U.S. vows full investigation into Taliban corpse video
General: Behavior on video inconsistent with Marines
Marine Corps commandant says video that purports to depict Marines desecrating remains is behavior inconsistent with warrior ethos.
The Marines and the Obama administration promised a full investigation into a video that purports to depict four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters, images that could be used as propaganda by America’s enemies, experts say.
“The behavior depicted in the video is wholly inconsistent with the high standards of conduct and warrior ethos that we have demonstrated throughout our history,” said Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant.
Amos requested that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service pull together a team “to thoroughly investigate every as- pect of the filmed event.”
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta phoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai and promised a full investigation. Panetta said such behavior is “entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military” and those responsible will be held accountable. Karzai called the actions “completely inhumane.”
At least two of the four men have been identified as Marines based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the Associated Press reported, citing a Marine official who spoke on condition of anonymity because there is a criminal investigation. It was not clear when the video was taken.
The images may be used by the Taliban to convince Afghans that Americans disrespect Islamic traditions, said Richard Kohn, professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina and a military historian.
“These things happen, unfortunately,” Kohn said. “These are young kids under stress. They do stupid things and don’t realize the consequences. The American people have a great deal of affection and respect for the military and understand that bad things happen in war.”
The act violates the Geneva Conventions governing conduct in war, said Michael Newton, a law professor at Vanderbilt University. The conventions outlaw the desecration of war dead.
“The law of war has long made this a war crime in all circumstances during all types of conflicts – and we prosecuted people after World War II for situations like this,” Newton said.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, “We strongly condemn this inhumane action by the wild American soldiers.”
The incident is common in war, especially in units that lack strong leadership, said Andrew Exum, a military analyst at the Center for a New American Security who led Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Politicians and average Americans think the world of U.S. Marines and soldiers for good reason, but they need to see war as it is, not the sanitized version” portrayed in Hollywood films, Exum said.
Young troops in a foreign country who don’t understand the language or culture, experiencing combat stress and lacking strong sergeants and officers “will do stupid things,” he said.
There have been other highly publicized incidents of misconduct involving U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most damaging occurred at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, in which U.S. troops took photos of pris- oners being humiliated and abused.
In Afghanistan, a rogue group of U.S. soldiers killed unarmed civilians and cut fingers and a tooth from the corpses for souvenirs in 2010. The leader of the group was convicted of murder in November by a military court.
Atrocities by U.S. troops against their enemies in World War II have also been documented, Exum said. Those received less attention at the time, in part, because communication technology didn’t exist to rocket images around the world in an instant.
The video will probably have a minimal effect on the war, Exum said. The Taliban has spread worse falsehoods about U.S. troops and seems interested in entering peace talks.
“I don’t think it’s going to endanger the war effort,” Exum said. “The die is cast.”