Not the first kid to do something crazy; won't be the last.
Parents lived in the US 35 yrs and he's a native born American. And . . . now he's one that has seen more of the world than 90% of other Americans.
A very tough read, but it's real hard to find something to condemn when a 16 yr old does something gutsy.
I agree.
This kid was stupid and is lucky he didn't get killed.
OTOH, he had some incredible life experiences from doing this.
I have no trouble condemning the parents, 1) for giving their dangerously immature son thousands of dollars to play with, and 2)for not calling the State Department when the boy was on his way to the home of the family "friends" in Beirut. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut would have the kid on a plane back to Florida within hours of such a phone call, and the trip to Baghdad never would have happened.