last month, CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports.

Two dozen emaciated boys were found by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers at the very same government-run orphanage for special-needs children that Alla'a would have been living in, had Southworth not intervened.

“That's unspeakable. I, uh, have a difficult time even thinking of that possibility. But it is what I believe would have happened to Alla’a. But Alla'a, I love him as my son. And I would die for him,” Southworth said.

Many of the boys were near death when they were rescued last month by U.S. soldiers. They were tied up, naked and starving, with flies feeding on their open sores, while brand new clothes and tins of food stood unopened in rooms just down the hallway.

When the story aired on CBS News, Scott was shocked to find he knew some of the boys from his deployment back in 2003.

He and 15 other soldiers from his unit had volunteered at a Baghdad orphanage for ten months.

That's where he met little Alla'a, the boy he just couldn't leave behind.

Now Southworth is trying to perform the same miracle for the others — and bring all 24 of them to the United States.

He's distressed by the change in boys he remembers well, like Nashwan Merey, who was healthy four years ago.

Today, after his ordeal, Nashwan is barely a shadow of that smiling, healthy self.

“Being upset just isn't enough. Sympathy just isn't enough. These kids need action, and we're in a position where we know these children, we know what can happen here in the United States if they're brought here, and we're going to do something about it,” Southworth said.

This is what can happen for special needs boys like Alla'a, who suffers from cerebral palsy. Now he has special care — he even runs on a treadmill to strengthen his legs.

“I think you can. C'mon. You're a tough guy,” Southworth said. “Two more minutes.”

It's high-tech, individual care that simply doesn't exist in war-torn Iraq today.

"Right now, the Iraqi government is struggling to maintain security and establish stability and when they're trying to do that, resources for orphanages are certainly going to be limited," Southworth said.

Scott has turned for help to Wisconsin's Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton. It is a monumental task that needs the backing of both the U.S. and Iraqi governments as well as American's willing to open their homes to these special-needs boys, the way he has opened his home, and his heart to Alla'a.

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Find out how to help the orphans.
See images from the story.
Read Logan's original report.

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“Alla'a has been very privileged to be in the position that he is in,” Southworth said. “And the Iraqi orphans who are there now deserve the same kind of commitment from the people of the United States.”

“I love you dad,” Alla’a said.

“I love you, too,” Southworth replied.

Southworth believes the difference between life in Iraq and the U.S. for special-needs children like Alla'a and the others, is the difference between just existing and and really living.

[Peter Leinfelder]

why not help the poor homeless kids here in the USA? probably not much headlines...!!!!!!

[nlm2383]

What an awesome story...

[twinkie1cat]

That is a special needs orphanage, so I would guess the girls are in another dorm. Remember they were put in that hellhole because some official decided boys and girls should not live in the same place. I would be concerned about the older girls however. With the way the boys were being treated, I wonder if the more able ones earn their keep by prostitution. Some people are that perverted and if she can't talk what is to stop them? It would not be the first time. Girls in state institutions in America in the 1960s and 1970s frequently showed up pregnant. At one time they were sterilized as part of the eugenics movement, which I always thought was a way to cover up sexual abuse in an era when birth control was not available to them.

[twinkie1cat]

It is just 24 kids that have been rescued so far. Maybe if the army got the girls in that orphanage too, they could all be brought to America. As soon as we are out of Iraq they will probably be executed just like the disabled people were the first killed by Hitler.

A group home supported by soldiers who went to Iraq and others who care about them could support the home and adopt the kids if able. They could be cared for and educated by Americorps workers and educated by Teach For America people who want to be teachers, carefully supervised by a master multihandicapped/severe disabilities teacher, perhaps with interpretation from some of the Arabic translators that were kicked out of the military for being gay.

Then, when they learned English they could be integrated into the special education programs of the public schools. Therefore, the home needs to be in an area with a topnotch school system that cares about its special kids. I have serious doubts that some of those boys are retarded, but whether they are or not appropriate educational placement and therapy is crucial. This way something good could come out of Bush's war besides removing Saddam.

One thing, unless adopted, the boys need to be kept together because of what they have been through.

[annia1233]

they should open some sort of place for iraqui adoptions. The american people, WE, the people of this country love children and if they open adoptions, I am sure tons of mothers and fathers will find their children there.

[ba11768]

Has anyone investigated the conditions of the Iraqi orphanages for special needs girls?