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Navy Secretay Ray Mabus said Tuesday the investigation into a Marine sniper squad urinating on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan will be "thorough and will be done fast." Mabus's remarks followed a ceremony in which he awarded the Navy Cross posthumously to Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan of San Clemente, who was killed while saving fellow Marines from a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan in 2009. Mabus presented the award to Hogan's parents and sister during a ceremony in the Camp San Mateo section of Camp Pendleton. The ceremony took place in front of the recently completed Lance Cpl. Donald J....

In the last few days’ news has broken along with a videotape of four United States Marines urinating on some dead insurgents in Afghanistan. It is a little shocking to see just how quickly the American people are to throw our own to the wolves. People tend to act as though this is the worst thing that has ever been done by our military. Going back as far as World War Two there is evidence of routine executions of prisoners as well as torture and mutilation of dead bodies. There are even reports of American servicemen prying teeth from dead...

Mark hit it out of the park on his comments about the marines tonight.

Meanwhile, the Marine Corps has appointed a three-star general to decide what disciplinary action to take against the four Marine snipers. Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser will name another officer to lead an internal Marine Corps investigation. That investigation will be in addition to a criminal probe already under way by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Waldhauser, who is commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command, will determine how to proceed once both investigations are completed. NCIS Communications Director Maryann Cummings also said her department's probe is still "in its very early stages." "At this point, NCIS has identified and talked...

Allen West, like a boss. From The Weekly Standard: “I have sat back and assessed the incident with the video of our Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. I do not recall any self-righteous indignation when our Delta snipers Shugart and Gordon had their bodies dragged through Mogadishu. Neither do I recall media outrage and condemnation of our Blackwater security contractors being killed, their bodies burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah. “All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?...

(CNN) – Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Sunday that Marines videotaped urinating on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan made a "dumb" mistake, but should not face criminal prosecution. In an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," the Republican presidential candidate said the Obama administration over-reacted to the incident by talking about possible criminal charges and speaking with what he called "disdain" about the U.S. military. According to Perry, famous military figures including U.S. Gen. George Patton acted similarly in a war environment. "When you're 18 or 19, you do dumb things. These kids made a mistake, there's not...

<p>Also for the record, to me the video is extremely staged. The bodies are neatly positioned, the Marines lined up, and obviously this wasn't spur-of-the-moment passion, er, erupting. At the end, the photographer apparently says, "Is that it?" So the video was meant to be released.</p>