Rick Perry Defends Marines Who Urinated On Corpses

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry on Sunday accused the Obama administration of "over-the-top rhetoric" and "disdain for the military" in its condemnation of a video that purportedly shows four Marines urinating on corpses in Afghanistan.

Perry's comments put him at odds with Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who said the images could damage the war effort.

"The Marine Corps prides itself that we don't lower ourselves to the level of the enemy," McCain said when asked about Perry's position. "So it makes me sad more than anything else, because ... I can't tell you how wonderful these people (Marines) are. And it hurts their reputation and their image."

No one has been charged in the case, but officials in the U.S. and abroad have called for swift punishment of the four Marines. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last week that he worried the video could be used by the Taliban to undermine peace talks.

A military criminal investigation and an internal Marine Corps review are under way. The Geneva Conventions forbid the desecration of the dead.

Texas Gov. Perry said the Marines involved should be reprimanded but not prosecuted on criminal charges.

"Obviously, 18-, 19-year-old kids make stupid mistakes all too often. And that's what's occurred here," Perry told CNN's "State of the Union."

He later added: "What's really disturbing to me is the kind of over-the-top rhetoric from this administration and their disdain for the military."

Later appearing on the same show, McCain said he disagreed.

"We're trying to win the hearts and minds" of the Afghanistan population, he said. "And when something like that comes up, it obviously harms that ability."

Comments

[jawsho]

02:19 PM on 01/25/2012

As I'm sure Sen. McCain remembers, we tried to "win the hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people too. And I'm sure he also remembers, from his years of captivity in a Vietnamese P.O.W. camp, that didn't work out too well !
I just wonder what makes him think this war is any different ??!

[BlogFans]

10:39 PM on 01/18/2012

"Rick Perry Defends Marines Who Urinated On Corpses"

One would think that a major GOP Candidate seeking to be leader of the free world would instinctively know there is absolutely NO defense for corpse desecration whatsoever. Period.

[historian1960]

08:30 AM on 01/18/2012

So many posters think the Marines were justified because *insert reason here.* They were not justified. Period. It was unacceptable behavior regardless of circumstances.
If we act like our enemy, what is the point?
And don't be upset when our casualties' bodies are desecrated. Can't have it both ways.

[snapper123]

06:28 PM on 01/18/2012

Which branch of the service were you in?

[historian1960]

08:43 PM on 01/18/2012

It doesn't matter. Right is right. I was an infantryman, US Army, early 1980's. Didn't get shot at, but I was lucky, I suppose.

[badwolf62]

11:50 PM on 01/18/2012

say the same thing under fire. and don't tell us what you would do because you have no clue what you would do other than wet your pants. it's easy to sit in a safe place and run your mouth about others....try it yourself once.

[historian1960]

07:57 AM on 01/19/2012

*sigh* internet tough guy insulting people he doesn't even know.

"...it's easy to sit in a safe place and run your mouth about others....­try it yourself once."

Are you even aware you did exactly what you accuse me of doing? Can you say "ironic?"

I was taught a soldier is a professional. He (or she) does their job and makes every effort not to let circumstances overcome their training and standards of decency, even in a combat situation. If soldiers get so torqued up during a fire fight they feel the need to p e e on enemy corpses, then these soldiers need retraining and discipline, because they aren't acting like American soldiers. They're acting like thugs in uniform.

[hiitthedirtboys]

07:27 AM on 01/18/2012

SHOW what they do to us... STOP make'n our teams out to be monsters and show what they do to our teams... YOU will vomit...

[siegfried728711]

07:19 AM on 01/18/2012

I would have pissed on them too just to see if they spring back up :)

[dminore]

12:57 AM on 01/20/2012

Another wonderful example of humanity, eh siegfried? Imagine your mom as the one being pissed on before you shoot your mouth off.

[siegfried728711]

06:08 AM on 01/20/2012

vicious aren't dminore, I see your education is very limited as well the size of your pee-brain :)))).
And, it also looks like you got pissed on at some point of your life maybe by you fathers if you know whom they are ::::))))

[bobWal]

06:48 AM on 01/18/2012

George Washington out lawed the mistreatment of British P.O.W.s in the revolution and severely punished those who did. He stated "we will not sink to the level of our enemies" This is what ten years of steady war does to us. Instead of getting involved our nation was told to go shopping.Less than 1 per cent of our nation is in the military. We did away with the draft and hired our pretorian guards. Don't blame Marines,blame us for not caring.

[badwolf62]

06:45 AM on 01/18/2012

the geneva convention is a worldwide joke because it doesn't apply to all. Rick Perry is right about not prosecuting these marines. the Iaqi's prosecuted saddam hussein and hung him "ONCE" for the mass murders of thousands of people. we killed his two sons "ONCE" for murders and rapes they committed. We shot down osama bin laden "ONCE" for masterminding 9/11 and the deaths of 3000 americans. the list goes on. if you can't prosecute all of them for torturing and desecrating our soldiers don't make scapegoats out of our marines. abu ghraib was an atrocity that needed to be prosecuted because those soldiers weren't in combat. not 4 marines that pissed on the taliban who tried to kill them.

[dminore]

08:26 AM on 01/18/2012

OBL had nothing to do with 9/11. Stop drinking the kool-aid. America has become a "war for profit" nation. It's our biggest export in a world that threatens us NOT. Pathetic.

