Now, we have another scandal brewing, this time in Afghanistan. I don't have inside information about the photos published in Der Spiegel and NO ONE, let me repeat that, NO ONE has all the facts surrounding the photos. So, I'm going to speak generically about them and my thoughts. But, first, a little insight into the mind of a Soldier that COULD lead to the stupid actions depicted in these photos.
I've gotten many emails and comments about this photos. The most common question is "why did they take off his clothes?" Again, I don't have the answers, but this is somewhat common. One of the possible reasons is that the clothes were removed to ensure that the corpse was not wired with explosives. The Taliban and AQ have hidden explosives on their bodies in just about every location on the human body. In order to ensure that corpses are not rigged to explode and kill innocents.
Some stories have mentioned that the bodies were those of innocent people. I'm not going to comment one way or the other about that because it doesn't matter. Innocent or Taliban, Soldiers are trained that "trophy photos" taken with dead bodies is prohibited. Innocent or not, the photos are despicable in my opinion. So, the question then becomes, "why do Soldiers take photos with the dead at all?"
We are at war with the most disgusting, vile, evil, and inhumane enemies that this country has ever face. They don't hesitate to use human shields, kill civilians, or violate traditional laws of land warfare. They don't abide by Geneva Conventions. They don't treat our dead with respect and don't give any rights or privileges to our troops that are captured. In short, we don't look at them as human. Because we see them as animals, the mentality in some Soldiers is that they aren't really people. They're no better than animals, so some troops may not looks at their actions as somehow no different than showing off a trophy deer or hog taken down during a hunt.
But, it doesn't matter. Whether the individuals in the photos are "innocent civilians" or the Taliban, taking photos of those killed during operations is forbidden. There is no such thing as "I didn't know." We are briefed on these issues PRIOR TO any deployment during our Rules of Engagement and Laws of Land Warfare training.
Personally, regardless of who is the target of my kinetic wrath, I never took pictures of my kills intentionally. When I returned and had my photos developed, I noticed that some of the photos I took had dead bodies in them. I destroyed those photos, except one. I took a picture of a destroyed tank and burnt to a crisp. What I mistook as charred metal behind the tank ended up being a completed burned body. Someone else pointed that out to me. It's the only photo I kept.
I took this picture outside of Baghdad in early April 2003, prior to the fall of the city. Looking at it, you would think it's just a photo of a couple of puppies on the side of the road. The truth is that these photos are feasting on the body parts of a dead Iraqi Soldier. However, it was a strong image I wanted to document without disrespecting the body of the poor soul who was killed and providing a lunch to these dogs. I vowed to respect my enemy, no matter how disgusting their actions leading up to my decision to kill them.
If these Soldiers are found guilty of killing innocent Afghanis – which I'm not convinced they did at all – then I would openly call for their execution. However, experience tells me that it's possible these people weren't innocent civilians as the media has tried to portray. Remember that the Taliban don't have uniforms. Al Qaeda doesn't wear uniforms. When we kill one of them, their Information Operations cell could easily try to give the impression that those killed were innocent civilians. They actually count on this and use it to their advantage. It's a conscious effort and taught to most combatives. Remember the Haditha Marines that were castigated in the media and by the left, only to be found innocent? Remember the Navy Seals?
So far, the only thing I see that these Soldiers did wrong is take and share images of themselves with dead bodies. It's contrary to our values and these Soldiers should be disciplined for this at a minimum.
Finally, just as what happened in Abu Ghraib was in NO way the fault of George HW Bush's policies, these photos are NOT the fault the President Barack H. Obama. These are Soldiers that violated their values and disobeyed military regulations and policies. Period. No general officers or political entities bear the responsibility for this lack of discipline besides the Soldiers themselves and their immediate supervisors.
