US troops punished for Quran burning

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

A series of miscommunications, poor guidance and soldiers’ decisions to take “the easy way instead of the right way” resulted in the burning of Qurans and other religious books at a U.S. base in Afghanistan early this year, a military investigation released Monday concluded.

The U.S. military said six Army soldiers escaped criminal charges but received administrative punishments for their involvement in the Quran burning that roiled relations with Afghans.

In a separate announcement, the Marine Corps said three Marines also received administrative punishments for their participation in a video that showed them urinating on the corpses of Taliban insurgents.