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Subscribe to RSSArmy officials are conducting a criminal investigation into newly revealed photographs showing U.S. troops posing with body parts of dead Afghan suicide bombers. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called Thursday for U.S. and other foreign forces in the country to hand over security to his government's forces sooner than planned, following the publication of photographs showing American troops posing with the body parts of dead suicide bombers.
In a statement issued by the presidential palace statement to NBC News and other media outlets Karzai said he strongly condemned the "inhumane and provocative" act.
"It is such a disgusting act to take photos with body parts and then share it with others," he said, according to the statement.
The statement noted "similar incidents of odious nature in the past that sparked angry reaction by the Afghans and the international community at large."
US condemns troops for allegedly posing with dead suicide bombers in Afghanistan
"The President underlines that the only way to put an end to such painful experiences is through an accelerated and full transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces, so Afghanistan can take over its own destiny and, thus no such things can be repeated by the foreign forces in Afghanistan," it added.
The acts shown in the photographs, which were first published by the Los Angeles Times, were condemned by U.S. officials and the commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John R. Allen. "The actions of the individuals photographed do not represent the policies of ISAF or the U.S. Army," Allen said.
On Wednesday, the LA Times ran an article in which it explained the decision to publish the pictures, which were taken in 2010.
“We considered this very carefully,” Editor Davan Maharaj said. “At the end of the day, our job is to publish information that our readers need to make informed decisions. We have a particular duty to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the American mission in Afghanistan."
NBC's Sohel Uddin reports live from Kabul about the deadly attacks in Afghanistan over the weekend. MSNBC's Alex Wagner and the NOW panel discuss the effects of the violence on the withdrawal of American military troops, and what the attacks could mean for national security in the Middle East.
"On balance, in this case, we felt that the public interest here was served by publishing a limited, but representative sample of these photos, along with a story explaining the circumstances under which they were taken," he added.
Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads
The Times said that the the Defense Department had asked the paper not to run the photos.
The paper's article said that the safety of troops was among The Times' concerns.
“When we made the decision to publish, the Pentagon asked us to wait 24 additional hours to protect troops depicted in the photographs," Maharaj said. "We agreed to push back our publication date until the Pentagon told us they had taken the necessary precautions. In fact, we waited more than 72 hours after their request."
NBC News' Akbar Shinwari and Sohel Uddin in Kabul contributed to this report.
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Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
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Where is the crying about the poisoned school girls - compliments of the Taliban? Karzai is a double dealing corrupt scumbag.
The messages in the photos are positive - the only good terrorist bombers are dead desecrated ones our troops enjoy laughing at. The Afghans are, for the most part, still uncivilized savages and always will be. Its time to cut and run.
The bodies should have been wrapped in pigskin and the body cavities stuffed with pig guts. We had the 1911A1 pistol designed to knock down and kill savages like these in the Phillipines. We knew how to deal with them but have forgotten. Kinder and gentler is not what they understand.
The troops deserve good conduct medals.
Hmmmm....did I miss Karzai's outrage at the suicide bomber that killed some number of innocent folks...was he fuming then? This behavior is unfortunate, but don't forget whose corpse was being gloated over. As for Karzai...well, he's a toad. I think we should help reduce his fuming quotient...by having a lot less Americans around to fume about....it's a health issue...we owe it to him, being a civilized country and all.
Hmmmm, I think there is a statesman that if in power would makes this happen immediately, "as fast as the ships could get there"
These foreign policy blunders and their unintended consequences are a major distraction from what we should really be doing. Fix this great country of ours first ! We will NEVER make a difference over there.
Gee! Sure hope Karzai doesn't boot the U.S. out of his country. That would just be awful. We would need to find another war. Hmmm! Wonder where that would be?
if you dont want pictures taken dont have your caveman boy loving fellow afghans leaving their body parts lying around you dumb@ss. i think that hat you wear is on too tight.
The hat hides the empty brain
Two questions are raised by this 'incident' and the story about it.
First, who really cares what Karzai and his fellow rag heads care about anything? Certainly not me.
Second: Why are we still there? Or in other words... why did we even go there? The Russians tried to 'tame' these infidels, these sand jockeys, these rag heads for TEN years and FAILED. The Americans, who being led by fools and fortune seekers, after ten years have also failed.
