AP: U.S. Teen Runs Off to Iraq by Himself

Crazy kid!--Dictynna

- By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer
Friday, December 30, 2005

(12-30) 00:22 PST BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --

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.