God does work in mysterious ways

A soldier from Wisconsin, Captain Scott Southworth, decided to adopt an Iraqi boy while serving in Iraq.
"Police had found Ala'a abandoned on a Baghdad street at around 3 years old. No one knows where he came from."

Just a few problems:
• Southworth was single, "he had little money and planned to run for district attorney in his home county."
• The kid had cerebral palsy.
• Iraqi law prohibits foreigners from adopting Iraqi children.

But Southworth comes from a long line of soldiers: "military service was a family tradition. His great-great-great-grandfather served in the Civil War, his grandfather in World War II, his father in Vietnam."
According to a CNN.com on-line article, "in his last weeks in Iraq, Southworth got approval from Iraq's Minister of Labor to take Ala'a to the United States for medical care."
"But when Southworth contacted an immigration attorney, he was told it would be nearly impossible to bring Ala'a to the United States. Undaunted, Southworth and the attorney started the paperwork to bring Ala'a over on humanitarian parole, used for urgent reasons or significant public benefit. A local doctor, a cerebral palsy expert, a Minneapolis hospital, all said they would provide Ala'a free care. Other letters of support came from a minister, the school district, the lieutenant governor, a congressman, chaplain, a sister at the orphanage and an Iraqi doctor. He mailed the packet on December 16, 2004, to the Department of Homeland Security. By mid-January, Homeland Security called Southworth's attorney to say it had approved humanitarian parole. Within three hours, Southworth had plane tickets. They made it to Wisconsin late January 20, 2005. The next morning, Ala'a awoke to his first sight of snow.
He clearly has thrived. At 13, he's doubled his weight to 111 pounds. "I'm not the same guy I used to be," he says.
On June 4, Ala'a officially became Southworth's son. Though he was born in the spring of 1994, they decided to celebrate his birthday as the day they met -- September 6.
In October, the Wisconsin's deputy adjunct general gave Southworth, now a major, permission to change units because of Ala'a. His former unit was going to Guantanamo Bay for a one-year deployment, and he didn't want to leave his son behind, at least for now.
Southworth hopes one day to marry his longtime girlfriend and have more children. He may run for Congress or governor someday -- he's already won re-election once, and plans to run again next fall.