Hassan’s mistake
I think I can understand more than most people what Farris Hassan was trying to do - what was driving him (after all, I came alone to Baghdad before the war without any support despite the orders of the American government and the misgivings of my family), but he failed to have a plan.
Take risks, go for it, I say, and sympathize with that desire to be immersed in a story and fully believe that war time is no time to be a coward - but take calculated risks: only fools rush in as some fool once said.
When I arrived nearly three years ago I had already been living in the Middle East for seven years, learned the language, had grease money ($20,000, oh boy!) and a network of safe-houses, getaway cars, snitches, and assorted practitioners of nefariousness I could trust to fail me in emergency.
Hassan came here naked as a newborn, with what seem to be equally developed plans. Ok, so he’s only 16.
But it dawned on me how badly it could have gone for him. As we were chasing his story today, retracing some of his steps, we almost had an incident that would have certainly ruined our day, if not ended all of them. We saw four men in a car, windows down, eyeballing us. Then, they start pulling on ski masks … and it's far too early for ski season here.
It occurred to me if I have to go... and I don’t want to go... I certainly don’t want to go chasing a kid who didn’t know that with some planning and caution, bravery can be much sweeter.
Hassan's lesson: more foolish than brave
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