And you thought Koran burning was a problem:
In a video tape obtained by ABC News, a 22-year-old Army corporal from Joint Base Lewis-McChord casually describes to military investigators how his unit’s “crazy” sergeant randomly chose three unarmed, innocent victims to be murdered in Afghanistan.
Corporal Jeremy N. Morlock is among five Lewis-McChord Stryker soldiers charged with pre-meditated murder in a case that includes allegations of widespread drug use, the collection of body parts and photos of the U.S. soldiers holding the Afghan bodies like hunter’s trophies.
Given that the key to success in a counterinsurgency campaign like Afghanistan is winning over the local population, a story like this is an absolute disaster for the U.S. effort.
COIN experts also say you can’t win without a host government viewed as credible by the local population. In which case a possible indictment of President Karzai’s brother isn’t going to help much, either.