Good heavens. That was my partner Ron's response when I read him the headline of the NY Times report on the alleged murder, burning of bodies and use of those murdered and burned corpses for propaganda purposes by US forces in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon announced Wednesday night that the Army had started a criminal investigation into allegations that American soldiers in Afghanistan had burned the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters and then used the charred and smoking corpses in a propaganda campaign against the insurgents.Source: New York Times
Cross posted at Political Porn
The United States is responsible for the conduct and the supervision of its soldiers. And it looks like the culture of the war, and the conduct of our soldiers, is a disgrace. Here is a photo from the burning of killed "enemy combatants" for public display.
From transcripts of the original Australian broadcast:
Reporter: At the top of the hills above the village the soldiers have taken the tactics of psychological warfare to a grotesque and disturbing extreme. US soldiers have set fire to the bodies of the two Taliban killed the night before. The burning of the corpses and the fact that they've been laid out facing Mecca is a deliberate desecration of Muslim beliefs.
Soldier: Wow, look at the blood coming out of the mouth on that one, fucking straight death metal.
Reporter: PsyOps specialist Sergeant Jim Baker then broadcast an inflammatory message over the loudspeakers in order to taunt and bait the enemy. Source
We are either bound by the rule of civilized law or we are not. When we invade other countries we have the absolute responsbility to do so (yes, I know that there's a paradox here) in a civilized and lawful manner.
Tiphat: Magpie
What's going on with America? We are not supposed to be the bad guys. This is madness that must be ended. It is not only wrong for America to project itself in this way, it is plain stupid. All that can come from this is harm to the US, harm to the people in the countries we occupy, and harm to the very ideals of liberalism and democracy. What a terrible shame.
Things just keep getting worse. With global warming brewing up another category 5 storm, with CNN's Aaron Brown talking about a White House crippled by the Rove-Plame-Cheney scandal, with DeLay about to get arrested and booked for the charges against him, and with the virgin lawyer Harriet Miers getting an "incomplete" on her homework to the Senate - Bush must be wanting to get back to the good old days of the Katrina crisis.
Cross posted at Political Porn