Hassoun returns again
Chief Tango and Tman send us links to Associated Press reports that Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun has turned himself in again and is being returned to the US. Hassoun, you might remember, walked off of his post in Iraq back in 2004 and then turned up in Beirut blaming kidnappers for his disappearance. Then he walked away again while awaiting court martial. Apparently, he turned up in his native Lebanon where he turned himself in.
He is to be moved Monday to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, according to a spokesman, Capt. Eric Flanagan.
Maj. Gen. Raymond Fox, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Lejeune, will determine whether to court martial Hassoun.
In a written statement from its headquarters at the Pentagon, the Marine Corps said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service “worked with” Hassoun to turn himself in and return to the U.S. to face charges.
I don’t know, he looks real guilty this time, whether he was guilty of skipping out last time or not.
Category: Marine Corps
He can bunk with Bergdahl in prison.
This mother fucker.
Hang him.
As soon as he’s convicted, I say put him in a three prisoner cell with Bergdahl and Manning, that is, if he doesn’t get the Death Penalty which, correct me if I’m wrong, was given for less than this during WWII!
He was allowed to run away TWICE? Jesus H. Christ on a bamboo raft, I couldn’t make shit like that up if I tried!! I say put him in solitary confinement on bread and water until he’s convicted!!
So what time is his ceremony for promotion to Sergeant?
Surprised it did not happen.
They are probably going to let this guy walk and not even waste the time on him. Take his passport and let him live in Lebanon.
There it is. My sentiments exactly. Court martial his ass, take his passport, and send him back to Lebanon. He probably turned himself in because he wanted a free ride back to the US.
I’m confused as to what his point is? Why keep turning yourself in if your in your native country?
I mean, did he wake up one day and say to himself “Sweet Mother Of God this is one giant shithole”?
He wants to be reunited with his scumfuck family that unfortunately resides in the United States.
“The brother also said the pressure of facing desertion charges was partly to blame for Hassoun’s decision to flee while in Utah.
“Instead of them giving him medals and making him feel good about his service and what he was doing for his country, they gave him an Article 32,”
Desertion and dereliction of duty while undermining the mission apparently in that house hold is something to be celebrated.
And the victimization mindset continues. It isn’t his fault he deserted. It’s the US Marine Corp’s fault.
Lock him up in the brig and feed him nasty dfac bacon 3 fucking times a day,dishonable discharge.
2 words
BOOK DEAL.
And a Weisen-Franken-Fein-Stein movie by 2015…
He just wanted to come back to the states.
He knows which way the wind is blowing.
He will get a Spl CM at most. The guy will never spend more than 6 months confined, if that.
Knowing the way things are now he will probably get ad adsep OTH, no time served.
most likely, every deserter i have ever seen has gotten a field grade article 15, and gotten chaptered. of course the deserters i saw had not deserted in a war zone, makes a little difference.
what an Idiot. desertion during wartime, well gee that ought to be worth a few years in the brig.
Prediction:
He walks off base and signs on as a cashier at a 7 Eleven in Florida. Then he turns himself in. Only to skip custody again to purchase a NYC cabbie medallion and living a life of not knowing where anything is!
First bergdahl now this shit bird. I fear the worst. They will both escape the punishment they deserve. Where’s Chesty when we need him?
Didn’t Dwight D. Eisenhower order some WWII wartime deserters to be executed? That, and this POS el mucho grande did so TWICE…
I need another shot and a beer…
Ike had Pvt Eddie Slovak shot.
Slovak skipped away from his unit shortly after Normandy and attached himself to a Canuck unit.
Slovak was a petty criminal that was 4-f due to his record.
When he went to France he skipped out while on the way to his unit, when finally assigned to a unit he told the co he wasnt cut out for combat and took off, turning himself over to another unit, along with a note saying hed go to jail rather than combat.
The US Army was starting t have a Moral problem with all the casualties in the Hurtegen and the bulge, Slavaks stockade lawyer attitude made him the perfect candidate to use as an example.
OK, I remember reading that awhile ago, I thought Ike had other deserters executed as well. They DID executions via hanging in that war as well, didn’t they? I’m sure the gallows scene in “The Dirty Dozen” wasn’t complete fiction.
I do believe that Ike had other criminals executed. Rapists and murderers. I have yet to find any reference to any deserters, other than Slovik.
