Military Transgressions

Marines posing with burnt Iraqis is latest abuse case.

Military Misconduct - Horrific stories of abuse, torture and murder at the hands of U.S. troops stationed abroad have cast a dark shadow over the military’s reputation. Most recently, disturbing photos surfaced of Marines burning bodies and posing next to human remains. Here are ten troubling incidents where officers have overstepped their grounds. — Britt Middleton, Naeesa Aziz and Dominique Zonyéé (@DominiqueZonyee)

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Military Misconduct - Horrific stories of abuse, torture and murder at the hands of U.S. troops stationed abroad have cast a dark shadow over the military’s reputation. Most recently, disturbing photos surfaced of Marines burning bodies and posing next to human remains. Here are ten troubling incidents where officers have overstepped their grounds. — Britt Middleton, Naeesa Aziz and Dominique Zonyéé (@DominiqueZonyee)

Marines Pose for Photos While Setting Human Remains on Fire - Photos published by TMZ on Jan. 15, 2014, showed United States Marines burning human carcasses of alleged Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah in 2004. Soildiers were armed with guns and lighter fluid and smiled candidly for the disturbing visuals. The photos sparked the latest U.S. military investigation.(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Marines Pose for Photos While Setting Human Remains on Fire - Photos published by TMZ on Jan. 15, 2014, showed United States Marines burning human carcasses of alleged Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah in 2004. Soildiers were armed with guns and lighter fluid and smiled candidly for the disturbing visuals. The photos sparked the latest U.S. military investigation.(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Soldier Leaks Photos of Troops Posing With Body Parts of Afghan Bombers - On April 18, 2012, the Los Angeles Times ran photos showing troops from the 82nd Airborne Division posing and jeering next to the mangled body parts of killed Afghan bombers. Although the photos were taken in 2010, they were recently leaked by an anonymous military source who told the paper he supplied the photos in an effort to show how both leadership and discipline have broken down among the troops stationed in Afghanistan. The White House called the conduct of the soldiers “reprehensible," and military officials asked the paper not to publish the photos. The Los Angeles Times' logo appears on the photos because they were not made available for syndication.(Photo: Los Angeles Times)

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Soldier Leaks Photos of Troops Posing With Body Parts of Afghan Bombers - On April 18, 2012, the Los Angeles Times ran photos showing troops from the 82nd Airborne Division posing and jeering next to the mangled body parts of killed Afghan bombers. Although the photos were taken in 2010, they were recently leaked by an anonymous military source who told the paper he supplied the photos in an effort to show how both leadership and discipline have broken down among the troops stationed in Afghanistan. The White House called the conduct of the soldiers “reprehensible," and military officials asked the paper not to publish the photos. The Los Angeles Times' logo appears on the photos because they were not made available for syndication.(Photo: Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Soldier Kills 16 Afghans in Shooting Spree  - An American soldier renewed tensions between Afghans and NATO troops when he went on a house-to-house shooting spree in southern Afghanistan on March 11, killing 16 people, including nine women and three children.  Despite fears of renewed attacks in retaliation for the deaths, the White House announced that it will not change the timetable to U.S. troop withdrawal. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai called the move an “intentional act.” U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is charged with 17 counts of murder with premeditation, for which he could face the death penalty.(Photo: AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

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U.S. Soldier Kills 16 Afghans in Shooting Spree  - An American soldier renewed tensions between Afghans and NATO troops when he went on a house-to-house shooting spree in southern Afghanistan on March 11, killing 16 people, including nine women and three children.  Despite fears of renewed attacks in retaliation for the deaths, the White House announced that it will not change the timetable to U.S. troop withdrawal. Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai called the move an “intentional act.” U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is charged with 17 counts of murder with premeditation, for which he could face the death penalty.(Photo: AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)

Quran Burning Causes Deadly Attacks - A rash of deadly protests and suicide bombings followed in the days after U.S. troops burned Qurans seized from a detainee facility in Afghanistan. President Obama apologized to Afghan president Hamid Karzai, calling the burning an inadvertent error, however the apology was not enough to quell the seething resentment among many Afghanis.\r\r"If they're going to burn the Quran, we don't want them here," Afghan policeman Khalid Khiri told AP. "They will never be forgiven for betraying the holy book."\r \r(Photo: A. MAJEED/AFP/Getty Images)

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Quran Burning Causes Deadly Attacks - A rash of deadly protests and suicide bombings followed in the days after U.S. troops burned Qurans seized from a detainee facility in Afghanistan. President Obama apologized to Afghan president Hamid Karzai, calling the burning an inadvertent error, however the apology was not enough to quell the seething resentment among many Afghanis.\r\r"If they're going to burn the Quran, we don't want them here," Afghan policeman Khalid Khiri told AP. "They will never be forgiven for betraying the holy book."\r \r(Photo: A. MAJEED/AFP/Getty Images)

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Video Believed to Show U.S. Marines Urinating on Deceased Iraqis - The U.S. Marine Corps has launched an investigation into four men in uniform who appear to have been caught on camera urinating on the corpses of three Taliban fighters. The disturbing video surfaced on Jan. 11, 2011, and, according to U.S. Marine Corps officials, all four soldiers have been identified. Their names have not been released, but they are reportedly the 3/2 Marine battalion out of Camp Lejeune, which was stationed in Afghanistan last summer. Should the video prove legitimate, it would be a direct violation of the Geneva Convention, which calls for the dead to be "honorably interred" and graves to be "respected," in addition to the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice for allegedly bringing "discredit upon the armed forces."\r(Photo: Reuters)

