Marine scandal
January 12, 2012
An official with the US Marine Corps on Thursday said the military has identified at least two of the four men in a video that shows them urinating on the bodies of slain Taliban fighters.
The Marine official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a criminal investigation was underway, said the men belonged to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines from North Carolina, which concluded a tour of Afghanistan last fall.
The 39-second video surfaced on the Internet on Wednesday. It shows at least four men in Marine uniforms urinating on the corpses at an unidentified location in Afghanistan.
Taliban leaders, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and US officials all condemned a video.
Karzai said in a statement released by his office that his government was deeply disturbed by the footage.
"We expressly ask the US government to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime," he said. "This act by American soldiers is simply inhuman and condemnable in the strongest possible terms."
ISAF also condemned the video, saying that the incident appeared to be isolated.
"This disrespectful act is inexplicable and not in keeping with the high moral standards we expect of coalition forces," it said. "ISAF strongly condemns the actions depicted in the video, which appear to have been conducted by a small group of US individuals, who apparently are no longer serving in Afghanistan."
Marines say investigation has begun
A Taliban spokesman called the video "inhuman" and accused US soldiers of committing similar "crimes" since the US-led invasion in 2001.
"This is an inhuman, immoral and brutal act of the invaders," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said by phone from an undisclosed location. He added that the incident would not prevent preliminary talks on a prisoner swap and the opening of a Taliban office the Qatari Capital, Doha.
The Pentagon said Thursday it had no indication the video was not authentic. The US Marine Corps said the matter would be "fully investigated."
"Allegations of Marines not doing the right thing in regard to dead Taliban insurgents are very serious and, if proven, represent a failure to adhere to the high standards expected of American military personnel," Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Stewart Upton said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "total dismay" at the video and called it "absolutely inconsistent with the standards of behavior that the vast majority of Marines hold themselves to."
Author: Andrew Bowen (AP, dpa)
Editor: Andreas Illmer