US Soldiers Posed with Dead Afghan

Photos show US soldiers in Afghanistan posing with dead civilians

Commanders brace for backlash of anti-US sentiment that could be more damaging than after the Abu Ghraib scandal


A US soldier poses with the corpse of an Afghan boy – one of three photographs published by German magazine Der Spiegel.

The face of Jeremy Morlock, a young US soldier, grins at the camera, his hand holding up the head of the dead and bloodied youth he and his colleagues have just killed in an act military prosecutors say was premeditated murder.

Moments before the picture was taken in January last year, the unsuspecting victim had been waved over by a group of US soldiers who had driven to his village in Kandahar province in one of their armoured Stryker tanks.

According to testimony collected by Der Spiegel magazine the boy had, as a matter of routine, lifted up his shirt to reveal that he was not hiding a suicide bomb vest.

That was the moment Morlock, according to a pre-arranged plan, threw a grenade at the boy that exploded while other members of the rogue group who called themselves the "kill team" opened fire.

They would later tell military investigators that the boy, a farmer's son, had threatened them with the grenade.

The pictures include a similar photograph of a different soldier posing with the same victim and a photograph of two other civilians killed by the unit.

There was no sign on Monday of the anticipated public outrage. But with Afghanistan on holiday for the Persian new year celebrations, and media outlets initially unable to get hold of the images, anger may yet build.

The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, recently confided to officials that he feared it might trigger the same kind of scandal as that at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, where images of prisoners being abused by US soldiers sparked anti-American protests.

For weeks the US government has been working to pre-empt any outrage, with top officials, including the US vice president Joe Biden, in talks with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president.

Despite being a setback in the propaganda war between the western coalition and its insurgent enemies, Nato will be relieved that for the time being only a tiny sample of a total collection of roughly 4,000 images and video clips have found their way into the public domain.

The publication of the photos will also mark the ultimate disgrace of the group of young US soldiers, who are currently facing military justice for killing innocent civilians for sport and mutilating their bodies by cutting off fingers and ripping out teeth to keep as trophies.

Morlock has turned on his former colleagues, agreeing to testify against them in return for a reduced jail sentence. Some of the activities of the group are already public, with 12 men currently on trial in Seattle for their role in the killing of three civilians. Morlock has told investigators that Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs was the ringleader. In videotaped evidence, he has said Gibbs would pick out a possible target with a comment such as: "You guys wanna wax this guy or what?"

Gibbs, if found guilty, could receive a life sentence.

Hans-Ulrich Stoldt, a spokesman for Der Spiegel, said the magazine had other, more graphic photos.

"We published three but not others, and we even pixilated those we did print so that the victims could not be identified," Stoldt said. "We needed to document [the accusations] in some form, and were as restrained as possible."

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That's disgusting. If there are riots I don't blame them. If there are no protests I will be shocked. What do you think will happen as a result of these sick animals' sadistic acts?

Gaddafi will be rubbing his hands together...

Nothing much will happen, but yeah, it is disgusting
They should seriously get done for it

They have been charged for it. Military justice is pretty extreme (Bradly Manning has to stand outside his cell naked every day as well as being in solitary)

Seeing as its murder they are being charged with 20 years?

No he won't. There are no troops in Libya and its not an invasion.

The US military have severe disciplinary issues. You'd never see British servicemen doing this - nor servicemen from most other Western nations.

They have been charged for it. Military justice is pretty extreme (Bradly Manning has to stand outside his cell naked every day as well as being in solitary)

Seeing as its murder they are being charged with 20 years?

They are on trial for murder so yes something will be done. 12 others are being done for trying to block the investigation.

No he won't. There are no troops in Libya and its not an invasion.

"Look what the US army do to Muslim Fighters" Yes actually, i think he will be rubbing his hands together...

There are no US soldiers in Libya.

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That's disgusting. If there are riots I don't blame them. If there are no protests I will be shocked. What do you think will happen as a result of these sick animals' sadistic acts?