Marines Allegedly Urinated On Taliban Bodies

The Marine Corps Times reports investigators at the highest level are reviewing whether Marines urinated on four Taliban bodies, as purportedly shown in a video on YouTube and elsewhere today.

So far there has been no indication the video is a fraud.

The Marines can be heard joking about what they are doing. “Have a good day buddy” and “Golden like a shower.”

One of the Marines is holding what the Times said is a “precision,” or sniper rifle.

That and their other Marine gear and uniforms could help the Naval Intelligence Service track them down.

The Times reported: “The unit identified in the caption beneath the video — 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines — returned to Camp Lejenue in October from a standard seven-month deployment to Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Its Marines saw intense action in and around Musa Qala, a violent district located in northern Helmand.” The unit’s chain of command denied comment.

 The video was first uploaded by a user named semperfiLoneVoice.

It has drawn acerbic remarks on Tweeter, including Semper Pee, a twist on the Marine code Semper Fi, roughly translated from Latin and meaning keep the faith.

On the other hand, some commenting on the Marine Corps Facebook page dismissed the action as irrelevant and some said they would do it if they had a chance.

“The actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps. This matter will be fully investigated.”

NATO Admits Deadly Attack on Pakistan

Los Angeles Times photo trucks held up by closure of Pakistan-Afghan border

NATO has admitted it is “highly likely” it was responsible for an attack by warplanes and helicopters that killed dozens of Pakistan soldiers on an Afghan border post near Mohmand. Pakistan forces returned fire.

Reuters and Al Jazeera said the toll could reach or exceed 30. It was deadliest attack on Pakistan forces by NATO since it invaded neighboring Afghanistan after 9/11.

"Pakistan's sovereignty was attacked early this morning," said Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. "This is our Pakistan and we have to defend it," told the Wall Street journal.

“Close air support was called in, in the development of the tactical situation, and it is what likely caused the Pakistan casualties,” Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a spokesman for NATO said. He apologized.

News reports said NATO forces were involved in an anti-Taliban operation in the Khyber region of northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border.

Relations between Islamabad have deteriorated as the war seems to drone on without end. And U.S. military and government officials have accused Pakistan of giving some of the ammunition and other aid it delivers to anti-Afghanistan government groups.

In some cases NATO forces allegedly were killed with these munitions.

Pakistan was outraged by the Navy Seal attack inside its territory that resulted in the execution of Osama bin Laden.

Afghan President has simultaneously criticized the U.S. for allegedly killing civilians not involved in the conflict.

In the U.S., support for the war has declined as casualties climb at the same time American commanders say they are winning. Intense pressure to cut government spending adds to the pressure to pull out of the graveyard of empires.

Pakistan, meanwhile, said it returned fire on the attack early Saturday. There was no information on NATO suffered casualties.

“Pakistani troops effectively responded immediately in self-defense to NATO’s aggress with all available weapons,” its military said in a statement.

Our Allies in Pakistan and Afganistan Kill Us And Insult Us

   
     The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost our nation trillions, as our infrastructure falls apart. No value can be put on blood. Cops, teachers, firefighters, hospital workers are laid off. Schools are closed.
    
     Yet when one of our generals, Peter Fuller, tells the truth about what is going on he gets fired.
    
     Daniel Petraeus and other commanders have known from the start that Pakistan supported the Taliban and Haqqani networks and other insurgents. There are so many groups fighting us the media had to create a new word: militants.
    
     American soldiers and contractors have been killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan with weapons and ammo the U.S. provided Pakistan.
    
     Despite claims by Petraeus and others that we are winning, casualties in Afghanistan are at their highest level ever. During the Vietnam War a more skeptical nation recognized "the five o'clock follies" for what they were.
    
     One famous joke: In 1969 IBM's smartest computer was asked when the war would be over at the current kill rate of Viet Cong and NVA. The answer was 1967.
    
     The only warrior to ever defeat the Afghans was Alexander the Great, and he had to marry one of their princesses to get a deal.
    
     The big difference between Afghanistan and Vietnam is that there are no draftees. Should that justify fighting a war we have no interest in?
    
     Afghan President Hamid Karzai had insulted America on numerous occasions. He made it clear he wanted our military to die before risking killing an Afghan civilian.
    
     When he said Afghanistan would support Pakistan if the U.S. attacked it, Maj. Gen. Fuller said:
    
     “Why don’t you just poke me in the eye with a needle! You’ve got to be kidding me … I’m sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you’re telling me, ‘I don’t really care’?”
    
     He also said NATO would rather teach Afghans how to fish than buy them fish. But they would prefer to just get more free fish.
    
   

The Neutrality of Language

It seemed so horrible when I first heard

Though that Kabul suicide bombing blast lent just the right tone

For the day some said would be the apocalypse

But if it were really true would we have even heard

It only takes a few minutes to get over things these days anyway

And if there is even a faint pulse a blood pulp can be kept alive

When a bullet to the head would be more merciful

Or bullets to the chest and head like Bin Laden

Those covered in blood learn so many neutral ways to explain it

Things not even a Primo Levi would try to make sense of

Let's just call it post-traumatic stress disorder

Because there are so many neutral ways

To tell stories that shouldn't even be imagined Let alone told

A rape is a sexual assault

A bloody bombing is the work of "militants"

Kind of makes you wonder what you call really bad people

It's unlikely a Shakespeare or Camus would be up to it

Better left to an Edgar Allan Poe or even Stephen King

But our world clearly passed even them by years...