Marine Convicted For Urinating On Taliban Insurgent Corpses In Afghanistan
A US Marine was convicted after he plead guilty on Thursday to urinating on the corpses of Taliban insurgents and posing for photographs with the bodies.
He pleaded guilty to two charges in relation to the incident during a military court session, reports The Chicago Tribune.
The Marine, Staff Sergeant Joseph Chamblin, will face a sentence of a reduction of rank and forfeiture of $500 in pay. The Staff Sergeant pleaded guilty to both failing to properly supervise junior Marines and to wrongfully urinating on a deceased enemy combatant, notes WTVM.
The incident in question occurred during a counter-insurgency operation in Helmland Province in July 2011. A video of the incident was put on YouTube and other websites in January, bringing the incident to light.
The video showed four Marines in camouflage urinating on three enemy corpses. One of them joked, “Have a nice day, buddy.” Another Marine made a lewd joke about the situation.
The video is just one in a series of offensive incidents involving US troops in Afghanistan, which led to heightened tensions between the US and Afghanistan. After the video of the Marines urinating on Taliban insurgent corpses came to light, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai condemned the actions, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta phoned him to denounce the incident and to promise an investigation.
Along with the two charges he plead guilty to, Chamblin was charged with failing to properly supervise junior Marines, failing to require junior Marines to wear protective equipment, failing to report the misconduct of junior Marines, failing to report the negligent discharge of a grenade launcher, and failing to stop the indiscriminate firing of weapons.
The judge in the case levied a penalty against the Marine who urinated on Taliban insurgent corpses that included 30 days in jail and a $2,000 fine. Chamblin received a lesser sentence because of a pretrial agreement.
