Sick

For the Obama administrations hearts and minds campaign designed to alter perceptions of the United States in Afghanistan where the US is disliked,the video of US Marines urinating on Afghan,possibly Taliban,corpses couldnt have come at a more delicate moment. Delicate,because of the thin thread by which prospects for peace talks with the Taliban hang,even as NATO forces prepare to pull out by end-2014.

While the Taliban has not announced an end to its plans to open an office in Qatar for negotiations,US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has every reason to fear a threat to the outlook for talks. For its part,the US has moved swiftly into its damage-control mode,strongly condemning the Marines act. An investigation is also under way,and reportedly some of the guilty have been identified. However,from the Afghan perspective,the video only adds fuel to the idea of American arrogance and brutality,and insensitivity to Islam. Afghan President Hamid Karzai,on a shaky platform politically and not really happy about peace talks that could exclude his government,was quick to condemn the Marines and US military tendencies in general.

The savagery of whats shown in the video adds to the list of soldier misconduct that has plagued the US from Abu Ghraib to the killings of Afghan civilians for sport. The action depicted in this video,shot sometime last year when the 3rd Battalion,2nd Marine Regiment was deployed in Afghanistan for six months,could amount to war crimes and a violation of the Geneva Conventions which call for honourable treatment of bodies of those killed. Its unlawful to photograph opponents killed in war too. Washington needs to take quick,exemplary action against the Marines.