14-Jan-2012 - In Damage Control Bid, Pentagon Calls Karzai

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By JULIAN E. BARNES in Washington and MARIA ABI-HABIB in KabulWASHINGTON—Pentagon officials went into overdrive Thursday in a bid to prevent a controversial video, which appears to show a group of Marines urinating on militants' corpses, from turning the Afghan public against the U.S. war effort. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta condemned the behavior Thursday and telephoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to say he found the images deplorable. "This conduct is entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military and doesn't reflect the standards or values our armed forces are sworn to uphold," Mr. Panetta said in a statement. Earlier Thursday, Mr. Karzai strongly condemned the video as "inhuman." A statement from the president's office called for an immediate investigation and "severe punishment" for the U.S. troops featured in the video. The footage, which has emerged on YouTube and other sites and runs less than a minute, depicts four men dressed in Marine Corps combat gear urinating on what appear to be three corpses on the ground. "Have a great day, buddy," one of the Marines is heard as saying. Even as Pentagon officials said they would investigate to determine whether the footage was authentic, they quickly condemned the conduct. The full-court press is aimed at conveying to the Afghan and U.S. publics that the incident, if proven true, was an aberration. Mr. Panetta's comments nfl headset were echoed by Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization command in Afghanistan. The service members' apparent behavior is deplorable and "not in keeping with the high moral standards we expect of coalition forces," the U.S.-led military coalition said in a statement. Such an act "dishonors the sacrifices of every service member representing the 50 nations of the coalition," it said. Pentagon officials said they were heartened by both a statement by the Taliban that the incident shouldn't derail peace talks, and by the reaction of Mr. Karzai in his conversation with Mr. Panetta. Defense officials said that Mr. Karzai told Mr. Panetta he appreciated the call and was encouraged by the strong and quick U.S. reaction to the incident. Western officials in Kabul, meanwhile, described the statement Mr. Karzai issued before the conversation as levelheaded and not inflammatory. In the past, Mr. Karzai has used similar incidents to stoke anti-Western sentiment in Afghanistan. The Taliban on Thursday condemned the video, saying in a statement that U.S. forces have committed "war crimes, inhuman and immoral deeds" through the 10 years of war. "Soon American invaders will witness the punishment of such deeds and will face the extreme hatred of Afghans," the Taliban said. But a spokesman also told several news organizations by telephone that the outcry over the video won't affect the insurgents' tentative negotiations with the U.S. During the Iraq war, images and accounts of wrong doing by U.S. military personnel, such as pictures of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison, turned Iraqi public opinion against America. In Afghanistan, far fewer people have televisions, or even electricity, meaning the images of the bodies being mistreated are unlikely to spread widely. Still, accounts are likely to spread by word of mouth, and could fuel more violence against the coalition by Afghans who feel that the disrespect shown to NFL shop jerseys the dead violates Islam. In Islam, the dead must be washed and their bodies buried within 24 hours. The Taliban, however, have a tainted record on that score themselves. When they took over Kabul in 1996, they brutally killed Mohammad Najibullah, the deposed communist president who was seeking refuge at a U.N. compound in the city. After castrating Mr. Najibullah, they hanged him and his brother from a traffic light on a busy street in Kabul for all to see, in violation of Islamic tradition. The Taliban in recent years frequently hanged suspected government spies from trees in areas they control. The military is working to determine the authenticity of the video, but officials said it appears to be real. The coalition first learned of the video from a website called Liveleaks, but doesn't know where it originated from at this moment, according to Western military official in Kabul. The coalition statment said the Marines featured in the video are no longer serving in Afghanistan. When the video was taken is unknown, but from the scenery it appears to be in the spring or summer. Gen. Amos, the Marines commandant, said that the incident would be investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Serivice. He also appointed a high-ranking Marine officer and a service lawyer to head up a separate preliminary investigation. "Rest assured that the institution of the Marine Corps will not rest until the allegations and the events surrounding them have been resolved," Gen. Amos said. Desecrating the bodies of enemy combatants is a violation of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. If the video is proved to be authentic, the Marines involved could face a court-martial. At the moment, there are no plans to review the cultural sensitivity training U.S. Forces receive, the Western military official in Kabul said, but "leaders are re-emphasizing our values." By Thursday night, Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the deputy commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, was preparing to send out a letter to coalition nike nfl jerseys troops reminding them of the "proper conduct in war and conflict" and the coalition's "values—differentiating between right and wrong and treating insurgent bodies with respect." Write to Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com and Maria Abi-Habib at maria.habib@dowjones.com

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