Leon Panetta Issues Apology For Afghanistan Soldier Photos With Suicide Bombers' Bodies

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon in Washington on April 16, 2012. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary Of Defense Leon Panetta has issued an apology for photos that appear to show soldiers posing with dead Afghans, Reuters reports. Panetta called the behavior "foolish" and "unacceptable."

The Los Angeles Times released the pictures on Wednesday, which were given to the paper by an American soldier "on the condition of anonymity."

More from Panetta via Reuters:

"This is war, and I know war is ugly, and is violent. And I know young people sometimes caught up in the moment make some very foolish decisions," Panetta told a news conference during a meeting of NATO allies in Brussels. "I am not excusing that."

He added: "My apology is on behalf of the Department of Defense and the U.S. government ... Again, that behaviour is unacceptable."

Panetta said he regretted the decision of the Los Angeles Times to publish some of the photos, which he said might trigger retaliatory violence against foreign soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.

"Neither do I want these images to bring further injury to our people, or our relationship with the Afghan people. Those kinds of photos are used by (the) enemy to incite violence, and lives have been lost as a result," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Panetta stressed that point -- the hazard of further attacks against security forces.

"The danger is that this material could be used by the enemy to incite violence against U.S. and Afghan service members in Afghanistan," he said. "U.S. forces in the country are taking security measures to guard against it."

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[really are you joking]

10:53 AM on 04/20/2012

Enough is Enough as many others have said here, have they ever been called out or apologized for anything they have done. These asses in our Goverment are handling this in a way that make us look weak and stupid. When will they stand behind our country and stand up to the BS that is being done to our people. What effing country are they concerned about. All this BS about kissing their asses is so weak. War is war...get the f over it they have done MUCH WORST. THE MORE WE COW TOW TO THEM THE MORE THE MORE THEY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT. THE LA TIMES AND THE MEDIA NEED TO BE PUT ON TRIAL AND DRAGED THRU THE MUD. WHY ARE WE NOT HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE AS WELL AS PANETTA AND THE OTHERS FOR THIS SHOW OF STUDIPITY ?.

[stimpy58]

10:00 AM on 04/20/2012

Panetta....freakin grow up. YES this is how YOUNG soilders act at times....FOOLISH. Don't make it a big deal and DRAW MORE ATTENTION to this matter than it deserves. Where the hell were your comments where in Iraq contractors were killed, burned, bodies dragged through the streets and then hung from a bridge.?????? Not a freakin peep. This country under the current leadership is bound and determined to destroy our military, allies and good will in other countries. If YOU can't UNDERSTAND the basic elements of WAR, I suggest that YOU and OTHER world leaders NOT ENGAGE in such activities. Oh, the enemy did this to THEMSELVES and the Americans were JOINED by Afghans in these pictures, so WTF are you bellyaching about????

[CharliDenae]

09:35 AM on 04/20/2012

In my opinion, it should be the L.A. Times doing the apologizing.

[dranrebel]

09:23 AM on 04/20/2012

Just last week, muslims blew up a church killing 38 christian civillians including women and children. I saw no apology for that. As a matter of fact it was on the 3rd page of my newspaper with one paragraph.

[ajmbudda]

08:56 AM on 04/20/2012

WELL I SAY WAIT TILL ONE OF THESE ENEMYS CUTOFF SOME OF THE LIMBS OF THEIR FAMILIES THEN, THEY'LL CANGE THEIR TUNE!!!!!

[dvdsn61]

08:53 AM on 04/20/2012

Seal team six was ordered to take photos of Bin Ladens dead carcass after he was killed.

[dvdsn61]

08:45 AM on 04/20/2012

The L.A. times publishing the photos is just as reprehensible as the photos being taken to begin with.

[vonwoomer]

08:31 AM on 04/20/2012

Obama, Penetta, Generals, Apologize for what again and again? The soldiers involved should be disciplined and that's all that should be said. What about result of one of these terrorists blowing up a market, etc..carnage, blood and body parts everywhere from their diabolical acts!

Get out of Afganistan.Another Vietnam run by politicians while our troops are victimized by so'what photos of dead enemy.

US Air Force Officer Retired, Vietnam Vet
432nd Tactical Fighter Wing, Udon Thani, Thai/Laotian Border
F4 Phantom, early 70's

[sleepyjeans1170]

08:27 AM on 04/20/2012

APOLOGIZE MY A** !!

[muenft]

08:23 AM on 04/20/2012

Could i send some urine to pour over the enemy?

[muenft]

08:22 AM on 04/20/2012

Liberal /socialists don;t realize it is war..dirty and terrible. These suicide bombers chose to put them selves here trying to kill Americans. Do you remember when Dan Rather 's secretary was sent to the hospital from a unknown powder sent to him in the mail? He called for them to be hunted down and killed without a trial..its a little bit different when it is close to home isnt it?

[bdgrizcp]

04:27 AM on 04/20/2012

There is a point when 'fiction' imitates reality. Long before 9-11 and the Russian 'incursion' into Afghanistan, Frank Herbert wrote one of the greatest Sci-Fi novels of all time: "Dune." Hell, it should be in capitals. He peppered his prose with words like jihad, and muhajadin, and acclimated his readers to an essentially Muslim resistance force that kicked ass and tossed out the current ruling class, by simply threatening to stop the flow of a product (spice) that greased the wheels of an interplanetary economic structure. With every year that goes by, Herbert's novel becomes more, not less, relevant. Here's the thing: while Afghanistan is not an oil producing country, a great deal of the salient resistance to the west's addiction to oil has its roots in this strange country. It's a 'hidey hole' for the real resistance forces that would, if they could, put a cork in the flow of oil. That's all they have to do: interrupt the flow. And we want to get out? Really?

[vonwoomer]

08:32 AM on 04/20/2012

a pseudo intellectual comments.

[simzillyjp]

03:39 AM on 04/20/2012

Show those dead Suicide bombers to the Iraqi people. Show the Iraqi people how smart their suicidal countrymen are.

[Max Muchacho]

03:09 AM on 04/20/2012

Unbelievable. Panetta apologizes for what? Soldiers posing with parts of evil terrorists who were trying to kill U.S. servicemen and women and any of their fellow citizens that happened to be in the area. Oh, what a horrible thing those soldiers did. Kiss my a......

[mindbender48]

06:50 AM on 04/20/2012

That's because panetta is a JERK.

[tccat4]

03:06 AM on 04/20/2012

Panetta apologizes for photo's taken 2 years ago... He learned well from his Commander & Chief...