What happened to Marine deserter Wassef Ali Hassoun?
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2014
Ten years ago this month, U.S. Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun disappeared from Camp Fallujah in Iraq. After a five-month military investigation, he was charged with desertion and theft, brought back to Virginia’s Quantico Marine base and then transferred to North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune for trial.
Yet, a full decade later, Hassoun is as free as a bird.
The accused deserter’s whereabouts are unknown. No trial ever began. No punishment ensued. And our leaders in Washington don’t seem to be doing a thing about this.
Hassoun was born in Lebanon and immigrated with his family to Utah in 1999. A few years later, he joined the Marines as an Arabic translator. On June 20, 2004, Hassoun bailed on guard duty at his base in Fallujah. He took his military-issued gun and his Muslim prayer rug. Military records obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune showed that he was “torn between military loyalty and his Muslim beliefs.”
According to the internal probe, he undermined intelligence-gathering operations by refusing to translate questions about Islam. He balked at raising his voice to suspected jihadi imams and sheiks. He openly threatened to “walk out the front gate and leave.”
http://michellemalkin.com/2014/06/06/what-happened-to-marine-deserter-wassef-ali-hassoun/
