Ferris Hassan's Week Off

Either exceptional stupidity or monumental guts, you call it.....

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Dec. 30) - A 16-year-old from Florida who traveled to Iraq on his own without telling his parents was put on a flight home Friday, the U.S. Embassy said, while warning Americans of the dangers of undertaking similar journeys.

Farris Hassan, of Fort Lauderdale, had been under the care of the U.S. Embassy after being on his own in Iraq for several days.

"I'm going to hug him. He's my little angel," his mother, Shatha Atiya, said Friday after learning he was on his way home. "I'm exhausted, I'm very anxious. I'm grateful he's out of Iraq."

The teenager, whose parents were born in Iraq but have lived in the United States for about 35 years, says he wanted to travel to Baghdad to better understand what Iraqis are living through.