Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun Beheaded, Terrorists Claim
Reuters — Iraq militants say U.S. Marine beheaded
The militant group the Army of Ansar al-Sunna says in an Internet statement that it has beheaded a U.S. Marine kidnapped in Iraq and is holding another “infidel” hostage. “We tell your leadership that we beheaded the marine of Lebanese origin Hassoun and you will see the film with your own eyes soon,” said the Arabic-language statement, which was carried on at least two Islamic websites on Saturday.Arabic television Al Jazeera last Sunday screened a videotape of militants holding a blindfolded Wassef Ali Hassoun with a sword poised over his head. They demanded the release of prisoners in Iraq. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the statement, which was addressed to U.S. President George W. Bush and advised him to withdraw his troops from Iraq.
“Your soldier had romantic relations with an Arab girl and he was lured away from his base,” the statement said. “And we will soon issue a new tape showing a new infidel hostage,” it said without giving the nationality of the hostage.The U.S. military has said that Hassoun had been absent from his unit since June 21, but could not confirm he had been abducted.
Given that Hassoun is/was Muslim, it’s unclear why he was an “infidel.” And, since he is/was of Lebanese Arab extraction, why his relations with an Arab girl would be problematic is also unclear.
See this post for the backstory.
- Chris Short was apparently first with the news.
- Jeff Quinton is compiling a roundup.
- Joe Gandelman speculates as to the repurcussions of killing a Marine in this manner.
- Brain Shavings has some suggestions.
- Jeralyn Merritt won’t be watching the video.
- Amanda Doerty has some pictures of Hassoun.
- Zygote believes we’ll continue to see lots of kidnappings and beheadings.
UPDATE: AP
An Iraqi militant group claimed on a Web site Saturday that it has beheaded a captive U.S. Marine. The group, called the Ansar al-Sunna Army, posted a written statement on an Islamic web site claiming that it had killed Lebanese-born Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun. “We would like to inform you that the Marine of Lebanese descent has been killed, and you will soon see the movie with your own eyes,” said the statement, signed in the name of the group’s leader, Abu Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud. The U.S. military in Baghdad said they were checking into the report of Hassoun’s death but had no comment or confirmation for the moment.On June 27, pan-Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape showing Hassoun blindfolded and militants threatening to kill him unless the United States releases all Iraqis in “occupation jails.” Hassoun, from West Jordan, Utah, was last seen about a week before the videotape was broadcast, the military said.
Ansar al-Sunna Army has perviously claimed responsibility for Feb. 1 suicide attacks on two Kurdish political party offices in Irbil that killed 109 people. At the time, U.S. military officials said it could be an offshoot of the northern Iraq-based militant group Ansar al-Islam.U.S. forces initially believed Hassoun may have gone missing, but last month’s Al-Jazeera video had led to the military changing his status to “captured.” The New York Times, citing a Marine officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has reported on its Web site that Hassoun had been traumatized after seeing one of his sergeants killed by a mortar, and was trying to make his way back to Lebanon. The officer told the paper that Hassoun sought the help of Iraqis on the base, was betrayed by them, and was handed over the extremists.
UPDATE: “Militant” seems to have become the media meme for describing these murderers.
- Voice of America — Militant Group Says It Has Beheaded US Marine
BBC — Iraq militants ‘behead US marine’
National Post/Canada Press — Iraqi militant group claims on website it has beheaded U.S. marine
News.com (Australia) — US marine beheaded, say militants
News24 (South Africa) — Militants claim 4th beheading
China View — Militant group claims to behead US Marine
AP/AJC — Iraq Militants Claim Marine Beheading
ChannelNews Asia — Islamic militant group claims to decapitate US marine
While several of the headlines showing on GoogleNews as of 1625 EST didn’t include the word “militant,” all of those headlines avoided description of the murderers entirely. Terrorist, killer, murderer, Islamist, jihadist, and so forth were all bypassed. When even Voice of America–which is supposed to get our message out to the rest of the world–falls prey to moral relativism, we’re in trouble.
UPDATE: AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer — Family of Marine shocked at news of death
Relatives of U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun were in seclusion Saturday after an Iraqi militant group claimed on a Web site that it had beheaded him.
Mohammed Hassoun, when reached at his home, declined to comment on the claim. West Jordan Police Capt. Gary Cox, who has acted as a spokesman for Hassoun’s family, was seen entering the home about an hour after news of the Web site declaration became public. A representative of the Khadeeja mosque in nearby West Valley City met with family members for about 15 minutes and refused to comment as he left the home, where the yard had been decorated in recent days by about two dozen flags put up by Boy Scouts.
There was no immediate indication that the family would make a statement.