But failed at what? Failed to strip the bountiful raw materials from the land? Failed to enhance the terrific crop of poppies? Failed at keeping our money at home and above all failed to prevent the grisly and disgusting murder of our Nations men and woman who for whatever reason joined the Armed Forces only to be mercilessly murdered in a desolate waste land where tribal leadership led by this criminal, Karzai lays the trap for Americans.
Again.. why are we still there? Why did we go there in the first place?
Josh,9/11 what's with you people, that's why we are there. It was said we didn't stay long enough last time, unfortunately we have been there to long this time
Wake up people (incl. dems) Vote Ron Paul and we won't have to put up with all this bull@!$%# anymore
Ron Paul? hahahahahahahhahahahahhahahhahah
Ron Paul seems to want everything torn down, and then rebuilt by meth addicted, robe wearing racists.
Who cares? Bring our troops home.
Nice job msnbc "Cropping" out the two muslims on the right and left of the US soilders ... horrifying photo to post at all ... we train these men to kill and are surprised when they are pleased with themselves over it ... they are doing their JOB ... unfortunately it has to do with terminating human lives ... media should stay out of the business of "stirring up trouble", and out of the business of the US military ... they may find that it has come back to them ... why not report some TRUTH from the middle east for once ... such as the REAL threat to all from a so called peaceful religion proclaiming another future Holocaust to Israel and the US ... the koran itself says it is alright to lie to the infidels to accomplish jihad ... we are playing with a fire that needs to be put out with TRUTH and integrity and honor, valuing all life ... how could someone in the US post this about US soilders ... do you enjoy endangering the lives of the military,laying down their lives to protect your right to be arrogant, and endangering the US and other innocents ... and to even imply that you are impartial .... that is a JOKE ... somehow you have gotten an overly high rated opinion of yourselves as if you are somehow separate from everyone else, and above all ... well you are not ... and you will reap the whirlwind because you have sown to the wind ... selah #tiredofmedialiesandgossip
Look at the original story the posted on this topic. Nothing was cropped but the guys d!ck and balls. Complain over something worth complaining over!
And the other day he said he needed $2 billion a year in US support. Um, how about no.
If this results in a faster withdrawal of forces, so be it. Let them fight amongst thmselves. Karzai himself is corrupt. Leave the evil ones to kill each other off. Its a shame there will innocents lost in the process, but those choosing to stay and live in that war-torn counrty do understand their own risks. We have no more businesss there and haven't since Bin Laden was hunted down and killed.
its I guess must be preached by bible and christianity to do so and that is why our soldiers did it ... Or did jesus show us this by example???
WTF are you talking about?
WHERE IS THE FUMING when an afghan bomber kills 40 afghans? or when an afghan "soldier" shoots an american in the back? karzai : gfy
He asked for it, he can have it, right now.
Goal: By tomorrow: 0 US troops in Dumbfukistan. 0 US equipment in Dumbfukistan and 0 US dollars in Dumbfukistan.
US soldiers in the middle east is like coming out of a drunken haze to realize you're making love to dog - you can't pull out fast enough.
So what now? Give him extra allowance next month? Maybe they should all start taking the pics. Our soldiers might get to come home sooner than planned. Ground all our troops to the US for their bad behavior.
Leon Panetta apologized to these monkeys for troops posing with suicide bombers body parts. The Govt also apologized for the abuse of POS POW's and urinating on dead Afghan militants. The US government has done the same thing for burning the Koran while muslims are murdering Christians and bombing churches all over the place. Muslims have expressed their outrage like wild chimps going on a rampage. So where was the outrage in the muslim community on 9/11? Where was the muslim outrage when Nick Berg, Kenneth Bigley, Paul Johnson and Kim Sun-Il were beheaded? Where was the muslim outrage for the 1996 bombing of the WTC and the execution of captive American POW's? Where's our apology? Karzai, you talk a big game but the Taliban and al-Qaeda are going to be posing with your severed head over your headless corpse once American and NATO forces bail on your sorry excuse for a country.
The LA Times published the photographs against the wishes of the defense department, eventually agreeing to delay their publication. What the paper did was put our soldiers in harms way. It's pretty easy to make a decision to publish such photos from a cushy office in LA. I wonder if the editor would have made the same decision if he was looking down the barrel of an enemy's rifle on a daily basis? Another example of the news media at it's worst!
Exactly what I just commented
My problem is that this was from two years ago, I'm sure if we tried we can come up with something from the Vietnam conflict.
On the other side of it, if I were in LA I would boycot the newspaper. They put our troops at risk . They are no better than Wikileaks
Why is there any problem with this picture? Bad guy dead, good guys alive recorded for posterity. If it were me I'd cut off his head and chit in his neck hole.
