'He pulled out a grenade, throws it... and tells me we have waxed this guy': U.S. soldier describes '*******' of three Afghan civilians
A U.S. soldier has described to military investigators how his sergeant set up the ******* of an Afghan civilian.
Corporal Jeremy Morlock, 22, from Alaska, is one of five soldiers from 5th Stryker Combat Brigade charged with pre-meditated ****** by the U.S. Army.
In the incident, which has cast a shadow over American operations in Afghanistan, the group are alleged to have picked out three unarmed civilians to ****** in cold *****.
The shocking case includes charges of widespread **** use as well as the collection of body parts and photos of the U.S. soldiers holding the Afghan bodies like hunters' trophies.
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'Waxed him': Jeremy Morlock is shown on the left being interrogated about three ******* by U.S. troops in Afghanistan
Morlock's evidence paints Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs as the ringleader behind the attacks.
He is accused, along with Adam Winfield, Michael Wagnon II, Andrew Holmes and Morlock, with three *******, which took place between January and May of this year.
However, Morlock is claiming he was bullied into taking part.
In the video Morlock admits that he was fully co-operative when Sgt. Gibbs identified one Afghan man, who was unarmed, and proceeded to 'wax' him, or **** him.
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Heat of battle: Five U.S. troops have been charged with ********* three unarmed Afghans - and Morlock admits that one was ****** using a grenade
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Quizzed: The 22-year-old corporal is asked whether he co-operated with his sergeant, Calvin Gibbs's commands, and whether the victim was unarmed
'We identified the guy,' he begins, 'And Gibbs said, "You want to wax this guy, or what?"
'He set it up - he grabbed the dude and set the whole scenario up.
'We had this guy by his compound and Gibbs grabbed him out and set him in place.
'He was next to a wall - where Gibbs could get behind to cover after a grenade went off, and he placed me [the other way] so I could have clean-line sight for him.
'Gibbs sent in a couple of people to pull some front side security.'
Morlock continues: '[Gibbs] pulled out one of his grenades, and popped it, threw the grenade and then he tells me that we have waxed this guy; ****** the guy.'
The case could become the grimmest investigation of alleged atrocities by U.S. military personnel during almost nine years of war in Afghanistan.
Reports of grisly photos of Afghan bodies being posed for photos by American troops could be among the more inflammatory revelations to emerge from the case, echoing worldwide outrage stirred by pictures of nude Iraqi prisoners of war taken by U.S. military personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
The troops from the 5th Stryker Brigade based in Washington state deployed to Kandahar province a year ago, and the ******* occurred between January and March, according to charges by army prosecutors made public this month.
Morlock was the first of five soldiers initially charged in June with the *******. Seven others have been charged since then with various other crimes stemming from the investigation, including conspiracy to cover up the slayings.
Four of the soldiers have been charged with keeping body parts, including finger bones, a skull, leg bones and a human tooth.
Pentagon officials, while stressing that the charges have yet to be proven, acknowledged that the nature of the allegations were damaging to America's image abroad, and that of the U.S. military in particular.
Morlock is the first to be brought before a military court for a so-called Article 32 hearing, in which prosecutors and defense lawyers present evidence to an investigating officer assigned to determine whether the defendant should be formally tried in a court-martial.
The hearing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, is expected to last a day, with the investigating officer taking up to several weeks to decide whether a court-martial is warranted.
Watch the horrifying video confession here
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