Soldier confesses to 'thrill kill'

The video: Several American soldiers have confessed on video to killing Afghan civilians for sport, and taking body parts for souvenirs — but they blame the alleged crimes on their sergeant, Calvin Gibbs. In a video obtained by ABC News, Corporal Jeremy N. Morlock, 22, one of five soldiers currently facing murder charges, admits his role in the deaths of three unarmed Afghans early this year. Morlock describes one of the killings, in which he and his fellow brigade members identified a captive as a civilian, and alleges that Sgt. Gibbs remarked, "You guys wanna wax this guy or what?"

The reaction: "And you thought Koran burning was a problem," says Michael Crowley at Time. The U.S. counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan depends on winning the cooperation of the local population. When word gets out over there about these shocking murders, it will be "an absolute disaster for the U.S. effort." Some ghoul reportedly recorded the "team's kills" with photographs, says Spencer Ackerman at Wired, and the Army is determined to keep them from being made public. So far, this case has yet to spark the "outrage" that a Florida church's aborted plan to burn Korans did two weeks ago. But that could change, fast, if the Afghan people see the "gruesome evidence" of these crimes. Watch the clip:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up