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A video that shows four U.S. Marines urinating on three dead Taliban has raised both outrage and a sort of acceptance of kids just being kids.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai called the scene “completely inhuman.”

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry excused the video on CNN’s State of the Union show.

“Obviously 18 and 19 year old kids make stupid mistakes all too often. And that’s what occurred here.”

It does not matter if they are just 18 and 19 year old kids, they are members of the United States military and they not only have a duty to protect the country but to also do it with honor and pride. When they do things like urinate on dead bodies, they give not only the military a bad name but the United States as well.

When watching the video one is forced to consider the mentality of the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and if it has at all changed since the beginning of the war. The men in the video seem less like Marines and more like frat boys urinating on the already defeated enemy.

One of the marines in the video says, ‘Have a great day buddy.”

This type of behavior we would expect from a common delinquent or juvenile, but certainly not from members of our armed services. Even though what they did was not really inhuman since they were urinating on bodies that were already dead, it is just disgraceful to see those considered upstanding, honorable citizens of this county take part in something so distasteful and dishonorable.

The Marines and the rest of the military should have higher standards and should be respectful even of their enemies, whether they are injured or dead. They should be setting the example for the rest of the military and the United States and avoid tasteless fiascoes like this one.

The Marines in the video should be punished not just for urinating on the corpses but also for tainting the image of the United States Marine Corps as proud, honorable warriors and the United States of America. What they did was not honorable and paints not only them but also the entire U.S. population as rude and immature.

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