Seems Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun marches to the beat of a very different drummer. Fidelity to the corps and his comrades, lawful orders, the oath he took, and military justice can be such a drag.
You may remember Hassoun’s earlier adventures. Last June he somehow managed to get kidnapped, supposedly, from the Marine camp outside Fallujah where he had been serving as a truck driver and translator. Later, he turned up in Lebanon, where he has relatives. Amazingly, Hassoun had the presence of mind, when he was being kidnapped, to take all his money and some civvies with him.
Several months of official investigations later, the corps charged him with desertion. And guess what?
If you said he flew the coop again, you’re excused from having to do 50 push-ups. Details here from a CNN story:
“Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun was required to report back to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, by noon Tuesday, and was declared a deserter Wednesday afternoon after failing to do so, according to a statement from the Marine Corps.
“His commanders have authorized civil authorities to apprehend him, according to a statement from Camp Lejeune.
“Investigators have found evidence that Hassoun has fled the United States for Lebanon, where he turned up in July after his disappearance from an American base in western Iraq, Pentagon officials told CNN.”
What we’d like to know is whether the music Hassoun’s drummer is pounding out was written by someone in al Qaeda or some other Arab/Muslim extremist group.
The powers that be apparently weren’t bothered by such concerns.
“Marine officials said Wednesday that he was not believed to be a flight risk because he had turned himself in after initially disappearing from Iraq. In addition, the Marines had let him go on leave to Utah two times before he was charged, and he had shown no sign that he would try to flee.”
What’s that they say about “fool me once . . . “?
