BREAKING: US troops posed with Afghan body parts

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A US soldier sent pictures of other US soldiers posing with bodies and body parts of dead Afghans to the LA Times. The LA Times broke this story at 4:30am this morning. To it's credit, it did to in spited of objections by the Pentagon. David Zucchino of the LA Times wrote:

The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers arrived at the police station in Afghanistan's Zabol province in February 2010. They inspected the body parts. Then the mission turned macabre: The paratroopers posed for photos next to Afghan police, grinning while some held — and others squatted beside — the corpse's severed legs.A few months later, the same platoon was dispatched to investigate the remains of three insurgents who Afghan police said had accidentally blown themselves up. After obtaining a few fingerprints, they posed next to the remains, again grinning and mugging for photographs.Two soldiers posed holding a dead man's hand with the middle finger raised. A soldier leaned over the bearded corpse while clutching the man's hand. Someone placed an unofficial platoon patch reading "Zombie Hunter" next to other remains and took a picture.

You can check the LA Times story to see the pictures for yourself but the practice of US soldiers "having fun" with the bodies of the people our country has invaded and occupied has a long and ignoble history. Here is a picture from the Vietnam War, it is from my film Vietnam: American Holocaust:Carl Rippberger at the Winter Soldier hearings, 1971:

The next slide is a slide of myself. I'm extremely shameful of it. I'm showing it in hope that none of you people that have never been involved ever let this happen to you. Don't ever let your government do this to you.

Here is a five minute excerpt from Vietnam: American Holocaust [available on DVD] that discusses how they would collect the ears of dead Vietnamese and then trade them for beers.                                             Ears for BeersHere is a list of my related diaries:Haditha shows USMC is a criminal enterpriseItzcoatl Ocampo: Ex-Marine Corps Serial KillerThe Sordid Truth about the United States Marine CorpsLouis Proyect reviews Vietnam: American HolocaustNew Trailer for Vietnam: American HolocaustThe Vietnam War was a holocaustAre U.S. Forces Executing Afghan Kids?How Many Kids Did the US Kill in Yemen Last Month?