Controversy: Marines Urinate on Dead Taliban

By Matt Wright

A video depicting four marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters has caused an uproar in the media and international community. These Marines have been identified as members of a sniper team that had lost seven members during their time in Afghanistan. Many high-ranking figures including Hamid Karzai and Hilary Clinton are calling for an extremely harsh punishment of these four Marines. These two figures along with many others are calling for this action to be treated as a war crime. Also this action hurts the U.S's image abroad and helps strength the Taliban's claims of American brutality in the region. The Marines' act also will put more American lives in danger because it helps the Taliban recruit new members and warrants retaliation.

Although what these marines did is extremely unethical and goes against basic human decency I do not agree with these people's belief that they should be tried as war criminals. I along with others, such as Rep. Allen West, believe that an Article 15 along with a letter of reprimand and a formal apology are all that should be asked of these marines. This punishment almost guarantees that these marines will be passed over for achieving any higher rank or pay raises along with this it also will stop them from getting any rewards and freezes pay temporarily. This punishment is more than sufficient for the crime involved.

As I stated earlier these act severely hurt our image abroad and go against our basic values as human being's and Americans, but one must look at the circumstance these actions happened in. These acts were not committed in a vacuum, they were committed by men who were deployed in a very dangerous region of Afghanistan and had seen members die. It is very hard to put oneself in the mindset of someone who lives with the danger of death every day for over a year. Also, although wrong, these actions are not as bad as many seem to portray them as. Urinating on dead enemy combatants should not be put on the same level as genocide, and other war crimes like many seem to be doing. Finally, as a nation, we should seek to protect our own troops over appeasing the local government or the international community. 

To see the actual video click here.

For further information about groups against a harsh punishment click here.