Teen Collaborator - Part I
Reported by Marie Therese - August 13, 2004 -
The Big Story with John Gibson. August 12, 2004. 5:33 PM to 5:36 PM EDT.
Heather Nauert presented the first part of a haunting story that can only happen in war. I would like to know what you all think.
Nauert reported that when the third armored cavalry regiment was deployed to the Iraqi-Syrian border to seal off what was believed to be a "prime route for smuggling weapons", the soldiers met "a remarkable boy who gave up just about everything to help them out."
In the border town of al-Kaim (Sp?) the US military knew that good intelligence was the key to stemming the tide of illegal armaments flooding into Iraq from Syria.
A teenaged Iraqi boy, dubbed Steve-O by the Americans, led the Americans to a "well-connected cell" told the Americans he had information.
The leader of the cell was a former officer in Saddam's army who was also the boy's father!
CLIP OF lst Sgt. Daniel Hendrex, 3rd SCR: "He was this little, skinny, scrawny kid, coming in saying he had all this information on his father."
NAUERT: "The Americans hid the boy and checked out the stockpile."
Before the raid the boy said his father had a suicide vest. The vest didn't go off, the soldiers found the stash and arrested the father and others.
NAUERT: "But, by now, word was out. Steve-O was a collaborator."
Since the boy obviously couldn't go home, he moved in with the soldiers. He gave them more intelligence and they made more arrests. They outfitted Steve-O in body armor, helmet and face cover, so he wouldn't be recognized.
NAUERT: "He still lives under military protection. His choice cost him nearly everything. And the soldiers are on a mission to pay him back."
Nauert then explains that the story will be continued on the following day's show but the gist of it that there is a move underway to bring the boy to the United States.