Deserter Eddie Slovak (does not derserve the title of Private) was the only American executed for desertion during WWII. He was initially disqualified for military service due to his criminal background. Because of that, he was leading the good life as one of the few mid-twenties male in the Midwest. I believe that he was working as a plumber in Illinois or Michigan. As the war dragged on, the War Department expanded the pool of eligible recruits, and his prior disqualification was no longer a factor in keeping him on the home front. He took every opportunity to get thrown out, to no avail. When he arrived in Europe, he deserted on multiple occasions, even surrendering to a Canadian unit under the mistaken impression that they would just hold him in custody. They didn’t. They turned him back over to the US Army. After multiple episodes of desertion, the Army was losing patience with him. If he would agree to go back to his unit, they would have pretty much given him a reduced fine and punishment. Unfortunately for him, those darned Barracks Lawyers (or Stockade Lawyers) told him to sit tight, as there was no way the Army would execute someone just for desertion. Whoever gave him that advice would probably be stupid enough to take off in an airplane without checking fuel levels. If you think that this would make an interesting movie, it would. I believe that it was NBC that broadcast “The Execution Of Private Eddie Slovak”, starring one Martin Sheen, the same actor that co-starred in the Robert Garwood movie in the early 1990’s. (Anyone noticing a trend?) Of course, everyone is a victim, as I came across an on line article about some Polish-American association out in the Midwest that was petitioning to have his conviction posthumously overturned and have his body returned to America to be reinterred. My attitude on Shitbird Slovak? Fuck him! My father was drafted in the middle of his senior year at the age of 17 (December 1944). He said that his recruit platoon was made up of 17… Read more »
…IIRC, Slovik’s wife never stopped trying to get a Presidential pardon for him, but even Jimmy Carter tapdanced around that one. I can understand Mrs Slovik’s desire to clear her husband’s name, but unfortunately a lot of it was based on that damned book, which was – to put it gently – a bit biased.
Mike
Under Article 85, UCMJ, the death penalty is allowed for desertion only “in time of war.” Elsewhere that phrase is defined pretty narrowly…basically it has to be a war declared by Congress or a “state of national emergency” tantamount to war, declared by the President. We haven’t had either of those in a while.
I prosecuted a few deserters myself (mostly of the “intent to shirk” variety…i.e., they overstayed their R&R leave), and the sentences ran to a few months of jail time, with or without the BCD, depending on the judge. (They all opted for judge-alone trials, probably wisely fearing what a panel would do to them.)
btw, if you don’t have “time of war,” maximum sentence is 5 years per offense. And “nasty DFAC bacon 3 times a day” would probably violate the 8th Amendment. So I’m afraid many of the proposals here are not practical.
Not positive, Alberich – but I believe the state of national emergency declared by the POTUS on 14 September 2001 is still technically in effect. It was still in effect as late as Feb 2010. And I’m pretty sure that’s still the legal authority for Operation Enduring Freedom, which is still ongoing.
I believe it was also the legal authority for the since-ended Operation Iraqi Freedom. I seem to remember that this guy deserted during OIF.
Addendum: the 2001 state of emergency was still in effect as late as early Sep 2013. Haven’t yet found whether or not it was extended again by the POTUS.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/11/notice-continuation-national-emergency-respect-certain-terrorist-attacks
Yep, it’s still in effect today:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/09/10/letter-continuation-national-emergency-message
Hopefully they can manage to hang onto him this time. Hopefully he will be CM’d for desertion back in 2004 plus a second count for walking away while awaiting court martial. If they can keep an eye out on him this time. I was surprised before, he was free to walk away, while a pending court martial was in effect or upcoming.
Pretty sure he will be in pretrail confinement this go round.
You guys are really hard on this guy.
After all, everyone knows that he was working for Commander Phil Monkress cultivating some contacts for potential All-Points Logistics contracts. And he was secured and protected by the international wing of Ambassador Worldwide Protection Agency and Turd Bolling.
Cut the guy some slack!
O. G. Whiz, what was I thinking? Ya mean he mighta been on some sooperdooperseekritskwirrel mission?
Life without parole. I want him miserable till his last breath.
Desertion X 2. One in a combat zone. Death sentence. Otherwise, 6, 6, and a kick, and revoke his citizenship. He like Lebanon so much, let the piece of shit live there forever.
Well, with that name–Wassef Ali Hassoun–he probably caught some shit from other Marines and walked away to stop the bullying. A beer in the Rose Garden with Baracka should take care of this.
All he should be given the oppurtunity to do is answer one question… firing squad or hanging.
Isn’t the firing squad historically used for those who served honorably? If that is true, then this clown does not deserve it.
Sadly, OWB – no. The last deserter executed by the army, Eddie Slovik (see above), was indeed executed by firing squad.
I agree with you. A firing squad is a dignified, military death. A deserter during wartime – or a turncoat like Hassan – IMO does NOT deserve that much dignity.
The argument is in any case now academic. The prescribed method for executions at Leavenworth, if any are ever held in the future, is now lethal injection.
Thanks, Hondo. Wasn’t sure if that bit of trivia came from an NCO course decades ago, reading about military history, or from Hollywood. 😉