• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

U.S. Condemns Behavior Of U.S. Troops Shown In New Afghan Photos

April 18, 2012

by RFE/RL

The U.S. government said it "strongly rejects" the conduct of several U.S. soldiers shown in photographs apparently abusing the corpses of suspected Afghan militants.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who was in Brussels for a NATO meeting, said on April 18 that the photos did not reflect the "values" of U.S. soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and pledged that the perpetrators would be punished.

Speaking through a spokesman, Panetta also expressed disappointment that the "Los Angeles Times" ignored a Pentagon request to refrain from publishing the photos.

The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, said it was "a serious error in judgment by several soldiers who have acted out of ignorance and unfamiliarity" with U.S. Army values.

The U.S. ambassador in Kabul, Ryan Crocker, said such actions were “morally repugnant” and “dishonor the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers and civilians who have served with distinction in Afghanistan.”

The pictures purport to show soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division posing with remains of suspected suicide bombers in the southeastern province of Zabol in 2010.

In one of the photos, a soldier posed next to an unofficial patch placed beside a body that reads "Zombie Hunter."

In another picture, soldiers posed with Afghan police officers holding the severed legs of a corpse.

Two soldiers are also shown holding a dead man's hand with the middle finger raised.

The “Los Angeles Times” said it was given a total of 18 photos by a U.S. soldier "to draw attention to the safety risk of a breakdown in leadership and discipline" among U.S. troops.

The publication of the photos is the latest in a series of scandals that has strained U.S.-Afghan relations.

In March, U.S. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was charged in connection with the shooting deaths of 17 Afghan civilians.

In February, U.S. soldiers burned copies of the Koran at a NATO base near Kabul, triggering unrest in which more than 30 people died.

A video also emerged in January apparently showing U.S. soldiers urinating on dead militants.

Photographs published in 2011 showed U.S. soldiers posing with the corpses of Afghan civilians as "war trophies."

With reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan_us_soldiers_abuse_photographs_la_times/24552560.html

Copyright (c) 2012. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.