Rep. Duncan Hunter: Don’t Court-Martial Marines in Videotaped Incident

Four Marines caught on videotape urinating on the corpses of three men thought to be Taliban fighters should be disciplined but not court-martialed, says Las Mesa’s congressman.

Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, a Republican from Alpine, lobbied the Pentagon on Wednesday to consider the “realities of combat” when punishing the Marines.

Hunter, a former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a member of the House Armed Service Committee.

The video, which features an infantry unit from Camp Lejeune, NC, surfaced on the Internet last week and quickly went viral.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta a week ago Thursday called the incident “utterly despicable” and said the Marines involved would be “held accountable to the fullest extent.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was “deplorable behavior ... inconsistent with American values.”

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai asked the Obama administration to investigate the incident and “apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime,” which appeared to violate both the uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Conventions.

In a letter to Panetta, Hunter urged against dealing harshly with the Marines to pacify Afghan officials.

“There is no question that diplomatic and military cooperation is essential to mission success,” he wrote.

“However, in terms of potential punishment, the Marines depicted in the video should not be used for the purpose of making a statement to our partners in the region, especially when the U.S. military has sacrificed son much over [10] years of combat in Afghanistan.”

He urged military authorities to “only consider and recommend disciplinary action that is appropriate and fair under the circumstances.”

Hunter also sought to offer a context for the desecration, writing:

In Afghanistan our Marines see recurring acts of brutality by the enemy directed toward them and the Afghan people and they see their friends wounded or killed. We owe it to these individuals and others who put their lives on the line every day to take into account the extraordinary conditions and danger they face when judging their actions, and put things in the proper context.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who on Thursday dropped out of the GOP presidential race, also has expressed sympathy for the Marines in the case, saying their behavior was inappropriate but that the administration's reaction had been “over the top,” reflecting “disdain” for the military.

The incident is being investigated by the Marine Corps and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. It is unclear how long the investigation might take.

—City News Service contributed to this report.