VERY disturbing video out of Iraq

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Or perhaps Afghanistan. Don't watch this unless you want to ruin your whole day/evening (it shows soldiers killing a puppy by throwing it over a cliff, then laughing). The availability of instant video capture with cell phones has resulted in a flurry of clips like these emanating from the combat areas, including a crippled puppy being terrorized, laughter after a kitten or puppy is killed during EOD (explosive ordnance detonation), and a dog being shot with a smoke round.

The video clip embedded above was originally posted on a Dutch website, where it already has 40,000 views*. Judging by the uniforms, these may be Blackwater mercenaries rather than U.S. soldiers, but the image portrayed to the world at large is the same.

*update. I wrote that on March 2. As of Mar 3 morning the video has had 182,000 views. The world is watching it, even if most Americans aren't.

further update Mar 3 night - now 228,000 views of the video. The soldier involved has been tentatively identified; Blackwater says he is not their employee. The Marine corps is investigating. Much speculation on Reddit as to whether the "puppy" is either a plush toy or an animal dead before being thrown, in which case it reverts to being a sick joke rather than an act of cruelty. I agree that the sound effects do not seem consistent in that they do not diminish with volume as the puppy gets further from the camera.

March 6 update. The video has been suppressed by YouTube. Those who wish to view it can still do so at the original Dutch website, where it now has over 400,000 views. Think before you click on that link, and remember one of the rules of the "internets" - what has been seen CANNOT BE UNSEEN.