U.S. Looks Into Videotaped Desecration of Taliban Corpses by Army Unit

The Army is investigating a group of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan who were caught on videotape desecrating the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters and using the burning corpses in a propaganda effort to dare other militants to “come and fight like men.”

The tape, shot this month by an Australian photojournalist traveling with a U.S. Army unit, was aired on Australian television Wednesday and immediately drew concern from Pentagon officials.

According to the report, the bodies were set afire on hills above the village of Gonbaz north of Kandahar after the two Taliban fighters were killed by U.S. soldiers the night before. Five soldiers stood around the fire, and two of them read messages trying to provoke militants.

The messages, which apparently were broadcast to the Taliban, highlighted the fact that the bodies were laid out facing Mecca.

“Attention Taliban: You are cowardly dogs,” read one soldier, identified as psychological operations specialist Sgt. Jim Baker. “You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burned. You are too scared to retrieve the bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be.”

Another soldier, who was unidentified, read: “You attack and run away like women. You call yourself Talibs but you are a disgrace to the Muslim religion, and you bring shame upon your family. Come and fight like men instead of the cowardly dogs you are.”

A third soldier is heard saying, “Wow, look at the blood coming out of the mouth on that one.”

The video was shot by Sydney photojournalist Stephen Dupont. He also reported that the soldiers had defended their actions by saying they burned the bodies for reasons of hygiene.

But the broadcast narrator, identified as reporter John Martinkus -- working for the Australian program “Dateline” on the country’s publicly funded Special Broadcasting Service -- noted that because the burning took place “far away from the village, this appears to make no sense.”

The broadcast did not identify the soldiers’ unit, although some of the Americans were identified as “psy-ops” troops, meaning they specialize in psychological warfare.

In Florida, headquarters of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan, officials released a statement pledging to investigate the “alleged misconduct.” Officials also said they would take “legal and disciplinary action” if the corpse burning proved “contrary to the Geneva Convention and U.S. policy.”

“Under no circumstances does U.S. Central Command condone the desecration, abuse or inappropriate treatment of enemy combatants,” the statement says.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman promised that the matter would be “aggressively investigated.”

“These are very serious allegations and, if true, very troublesome,” Whitman said. “If proven to be true, the individuals will be held appropriately accountable.”

Allegations of detainee abuse by U.S. soldiers have arisen in Iraq, most notably with the scandal that erupted last year at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Military officials court-martialed a small group of soldiers and began a review of hundreds of other cases.