SBS Shows Troops Burning Taliban Bodies

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The Australian Associated Press

Thursday 20 October 2005

SBS has broadcast footage of what it says is United States soldiers burning two dead Taliban fighters as they faced Mecca and using the charred and smoking corpses in a propaganda campaign in southern Afghanistan.

The Dateline report, broadcast on Wednesday night, said US soldiers burnt the bodies for hygiene reasons but then a US psychological operations unit broadcast a propaganda message on loudspeakers to Taliban fighters, taunting them to retrieve their dead and fight.

In Washington, the US Defence Department has expressed concern over the report and promised it will be "aggressively investigated."

"These are very serious allegations and, if true, very troublesome," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told Reuters.

"It is the policy of the United States, as well as the Defence Department, to treat all remains consistent with the Geneva Convention and with the utmost respect. These allegations will be aggressively investigated and, if proven to be true, the individuals will be held appropriately accountable," Whitman said.

Dateline said the story was filmed in early October.

The footage of the burning corpses was shot by Australian photojournalist Stephen DuPont who was embedded with a US unit.

Dateline said the two Taliban fighters burnt on hills above the village of Gondaz north of Kandahar were killed by the US soldiers the night before.

The footage showed flames licking two charred corpses, their legs and arms outstretched, and a group of five US soldiers standing watching from a rocky ledge.

Footage showed two US soldiers reading two messages from a notebook that they said had earlier been broadcast.

"Attention Taliban you are cowardly dogs," read the first soldier, identified as psychological operations specialist Sergeant Jim Baker.

"You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burnt. You are too scared to retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be."

The other unidentified soldier read a second message, part of which said: "You attack and run away like women. You call yourself Talibs but you are a disgrace to the Muslim religion, and you bring shame upon your family. Come and fight like men instead of the cowardly dogs you are."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101905Q.shtml US Probes Afghan Body Desecration Charges
By Jim Miklaszewski
NBC News

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Oh, great - now the only thing worse than being a member of the Taliban is to be a woman.

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I wonder how many black eyes the US armed forces can get and still not leave a bruise?

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Ugh...

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Sigh.

Blacker version of the same thinking that has the governator talking of "girly men".

Nice to know enlightenment in such matters is being promulgated by US forces.

Interesting that such things were done in front of an embedded journo, suggests that the troops involved felt there was nothing untoward in what they were doing?

Sigh....just waiting for the usual "dishonouring the troops" etc folk to arrive.

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seems we have graduated from burning villages to people now.

http://www.11thcavnam.com/education/Safer_Cam_NE.jpg

i wonder if this is what george walker bush meant when he said we would smoke them terrorists out of their holes.

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Well, the burning may not be the huge issue, if it was for reasons of health and safety.

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If it was for health and safety why the psy ops?

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I gathered from the article that the psy ops hitched a ride on the burning.

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So it does. Before I get told I'll say it first - I need to brush up on my comprehension Very Happy

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I know this won't go over with most. However, all I can say is so what. These same people cut off captives heads and attack and kill innocent civilians.

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And apparently, "us people" burn people facing mecca, torture prisoners, and attack innocent civilians from the air. Either we're better than them or we're not.

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FreeDuck
Might I remind you that these troops have been getting shot at and watching their buddies being wounded and killed, there is much pent up fury in them. They have not been sitting on their fat rear ends behind a computer screen where one can go tsk tsk and moralize.
Do you think it has ever been different in wars?

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No, I think it is the same in all wars. Do you think the taliban soldiers have not been getting shot at and watching their buddies get wounded and killed? Do you think that they don't have much pent up rage? In war there are only the killers and the killed, not good and bad. So if we're going to tsk tsk and moralize about one side then we ought to do it about the other side.

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Another generation issue not addressed is the simple fact that during WWII, we used flame-throwers, and that was the "good war."

I'm not so sure there's an moral issue except for the simple fact that we are in Iraq illegally. Beyond that, war is to kill your enemy.

Fighting in combat is different from the treatment of prisoners - IMHO.

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When I think about the 3000 people who literally burned to death by the people these people are defending. There will be no Tsk tsk for them from me.

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That statement assumes that you know what they are defending. Maybe they say to themselves "when I think about the 3000 civilians who died in the aerial bombing of my country....." I know what you're saying, au, but an atrocity is an atrocity no matter who is doing it.

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C.I.
The incident occured in Afghanistan not Iraq and we have every reason and justification for being there.

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au, It really doesn't matter which war because it involves the US military and we're already in both countries. According to Condi, we're going to stay for the "duration."

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The "they do it too and worser" comment was expected.

Thing is, when you claim to be bringing enlightenment and goodness and such to the oppressed and benighted masses, and you get very critical when they do it (remember the outcry her eover the poor American soldier whose body was disgustingly displayed and used to taunt?) you better didn't oughter do the same thing.

Kinda like Saddam's use of Abu Ghraib didn't justify America's atrocities there.

Also, as I said, the actions of the militants in doing such things is rightly decried by the west.

Therefore we so better also condemn it when done by our own.

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SBS Shows Troops Burning Taliban Bodies

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