Yesterday it was reported that Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun had been murdered by radical terrorists; today, there was a retraction.
AGHDAD, Iraq – An Iraqi guerrilla group denied on Sunday that it put out a statement a day earlier claiming to have beheaded kidnapped Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, leaving the fate of the U.S. Marine unclear.
The denial by the Ansar al-Sunna Army group left open the possibility that the 24-year-old American of Lebanese origin was killed by another group or that he was still alive.
While I certainly hope that Cpl. Hassoun is still alive, I am not entirely certain what is going on below the surface, here. I note this, and the fact that Spec. Keith Maupin’s death has apparently not yet been confirmed*, and the fact that the Turkish and Pakistani hostages were freed and I wonder precisely what is going on in the areas where I can’t see. I suspect that I’ll know the answer, five years or so down the line, but that’s hardly a help.
Of course, my problems are utterly trivial compared to Hassoun’s and Maupin’s – at least, I hope so, because that’d mean that they’d still be alive.
Moe
*The body has not been recovered, there was no positive identification of the individual in the purported video and the method of execution was different (which is important in the context of ritual killings). I’m getting my info from various references (including the above articles); if they’ve formally come out and confirmed his death, please let me know in comments.