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Wassef Ali Hassoun kidnapping a hoax?

As we now know, Wassef Ali Hassoun, the American Marine who was allegedly kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents, turned up in Lebanon where he contacted the American embassy. He then turned himself over to the U.S. embassy on Thursday, was flown to Germany, and is now back under military control. But the circumstances of his absence are still shrouded in mystery.

Yesterday’s New York Post suggests that his kidnapping was a hoax. “Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun is believed to have made phone calls during the period he went missing in Iraq — raising serious doubts among investigators about whether he was kidnapped by terrorists, military officials said yesterday.”

The Post reports that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating whether the videotape of Hassoun may have been a hoax designed to cover his flight from Iraq.

According to an article today at CNN.com, his physician says he’s in good shape. “‘I found him in excellent physical condition, and I did not see any bruises or any injuries on his person,’ said Hassoun's attending physician, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Peter Marco.”

Wassef Ali Hassoun was defended by his brother, according to an an Associated press article from yesterday:

Let’s examine the facts more closely:

(1) He voluntarily deserted, with the assistance of local Iraqis. It was originally thought that his Iraqi friends betrayed him, but perhaps that wasn’t the case at all.

(2) He has no bruises or injuries, which is inconsistent with him being held prisoner against his will.

(3) He wound up in Lebanon. This is just as the original desertion story suggested, he was trying to return to Lebanon. How did he get there? If he was kidnapped and let go, wouldn’t the kidnappers have just released him in Iraq? Were his kidnappers actually helping him get to Lebanon? How easy is it for an American, albeit an American who speaks Arabic, to get from Iraq to Lebanon, presumably passing through Syria, without some sort of help?

(4) His brother defended him, but that’s what family is for. Some of history’s worst villains were good people according to their immediate family. This should be discounted.

(5) Why did Wassef Ali Hassoun contact the American Embassy and allow himself to be picked up by the U.S. military and flown to Germany, if his goal was to desert and return to Lebanon? Maybe because his family in Lebanon didn’t want him there? The Associated Press article cited above also reported that, “in Lebanon, a gunfight broke out after a street vendor taunted a member of Hassoun's clan -- saying his family members are American agents. Two people were killed.” Maybe it was too dangerous for him in Lebanon because of his notoriety, and he had no choice but to leave Lebanon and turn himself in to U.S. authorities?

I boldly predict that Wassef Ali Hassoun will not be charged with desertion, because the military doesn’t want to antagonize Islamic Americans, which means that political correctness will win over justice. Or perhaps he made some kind of deal in advance, where he agreed to tell military investigators what he knows in return for not being court-martialed.

posted Saturday, July 10, 2004