Charges Against Urinating Marines Expected Soon

UPDATE: CBS News reports that all four Marines shown in a now-infamous video urinating on the corpses of three Afghan men have now been identified, and charges could be brought against them "in a matter of hours."

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed Thursday that the soldiers would be "held accountable to the fullest extent," as he and other U.S. officials scrambled to contain the potential fallout from the video that some fear could further hamper American efforts on the ground in Afghanistan.

Thursday, Jan. 12 at 2:25 p.m.: The Marine Corps has identified at least two of the four soldiers in an Internet video that appears to show them urinating on the corpses of Afghan men believed to be members of the Taliban, the Associated Press reports.

An unnamed official tells the wire that soldiers in the video were members of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, which returned to its home base in North Carolina last fall from a tour in Afghanistan. The only other detail the official provided to the AP was that at least some of the four soldiers in question are no longer in that battalion.

Earlier Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed that the soldiers would be "held accountable to the fullest extent."

Thursday, Jan. 12: Top U.S. and Afghan officials have condemned a disturbing video that appears to show a group of U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Afghan men, promising a full investigation into an incident that some fear could cause trouble for new efforts to broker peace with the Taliban.

"I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement Thursday, adding that he’s ordered both the Marine Corps and the commander of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan to investigate the incident. He promised that those "found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent."

The video in question surfaced Wednesday on YouTube and a number of other websites. Reuters with the play-by-play: It "shows four men in camouflage Marine combat uniforms urinating on three corpses. One of them jokes: 'Have a nice day, buddy.' Another makes a lewd joke."

Pentagon officials say they are checking the authenticity of the tape, the origin of which is unknown, but that so far they have no reason to believe that it is a fake, the BBC reports.

Many observers fear that the video could be the latest blow to the American military's image and further hamper American efforts on the ground in Afghanistan. Like Panetta, Afghan President Hamid Karzai was quick to condemn the video, calling the actions of the men in it "completely inhumane." 

For its part, however, the Taliban appeared mostly to shrug off the possibly explosive video, saying that it would do little to harm the fresh round of peace talks the group and the U.S. have begun. "We know that our country is occupied," a Taliban spokesman said. "This is not a political process, so the video will not harm our talks and prisoner exchange because they are at the preliminary stage."

The video is as graphic as it sounds, so we won't embed here. But for those who wish to see it, here's the link to the YouTube clip.