WHAT ABOUT ABU GHRAIB?:

U.S. troops give Iraqi kids taste of 'Summer Fun' (ADAM LYNN, 8/07/04, Chicago Sun-Times)

Second Lt. Ferley Jaramillo put his left hand on top of his head as Iraqi children clutching Tootsie Pops and soccer balls swarmed around his legs. ''They're going nuts,'' said Jaramillo, a member of the 81st Brigade Combat Team from Olympia, Wash.

Were they ever.

''Summer Fun,'' a civil affairs mission organized by the 81st Brigade and 29th Signal Battalion, both based in Washington state, quickly turned into a free-for-all when the children of Bakar village learned GIs were giving away toys.

Hundreds of children ignored the movie ''Monsters, Inc.'' in a room of a former Iraqi Air Force officers club. They headed straight to the area where U.S. soldiers were handing out toys, candy, coloring books and sports gear donated by folks back home.

The crush of children and some pushy parents quickly overwhelmed the soldiers manning the toy room, and an Iraqi man acting as translator was forced to use a bullhorn to try to instill some order. It wasn't very effective.

Sgt. 1st Class Tommy Carson of the 29th Signal was one of the driving forces in setting up the event.

Carson was thoughtful as he watched the pandemonium.

''For a lot of them, this is their first time being exposed to games and toys and gifts. They're not used to this luxury. It's hard to imagine how we'd act our first time,'' he said.