Taliban Releases Video of US Soldier

David Hickman, 23, was last of some 4,500 to die

(NEWSER) - On Nov. 14, just a month before the final US troops left Iraq, a 23-year-old soldier lost his life to an improvised explosive device. David Emanuel Hickman was the last American to be killed in a war that cost some 4,500 Americans their lives, the AP reports. With the US mission over, his family and friends are remembering him as a jokester with the nickname "Zeus" (because, he playfully said, his physique was so impressive the gods would be envious); as an outside linebacker who was the linchpin of a defense so complicated his high school had to scrap it after he graduated because no other teen could figure it out; as someone with a goal of one day joining the Special Forces, and who, in the words of a friend, "didn’t sign up to get his life on track. He wanted to be a physically and mentally elite soldier." More»

He may have been visiting a woman when caught: officials

(NEWSER) - Pentagon officials have confirmed that Bowe Bergdahl, 23, is the captured US soldier seen this weekend in a Taliban video, ABC News reports. Bergdahl says in the video that he was caught after falling behind in a foot patrol, but Defense Department officials say he may have left his Paktika Province base at night with Afghan soldiers to meet a woman. He may have also had past behavioral problems, they said. More»

(NEWSER) - The Taliban says it will execute a captured American soldier if the US does not withdraw from two districts in southeastern Afghanistan, the Voice of America reports. A Taliban rep said today the soldier is healthy but will be killed if operations in Paktika and Ghazni continue. The fate of the soldier, whom the military has classified as "believed captured," will be decided by Taliban leader Mullah Omar, the AP adds. More»

Hillary Clinton calls incident possible war crime

(NEWSER) - Investigators have identified the four Marines shown in a video apparently urinating on Taliban corpses, and they could be charged today, CBS News reports. The military has interviewed at least two of the men on the matter as officials scramble to address its fallout. "Anyone, anyone found to have participated or know about it, having engaged in such conduct, must be held fully accountable," said Hillary Clinton yesterday, calling the incident a potential war crime. All four were members of a sniper team in a unit that lost seven members in action last summer in Afghanistan. More»

USMC is investigating clip apparently of dead Taliban fighters

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon has a potentially nasty scandal on its hands: The US Marine Corps says it is investigating a 40-second video that surfaced today on YouTube and elsewhere that appears to show four Marines urinating on the corpses of three Taliban fighters, reports the Air Force Times . The men joke about it as they do so, with one saying, "Have a great day, buddy." If the video proves to be legit, the desecration might constitute a war crime, a senior USMC official tells CNN . Here's a TMZ link to the video, but be warned that it's graphic. More»