U.S. Marine Hassoun at Beirut U.S. Embassy

[007]

U.S. Marine Hassoun at Beirut U.S. Embassy, Relative Says

15 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!


TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Lebanese-born U.S. Marine who went missing in Iraq (news - web sites) and was thought to have been beheaded is in the U.S. embassy in Beirut, one of the man's relatives said Thursday.

"Wassef is at the U.S. embassy," said Abdelhamid Hassoun, whose cousin Wassef Ali Hassoun went missing from his unit in Iraq last month.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20040708/ts_nm/iraq_usa_marine_dc_6

 

[HGROKIT]

yeah - there is allot more to this story and I wonder if we will ever hear all of it and the truth of all of it.

 

[OCA]

Originally posted by Pale Rider
U.S. Marine Hassoun at Beirut U.S. Embassy, Relative Says

15 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!


TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Lebanese-born U.S. Marine who went missing in Iraq (news - web sites) and was thought to have been beheaded is in the U.S. embassy in Beirut, one of the man's relatives said Thursday.

"Wassef is at the U.S. embassy," said Abdelhamid Hassoun, whose cousin Wassef Ali Hassoun went missing from his unit in Iraq last month.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20040708/ts_nm/iraq_usa_marine_dc_6

So both him and his cousin were missing? Nah its not possible they are deserters

I hope they get a firing squad if found to be AWOL.

 

[007]

And Lebanon is his home. Why would he go there? ... go figure...

You're right OCA, at this point he looks like a deserter to me too.

 

[NewGuy]

Originally posted by OCA
So both him and his cousin were missing? Nah its not possible they are deserters

I hope they get a firing squad if found to be AWOL.

Maybe they ought to just be handed over to the muslims.

-I guess if they ARE muslims, that won't help.

 

[freeandfun1]

During WWII we shot soldiers for desertion..... why not now?

 

[007]

One things for sure, he sure is a disgrace to the Marine Corps.

 

[HGROKIT]

Originally posted by OCA
So both him and his cousin were missing? Nah its not possible they are deserters

I hope they get a firing squad if found to be AWOL.

No - the cousin being qouted lives in UT!

 

[HGROKIT]

DESSERTION/DISGRACE?

Nothing has been proven yet. This is all speculation.

 

[dmp]

Some of you are claiming this guy should be executed if he in fact DID desert? wow...

A wise man doesn't make judgements w/o the facts. The only facts you have are:

Guy went missing.

Guy appeared to have been kidknapped.

Guy turned up.

 

[007]

Originally posted by HGROKIT
DESSERTION/DISGRACE?

Nothing has been proven yet. This is all speculation.

Well.... it don't look good, but you're right. We'll see how it pans out.

 

[pegwinn]

Originally posted by freeandfun1
During WWII we shot soldiers for desertion..... why not now?

Confirmed, our Marine is at the embassy.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5622454

He cannot be tried for desertion unless he fled in the face of the enemy or was UA (AWOL for Army/Airforce/Civilian types) long enought to demonstrate "no intent" to return.

If he was UA, he will most likely be Court Martialed and sent to a Naval Brig. Rest assured the brig handlers will ensure he is properly handled.

My question is how the Gov will react if he really was kidnapped, and released once he gave his parole. There is a long and storied history of confiscating weapons and releasing prisoners based solely on their word. It would go a long way to demonstrate that not all muslim splinters were homicidal animals.

 

[freeandfun1]

Originally posted by pegwinn
. . . . It would go a long way to demonstrate that not all muslim splinters were homicidal animals.

Not homicidal animals as long as you are a Muslim and they capture you.

As for his accepting "parole", unless I am mistaken, Article III of the Marine Corp Code of Conduct states:

Article III: If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

 

[Merlin1047]

Originally posted by -=d=-
Some of you are claiming this guy should be executed if he in fact DID desert? wow...

Agreed. Yes, it has some strange aspects to it, but we need to exercise a little patience and restraint and wait for the facts to come out. There are lots of possibilities here.

