IRAQ

Omaha: Iraq's lost children turning to drugs

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Ahmed Abid Sadeh is waiting to inhale.
Just 12 years old, he stares vacantly with bloodshot eyes. He tugs at his soiled red-and-white striped shirt and staggers around the filthy public park, where he sleeps at night and gets high by day.
Removing a dirty blue rag from his pocket, Ahmed douses it with ether and takes a big whiff. By 6 p.m., he has consumed half a clear glass bottle that once held cough medicine. When asked why he likes to get high, he can barely stitch together the words.
"I do it to forget my parents. I do it to forget everything," he said.