WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has promised Afghan President Hamid Karzai a full investigation of a video that purports to depict four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters.
Panetta has ordered the Marine Corps and the top commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan to investigate the video, which he calls "utterly deplorable."
The Marine Corps says it hasn't verified the origin or authenticity of the video. But a Pentagon spokesman says "it certainly appears" to show troops urinating on corpses.
The video is drawing condemnation from all sides.
The Afghan president calls it "completely inhumane." The Afghan Defense Ministry calls it "shocking." And a Taliban statement accuses U.S. forces of committing numerous "indignities" against the Afghan people.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed "total dismay" at the video.
The NATO-led security force in Afghanistan says the actions "appear to have been conducted by a small group of U.S. individuals, who apparently are no longer serving in Afghanistan."
In a protest letter of protest to Panetta, the Council on Islamic-American Relations said the apparent desecration of the dead violates U.S. military regulations and international laws of war.
Sen. John McCain says it's "sad." He tells CBS "a handful of obviously undisciplined people" tarnished the image of the U.S. Marine Corps.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)