REACTION

Panetta: Urination Video ‘Deplorable'

While two Marines are identified.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday railed against the “utterly deplorable” video that depicts four Marines urinating on a dead body in Afghanistan—while an official said the Marine Corps had identified two of the men in the video. Panetta called the behavior “utterly inappropriate for members of the United States military,” and he said he had ordered a full investigation by the Marine Corps and Marine Gen. John Allen, NATO’s top commander in Afghanistan. A Marine official said Thursday that the four were based in North Carolina, and at least two of the men were identified—but the official declined to give further information due to a ongoing criminal investigation. Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the video as “utterly inhumane,” and the Taliban issued a statement accusing U.S. troops of multiple “indignities” against the Afghan people—but said it would not harm peace talks.