First, from the Army Times:
The Marine Corps’ top general has condemned a web video appearing to show Marines in Afghanistan urinating on dead Taliban fighters, and called for criminal and internal probes into what has quickly mushroomed into an international incident that threatens to undermine the U.S war effort.
“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,” Gen. Jim Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, said in a statement issued Thursday morning. “Accordingly, late yesterday I requested that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service pull together a team of their very best agents and immediately assign them responsibility to thoroughly investigate every aspect of the filmed event.”
The full article is here.
From the UK’s Daily Mail:
All four of the U.S. Marines seen in an outrageous video urinating on dead Afghan bodies have been identified and could face criminal charges ‘within hours’ over the incident, it emerged today.
Two men have so far been interviewed but not detained – and the group could face criminal charges on Friday of bringing dishonour to the armed forces, reported CNN, CBS and ABC News.
The revelations come as University of Southern California military psychologist Eugenia Weiss suggested the soldiers involved may have been ‘stressed’ or ‘pranksters with extremely bad taste’.
The Navy’s law enforcement arm is heading the main inquiry, which is expected to weigh evidence of violations of the U.S. military legal code as well as the international laws of warfare.
Separately, the Marine Corps is doing its own internal investigation. Pentagon officials said the criminal investigation would likely look into whether the Marines violated laws of war.
These include prohibitions against photographing or mishandling bodies and detainees. It also appeared to violate the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice, which governs conduct.
Thus, some or all of the four Marines could face a military court-martial or other disciplinary action.
Read more here.
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