US Identifies Marines in Urination Video

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　　The Naval² Criminal Investigative Service, heading the main inquiry³ into the video, has also reportedly questioned two of the men.

　　The four were members of a 1,000-man battalion⁴ from Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. Two of the men had moved onto other assignments before the video appeared on the Internet.

　　Officials say the men were members of a sniper unit in the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines. The group was deployed⁵ in the southern Afghan province of Helmand for seven months before returning home in September of last year.

　　Top U.S. officials, including Defense⁶ Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have condemned⁷ the video, Panetta calling it "utterly⁸ deplorable."

　　On Friday, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan expressed his outrage⁹ over the video.

　　General John Allen, currently traveling in the United States, said such acts must be condemned in the "strongest manner possible." He also said those responsible would be held accountable.

　　Several officials say that if the incident is confirmed, the Marines involved could be charged with war crimes for not treating the bodies of those killed in war honorably.

　　The video appears to show Marines in combat uniforms urinating on three corpses¹¹. In the footage, one person suspected of committing the act says "have a nice day," referring to one of the dead.

　　U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke¹² by phone Thursday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and affirmed there will be a serious probe into the incident.

　　Mr. Karzai said his government is "deeply disturbed" by the video, calling the act "simply inhuman¹³."

　　A Taliban spokesman said while the video is "shocking," he did not think it would derail peace talks with the United States.

　　The commandant of the U.S. Marine¹ Corps¹⁰ said he has requested the Marines and U.S. Navy conduct separate investigations¹⁴ into the video. He said the Marine Corps remains¹⁵ committed to upholding the Geneva Convention, the laws of war and its own core values.

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