Afghan Fury Over U.S. Troops ‘Urination’ Video

Panetta said he has ordered an investigation into the incident.
“The actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps. This matter will be fully investigated,” said a Pentagon spokesman.

John Kirby, of the Pentagon, told Agence France Presse: "Regardless of the circumstances or who is in the video, this is... egregious, disgusting behavior, unacceptable for anyone in uniform. It turned my stomach.”

A Muslim civil rights group in the U.S., the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), also condemned the video.

"If verified as authentic, the video shows behavior that is totally unbecoming of American military personnel and that could ultimately endanger other soldiers and civilians," CAIR said in a statement.

"We trust that this disturbing incident will be promptly investigated in a transparent manner and that appropriate actions will be taken based on the results of that investigation. Any guilty parties must be punished to the full extent allowed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice and by relevant American laws."

It is not clear where the video originated, and American officials are still checking on its authenticity.

Lieutenant Colonel Jay Stout, a former U.S. Marine Corps pilot, told Al Jazeera: "I am disturbed. Look, marines kill to win, and sometimes they kill a lot and that's good, that's fine, that's war. But in victory we are trained to be compassionate, we are trained to be respectful and this incident was neither of those."

However, the fury is far greater among Afghans, including President Hamid Karzai as well as Taliban officials (who normally are at odds over everything else).

“The government of Afghanistan is deeply disturbed by a video that shows American soldiers desecrating dead bodies of three Afghans,” Karazi said in a statement from the president’s office.