Marines probe disturbing Afghan video
WASHINGTON -- The Marine Corps said yesterday that it is investigating the origins of a video on the Internet that purports to show Marines in combat gear urinating on the corpses of three Taliban insurgents.
The video, less than a minute long, began circulating on websites early yesterday. It depicts four Marines laughing as they relieve themselves while standing over three prostrate bodies.
A caption says the service members are part of a scout sniper team with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, an infantry unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C. Marines in the unit were deployed to Afghanistan last year but returned in September.
Capt. Kendra Hardesty, a Marine Corps spokeswoman, said officials would "fully investigate" the matter but so far have been unable to verify the video's authenticity or whether members of the battalion were involved.
"The actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps," she said in a statement.
There was no way to determine independently where the video was filmed or the identities of those involved.
A caption refers to the corpses as "dead Talibans," but it was unclear whether they were civilians or fighters killed after a battle. The bodies are dressed in Afghan-style clothing; one male corpse's chest appears to be soaked in blood.
Digital video and photography have grown more common on the battlefield, and many of the amateur productions wind up on the Internet. On occasion, the trend has caused severe embarrassment for the U.S. military, or in rare cases, such as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq, triggered international controversy and legal action against those involved.
The Pentagon has sent mixed messages on social media, reviewing troops' blogs for inappropriate content and classified information at the same time as it has encouraged units and commanders to communicate through Facebook.
In embracing social media, the Pentagon has effectively acknowledged that it simply cannot stop the flood of data and images from the battlefield.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
