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Firestorm over gruesome images of Afghan corpses

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    All-Star panel weighs in

  • Duration 4:52
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I strongly condemned.

What -- see in those photos especially general Allen.

That behavior.

That was depicted in those photos.

Absolutely violates.

Both our regulations.

And more importantly our core values.

This is not who we are we had urged the LA times not to -- to run those voters.

And the reason for that is those kinds of photos are used by the enemy.

To incite violence.

It was a criminal investigation now by the Department of Defense eighteen photographs taking over -- taking over the span of roughly ninety days it's two years ago first published.

As the defense -- dimension by the Los Angeles Times and blurred some of this but.

It's soldiers.

Posing -- body parts of the suicide bomber were blown himself up in southeastern Afghanistan -- series of them and there's some push back.

About this whole reaction to them.

I'm furious not of the troops who did something dumb.

But I'm furious at -- moral cowardice of military leaders who never stick up for our troops.

The protect their own careers -- reflex action of our generals is always a leap out and say.

All my gosh our troops are so awful their so wicked this isn't us this is -- -- the real scandal.

Isn't the establishment media leaks on another chance to trash our troops.

The worst of the scandal is our leaders in and out of uniform rush to condemn our troops no explanation no context.

Okay what about this and they expected -- pushed back perhaps in Afghanistan after a series of incidents.

Charles look let's start by stipulating.

That nobody should treat the body of a good person with disrespect.

However this is a strange case because.

The victims themselves suicide attackers are people who did not treat their own bodies with respect.

They deliberately.

Destroy their own upon these in turn themselves.

Into body parts so here we have soldiers in the stress of war.

Abusing what's left -- the suicide attackers.

I find it slightly different from have they been abusing the body of those who died in combat -- died accidentally.

It doesn't excuse them but I think there is a disconnect here.

Because suicide attackers are the most criminal of -- the war criminals abusing all the laws of war.

And generally speaking attacking.

Helpless and -- -- civilians.

-- the Los Angeles Times says obtain these photographs two year old photographs from a member of the 82 airborne.

And identify the corpses as.

Being suicide bombers and insurgents who quote had accidentally blown themselves up what about the LA times.

Choice to run Phillips.

Well I think they have the right thing the person who gave them the photos -- that he felt that this represented a breakdown in leadership and discipline them and he hoped.

That -- these pictures being published that would bring attention to that and would actually help stage troops in the future because he felt there was such.

A lack of discipline and I think unless you bring light to this kind of stuff.

That nothing is gonna be done about it and -- the people who put the troops in the danger are those -- Who took those pictures it -- he can't win the LA times for what they did overall supposed to just pretend it didn't happen.

Is there do you think the connection that would be made to something like Abu Ghraib when a lot of those photos came up and and immediately there was investigation that led to.

All kinds of things including the Defense Secretary offering his resignation.

Well I don't I don't I can't predict what's gonna happen when this I don't think these are quite on the scale in the same situation as Abu Ghraib but it I think that's a serious issue and I disagree with it.

Contention.

You know that people come -- say -- the troops so awful and -- no one is saying that the troops are incredible these people do not represent.

-- -- I think feel like tires are responsible to publish these photos against the explicit request not of -- Terrible Bush Administration are terrible Don Rumsfeld -- of the -- -- administration.

Which last I looked was not a bunch of war mongers but -- people in this case I think quite correctly secretary of defense Panetta was concerned about the well being of our troops where they're now.

The leadership of that brigade the fourth combat brigade -- 82 is about the current leadership exposing this that there were issues with -- -- battalion that was responsible for this.

Troops apparently the times reported at the time -- -- -- leadership of that battalion and brigade is not the current leadership.

So the exposure does not think it is not a contemporaneous matter where -- something bad is happening there and we're going to expose it.

It's pure -- -- them by the media it's -- -- these photos were taken.

That brigade took 35 and 35 killed and it's very rough deployment of that time -- soldiers shouldn't have done that but just publishing these photos I was wrong that is if.

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