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Video Believed to Show U.S. Marines Urinating on Deceased Iraqis - The U.S. Marine Corps has launched an investigation into four men in uniform who appear to have been caught on camera urinating on the corpses of three Taliban fighters. The disturbing video surfaced on Jan. 11, 2011, and, according to U.S. Marine Corps officials, all four soldiers have been identified. Their names have not been released, but they are reportedly the 3/2 Marine battalion out of Camp Lejeune, which was stationed in Afghanistan last summer. Should the video prove legitimate, it would be a direct violation of the Geneva Convention, which calls for the dead to be "honorably interred" and graves to be "respected," in addition to the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice for allegedly bringing "discredit upon the armed forces."\r(Photo: Reuters)

Abu Ghraib - Perhaps the most infamous of military abuses to occur in recent years were committed by American military against Iraqi prisoners held at the Abu Ghraib facility in Iraq, which included torture, rape and murder. In April 2004, images surfaced of American soldiers humiliating and abusing prisoners at the site, and the scandal further stirred anti-American sentiment within Arab and Muslim communities. Nine American soldiers were prosecuted and found guilty in the subsequent abuse trial, and several other military and Congressional investigations were launched. \r(Photo: Landov)

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Abu Ghraib - Perhaps the most infamous of military abuses to occur in recent years were committed by American military against Iraqi prisoners held at the Abu Ghraib facility in Iraq, which included torture, rape and murder. In April 2004, images surfaced of American soldiers humiliating and abusing prisoners at the site, and the scandal further stirred anti-American sentiment within Arab and Muslim communities. Nine American soldiers were prosecuted and found guilty in the subsequent abuse trial, and several other military and Congressional investigations were launched. \r(Photo: Landov)

The Mahmudiyah Killings - On Mar. 12, 2006, 14-year-old Iraqi Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi was brutally gang-raped and murdered by five U.S. Army soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment in her home near Al-Mahmudiyah, Iraq. In order to cover up the attack, the soldiers set the girl’s body on fire and murdered the girl’s mother, father and six-year-old sister. Two of the soldiers have been convicted, while the three remaining attackers plead guilty to the crime. \r\r(Photo: Landov)

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The Mahmudiyah Killings - On Mar. 12, 2006, 14-year-old Iraqi Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi was brutally gang-raped and murdered by five U.S. Army soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment in her home near Al-Mahmudiyah, Iraq. In order to cover up the attack, the soldiers set the girl’s body on fire and murdered the girl’s mother, father and six-year-old sister. Two of the soldiers have been convicted, while the three remaining attackers plead guilty to the crime. \r\r(Photo: Landov)

Maywand District killings - A platoon of U.S. Army soldiers were implicated in the vicious murders of three unarmed Afghan civilians stemming back to January 2010. The group operated under the nickname “The Kill Team” and staged the murders to look like combat situations, collecting the victim’s body parts as trophies. (Photo: Goran Tomasevic/Landov)

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Maywand District killings - A platoon of U.S. Army soldiers were implicated in the vicious murders of three unarmed Afghan civilians stemming back to January 2010. The group operated under the nickname “The Kill Team” and staged the murders to look like combat situations, collecting the victim’s body parts as trophies. (Photo: Goran Tomasevic/Landov)

Haditha Slayings - The slaying of 24 unarmed Iraqis — including women and children — in the town of Haditha is considered a defining moment in the war in Iraq, the Associated Press writes. On Nov. 19, 2005, after a roadside bomb exploded and killed one marine, a troop of U.S. Marines began firing indiscriminately at bystanders, entering homes and spraying them with bullets. A military prosecutor in the ongoing case against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich said on Jan. 13, 2011, that the victims posed no threat. In December 2006, eight soldiers were charged in the crime, but charges against seven of the eight have been dropped as of June 2008.\r(Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake)

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Haditha Slayings - The slaying of 24 unarmed Iraqis — including women and children — in the town of Haditha is considered a defining moment in the war in Iraq, the Associated Press writes. On Nov. 19, 2005, after a roadside bomb exploded and killed one marine, a troop of U.S. Marines began firing indiscriminately at bystanders, entering homes and spraying them with bullets. A military prosecutor in the ongoing case against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich said on Jan. 13, 2011, that the victims posed no threat. In December 2006, eight soldiers were charged in the crime, but charges against seven of the eight have been dropped as of June 2008.\r(Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake)

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Okinawa Rape - After a 12-year-old girl was abducted and raped by three U.S. servicemen in Okinawa, Japan, on Sept. 4, 1995, fierce debate erupted over the presence of U.S. forces in the country. U.S. Navy Seaman Marcus Gill was sentenced to seven years in prison, while U.S. Marines Rodrico Harp and Kendrick Ledet were sentenced to six and a half years. The officers also paid reparations to the victim’s family.(Photo: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)

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Okinawa Rape - After a 12-year-old girl was abducted and raped by three U.S. servicemen in Okinawa, Japan, on Sept. 4, 1995, fierce debate erupted over the presence of U.S. forces in the country. U.S. Navy Seaman Marcus Gill was sentenced to seven years in prison, while U.S. Marines Rodrico Harp and Kendrick Ledet were sentenced to six and a half years. The officers also paid reparations to the victim’s family.(Photo: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)

Recent Abuse in Kabul - On Jan. 7, 2011, Afghan investigators accused the American military of abusing prisoners being held at a detention center near Kabul, Afghanistan. Detainees said they were subjected to humiliating strip searches, being forced to endure freezing cold and being deprived of light, according to Afghan officials. (Photo: Jonathon Burch/Landov)

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Recent Abuse in Kabul - On Jan. 7, 2011, Afghan investigators accused the American military of abusing prisoners being held at a detention center near Kabul, Afghanistan. Detainees said they were subjected to humiliating strip searches, being forced to endure freezing cold and being deprived of light, according to Afghan officials. (Photo: Jonathon Burch/Landov)