COMMENTARY | A video, apparently showing four United States Marines urinating on the corpses of three people believed to be members of the Taliban, is making the rounds of the news media and the web.
The Marines, thought to be a sniper team according to CNN, may have been in Afghanistan at the time. The outrage regarding this offensive video is nearly universal.
The Washington Post describes reactions to the video, saying that Sec. Def. Leon Panetta personally called Hamid Karzai to promise a swift and thorough investigation. Panetta described the events as "entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military."
The rest of the world is watching these events unfold as well. The Hindustan Times ran a report about it, describing the Marines as giggling over the corpses and telling one of the dead men, "Have a great day, buddy" as he urinated on the body.
Guess who is not outraged by this? Pamela Geller of the Atlas Shrugs blog. She says in her blog that she "loves these Marines" and wonders why people should care about disrespecting the Taliban. She cites a list of human rights violations the Taliban has committed almost like a justification for urinating on their dead.
Geller's followers don't have a problem with it, either. One comment on her blog post described the Marines by saying, "My heroes!! Best video I've seen in a while."
Apparently Geller and her fans don't care that inflaming the anger of the Taliban against American troops puts them in danger. By advocating for such activities she paints a picture of American military personnel as disgusting, disrespectful, and unable to rise above their baser natures. Taliban forces may well be using this video to rally their jihadist fighters to new heights of anger and violence.
It's an insult to American service members who maintain their honor and dignity to praise such horrifying behavior. The actions of these four Marines should be condemned no matter what Geller believes.
