By GRAHAM BOWLEY and ALISSA J. RUBIN
Published: April 18, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan — Photographs apparently showing United States
soldiers posing with body parts of dead insurgents drew strong
condemnation on Wednesday from American officials including Defense
Secretary Leon E. Panetta and the commander of international forces in
Afghanistan.
The Los Angeles Times published on the front page of its early
editions a photograph of what it described as a soldier from the
Army's 82nd Airborne Division with a dead insurgent's hand on his
shoulder. It said the photograph was one of 18 of soldiers posing with
the corpses of insurgent fighters given to the newspaper by a soldier
who served in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne's Fourth Brigade
Combat Team from Fort Bragg, N.C. The newspaper said the Afghan died
planting a bomb, citing police.
The story was later posted to the newspaper's Web site with another
photograph of American soldiers and Afghan security forces posing with
the dismembered legs of another insurgent held upright by ropes.
The photographs were believed to have been taken in 2010, according to
a spokeswoman for international forces in Afghanistan. She said it was
not yet clear where the photographs had been taken, the number of
service personnel involved nor whether they were still serving in the
military.
According to the newspaper, the photographs were taken in Zabul
Province in 2010. Zabul is a particularly impoverished province in the
south of the country, and the Taliban has maintained a strong presence
there.
The story said in one photograph two soldiers posed holding a dead
man's hand with the middle finger raised.
The revelation of the photographs followed video uncovered in January
of four American Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters and
appeared likely to complicate an already tense atmosphere for American
forces in Afghanistan. There is a military investigation under way
into the burning of Korans at Bagram Air Force base in February that
touched off deadly riots. The military is also investigating the
killing last month of Afghan villagers, including women and children,
by a rogue American soldier in Kandahar Province, also in the south.
The hostility over those episodes has redefined the already-strained
relationship between the United States and Afghanistan, and has added
urgency to talks under way to lay out a long-term strategic
partnership between the two countries — a critical step before the
troop withdrawal deadline set for 2014.
Mr. Panetta said in an e-mailed statement that the photographs did not
represent the "professionalism of the vast majority of U.S. troops
serving in Afghanistan today." He also voiced displeasure at the
newspaper for publishing the images, saying he was "disappointed that
despite our request not to publish these photographs, the Los Angeles
Times went ahead."
Gen. John R. Allen, the senior allied commander in Afghanistan,
condemned the actions apparently depicted in the photographs. "The
actions of the individuals photographed do not represent the policies
of ISAF or the U.S. Army," he said in a statement, referring to the
NATO coalition in Afghanistan. "This behavior and these images are
entirely inconsistent with the values of ISAF and all service members
of the 50 ISAF countries serving in Afghanistan."
Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker also said in a statement: "The U.S. Embassy
strongly condemns the actions depicted in photos recently made public,
which appear to show members of the U.S. military committing
disrespectful acts with the bodies of insurgents, killed in their own
suicide attacks in 2010." He said such actions were "morally
repugnant, dishonor the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of U.S.
soldiers and civilians who have served with distinction in
Afghanistan, and do not represent the core values of the United States
or our military."
General Allen said the military would collaborate with Afghan
authorities to investigate the photographs.
The strongly worded statements seemed to be in part an attempt to head
off reaction in Afghanistan to the photographs. The photograph — along
with a story under the headline "U.S. troops posed with body parts of
Afghan bombers" — showed a young soldier posing with what seemed to be
a hand on his right shoulder. What appears to be the body of a dead
insurgent lies in the background.
Nadir Nadiry, an Afghan human rights activist in Kabul, said Afghans
would likely react negatively because similar photographs had surfaced
before and despite military investigations the latest pictures
suggested the actions continued to be perpetrated.
"It gives them a sense of, 'Oh they are continuing to do this,' " he
said. "Each time they say they will conduct a thorough investigation,
but these investigations are not being made public so the results are
not known to the Afghan people. So it's hard for them to believe the
investigations were real and that measures were taken to change
things."
Hamidullah Tokhi, a member of the parliament from Zabul Province, said
in a telephone interview that while there may not be any large
outpouring of outrage over the photos, episodes like this do
contribute to a worsening of the already poor image of the American
military among Afghans.
"This kind of degradation and dishonoring of the human corpus is not
bigger than what the foreign forces have done to the people in their
houses," he said, speaking of the night raids that have enraged
Afghans. But he added, "All this dishonoring and disrespecting of the
people religion and tradition is not acceptable at all. All these were
the reasons motivate peoples to go to the mountain and join Taliban."
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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