Personally I see nothing wrong with the pic and what they did. Just don't snitch on our troops by posting it all over the continent.
And he says nothing to the fact that his own troops are holding the body parts, not the americans.
Then he has the balls to say:
"The President underlines that the only way to put an end to such painful experiences is through an accelerated and full transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces, so Afghanistan can take over its own destiny and, thus no such things can be repeated by the foreign forces in Afghanistan"
Not once have I seen anything from him condemning his own troops for their involvement in the photo session.
That's because it is expected from his people.
President Karzai, I do not think we should hand over security to Afghan Forces. I am of the mind set that we should hand the country over to you and let the Taliban come back in and do with you what they will. I really hate that for the women of Afghanistan that want to learn and get educated but you seem to be wanting to play both sides of the fence and I'm sick and tired of seeing our troops risking and losing their lives over there just so you can parade around with your corrupt government officials.
Are we just about tired of the present administration apologizing for everything that someone else thinks is wrong...I say that picture should be displayed everywhere in their country as we depart so that when the Taliban takes over they will appreciate what they had..These people do not deserve our presence. And they certainly don't deserve the lives of our your people to keep them from losing theirs..Enough is enough this is just one more proof that we need to get out of these countries quit paying there bills and let them fight their own battles...PULL OUT NOW!!!!!!
those soldiers look white hispanic in the pic. are you sure this isnt a hate crime msnbc?
It is nonsense to use the evil deeds of our enemies as justification for our own.
Evil seeks to seduce us into its legion by inflaming our outrage. It hopes to overthrow our conscience and moral foundations by inciting our hatred.
We must confess when we have been misled by evil so that its hold upon us will not grow.
We should have understanding and compassion for those among us who succumb to evil ways. But, we must never condone it. There is no reason and no victory in becoming evil to defeat evil.
Thats so sweet of you
We didn't do the evil. He was a suicide bomber. Our soldiers shouldn't have to justify anything. Somehow I don't think you have ever had to fight in a war against any of them.
OK. If you can name a period in time when an evil enemy was defeated with poetry, songs of fellowship, and flowers I will concede your point.
What planet are you from? On this planet earth the kill them with kindness attitude when dealing with this evil will get you conquered and enslaved or exterminated. Jump back in your spaceship and head for a more peaceful planet.
Our nation has agreed to conduct wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That, necessarily, involves the use of deadly force. But, it does not give us license to demean and mistreat prisoners as was done at Abu Ghraib, to defile dead enemy with urine, to disrespect the religions of those countries, or to wantonly murder civilians. Nor are our goals advanced by such evil deeds.
Such misbehavior is neither taught nor condoned by either religious or moral authorities. Why would you condone it? Do we not have a responsibility to conduct ourselves as morally as possible even in the worst of circumstances?
Not all of us who served in our nation's armed forces at time of war are bereft of humanity or moral foundation. War is hell. But, we should not allow it to transform us into devils because where is the victory in that?
You are still speaking of conducting a kinder, gentler war against these savages. Did you ever think that the training they receive to kill and utterly destroy the enemy might also affect maybe some of their battelfield morals? Add them walking around being constant targets, that may well wear on even the most righteous mans moral fiber. We should not and cannot hold our servicemen in contempt because of getting caught up in the HELL that is war. Who are you to fault them??
No-bama, how about holding them in contempt for breaking the regulations of the institution they serve?
Trophy pics are against military regulations among other things like the Geneva convention.
Ian, do you really think that the people that were pissed on care? They are dead! War in it's very essence is bereft of humanity, killing in and of itself is inhumane. Grow a spine, realize that you live in reality, and stop spewing on about religion because not every one needs a book to tell them right from wrong.
Geowil, how can you label a suicide bomber as a trophy pic, when you had nothing to do with their death? I believe what you are showing is the insanity of their religion.
wlee, how about the fact that they were smiling in that pic? I question the judgement of anyone that picks up a body part off the road and smiles, outside of cannibals of course.
Good, lets leave and stop giving them $$
So Karzai fumes over soldiers posing with dead bodies. I don't recall reading the headline regarding him fuming over the deaths of innocent people caused by the homicide bombers with who's remains the soldiers were posing.
Which is the bigger story?
If he wants us out sooner - I'm sure our best young men and women will be happy to come home. Just remember to pull all financial and other aid out at the same time.