[andyt]

$1:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday condemned a video that apparently shows U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Afghan men, footage that the Pentagon acknowledged did not appear to be fake.
"I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable," Panetta said in a statement, adding that he had ordered the Marine Corps and the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan to investigate the incident.
"Those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent," he said.
The video that surfaced a day earlier appeared to show American forces urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters. It could aggravate anti-American sentiment in Afghanistan as the Obama administration hopes to end a decade-long war.
The video, posted on YouTube and other websites, shows four men in camouflage Marine combat uniforms urinating on three corpses. One of them jokes: "Have a nice day, buddy." Another makes a lewd joke.
The video comes at a sensitive moment for the Obama administration, which is about to launch a flurry of diplomatic efforts it hopes will kindle peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
How the video will affect that initiative is unclear.
A senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council said it would undermine the peace efforts, but a Taliban spokesman said it was accustomed to such "brutality" and suggested the video would not affect existing discussions.
The U.S. Marine Corps has said it will investigate. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan described the acts depicted in the video as "disrespectful" and "inexplicable".
Although the U.S. military has stopped short of confirming the video is authentic, the Pentagon on Thursday came close.
"We don't have any indication that it's not authentic," Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby said.
"It certainly appears to us to be what it appears to be to you guys... troops urinating on corpses. But there's an investigation process ongoing. We need to let that work its way through to determine all the facts of the case."

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/defense-chief- ... 11326.html



This version has the video http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/world-22 ... 61097.html

[andyt]

Personally, I don't care what happens to my body once I'm dead. But this doesn't seem like a smart move by these cowboys. Certainly won't win them any friends in Astan.

[BartSimpson]

andyt andyt:

Personally, I don't care what happens to my body once I'm dead. But this doesn't seem like a smart move by these cowboys. Certainly won't win them any friends in Astan.

We have no friends in Afghanistan. F*ck 'em is all I have to say.

[Nuggie77]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

andyt andyt:

Personally, I don't care what happens to my body once I'm dead. But this doesn't seem like a smart move by these cowboys. Certainly won't win them any friends in Astan.

We have no friends in Afghanistan. F*ck 'em is all I have to say.

What a bunch of fucktards. Pretty classless if you ask me. What would you say if the circumstances were reversed?

[andyt]

I don't think it does their mission or their fellow soldiers any good to do something like this. Especially to video tape it - bunch of maroons.

[OnTheIce]

Nuggie77 Nuggie77:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

andyt andyt:

Personally, I don't care what happens to my body once I'm dead. But this doesn't seem like a smart move by these cowboys. Certainly won't win them any friends in Astan.

We have no friends in Afghanistan. F*ck 'em is all I have to say.

What a bunch of fucktards. Pretty classless if you ask me. What would you say if the circumstances were reversed?

Class?

It's war.

They cut our guys heads off and broadcast it on the Internet.

Fuck them.

[DrCaleb]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Nuggie77 Nuggie77:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

We have no friends in Afghanistan. F*ck 'em is all I have to say.

What a bunch of fucktards. Pretty classless if you ask me. What would you say if the circumstances were reversed?

Class?

It's war.

They cut our guys heads off and broadcast it on the Internet.

Fuck them.

Geneva Conventions. Read them.

http://www.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/d ... ul_rule113

[BartSimpson]

The Taliban are not a signatory to the Geneva Conventions.

[andyt]

So you're OK with the Marines lowering themselves to the Taliban level? Why are you fighting over there again?

[Lemmy]

Combatants who resort to cowardly acts, like the setting of IEDs, have no just claim to protection under the articles of civilized warfare. Cowards who'd throw acid in the faces of teenaged girls have no just claim to acticles protecting civility of any kind. If anything, pissing on these people is too good for them.

[DrCaleb]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

The Taliban are not a signatory to the Geneva Conventions.

Afghanistan is. And if they were not, it does not change the fact that we are.

We expect certain behaviour from our friends, allies and potential allies; and the only way we can get that is if we act the same way we expect others to act.

If they were pissing on our soldiers, I would have no less distan for the act. That is not how we treat someone who has given their life for their country and beliefs, and that is not how we expect them to treat our soldiers.

And the Taliban have just been given their best recruiting videos since Abu-Ghraib.

[andyt]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

And the Taliban have just been given their best recruiting videos since Abu-Ghraib.

Exactly. If these guys don't care about how they treat the enemy, that's one thing. But this will just make things more dangerous for all western troops in Astan. Doesn't make the US look all that classy either.

[Gunnair]

Geneva Conventions aside (which many here seem to be either unfamiliar with or simply ignore) I submit that as long as the playing field is level, both sides can pee each other till their hearts content.

Hopefully both sides will then shut up with the chest thumping bullshit and bravado that knee jerks about the place when their soldiers get caught doing something tremendously retarded.

[Macguyver]

I wonder what kind of shit we would have seen if our grandfathers all had portable video cameras in WW2?

[BartSimpson]

andyt andyt:

So you're OK with the Marines lowering themselves to the Taliban level? Why are you fighting over there again?

What I see are four living Marines and three dead pieces of ****. That's a happy outcome.

Why are we fighting over there? To kill these mutts, that's why.

If someone wants to pee on them that is just fine with me.