Following up on an earlier post about the suggestion that the Marine hostage Hassoun is a deserter, there seems to be changes in the story published in the NY Times. The cousin who was quoted in the article is furious and the Times is now admitting that the quote attributed to the cousin was incomplete. Hasn't the Times learned anything from their earlier effort to lead the war effort?
"The Times referred to Wassef Hassoun as a "Marine linguist." However, a Marine spokeswoman insisted Tuesday that he was not a linguist but a motor vehicle driver.
The Times said about two months ago Wassef Hassoun told Tarek Hassoun that several American deserters had escaped by bribing Iraqis to help get them out of the country.
"I was misquoted. The way I said it was changed 180 degrees."
Wednesday the New York Times News Service said its story quoted Tarek Hassoun incompletely. The correction said: "The cousin, Tarek Hassoun, said of a conversation two months ago with Corporal Hassoun: 'He said a lot of soldiers, they don't want to die, especially when they see someone dying in front of them.' When the report from Salt Lake City was added to the Baghdad article, this further comment from Tarek Hassoun was omitted: 'But I'm sure he didn't run away.' "
