The United States Marines Corps is finally responding to international outrage over Marines the video below of a Marine throwing a puppy over a rocky cliff in Iraq. The Marine is called by the name Motari on the video and bloggers believe that they have identified the culprit.
The Marine based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, has confirmed that they have a Marine who meets the description and name on the video — a Marine who recently returned from Iraq.
On the film, the Marine is shown joking with the puppy and a fellow Marine and then throwing it over a rocky cliff. He laughs and says “Oh, I tripped,” as he tosses the crying puppy. The other Marine is heard saying, “That’s mean. That was mean, Motari.”
For the disturbing video, click here.
This is not the first such video of cruelty to animals coming from Iraq. A video of soldiers taunting a crippled dog was released in 2007, click here
A host of Internet blogs and sites have circulated what they speculate is the dog-tossing Marine’s full name. Click here
Since then, an apology has been posted from someone alleged to be Motari, click here.
The most likely criminal charge could be Section 934. Art. 134, which serves as a catch-all for such bizarre acts of abuse, including abuse of animals. It states:
Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders
and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the
armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the
armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons
subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of
by a general, special, or summary court-martial, according to the
nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the
discretion of that court.
There remains a question of the other Marine and whether he knew that Motari would commit this terrible act. It should obvious that we should not give guns to people who like to have fun by throwing defenseless animals over rocky cliffs. It also should put some focus on our filtering out of psychotic and disturbed individuals before giving them the latest weaponry and the opportunity to commit abuses.