 

[pegwinn]

Originally posted by freeandfun1
Not homicidal animals as long as you are a Muslim and they capture you. etc...........

The code of conduct is for all servicemen. We still need to talk to him. If I were the sole captive, I'd damn sure promise to be a good lil jarhead if they were gonna let me go.

 

[007]

U.S. Marine Leaves Lebanon for Germany

1 hour, 21 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Hassan al-Jabali

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese-born U.S. marine who went missing in Iraq (news - web sites) and was at one point thought to have been beheaded left Lebanon on a U.S. military plane bound for Germany Friday, witnesses and U.S. officials said.


Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun, whose disappearance from his unit in Iraq, apparent abduction and reappearance in Lebanon weeks later have been mired in confusion, is expected to return to the United States after a few days in Germany.


A Marine Corps spokesman in Washington said a preliminary inquiry suggested he had deserted his unit in Iraq on June 21. His status was changed to "captured" a week later, after video footage showed him being held hostage. The Naval Criminal Investigative service is still investigating.


Hassoun turned himself over to the U.S. embassy in Beirut on Thursday. Members of his family who saw him there said he seemed healthy and in relatively good spirits.


"There were mixed feelings," his brother Sami said. "We were excited to see him... We tried to cheer him up. He was tense, you could see on his face that he'd been through a lot. But there was a small smile on his face, he was happy to see us."


A statement from the U.S. embassy said Hassoun left Lebanon at 1535 (1135 GMT). Military officials said he would go to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for "physical and mental evaluations, as well as an extensive debriefing process."


Hassoun's family has refused to elaborate on the circumstances of the marine's disappearance from his unit or how he made his way to Lebanon.


A linguist from the First Marine Expeditionary Force, he was believed to have been taken hostage and was at one point shown in a video tape distributed by an Islamist group in Iraq with a sword poised near his head.


Islamist Web Sites later reported he was executed. But another Islamist group then said he had been spared after pledging to leave the U.S. military.


Hassoun was born in Lebanon and emigrated to the United States four years ago. He has family in and around the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli and also in West Jordan, Utah.


Two people were killed in Tripoli Thursday in a gunfight between Hassoun's family and a rival family which witnesses said was sparked by taunts about Hassoun's relationship with the U.S. military and his family being U.S. agents.




http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20040709/ts_nm/iraq_lebanon_marine_dc

 

[freeandfun1]

Originally posted by Pale Rider
Two people were killed in Tripoli Thursday in a gunfight between Hassoun's family and a rival family which witnesses said was sparked by taunts about Hassoun's relationship with the U.S. military and his family being U.S. agents.

Pathetic.

 

[007]

Originally posted by freeandfun1
Pathetic.

Really. That was most interesting tid bit in the whole article.

I am interested to hear what the Marine Corps does with him after all the "investigating" is done. He may not have deserted, but it is beginning to look like he may be guilty of conduct unbecoming a Marine.

 

[lilcountriegal]

Originally posted by Pale Rider
Really. That was most interesting tid bit in the whole article.

I am interested to hear what the Marine Corps does with him after all the "investigating" is done. He may not have deserted, but it is beginning to look like he may be guilty of conduct unbecoming a Marine.

I dunno... something about this whole entire story smells. These freaks are beheading construction workers, etc., because they are easy targets... one would think if they had a Marine, they wouldnt let him go just on a promise he not return.

I'll reserve final judgement until I hear more of the story, but my instinct tells me this guy set this thing up himself.

 

[brneyedgrl80]

Originally posted by lilcountriegal
I dunno... something about this whole entire story smells. These freaks are beheading construction workers, etc., because they are easy targets... one would think if they had a Marine, they wouldnt let him go just on a promise he not return.

I'll reserve final judgement until I hear more of the story, but my instinct tells me this guy set this thing up himself.

That's what I was thinking. Something is just not quite right with this whole situation...