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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Details About Disappearance of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun |
| 2004-06-30 |
| ... [an] officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he believed that Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun was betrayed by Iraqis he befriended on his base and ended up in the hands of Islamic extremists. The officer said Corporal Hassoun, a 24-year-old Marine linguist who was born in Lebanon, was shaken up after he saw one of his sergeants blown apart by a mortar shell. "It was very disturbing to him," the officer said. "He wanted to go home and quit the game, but since he was relatively early in his deployment, that was not going to happen anytime soon. So he talked to some folks on base he befriended, because they were all fellow Muslims, and they helped sneak him off. Once off, instead of helping him get home, they turned him over to the bad guys." .... About two months ago, he [Hassoun] told a cousin that several American deserters had escaped by bribing Iraqis to help get them out of the country. "He said a lot of soldiers, they don’t want to die, especially when they see someone dying in front of them," said the cousin, Tarek Hassoun, who lives in Salt Lake City. ... |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #8 The NYT has gone downhill since Jason Blair left Now damn that's pretty cold. I sure wished I'd said it. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-30 8:31:03 PM |
| #7 The NYT has gone downhill since Jason Blair left. At least he could write interesting lies. This is just another propaganda piece from the remains of what used to be America's Paper of Record. The NYT is on a par with al Jazeera as just another anti-American voice in the media chorus united by anti-Americanism and a fervent desire to elect John Kerry. Mike, I thought you knew better than to read this fishwrap. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-30 6:41:09 PM |
| #6 I'm willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt so far until rock-solid details are provided. After all, he is a Marine, and that achievement isn't something to dismiss lightly. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-30 1:42:39 PM |
| #5 Alternate explanation: they tried to blackmail him into defecting by threatening family still in the ME, and then grabbed him when they could. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-06-30 9:04:36 AM |
| #4 Anon4617 -- anonymously sourced New York Times story. In other words, about as believable as a Grimm Fairy Tale. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-06-30 8:10:25 AM |
| #3 if he deserted then he is getting what he deserves |
| Posted by: Dcreeper 2004-06-30 7:44:52 AM |
| #2 About the only thing that rings true without any spin is that: 1) He thought he had made some friends 2) He snuck off-base with them 3) They sold him to some jihadis The "we're all Muslims first" meme does have the mercenary limitation, at least with Arabs. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-06-30 7:34:26 AM |
| #1 From the New York Crimes? I would take this information with a pound of salt.... |
| Posted by: Anonymous4617 2004-06-30 7:21:57 AM |