Excellent article on Marine peeing on corpse

[Koshinn]

http://www.militarytimes.com/article...rsy-speaks-out

At long last, they got him. After weeks of observation, Sgt. Rob Richards and his fellow Marine scout snipers had taken out the insurgent leader in Afghanistan responsible for the improvised explosive devices that had killed two of their fellow Marines. One of the Marines’ bodies had been desecrated by the Taliban, his leg hung in a tree to send a defiant message, Marines said.

...

“What really led up to it is they desecrated one of our Marines,” Richards said of the video. “When you’re under that much stress and in that environment, your whole mental being changes. You’re no longer Joe the Family Man. You’re a warrior, and if you read back to biblical wars and wars since the dawn of time, men have been doing this to men for millennia.”

It's worth reading the entire article... I swear this could be made into a movie.

[ABNAK]

Filming it was their only indiscretion IMHO.

[Koshinn]

Filming it was their only indiscretion IMHO.

In the article, it talks about how they didn't film it. Someone in a different unit did.

Then the person who filmed it stepped on an IED and died a couple of weeks later. His camera was stolen when his belongings were being packed up to be shipped back home and the video was anonymously posted online by whoever stole the camera.

[ABNAK]

In the article, it talks about how they didn't film it. Someone in a different unit did.

Then the person who filmed it stepped on an IED and died a couple of weeks later. His camera was stolen when his belongings were being packed up to be shipped back home and the video was anonymously posted online by whoever stole the camera.

After all this time I did not know that tidbit about how it came to be online. Still, would have been prudent to tell the guy filming to knock it off or something might happen to his camera!

[Koshinn]

After all this time I did not know that tidbit about how it came to be online. Still, would have been prudent to tell the guy filming to knock it off or something might happen to his camera!

Seriously, read the article

Wherever I go, people ask ‘Why did you videotape it?’ And I say, ‘We didn’t f---ing know,’ ” Richards said. “We didn’t know at the time, and we didn’t know it would get in the hands of a traitor, in my opinion. Not only a traitor, but a coward who would potentially try to destroy us and the Marine Corps at the same time by releasing it selfishly.”

They didn't even know it was filmed until it was released.

[ABNAK]

They didn't even know it was filmed until it was released.

It's been a while since I've seen the video but I thought at least one of the pissers looked at the camera while doing the deed. Perhaps my memory is inaccurate. Even if one did know that doesn't mean they all did though.

Despite all this my GAF meter is pegged at ZERO! "Untoward" things occur in war. Big deal. If we weren't so damned politically correct it wouldn't even make the news. I'm sure there were more than a few Japanese/German/ChiCom/NVA corpses that reeked of urine when finally buried.

[Koshinn]

It's been a while since I've seen the video but I thought at least one of the pissers looked at the camera while doing the deed. Perhaps my memory is inaccurate. Even if one did know that doesn't mean they all did though.

Despite all this my GAF meter is pegged at ZERO! "Untoward" things occur in war. Big deal. If we weren't so damned politically correct it wouldn't even make the news. I'm sure there were more than a few Japanese/German/ChiCom/NVA corpses that reeked of urine when finally buried.

I think what made it worse was that the Commandant decided to get involved in the trial process.

[ABNAK]

I think what made it worse was that the Commandant decided to get involved in the trial process.

Sadly, in today's PC environment he probably didn't have much choice but to get involved once it hit the airwaves. Now at that point he can exercise discretion, i.e. slap on the wrist as opposed to court-martial, etc.

[Koshinn]

Sadly, in today's PC environment he probably didn't have much choice but to get involved once it hit the airwaves. Now at that point he can exercise discretion, i.e. slap on the wrist as opposed to court-martial, etc.

He did the opposite of a slap on the wrist...

In July, Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the first convening authority in the cases, said in a signed declaration for Clement’s case that he was willing to avoid courts-martial for Richards and the other sergeants involved. Amos, however, told Waldhauser he wanted all of the Marines involved “crushed” and tossed from the service, Waldhauser said.

Amos replaced Waldhauser shortly afterward with Lt. Gen. Richard Mills as the consolidated disposition authority for the cases, a highly unusual move.

In a Feb. 10, 2012, memo to Waldhauser, Amos acknowledged his comments “could be perceived as possibly interfering with your independent and unfettered discretion to take action in these cases.” The commandant removed the three-star general “to protect the institutional integrity of the military justice process, and to avoid any potential issues,” the memo said.

Sounds like ass-covering to me.

[HackerF15E]

He did the opposite of a slap on the wrist...


Sounds like ass-covering to me.

Who covering whose ass?

What that quote talks about is Unlawful Command Influence in an official investigative and punitive process, which is plainly against the UCMJ.