jeremy-morlock
Soldier Sentenced to 24 Years for Murder of Afghan Civilians
Max Read · 03/23/11 08:01PMRemember Specialist Jeremy Morlock, the 22-year-old Alaskan who took horrifying photos of his own war crimes? He's now pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and has been sentenced to 24 years in jail; in exchange, essentially, for not getting a life sentence, he'll testify against the four other soldiers also accused of murdering Afghan civilians "for sport." He apologized in court to his victims' families and "the people of Afghanistan themselves." [NYT]
The War-Crimes Photos the Army Apologized For
John Cook · 03/21/11 10:19AMThe Army Is Sorry if You Saw Those Photos of War Crimes
Max Read · 03/20/11 11:51PMThe German newspaper Der Spiegel somehow got its hands on photographs of U.S. soldiers posing with a corpse, and published them, and the Army wants you to know it feels really terrible. "Today Der Spiegel published photographs depicting actions repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army," spokesman Col. Thomas Collins said in a statement. "We apologize for the distress these photos cause." The photos apparently depict Cpl. Jeremy Morlock and PFC Andrew Holmes—both charged, along with three others, with killing Afghan civilians—posing with the corpse of an Afghan man named Gul Mudin (Morlock, in his photo, is apparently "smiling as he lifts the head of a corpse by the hair"). Well, no hard feelings, Army! Let's maybe just keep the war crimes to a minimum in the future, okay? [NYDN]