[badwolf62]

11:44 PM on 01/18/2012

then why did the united states take years to hunt him down and kill him. he had everything to do with 9/11 and only naive blindness stops you from seeing it. You are illiterate and pathetic.

[ImpeachMalloy]

02:28 PM on 01/19/2012

ROFL. Really?? OBL had nothing to do with 9/11.... even though he admitted on video he planned it and sent the Al Queda agents to America??

LOLOLOL

The conspiracy wingnuts are especially comical on this site.

[jsgaetano]

06:00 AM on 01/18/2012

Imagine how outrage conservatives would be if the US Marines urinated on a corporation.

[snapper123]

06:30 PM on 01/18/2012

Spoken like a true 1%er

[AndyWright68]

05:48 AM on 01/18/2012

Politicians defend all sorts of vile and disgusting acts. Theft, violence threats against peaceful people and war are usually at the top of their lists.

[LARRY LOU CHRISTIAN]

03:44 AM on 01/18/2012

This is for all of those "empty buckets" who make the most noise but leak when expected to perform….especially for jtjrfan8, whose comment revealed a vindictive attitude toward the military. His posting was also deleted by the web master.

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a former Army lieutenant colonel, comments on the Marines' video:

“I have sat back and assessed the incident with the video of our Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. I do not recall any self-righteous indignation when our Delta snipers Shugart and Gordon had their bodies dragged through Mogadishu. Neither do I recall media outrage and condemnation of our Blackwater security contractors being killed, their bodies burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.

“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?

“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.

“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”

[dbsimonds]

04:23 AM on 01/18/2012

Since Rep. West showed his disregard for proper military conduct while he was actively serving, I am not surprised that he defends this repugnant behavior. Hardly the man I turn to when I need to sort out right behavior from wrong.

http://www.vetvoice.com/diary/4904/funny-you-should-say-that-congressman-west

[Professor Truth]

06:58 AM on 01/18/2012

These men owe no-one an appology. The Taliban do not deserve respect.

[ex74]

01:18 AM on 01/18/2012

At the point they are shooting at you, you have already lost the battle for their hearts and minds. Afghan women butcher our dead (and live) soldiers while their tribesmen look on, and our weak politicians are talking about criminally prosecuting our soldiers for pissing on the bodies of Taliban who attempted to kill them? Those marines should be applauded not prosecuted.

[ex74]

01:03 AM on 01/18/2012

What is wrong with pissing on people who tried to kill you? You can't win the "hearts and minds" of people who are trying to kill you, you just have to kill them first. Stop trying to fight a mild war dictated by ACLU types and fight to win without fear.

[weskirk1]

05:45 AM on 01/18/2012

Correct 4fans.
War is a dirty business, that no detergent
can obscure.
You have to live with it.
Leave these soldiers alone, they are risking their
lives 24/7, what more do people want.
wes

[dminore]

08:29 AM on 01/18/2012

It's a war crime. Do the act, do the time.

[ex74]

09:37 PM on 01/18/2012

Taliban were not part of the Geneva Convention, violate it all the time and therefore have none of its protections. This is not a soccer game.

[ImpeachMalloy]

02:31 PM on 01/19/2012

No its not a war crime. Stop redefining the GC.

[badwolf62]

12:40 AM on 01/18/2012

I agree with rick perry that this is no big crime. the war is ugly, the taliban are ugly, their women are ugly, their children are ugly, their ideology is ugly,hamid karzai is ugly, osama bin laden was ugly, alqeda is ugly and, the only thing that the taliban and alqeda brought to the entire region was ugliness and war. It shouldn't be a crime to put human waste on top of human waste. it's time to get our troops out of that dump

[dbsimonds]

04:26 AM on 01/18/2012

So much for "the beacon on the hill"

[Nonnie22]

08:31 AM on 01/20/2012

That would be "the shining city on the hill". And as I recall al qeda and OBL did all they could to destroy that particular 'beacon'.

[dminore]

08:30 AM on 01/18/2012

You are ugly.

[badwolf62]

04:49 PM on 01/18/2012

my picture has never been posted so you are obviously looking in a mirror and that means you are right. what you are looking at is ugly.

[mfineman01]

12:34 AM on 01/18/2012

While he wont win, thank goodness for people like Perry and Alan West who have never ever forgotten 9/11 and who we are at war with.
Before you throw your usual liberal hairy and reply, why dont you first watch the videos of innocent people jumping out of those burning buildings. You need to, trust me.
These actions by the soldiers, while not commendable, need to be kept in context when considering who we are fighting.

[dminore]

08:31 AM on 01/18/2012

9/11? Oh, the story about the cavemen with boxcutters overtaking the most sophisticated defenses known to man? Keep drinking the kool-aid.

[ImpeachMalloy]

02:34 PM on 01/19/2012

What sophisticated defense on a passenger airline??

Talk about drinking the koolaid. All the 9/11 myths perpetuated by loonies such as yourself have been thoroughly debunked. Get an education.

[chuckl8899]

10:17 AM on 01/18/2012

perhaps your jingoistic "patriotism" has addled your brain, but there were no Afghanis or Taliban on the planes during 9/11. Those were Al Qaeda.

[ImpeachMalloy]

02:34 PM on 01/19/2012

The Taliban harbored Al Queda and Bin Laden.

Try and keep up.

[jwepp]

12:14 AM on 01/18/2012

typical Huffington, tell half the story from a liberal's point of view. Not once did Perry "defend" the Marines. No wonder she has no creditability outside her California friends!