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January 12th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
“I don’t think this new issue will affect negotiations which at this
stage are mainly about prisoner exchange,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed
told AFP.
However, if authentic, the images – which conjure up previous abuses committed
by US troops during the decade-long war – could spark deep anger and
resentment in Afghanistan
and the wider Muslim world.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai Thursday strongly condemned the video.
“The government of Afghanistan is deeply disturbed by a video that shows
American soldiers desecrating dead bodies of three Afghans,” said a
statement from the president’s office.
“This act by American soldiers is simply inhuman and condemnable in the
strongest possible terms.
“We expressly ask the US government to urgently investigate the video and
apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime.”
The video has been broadcast by leading Afghan television station Tolo News.
The Pentagon has not yet verified the footage, but spokesman John Kirby told
AFP: “Regardless of the circumstances or who is in the video, this is
… egregious, disgusting behaviour, unacceptable for anyone in uniform.”
“It turned my stomach,” he added of the video, which was posted on
the Live Leak website.
A military official who asked not to be named said the helmet and weapon
carried by one of the men seems to indicate the four could be members of an
elite sniper team.
The official also said such conduct would be punishable under the US code of
military justice.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent
US Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, condemned the alleged
desecration of corpses.
“If verified as authentic, the video shows behaviour that is totally
unbecoming of American military personnel and that could ultimately endanger
other soldiers and civilians,” CAIR said in a statement.
“Any guilty parties must be punished to the full extent allowed by the
Uniform Code of Military Justice and by relevant American laws.”
A statement issued by the Pentagon said: “Headquarters Marine Corps has
recently been made aware of a video that portrays Marines urinating on what
appear to be deceased members of the Taliban.
“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.”
Some 20,000 Marines are deployed in Afghanistan, mostly in Kandahar and
Helmand provinces in the south of the war-ravaged country, the heartland of
the Taliban movement ousted from power in late 2001.
The United States and its Nato allies have 130,000 troops fighting the Taliban
insurgency in Afghanistan.
US and coalition partners plan to hand over security for the whole of the
country to Afghan forces by the end of 2014, allowing the withdrawal of
combat forces.
In March 2011 the US military apologised after pictures surfaced of US
soldiers from a rogue army unit posing with dead Afghans. Five soldiers from
the unit were charged with murder for allegedly shooting civilians for
sport.
In November the ringleader of the “kill team” – which was also
charged with taking fingers and teeth as trophies from civilians killed for
sport – was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison by a military
panel.
That scandal was among the worst faced by the military since the April 2004
revelation of prisoner abuse at the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, which
became a potent negative symbol of the US occupation.
Eventually, 11 soldiers were convicted in connection with the abuse, and
received punishments ranging from an army discharge to 10 years in prison.
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