The video, making the rounds yesterday showing four combat-equipped U.S. Marines urinating on three dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, triggered much broadcast and print coverage along with immediate condemnations from the Obama administration and some Pentagon brass --- but “shocked” media, some military and politicians overlooked a main element, reminds Grumpy Editor.
Unlike wars of the past, U.S. military forces in Afghanistan are in contact with terrorists who are not part of an organized army.
The deceased enemy fighters were not part of a regular army. The hostiles did not wear uniforms, held no rank, wore no stripes or bars or stars or other military insignia, did not possess serial numbers or “dog tags,” and didn’t report to captains, majors, colonels or generals.
Some in Washington and others also have forgotten military history. U.S. Marines during World War II on Iwo Jima, for example, used flamethrowers to flush out and kill uniformed enemy troops in a declared war.
Media and Washington did not frown on that action.
Negative reaction to the videoed Afghanistan incident illustrated “the cowardly world we live in,” stated coast-to-coast talk show host Michael Savage yesterday, in questioning why Washington was not supporting the Marines.
Some callers --- including former military personnel --- to Savage’s program said the Marines should be given medals rather than face talk of harsh legal action.
The Marine Corps issued a statement immediately after learning of the video, saying a full investigation was under way.
The New York Times reported Pentagon officials said the video was made between last March and September when a Marine battalion was deployed to Helmand Province, a strategic Taliban heartland and a center of the opium poppy trade.
Officials said the video likely was made in the northern part of the province where the battalion had operated, The Times said, adding “seven out of some 1,000 Marines in the battalion were killed during the seven-month deployment.”
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