U.S. Troops Care for Orphaned Iraqi Baby (VIDEO)

August 14, 2007 Don'tcha Just Love It?, Fox News, Good News from Iraq, Protect the Children, True Heroes, Video Comments

h/t to Drudge from an earlier story from Reuters.

From that story:

Fatima weighed just 8.4 lbs when she was admitted, the weight of a new-born baby. Now she is a healthier 11.6 lbs, but still her wide, dark eyes seem too big for her face, and her head looks too large for a body stunted by malnourishment.

Old ringworm scars mark her thin arms.

The U.S. military says Iraqi police rescued her from a garbage dumpster on June 25 in the mostly Sunni Arab district of Saidiya, where many residents are too afraid to venture out.

She was brought to the hospital by U.S. soldiers who had been in the area at the time. They told staff how her parents and uncle had been killed.

“When she first got here she was timid and scared. Now she is laughing all the time. We’ve made a sling out of a sheet. We put her in there and carry her around while we take care of patients and do paperwork,” said Specialist Desmond Cacciotti.

She sleeps in a supply room near the nurses’ station so that they can keep a close eye on her. Her cot lies in a corner, amid shelves stuffed with donated baby clothes and medical supplies.