Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Chamblin and
Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola of the United States Marine Corp are being
prosecuted for a stunt they pulled against dead Taliban members. These two
Marines were captured on film for urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban
members. Now, they are being court-martialed for their exploit act. The
incident occurred in July 2011, in Afghanistan. According to CNN, “The incident
did not come to light publicly until this past January when a 39-second video
showing the incident was posted on several websites, including YouTube”(U.S.
Marines Charged). This situation is very profound, because without the use
of multimedia these two Marines would probably not be facing prosecution today.
Now, lets take a step aside for a
second. I understand that this video clip is probably not fabricated and in
fact did occur. But it is very interesting to point out that with all the
editing software systems that are available to the market, a video similar to
this situation could have easily been tampered with. This can be a scary
thought, because Taliban members might be able to fabricate video clips of
other U.S. soldiers and get them caught up in a similar situation that these
two Marines find themselves in today. With the publication of this video clip
some soldiers may feel that they won’t be able to fully express their actions
in battle. Now urinating on dead bodies of the opposition, one might see it as
an appalling action. But what if a soldier is in situation that will require
them to act out in a similar appalling action to defend and save their life.
Will they feel that someone could be filming that particular instance and they
wouldn’t act in that manner because of the fear of later consequences? Now,
this is just a hypothetical situation but what if it means the outcome of life and
death of a soldier.
Back to the
issue that is at hand, there are many ethical and moral statements that can be
brought to our attention. I understand that urinating on the bodies of dead
Taliban members was not an honorable undertaking on these two Marines part. I
would like to believe that these Marines and other Marines would hold
themselves to higher standards, which they are taught within the Corps. In war
situations soldiers who have killed the opposition should respect the bodies of
the dead. The ethics and morals in war should be upheld, when killings have
occurred. Also these actions by these Marines have placed other Marines and
U.S. Soldiers at risk. Since the video has been published on the internet,
Taliban members who have internet access can see the actions of these two
Marines. In that sense other Taliban members might feel the need to retaliate
against U.S. soldiers.
Even though
the actions taken by these two Marines are viewed as unethical in war situations
and they should be held to higher standards; I feel it is important to point
out that Taliban members on the other hand have taken far worse actions against
U.S. soldiers.
With all
that information laid out, what side of the table would you sit on? Should
these Marines be court-martialed? Should their actions be seen as heat of the moment
expressions of anger, and be excused? What are your thoughts and concerns?
Video of US marines urinating on Taliban sparks outrage
Bibliography
Craggs,
Ryan. "U.S. Marines Urinating On Taliban Video Brings Criminal
Charges." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Sept.
2012. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/marines-urinating-taliban-video_n_1910267.html?utm_hp_ref=world>.
Staff,
CNN Wire. "Two Marines to Face Court Martial over Desecration of Taliban
Bodies - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 25
Sept. 2012. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/24/us/marines-abuse-court-martial/index.html?iref=allsearch>.
