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2003-07-11 Iraq
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Iraqi Family Shares Base with 180 Marines
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What the hell--itâs Friday after a long week and I bet you could all use a nice "feel good" story! Edited for brevity.
Toddler Hiyam Kadhem couldnât contain her excitement when she spotted Robert Garcia entering the compound. Flashing a big smile, the 18-month-old Iraqi girl ran to the Marine officer and threw herself into his arms. Safe in his embrace and with a disarming laugh, she playfully removed his camouflage hat and placed it on her own tiny head. Hiyam, her five siblings and parents have found themselves in a peculiar situation. Their apartment in an abandoned school sits in the middle of a U.S. Marine base. "She is my favorite," Garcia, of Paterson, N.J., said of Hiyam, a bubbly child with curly hair and a ready smile. "She is the most gregarious of them all and thatâs why she is my favorite."
In an Iraq where encounters between ordinary people and American soldiers are increasingly fraught with tension and suspicion, Hiyam and her family are a rare example of a close relationship between Iraqis and U.S. occupation forces. When the Marines moved into the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala in April, they decided to make the school their base. Hiyamâs father Kadhem Abdel-Hussein pleaded with the commander to be allowed to stay, and he agreed. Now, the family shares the grounds with about 180 U.S. Marines. 
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Posted by Dar 2003-07-11 1:24:53 PM||
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