TMZ has the video of what appears to be Marines urinating on the corpses of three Taliban fighters.
U.S. officials tripped all over themselves to condemn the footage.
From the Washington Post:
Top U.S. officials moved swiftly Thursday to try to prevent diplomatic damage and contain public disgust from the release of a video that appeared to show Marines urinating on three Afghan corpses — images that spread quickly around the globe.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said he had viewed the video and considered it “utterly deplorable.” He telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai and pledged a full investigation.
Prior to the call, Karzai described the video as “completely inhumane and condemnable in the strongest possible terms.” His administration called on the U.S. military to “apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime.”
The video, which runs for less than a minute, depicts four Marines in combat gear laughing and joking as they urinate on three male bodies. The caption refers to the corpses as “dead Talibans,” but it is unclear whether the men were civilians or fighters killed after a battle.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed “total dismay” at the behavior depicted in the recording, and said the “vast, vast” majority of American military personnel would not engage in such actions.
A Marine official said investigators were questioning two individuals that they had preliminarily identified as being in the video. The Marine Corps is “fairly confident” that all four are members of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the probe is underway.
As with the Abu Ghraib photos, I'm concerned that this video will be used by Islamic radicals to encourage attacks on our troops in Afghanistan and Americans all over the world.
Harvey Levin of TMZ expressed outrage about the controversy over the actions of the Marines. He called it hypocritical, objecting to them being vilified. One of the guys on the show pointed out that the Marines' behavior was understandable. What do we expect from someone who had seen the enemy kill their buddies? Levin said it was unrealistic to expect the Marines to kill the Taliban and then suddenly turn off those emotions.
Levin thinks the Marines should maybe be disciplined, but they shouldn't be treated like monsters.
The reason this is a controversy at all is because it was videotaped and shared.
This really bothers me:
...The Taliban, which has a long-standing reputation for brutality and beheadings, called the video barbaric, but made no immediate demands for retribution, as it has in the past. “It was inhuman and despicable, an unforgivable act,” said Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi.
Oh, how inhuman and despicable and barbaric!
Of course, when the Taliban videotape their beheadings of hostages, it's not a problem. They don't apologize.
This Taliban spokesman is in no position to be lecturing the U.S. on barbarism.
The Taliban harbored al Qaeda, but this video is unforgivable?
The Marines' behavior in the video is unacceptable. It's wrong. It's against U.S. policy.
I just don't want to hear a Taliban spokesman complaining about our "barbaric" Marines.
2 comments:
I'm a vetern,who witnes what the enemy has done to American soldier's bodies and have yet to hear about anyone being punished;because they don't wear name-tags. Washington Post should be ashamed of themself for breaken the story and damagen the lives of those soldiers.
I would have preferred the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Martin Dempsey came out with this statement in response to this incident:
"In a time of war...shit happens."
Privately, however, I'd have them digging latrines for a month because they were dumb enough to videotape it.
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