Via David Anderson, Rusty Shackleford apologizes for casting aspersions against Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun when he was reportedly abducted by terrorists in Iraq, and subsequently released and made his way to the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

While I don't want to "convict" Corporal Hassoun without giving him the opportunity to explain the situation, I've seen nothing so far which would exonerate him in a very strange and suspicious chain of events.

I'll ask my son, who is also a Marine at Camp Lejeune, what the scuttlebutt says about Cpl Hassoun. While not definitive, my experience during twenty years of naval service suggests that the troops have the best insight into the truth of the matter.