PDA

View Full Version : Abducted Marine Had Reportedly Deserted



thedrifter
06-30-04, 08:34 AM
Last updated: June 30. 2004 12:00AM

Abducted Marine Had Reportedly Deserted

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 29 The American marine who is being threatened by his kidnappers with beheading had deserted the military because he was emotionally traumatized, and was abducted by his captors while trying to make his way home to his native Lebanon, a Marine officer said Tuesday.

The 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."

"It's all we know right now," the officer added.

Corporal Hassoun, a fluent Arabic-speaker who had been living with his family in West Jordan, Utah, outside Salt Lake City, joined the Marine Corps to work as a translator.

About two months ago, he 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.

Marine officials said Sunday night that Corporal Hassoun had been missing since June 21. On Sunday, the Qatar-based television network Al Jazeera broadcast a videotape that showed him blindfolded with a sword over his head.

According to a statement provided with the video, an obscure group called The Islamic Reaction said it had abducted him near Falluja and was threatening to behead him unless American forces released all Iraqi prisoners.

The group, which also identified itself as the security wing of the 20th Revolution Regiment, a reference to the Arab uprising after World War I, did not give a deadline for the release or execution.

When Corporal Hassoun was first shown in captivity on video Sunday, Marine officials were reluctant to confirm that he had been kidnapped. On Monday, they acknowledged that they were now classifying his status as "captured."

Masked men have snatched dozens of foreigners in the past several months. On Tuesday, three Turks were freed after by their captors.

But several hostages have been executed. The latest victim appears to be Specialist Keith Matthew Maupin, an American soldier who vanished after an ambush on his convoy near Baghdad on April 9.

On Monday, Al Jazeera, which has been first to broadcast a number of videos showing the killing of Americans, broadcast a video it said ended with kidnappers shooting Specialist Maupin in the head. Army officials said they could not confirm that he had been killed.

Intelligence officials said it is not clear if the kidnappings are coordinated, although they suspect that some of the captors are at least loosely tied to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant thought to be behind much of the mayhem in Iraq.

On Monday night, Muslims in Salt Lake City gathered at the Khadeeja Mosque, one of three mosques in the city, to pray for Corporal Hassoun.

Mahdi Jaff, 38, an Iraqi Kurd who immigrated to the United States 10 years ago, said he had met Corporal Hassoun a few months ago while the marine was home on leave.

"I loved him when I met him," Mr. Jaff said. Mr. Jaff said Corporal Hassoun had stayed true to his Muslim values while serving in the military.

When he heard the news that a member of the Hassoun family had been seized in Iraq, Mr. Jaff said he did not know who it was.

"He has a lot of brothers so, at first, I was not sure who was captured, but then when I saw the picture, I said, `Oh, man, that's him,' ' Mr. Jaff said. "I was really shocked that it was him."

"Those people will not negotiate," Mr. Jaff said of Corporal Hassoun's captors. "He just has to wait for his time to come. It's just like when someone would be sent to Saddam Hussein's jails; he would send a message to his family and say, `I'm gone.' "

Others in Salt Lake City were also praying Monday night. About 25 people stood in the rain on the steps of the Utah State Capitol, pleading for Corporal Hassoun's release.

Pamela Atkinson, 68, of Salt Lake City, led the group in a prayer to God.

"As the insurgents threaten his life, we ask that Corporal Hassoun and his family feel your loving arms around them," she said.

http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040630/ZNYT/406300417/1002/BUSINESS


Ellie


Does this change your opinion....or Do You stand By Once a Marine Always a Marine?

Namvet67
06-30-04, 08:47 AM
I knew something wasn't right about this. My first thought when I saw the picture was that I was looking at a double and the real Marine was probably already dead. It is quite unusual for a Marine to be captured alive much less surrender. Once a Marine always a Marine is earned by sticking with your brothers..not leaving your post. This may qualify for the term "ex-Marine".

cjwright90
06-30-04, 10:23 AM
I concur with gbudd.

benny rutledge
06-30-04, 10:37 AM
This is a perfect example why(for the time being)Muslim translaters should be FSO's(foreign service officers) assigned by the State Dept. to Military Unit's that require translaters.It is much too risky as this "War"is un-coventional and has no "rules".The likely hood of a Arab National getting into MCRD and killing recruits @ Edson range keeps coming to mind.Did the Army recruit Nazi's in WWll or Allow Kamakazi pilots into Naval Aviation? There were NO,repeat NO Vietnamese Nationals in my Platoon.Let's let the State Department handle the translations and put a Moratorium on recruiting foreign nationals that could have second thought's on where their loyalties lie.By the way "gbudd" Cpl.Ali Hassoun isn't an Ex-Marine.......Yet.His fate is almost assuredly sealed,then he will be.Too Bad for the Corps about this mess.Maybe the Corps will have a second look into their recruiting practices.

DSchmitke
06-30-04, 10:38 AM
The same here.

tank84
06-30-04, 10:42 AM
I agree. You took an oath to the nation and the Corps. If you don't like it after you're there, finish up and get out. Don't disgrace yourself and your brothers.

Sgt. Smitty
06-30-04, 10:47 AM
I think it's time to court marshal the coward and never call him a Marine again.......he's a coward and a disgrace to the Corps.

Namvet67
06-30-04, 10:51 AM
I agree with what you are saying Benny and I said he may qualify as an ex-Marine. He's still a Marine alright "for now". His fate will be up to the Corps, not us.

thedrifter
06-30-04, 11:55 AM
The New York Times
June 30, 2004
Marines Provide Few Answers to Family
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:03 a.m. ET

WEST JORDAN, Utah (AP) -- A Marine spokeswoman sent here to provide support to the family of missing Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun provided few answers why the military officially changed its classification of his disappearance to being abducted Tuesday.

Capt. Amy Malugani, a Marine Corps spokeswoman, instead deferred questions to either Marine Corps headquarters or Department of Defense officials during a late Tuesday evening media briefing at Fort Douglas.

She specifically refused to answer why the military changed Hassoun's status from ``missing'' to ``captured'' on Tuesday, and also referred questions to officials in Washington, D.C., about a New York Times report saying Hassoun was captured while trying to defect.

A military commander in Iraq had previously said Hassoun went ``on an unauthorized absence'' June 19 and did not report for duty the next day. Officials said based on his personal situation, there was reason to suspect he was headed to Lebanon.

Hassoun, 24 and of Lebanese descent, is apparently being held hostage in Iraq by a militant group which is threatening to behead him if the U.S. military does not release all prisoners in Iraq.

Malugani also would not answer about what steps the Marines were taking to try to rescue Hassoun.

Malugani said she was simply sent to Salt Lake City to provide support to Hassoun's family.

``As a Marine Corps we take care of our Marines,'' she said. ``That means taking care of their families.''

Hassoun's family in Salt Lake City continue to pray, and asked the same of the rest of the work, said their spokesman, Tarek Nosseir.

The capture ``is what has been destined upon us, and we accept it,'' he said.

Three Marine Corps representatives visited privately with the Hassoun family in West Jordan on Tuesday, the same day American military officials declared he had been abducted.

Ellie

Namvet67
06-30-04, 12:03 PM
Ellie: Thanks for keeping us posted to the latest.