Two Marine Staff Sergeants face court martials for urination videos
Chip sends a link in the Washington Post to the news that 2 Marine Staff Sergeants face court martial charges for their participation in the famous urination videos;
The Marine Corps said the urination took place during a counterinsurgency operation in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province on July 27, 2011. The decision to court martial [Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Chamblin and Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola] was made by Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, the commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
When the video came to light on YouTube, U.S. military officials sternly condemned the misconduct. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he feared that it could set back efforts to begin reconciliation talks with the Taliban.
Chamblin and Deptola also were charged with other misconduct alleged to have happened on the same day as the urination incident. That includes dereliction of duty by failing to properly supervise junior Marines, failing to report their misconduct and failing to require them to wear their personal protective equipment.
The article continues that three others are facing non-judicial punishment (the Army calls it Article 15, and the Navy/Marines calls them Captain’s Mast, I think). Washington Post also says that one has already pleaded guilty – although I don’t think that’s possible with NJP. Last I checked, all you did with NJP was accept the fact that you will be judged by your commander instead of shooting for a court martial).
Anyway, this is so blown out of proportion. All they did was urinate on some bodies. It’s not like they drowned them in urine, or shot innocent people. If the Secretary of Defense wasn’t so worried about the political implications, this wouldn’t rise to to the level of a court martial. So these two sergeants are being crucified for the urination videos as well as the Koran burnings, and the idiots who posed with body parts of suicide bombers. They’re being prevented from winning this war for political reasons and now they’re being punished for political reasons.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Marine Corps
Obama already had his apology tour. Maybe these two Marines are going to be the kick-off to his sacrificial tour.
This is an Article 15-worthy level offense, at best. I’m not convinced it’s even that. It damn sure isn’t Court Martial material. Sadly, they are now object lessons and their careers are casualties in ineffectual political maneuvering.
Maybe they can get some sympathy if they get some reporters to write about how their bladders “accidentally discharged”.
Common Sense… BOHICA!
Wait a minute,
The Koran burnings were in line with proper procedure. Those Korans had already been desecrated by AQ and the Taliban, as they were used as a means of passing messages to and from detainees.
As for the rest of the mess, are our politicians really dumb enough to believe that screwing over a few servicemen will placate the bloodlust of al Qaida and the Taliban?
Fred,
Yes.
These brave Marines were attempting to make their kill appear less appetizing to other predators. They should be cleared of all charges and released into a wildlife preserve.
Right, because sawing the heads off of journalists is not inflammatory….
Personally I wish the routine method of dealing with enemy dead was burning in pig fat…let them know we show their dead as much respect as they show our living, when the enemy ROE allows then to kill children what level of respect should they receive from the US Military whether they are alive or dead?
Instead of apologizing perhaps the State department could point out that anti-American slogans and videos had incensed our troops who were protesting the offensive comments from their slain enemies similar to how every POS reacts to a criticism of their little magic man in the sky….PC Jagoffs…
lets ruin the careers of two most likely upstanding marines because the administration needs to blame others for their absolute failure of a policy in afghanistan. the bodies were enemy fighters who would have done much, MUCH worse to those marines had they captured them. if no one has ever tried to kill you, or you have never put on the uniform i guess you will never understand the joy that comes with being alive while your enemy is not.
I can see a new T shirt:
“USMC- Pissing on our dead enemy for over 200 years!”
Hmmm me wonders just what THEY do to OUR fallen troops?? And why it dont get widespread broadcast?
“I’m gonna piss in your dead skull!”
Hey, if it was good enough for Col. Jessup, it should be good enough for a couple of Staff Sergeants.
FWIW:
Navy regulations for the army’s “Article 15” are referred to as “Captain’s Mast”. You can be restricted to barracks/work for up to 45 days, fined up to 2-month’s pay, placed in irons and on bread & water for up to 3 days (yes, they still do that), given an admin discharge, etc. Everything else goes to a Courts-Martial.
Also, any sailor, at any time, can request Captain’s Mast for relief/address of grievances, etc. At Captain’s Mast, you can also refuse NJP and request Courts-Martial instead. I know a couple guys who did that and actually walked away absolved of the charges. Rare, but it happens.
As to this event, it’s pure BS. This ought to have been handled in-house and then swept away with nothing more than a verbal warning not to get caught in the future.
Did they say who’s convening the CM? That’ll tell you what level of punishment they might be going for.
Note to self, If I am going to piss on taliban corpses or throw puppies off cliffs don’t tape it.
Take the charges, pay off the $300,000 restitution, and walk away with a little less dignity in most circles, but plenty of clout in the right circles. Standards are standards after all, and the precedence has been set.
“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he feared that it could set back efforts to begin reconciliation talks with the Taliban.” Sure, that’s credible.
@14 – Right. These folks need to leave their video cameras and phone at the FOB.
@16 – Agreed. Since when have our forces been able to negotiate with the Taliban on ANYTHING?! These savages are still living with the same ROE they had in the 15th century – they don’t understand much and are less willing to compromise than anyone else.
@17- I know we would have to take pictures after fights, or IED, or suicide bombers, and take pictures of BDA, corpses, detainees. We had a special camera for that, that got wiped clean after we uploaded to S-2. I disagree with leaving cameras on the FOB. I have plenty of pictures that I took in Iraq that I have kept, like me standing in front of the crossed sabres in Baghdad or the mural of Saddam’s version of events during the Gulf War. I don’t understand why people want to take pictures or videotape the bloody stuff. Who wants to remember that. I see enough of that when I go to sleep to want to look at a picture.
Action Figure Therapy has said everything there is covering pissing on dead Taliban. Hell, the Japanese used to cut the heads off of soldiers and then put them on pikes and mount them on their vehicles in WWII so WTF people. IT IS WAR!!!
@16 Panetta was never credible IMO, at least no more than Chamberlain was in WW2…
AW1 Tim – I’ve been out a while, but I seem to recall that an Article 15 in the Army was an alternative to CM, and that any A15 could be refused and a CM requested – the severity of available punishment and type of offense determining whether it was a company-grade or field-grade Article 15. Seems they equated as well to the courts martial, too – a company grade A15 could be refused and you had a CM with (the same) company grade officer as the judge. Is that still true?
Chip – yes, it’s a war, but it’s a war that only the troops are in… the civilians and politicians aren’t.
Nik: I agree. This is an offense worthy of an Article 15 – for being abjectly stupid. A courts-martial seems excessive.
“If you wouldn’t want your mom or your pastor to see that photo or video – don’t freaking take it!”
Twist, let the puppies pee on the dead Taliban.
CIRoller, where/when can I get that T-shirt?
And, yeah, if you’re going to do something completely stupid, DO NOT RECORD IT. PERIOD. NO EXCEPTIONS.
These USA Marines should be cleared of all charges.
From a Canadian to the US Government. Start looking after the very people that put there lives on the line to give you freedom. I would like to thank each and every Canadians and US military personel for my Frredom.