Washington, January 13: FOOTAGE showing US soldiers urinating on dead Afghans has sparked global outrage — with Afghanistan’s leaders labelling it as a “ recruitment tool for the Taliban”. The “ disgusting” and “ highly reprehensible” 40- second clip shows four men in combat gear standing over the three corpses with their genitals exposed as they relieve themselves.
The men can be heard joking “ have a great day, buddy’, “ golden like a shower” and “ Yeahhhh!” as they groan with relief while urinating.
It sparked anger from Afghans, with top negotiator from President Hamid Karzai’s High Peace Council Arsala Rahmani, saying it will have a “ very, very bad impact on peace efforts”. He added: “ Looking at such action, the Taliban can easily recruit young people and tell them their country has been attacked by Christians and Jews and they must defend it.” It is not clear if the corpses belong to civilians or insurgents engaged in combat, although the film does appear to have been shot in Afghanistan.
The anonymous person who posted it included the caption: “ Scout sniper team 4 with 3rd battalion 2nd marines out of camp Lejeune peeing on dead Talibans.” The film is likely to spark a huge diplomatic row between Washington and Kabul and rekindle memories of the abuse meted out by US troops at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
The Nato- led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) in Afghanistan described the acts as “ highly reprehensible and disgusting”. ISAF spokesman Lt- Col Jimmie Cummings said: “ The behaviour depicted in this video is not in keeping with the values of US Armed Forces.” Pentagon spokesman navy captain John Kirby said the video was deeply troubling: “ Whoever it is, and whatever the circumstances, which we know is under investigation, it is egregious behaviour.” And the Council on Islamic- American Relations, a prominent Muslim civil rights and advocacy group based in Washington, also quickly condemned the video. The group wrote in a letter faxed to defence secretary Leon Panetta: “ We condemn this apparent desecration of the dead as a violation of our nation’s military regulations and of international laws of war prohibiting such disgusting and immoral actions. If verified as authentic, the video shows behaviour that is totally unbecoming of US army personnel and that could ultimately endanger other soldiers and civilians.”
THE three corpses are male and wearing civilian clothes. The youngest lies on his front with an overturned wheelbarrow dumped by his side. The other two are on their backs and one has a large blood stain on his chest. Marines spokeswoman Kendra Hardesty said: “While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps. This matter will be fully investigated and those responsible will be held accountable for their actions.” Lt-Col Stewart Upton added:
“The 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 US military personnel.” The footage emerged on Liveleak. com where some people left comments in support of what the soldiers had done. One wrote: “We’re all proud of you guys”, while another put: “The first bath they have had in years!” and “cut their heads off and bury them with a pig”. However others were disgusted and wrote: “Not cool.. fight with honour and dignity… set an example for future Soldiers. Don’t pee on the dead.”
Camp Lejeune is in North Carolina and is the largest Marine Corps Base on the East Coast of the US, home to 40,000 marines. The 3rd Batallion 2nd Marines consists of 800 Marines and sailors and is nicknamed the “Betio Bastards”, a reference to the island of Betio in the Tawara Atoll and the site of one of the most deadly battles with the Japanese in World War II. More recently they have served in Iraq, the Haiti earthquake of 2010 and in Afghanistan. Their motto is: “We quell the storm, and ride the thunder!” or “Strength and Honour”.
News of the footage had yet to reach the streets of Kabul on Thursday, but Afghans who were told about what the tape appears to show were horrified. Sayed Abdul Samad, an elderly man, said: “According to Islam and international law, it’s against humanity and illegal.” Feda Mohammad, a middleaged man, said: “They have committed a crime. We don’t want them in our country.”
Qaisullah, a 44-year-old shop keeper near the Capital’s Shahe- dushamshera mosque, called for the soldiers in the video to be punished. He said: “The government has to discuss with the US government the prosecution of these soldiers so in future nobody will be able to make fun of Afghans. I haven’t seen the video but it will harm our country and peace talks. It starts with footage on TV but will end with demonstrations around the country and maybe the world.”
The depraved acts of US Soldiers
DEAD AS TROPHIES KANDAHAR PROVINCE: IN MARCH 2011, nauseating images appeared of US soldiers abusing the bodies of Afghan civilians they had killed in cold blood. Two photos showed US servicemen posing over the bloodied, half- naked body of a farmer, yanking up his head by grabbing his hair and turning his face to the camera as if he were a hunting trophy. A third picture showed the battered bodies of two unidentified Afghans tied back- toback to a post.
ACTION TAKEN: In all, 12 members of a platoon in the infantry brigade from Tacoma, Washington, were charged with offences connected to the alleged ‘ kill team’ in Afghanistan.
TORTURE & ABUSE ABU GHRAIB
BEGINNING in 2004, human rights violations — physical, psychological and sexual abuse, torture, reports of rape and sodomy — of prisoners held in the Baghdad prison came to public attention.
The acts were committed by US army personnel together with additional US government agencies.
Photos surfaced showing detainees piled naked into human pyramids for the amusement of their US guards, and Specialist Lynndie England holding a leash attached to a prisoner who was lying on the floor.
ACTION TAKEN: Between 2004 and 2006, 11 soldiers were convicted by a military court, sentenced to prison, and dishonourably discharged from service. Lynndie was sentenced to three years.
INNOCENTS AS TARGETS BAGHDAD
IN APRIL 2010, a video leaked by WikiLeaks showed US soldiers laughing as a chopper strike killed a dozen civilians in Baghdad.
In the black- and- white footage from an Apache gunsight, the crew was heard discussing the carnage as if they were playing a video game, with one soldier shouting: “ Ha, ha, I hit ’ em.” Another said: “ Look at those dead b****** s.” Firing was opened on the unarmed civilians without evidence that they were insurgents.
NO ACTION TAKEN: After a probe, the US military concluded that the soldiers’ actions were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own “ Rules of Engagement”. No disciplinary action was taken.
‘ THRILL KILL’& RAPE AFGHANISTAN & IRAQ
The leader of the Thrill Kill squad, Sgt Calvin Gibbs, murdered Afghans for sport. He and his team cut off the corpses’ fingers, yanked out the teeth, leg bones and bits from the skull to keep as trophies.
Gibbs and the others killed the victims with grenades and dropped weapons near their bodies to make them look like fighters.
Soldier Steven Green was accused of orchestrating the 2006 Mahmudiyah bloodbath in Iraq, in which he and the other men in his team gangraped a 14- year- old girl after killing her family. The girl was shot dead and her body set on fire.
ACTION TAKEN: Green and Gibbs were jailed for life. The others in their teams were also sentenced.
Coutesy: Mailtoday