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01/02/2006:

"Monstrous Hypocrisy: CNN's feelgood story for New Year's"

Baby Noor 'responsive and smiling'
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Baby Noor, a 3-month-old Iraqi girl in need of urgent surgery to treat a dangerous birth defect, is in good condition and will undergo her operation within the next 10 days, according to a Saturday statement from the hospital where she's being treated.

...Noor's journey began when Georgia National Guard members raided her family's home in Baghdad looking for weapons. As Noor's parents nervously watched the soldiers searching their home, the girl's grandmother -- unfazed -- thrust Noor at the Americans, showing them a purple pouch protruding from her back. (Watch Noor steal the guardsmen's hearts -- 2:11)

"I saw this child as the first-born child of the young mother and father, and really, all I could think of was my five children back at home and my young daughter," Lt. Jeff Morgan said. "And I knew if I had the opportunity whatsoever to save my daughter's life, I would do everything possible."

Blowing up the other baby Noors: US forces step up Iraq airstrikes
...The number of airstrikes in 2005, running at a monthly average of 25 until August, surged to 120 in November and an expected 150 in December, according to official military figures.