Posted on 07/06/2004 6:30:37 AM PDT by TexKat
TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - A Lebanese-born U.S. marine is alive and free after having been thought to have been decapitated by his captors in Iraq, the hostage's brother said on Tuesday.
Wassef Ali Hassoun's brother Sami, speaking from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, said his family had received word Hassoun was alive and had been released in the early hours of Tuesday, but declined to specify the source of the information.
"We got solid assurances that my brother is alive and was released today," he told reporters.
There has been confusion in the last several days about Hassoun's fate, with statements on Web sites attributed to one Islamist group saying he had been decapitated, then that he was still alive.
The Islamic Response Movement said late on Monday that Hassoun had been moved to "safety" after pledging to leave the military.
Hassoun's family in Lebanon had appealed to his captors to have mercy on him as an Arab and a Muslim, and called on an Iraqi religious group which has negotiated the release of hostages seized by Islamists in Iraq to help free him.
The U.S. military has confirmed that Hassoun went missing from his unit but declined comment on media reports that he had been lured away from his base in Iraq after a romance with an Arab woman.
Now bring him home to a firing squad for desertion.
Judge and juror?
Which is exactly what Zarqawi's goons are hoping for. To make this Marine into another "Muslim victim" at the hands of the "Great Satan".
I'll be interested to see how this one unfolds.
So this Muslim was out on a tryst with an Arab woman and got captured by the enemy?
Something doesn't add up here...
"The Islamic Response Movement said late on Monday that Hassoun had been moved to "safety" after pledging to leave the military."
If this statement is proven true, yes. First desertion, then conspiring with the enemy to turn on his country to save his hide.
With you. I would kind of like to hear his side of the story. Did he sneak off to score with some chick and get kidnapped, then promise to leave the military to keep his head attached to his body? Don't think that is a capital offense. On the other hand, if he conspired to desert and found himself in that situation...... I just don't know what the story is, yet.
As long as he's doing a stretch in Leavenworth, he's still in the military, right?
We don't know anything. It's entirely possible he became a CIA operative. In that case we would never know.
I'm just not willing to convict an American soldier without any due process.
I'll grant you the due process. However, the military is usually very defensive of its troops. When one comes up missing, or "kidnapped", the military and government vehemently condemns the act. Not so in this case. The military has been relatively quiet during this situation. All signs point to him being AWOL, or deserting. When the story first broke, they said he had gone AWOL and believed he was on his way to family in Lebanon. Isn't it interesting how he is now safe in Lebanon? Or just coincidence?
Our military code of conduct requires us to attempt escape when captured, but not by dealing with the enemy.
What an intelligent comment.
Inasmuch as Hassoun "pledged" to serve the United States of America, I'm sure he was just kidding.
Burp!
Like Lucy, he has some explaining to do.
Thank God this Marine is alive.
Welcome Home! Thank you for your service.
And welcome to FR!
I thought from the beginning that this whole episode sounded fishy.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Semper Fi,
Kelly
I agree...I've been saying for a while that something is not right with this story. I never believed this marine's life was in danger because he was a muslim. Common sense should tell the marines that any info this guy had is now in the hands of the enemy. Seems we still do not know what we are dealing with.
I'm glad he is alive, and glad he was released (it appears). I hope his actions were honorable and defensible. If not, I am hope he will be appropriately punished. It is pretty rare that someone survives beheading, but he seems to have done it.
Why don't we put tracking chips in all our soldiers and civilians who are in Iraq and Saudi Arabia? We have tracking ability for children, cars, and other stuff (with all the stealing of whole atm machines here in the US, I don't know why lo-jacks aren't being put into them).
Track, rapid respond, recover, kill bad guys, then move on.
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