Another Abu Ghraib?

Apparently even disgrace can go viral, as four American Marines recently demonstrated. In only 39 seconds, the world got a view of just how inhumane war can be. And we're not even talking about the combat. The video depicts four Marines urinating on three Afghan corpses. The shocking stills are reminiscent of the previous U.S. military disgrace Abu Ghraib.

For a country that prides itself on protecting the inherent human dignity of all citizens through the spreading of democracy, the U.S. could do a much better job of upholding such tenants within its own military. And for those serving in the armed forces who do uphold true American values, this behavior is just as disgraceful to them.

A Pentagon investigation launched Jan. 13 identified the four Marines in the footage, but formal charges have yet to be made. In the video, one of the Marines asks if the scene was captured on video, another answers "yes" and a third jokes, "golden, like a shower." Meanwhile another glances down at the bodies and merrily wishes the corpses a "good day."

This is disgusting behavior. Beyond the atrocity of disgracing the dead, there is another issue at hand: the mental health within the U.S. military. According to certain commentators, the mental states of the four Marines who committed this act were not balanced. One woman who commented on a Huffington Post article wrote, "What the Marines did was unseemly, but their actions must be held in the light that extreme conditions beget extreme behaviors."

Veteran and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Vince Emanuele, said the footage, while clearly disrespectful, is not surprising given the United States' history with the Middle East.

"To be concise, the act of urination itself was indeed disgraceful, and simply beyond the scope of apology," he said. "However, when put into the larger context of the United States' history of Imperial domination, such disgraceful acts should come as no surprise."

While it is true that many men and women in the American armed forces suffer from various psychological challenges, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, there is no excuse for the behavior demonstrated by these four Marines. Active duty soldiers and veterans alike need and deserve adequate counseling and support from mental health professionals, something they're arguably not receiving. Neither this disgraceful video nor Abu Ghraib can be completely blamed on lack of mental health resources for U.S. troops, but both instances certainly bring this issue to the forefront.