Guest MikeSC Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Abducted Marine Had Reportedly Deserted By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN and NICK MADIGAN Published: June 30, 2004 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.nytimes.com/2004/06/30/internat...ast/30MARI.html So, the kid deserted and bribed Iraqis to get him out of the military? My sympathy for the kid, sadly, has been diminished by this revelation. He was trying to desert his fellow troops, leaving THEM in harm's way? And he TRUSTED Iraqis to do this? -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest INXS Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Doesn't mean that his death was right. Perhaps he was sick of the death and carnage...all to line Bush's pockets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Doesn't mean that his death was right. Perhaps he was sick of the death and carnage...all to line Bush's pockets. 1) He isn't death 2) Insane conspiracy theories will now be ignored around here. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I was going to make a G.W. Bush joke, but you beat me to it. Wait -- but you're not kidding. 2) Insane conspiracy theories will now be ignored around here. Speak for youself, hippie. I'm all about them. My cable bill increased a few months ago -- all to line Bush's pockets. Try it -- it's fun... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 the guy freaked out and wanted to bail, happens in every war...it's not right for him to desert his fellow troops, but it's a fact of war that this is bound to happen...doesn't give them the right to behead him and it doesn't give you the right to pretty much say to hell with him he's a quiter... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Actually, as far as I can tell Mike is just saying the feelings of sadness for the guy diminished somwhat. I don't see him saying, "He deserves to die". The guy placed himself in dangerous hands, all he had to do was snap on the base and go crazy and he would have been out anyway. This wasn't the smartest move by the young man. I still hope he doesn't die but he placed himself into the hands of people he didn't know in a battle where we aren't 100% sure who is the enemy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Good thing he wasn't involved in D-Day. And when you leave your troops behind it pretty much gives every American the right to call him a quitter and not care about his immediate future... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Black Lushus 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 welllllll i'm sure he was irrationally thinking that because he was from that side of the world, they would take pity on him and welcome him back for deserting the US Military...again i'm not justifying him bailing out, but i know it's a fact that this shit happens and we shouldn't just say fuck him... I can imagine that seeing a man get blown apart in front of you when you only got in the military to be a translator would shake you up good and throw rational thinking and sanity out the window... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 I hope he doesn't die, I hope we save him and then send him to prison for a year or two to think about his goof up. I hate people who turn their backs on their friends (odds are he had a few) to save their own rear. But I don't want him dead. He is still a quitter, just don't want him dead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Nobody wants him dead. But I have a hard time ignoring that he did A LOT to stick himself in that situation. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vyce 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Perhaps he was sick of the death and carnage...all to line Bush's pockets. That's what I like about you, INXS. You're so completely over the top ridiculous that you're kind of endearing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Olympic Slam Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Perhaps he was sick of the death and carnage...all to line Bush's pockets. That's what I like about you, INXS. You're so completely over the top ridiculous that you're kind of endearing. Yep, and his responses are also about as predictable as the one's that come out of my talking Steve Urkel doll. "No sweat my pet!" "Its all about Bush's oil buddies" "Got any cheese?" "The Jews are at it again" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ill One 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Hmmm, a bizarre turn indeed. Well he's not dead yet but I can't say I feel very sympathetic. Let me give this a shot- Oh, my throat hurts like a bitch! ...All to line Bush's pockets! Or was it 'cause I smoked way too many cigarettes? Damn that Bush and this useless war! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Styles 0 Report post Posted June 30, 2004 And it just goes to show you, that this isn't about religion since they don't give a damn about a fellow Muslim. ...darn it, I got ketchup on my shirt...all to line Bush's pockets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Hero to all Children Report post Posted June 30, 2004 Wait .. let me get this straight. This guy joined the Corps as a transelator. You know .. Marines are supposed to be hard. Eat rocks and shit gunpowder, or C-4 if they're ordered to do so. So you'd think that he'd kind of got comfortable with the idea of "Holy shit, I may just get SHOT in a WARZONE." before being deployed. Okay, obviously reality was a lot more tough on his senses. So he tries to sneak himself off, to abandon all his comrades (which you just don't DO as a Marine) with the help of a few guys he hadn't known for long. Why didn't he shoot himself in the leg? I mean .. if you're not fit for combat they're not likely to stick you in a wheelchair and roll you off a hill with a lap full of napalm so you can be useful to Uncle Sam one last time. This is actually the best way to get out of a deployment zone: Get wounded so badly that you have to be sent home or at least to a medical station. Deployments usually last for a year, a decent leg-wound will leave you incapitated for a few months and then you'd have to train the lost muscle and endurance back up. Stupid is as stupid does. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted July 1, 2004 And being stupid only lines Bush's pockets... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
