The NYT reports that U.S. Army Colonel Kassim Saleh proposed to no fewer than 50 women while deployed in Afghanistan last year. After locating them through Internet personals services, Saleh aggressively romanced them with flowery emails and occasional transatlantic phone calls.
The story illustrates the aphrodisiac effect of great writing. "He wrote better than Yeats. He wrote better than Shakespeare," one woman exclaimed. Of course, it must get easier after a while, when you can just cut and paste.
Needless to say, Saleh's flock of fiancées is eager for justice. The Times reports that, "it's unclear at this point whether his behavior, if proven true, violates either criminal law or Army regulations." But the trusty civil suit is always an option. The common law has historically provided a cause of action for "breach of promise to marry." This may be the first such suit filed as a class action.
Posted by Marie Gryphon on June 11, 2003