The deputy commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan ordered troops Friday to treat the corpses of slain insurgents and civilians with "appropriate dignity and respect."
The order follows a video that appears to show four U.S. Marines urinating on bodies, images that sparked swift condemnation from the United States and Afghanistan at a particularly crucial period in the U.S.-led war.
"We must treat the living and the dead with dignity and respect," Scaparrotti said in the directive, which was published Friday on the website of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan. He said troops must follow the rules of armed conflict and "act honorably at all times.
"In order to prevail, for the good of the coalition nations and the Afghan people, we can do no less."
The video surfaced as the United States and the Taliban have taken tentative steps toward peace negotiations and as the U.S. and its allies plan to withdraw troops by the end of 2014.
The general's directive instructed officers make sure subordinates know that they are obligated to report any allegations of misconduct involving corpses. He promised swift investigations and "appropriate actions" against offenders.
The directive notes that "defiling, desecrating, mocking, photographing or filming for personal use insurgent dead constitutes a grave breach" of the armed-conflict laws. It also violates "basic standards of human decency, and can cause serious damage to relations with the Afghan government."
The directive is dated Thursday, one day after a video surfaced online showing four men equipped with what a Marine official described as sniper gear urinating on what appeared to be the dead bodies of three men on the ground in front of them.
One of the men says, "Have a great day, buddy." A voice asks, "You got it on the video?" to which another voice responds, "Yeah." Another jokes, "Golden, like a shower."
It was not clear who shot or posted the 39-second video or where, though a U.S. official said it was a "reasonable conclusion" it was filmed in Afghanistan.
Military officials continued to investigate the video Friday.
Military officials have identified and interviewed two of four Marines depicted a Marine Corps official told CNN Friday. They expect the remainder to be identified today, the official said.
The Marines have been interviewed but not detained, the official said.
The names are not being made public, said the official, who did not want to be identified because the investigation is ongoing.
Officials in the United States and Afghanistan expressed shock and outrage regarding the video.
"I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a statement. "I condemn it in the strongest possible terms."
While the identities of the people on the video haven't been released, the leadership of the 3rd Battalion 2nd Marine Regiment "is confident those are their Marines," according to a Marine official with direct knowledge of the initial investigation.
The official, based in Afghanistan, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The unit, which is based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, deployed last February or March and returned in September or October. While in Afghanistan, the unit was based primarily in Helmand province.
Panetta said he has ordered the Marine Corps and International Security Assistance Force Commander Gen. John Allen "to immediately and fully investigate the incident."
"This conduct is entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military and does not reflect the standards of values our armed forces are sworn to uphold," Panetta's statement said. "Those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent."
A senior Pentagon official said the video "deeply troubled" Panetta.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos said in a statement the behavior is "wholly inconsistent with the high standards of conduct and warrior ethos that we have demonstrated throughout our history."
Lt. Gen. Adrian Bradshaw, deputy commander of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, called the actions on the video "disgusting."
"Any acts which treat the dead, enemy or friendly, with disrespect are utterly unacceptable and do not represent the standards we expect of coalition forces," Bradshaw said in a video statement. He said he was speaking on behalf of Allen, who is out of the country.
"It is difficult to say what long-term impacts this might have, and I would hesitate to get into speculation, but obviously any sort of footage, any sort of activity of this kind that is grossly against all the moral values that the coalition forces are standing for are very much working against our cause and against everything that we are standing for and that we are here for," said Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a NATO ISAF spokesman. "We will find the ones who are responsible and hold them accountable."
A senior U.S. military official said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is the lead investigative agency on the incident.
The official added that the desecration of a body by U.S. troops could be considered a potential war crime.
Amos said he has pulled together a team "to thoroughly investigate every aspect of the filmed event." He said he will also assign a Marine general officer and a senior attorney, both with combat experience, to conduct an internal preliminary inquiry into the matter.
"Once the investigation and preliminary inquiry are complete and the facts have been determined, then the Marine Corps will take the appropriate next steps," Amos said. "We remain fully committed to upholding the Geneva Convention, the laws of war and our own core values."
President Barack Obama knows about the video, said White House spokesman Jay Carney, who said he didn't know if Obama had viewed it.
"What it apparently depicts is deplorable, reprehensible and unacceptable," Carney said, adding the president agrees with Panetta's statement.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the U.S. government to investigate the video and hand down the harshest punishment possible.
"The government of Afghanistan is deeply disturbed by a video that shows American soldiers desecrating dead bodies of three Afghans," according to a statement released by the presidential palace on behalf of Karzai.
"This act by American soldiers is simply inhuman and condemnable in the strongest possible terms."
A Taliban spokesman called the video "barbaric."
"And no religion that follows a holy text would accept such conduct. This inhuman act reveals their real face to the world," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said via text message Thursday.
The video surfaces at a critical time for relations among the United States, the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Last year, the United States outlined its plan to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, beginning by pulling out 33,000 "surge" troops who had been deployed to help quell the violence by the end of 2012. The remaining 68,000 troops would be withdrawn by the end of 2014.
Meanwhile, the Taliban tentatively agreed in recent weeks to open an office in Qatar's capital city of Doha, a decision widely seen as an overture aimed at establishing an outside forum for political talks with NATO-led forces and the current Afghan administration, among others.
