Once a Marine, always a
Marine
A Marine who was fined
and demoted for urinating on Taliban corpses in Afghanistan
in 2011 says he would do it again.
“I regret maybe any
repercussions it might have had on the Marines. But do I regret doing it? Hell
no,” Sgt. Joseph Chamblin told WSOC-TV in Charlotte, N.C., adding that he would do it
again.
The infamous incident
was videotaped and uploaded to YouTube last year,
becoming international news and raising fears of retaliation by Afghan troops
against their coalition trainers.
“These were the same
guys that were killing our family, killing our brothers,” said Sgt. Chamblin,
who was on a mission to stop Taliban insurgents from
making roadside bombs.
One of his sniper team
members, Sgt. Mark
Bradley, was killed by a buried bomb days before the incident.
“We’re human,” he said.
“Who wouldn’t if you lost your brother or mother? Wouldn’t you want revenge?”
Sgt. Chamblin
said he didn’t consider endangering other troops by the act, but considered the
psychological effect it would have on the enemy “because if an infidel touches
the body, they’re not going to Mecca or paradise.”
“So now these insurgents
see what happens when you mess with us,” said Sgt. Chamblin,
adding that he is planning to retire in September and is writing a book.
The Marines
court-martialed nine troops for the incident. Sgt. Chamblin,
a 15-year veteran, pleaded guilty for urinating on the bodies and dereliction
of duty and was fined $500 and demoted, WSOC reported.
“Do you want the Marine
Corps to be a group of Boy Scout pretty boys or do you want guys that will go
out and kill the people trying to take advantage of your country and kill
Americans?” he said. “Which do you want? Because you can’t have both.”
No comments:
Post a Comment