الرئيسية
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Marine Corps took a first, formal
step on Friday toward possible charges against four Marines who, in a
widely circulated video, appear to be urinating on the bodies of dead
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
It named a lead investigating officer whose job will include deciding
what charges, if any, would be brought against the four men, all of
whom have been identified, a Marine Corps official told Reuters,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
The move came as a top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan ordered
troops to "treat the living and the dead with dignity and respect."
"Defiling, desecrating, mocking, photographing or filming for
personal use insurgent dead constitutes a grave breach of the (law of
armed conflict)," Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti, who heads
day-to-day Afghan operations, wrote in a letter to troops dated January
12 and seen by Reuters on Friday.
The Pentagon has acted quickly to respond to the video, a move
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top U.S. officials hope will
limit the fallout.
The video is likely to stir up already strong anti-U.S. sentiment in
Afghanistan after a decade of a war that has seen past cases of abuse.
That could complicate efforts to promote reconciliation as foreign
troops gradually withdraw, although a Taliban spokesman said on Thursday
it would not harm nascent efforts to broker peace talks.
The video, posted on YouTube and other websites, shows four Marines
in camouflage combat uniforms urinating on three corpses. One of them
jokes: "Have a nice day, buddy." Another makes a lewd joke.
step on Friday toward possible charges against four Marines who, in a
widely circulated video, appear to be urinating on the bodies of dead
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
It named a lead investigating officer whose job will include deciding
what charges, if any, would be brought against the four men, all of
whom have been identified, a Marine Corps official told Reuters,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
The move came as a top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan ordered
troops to "treat the living and the dead with dignity and respect."
"Defiling, desecrating, mocking, photographing or filming for
personal use insurgent dead constitutes a grave breach of the (law of
armed conflict)," Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti, who heads
day-to-day Afghan operations, wrote in a letter to troops dated January
12 and seen by Reuters on Friday.
The Pentagon has acted quickly to respond to the video, a move
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top U.S. officials hope will
limit the fallout.
The video is likely to stir up already strong anti-U.S. sentiment in
Afghanistan after a decade of a war that has seen past cases of abuse.
That could complicate efforts to promote reconciliation as foreign
troops gradually withdraw, although a Taliban spokesman said on Thursday
it would not harm nascent efforts to broker peace talks.
The video, posted on YouTube and other websites, shows four Marines
in camouflage combat uniforms urinating on three corpses. One of them
jokes: "Have a nice day, buddy." Another makes a lewd joke.