UPDATE (7/4): Other coverage:
NYT — Militant Iraqi Group Says It Beheaded a Kidnapped American Marine [RSS]
Fox News — Group Claims It Killed Captured Marine
UPDATE (7/4): The group now denies having killed Hassoun. See Iraqi Militant Group Denies Killing U.S. Hostage for details.
UPDATE (7/5): CNN Breaking News: Hassoun Moved to “Place of Safety”? (Details to follow. See link.)
Related Posts
- None Found
About James Joyner
As a student studying Islamist terrorism, I posted on my blog why he was killed even though he was a Muslim.
Basically, it comes down to the nature of pan-Islamism and the price of apostasy.
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
As hard as it would be, and as pointless to suggest, the ultimate solution may be for everyone to stop feeding them with media gratification. Report the death as any other.
“Today’s news” Three marines died in Iraq. Price of pig bellies soars….”
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Reuters: Marine Hostage Reportedly Killed (Joe Gandelman)
The terrorist group holding a Marine hostage now says in an Internet statement that he was beheaded — and they’re already touting the beheading video…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Marine Hostage Murdered?
Chris Short reports that: I just caught a news alert on Fox advising that Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun has been killed. I’m trying to track down details at this time. UP
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Marine murdered in Iraq
I’ll try and minimize commentary on today’s grim news. Just two points. 1) They did in an active-duty Marine. Bad idea. 2) Anyone who calls this an “execution” deserves a a lesson in semantics. “Executions” have a mandate granted by a legitimate …
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Insane, sadistic fanatics claim to have beheaded a Marine hostage.
Al-Reuter’s headline: Militants Say Abducted U.S. Soldier Beheaded in Iraq They are not ‘militants’. They are insane sadistic fanatics and if they are followers of Zarqawi they probably are invaders rather than insurgents. They are nothing but Thugg…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Crossing Lines
Reuters reports that Army of Ansar Al-Sunna claims responsibility for beheading Wassef Ali Hassoun, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps who was taken hostage last week.
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Family of Marine shocked at news of death
Cross-post from OTB: AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer — Family of Marine shocked at news of death Relatives of U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun were in seclusion Saturday after an Iraqi militant group claimed on a Web site that it had beheaded hi…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
‘Militant’ Word of the Day
Cross-post from OTB: “Militant” seems to have become the media meme for describing these murderers. Voice of America — Militant Group Says It Has Beheaded US Marine BBC — Iraq militants ‘behead US marine’ National Po…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun Murdered Beheaded
I just caught a news alert on Fox advising that Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun has been killed. I’m trying to track down details at this time. Stay tuned. UPDATE #1 (1324, 3 July 2004): The Fox News web site is…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
U.S. Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun Reportedly Beheaded
Iraq Militants Claim Marine Beheading from Yahoo News / AP has more information, including a statement from the Iraqi militants who claim to have behead Hassoun:
“We would like to inform you that the Marine of Lebanese descent has been killed, and y…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Predators claim to behead US Marine
Al Qaeda terrorists claim to have beheaded Lebanese-born US Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun.The claim was made on a website in a statement attributed to the Ansar al-Sunna Army.”We would like to inform you that the Marine of Lebanese descent…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
BREAKINGNEWS: Iraqi militants behead U.S. Marine
(W/links to complete blogosphere coverage) As of 2004/07/03 11:17 PDT (GMT -7) Reuters has just broken the story that Iraqi militants have posted a written statement on their website that they have beheaded Lebanese-born U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali H…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Iraq Group Says It Beheaded U.S. Marine
This is a developing story…DUBAI (Reuters) – The militant group the Army of Ansar al-Sunna said in an Internet statement that it had beheaded a U.S. marine kidnapped in Iraq and was holding another “infidel” hostage. “We tell your leadership…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Questions raised with the beheading of this…
Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun has been beheaded and I have questions about this… Does the fact that Hassoun was a Marine raise questions about his loyalty to Islam? And does this mean he’s considered an infidel deserving of such fate
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun’s Death is Still Unconfirmed
Continuing coverage from Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun Murdered Beheaded: 0730, 4 Jul 2004: Some conflicting reports this morning: From CNN: “Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri told CNN’s Brent Sadler that reports of Hassoun’s death were rumors and there w…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Ansar al-Sunna Army Denies Murdering Wassef Ali Hassoun
Fox News is reporting: “An Islamic extremist group denied in a statement posted on its Web site Sunday that it had killed a U.S. Marine taken hostage last month. The denial by the Ansar al-Sunna Army left the fate of…
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Iraqi Militant Group Denies Killing U.S. Hostage
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/6706
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
Islamic Group Denies Beheading Marine
There’s hope: On Sunday, the Ansar al-Sunna Army – a group that has claimed responsibility for past suicide bombings – said on its official Web site that it was not behind Saturday’s statement. "In order to maintain our credibility in…
—
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0