Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, who disappeared in Iraq in June and later turned up in Lebanon claiming he had been kidnapped by militants, was charged on Thursday with desertion, the Marine Corps said. After a five-month investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Hassoun "is alleged to have taken unauthorized leave of the unit where he served as an Arabic interpreter," the service said in a release from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Hassoun was also charged with loss of government property and theft of a 9mm military pistol. The charges will now be considered by...

United States Marines Antiterrorism ForceSpecial weapons and tactics of this new elite brigade BY SCOTT R. GOURLEY Carefully adjusting the variable scope on top of the new sniper rifle, a unit marksman squinted toward the far end of the training site where a fellow Marine was removing his chemical protection mask. "This is sweet," he chuckled. "I can look down his ear canal with this thing." The next person whose ear comes in the crosshairs of the enhanced Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) will get more than an impromptu earwax inspection. Already field-tested in Afghanistan, the DMR version of the 7.62mm...