I love dogs and find the video outrageous but I completely agree with Virginia. We care about puppies more than people.

The last time I was in the states I kept on hearing statics on the number of "people" that have been killed in Iraq. It seemed much much lower than the numbers that are talked about here in Holland. Finally, I figured out that the "deaths in Iraq" statistic in the US only covered the American troops in Iraq and not civilians. This saddens me. Aren't the Iraqi's people too?

Sent by Nathan in Holland | 10:31 AM ET | 03-05-2008

I think the main difference between a video showing an adult being killed and a puppy being killed is that the puppy (or any little animal) can do nothing whatsoever to protect itself. An adult can run, hide, or get a weapon. I think we'd get the same reaction and worse if the video showed a baby being thrown off a cliff. I don't think the puppy-cliff video outrage has anything to do with the fact that it's a little puppy, it's that it can't do anything besides be bullied by an opponent; an opponent who is bigger and smarter and should know better. Or at least know that throwing something helpless off a cliff probably isn't going to make one's self feel better.

Sent by Sarah Lee | 10:39 AM ET | 03-05-2008

Anyone who's watched or read anything relating to serial killers knows that one of the most common behaviors among them is cruelty to animals. Not to disparage the military, but it does become a home to people who enjoy inflicting pain and death on others. Sarah Lee is right - an adult can at least do something to protect itself, whereas an animal (for the most part) can not. There are two things in this world that REALLY get under my skin: cruelty to children and cruelty to animals. Both are always inexcusable. If this video proves to be genuine, I think that the perpetrator should be kicked out of the Marines, or at the very least, busted down to the lowest rank and pay scale.

Sent by Brad J. | 11:11 AM ET | 03-05-2008

I agree with Sarah Lee. The outrage is from 2 things, the defenseless of the victim (in this case a dog), and the pointlessness of the act (the marine gained nothing by what he did, he was cruel for the sake of being cruel).

If the same pointless act was committed against a child or an adult, I think we would all be just as upset.

Sent by G | 11:52 AM ET | 03-05-2008

Soldiers are trained to kill, how can we be so outraged when they do what they have been trained to do even if it's not with in their mission or orders. When people intentionally kill other people they can no longer hear the sibilance of humanity and have no discretion for the lives of other things or people that are not perceived as human as themselves.

I think this is a sad incident and we should hold the government responsible for making sure our soldiers are able to maintain their humanity while they are ordered to do things that are completely inhumane.

Sent by lacrews10 | 12:33 PM ET | 03-05-2008

It's wrong to kill puppies. I get that, and I agree. However, I think what is most telling (and most disturbing) about our culture is that there is no similar public outcry when civilians are killed during the course of the war.

I think that there is a flawed mentality amongst Americans that somehow, these civilians did something to "deserve it", perhaps by associating with terrorists (remember, don't sell them anything or even talk to them, even under threat of death, because your livelihood doesn't matter, this is all for democracy, baby), or simply by virtue of being an Iraqi. You never see or hear as many comments about the deaths of human beings as you do about the deaths of animals. This is probably partially due to the fact that people think that animals need "a voice". Who's going to stand up for them? "Me, me!" cries a desperately lonely animal enthusiast. The reason nobody cares about the deaths of people is because the public just assumes that somebody out there cared about those people, and is going to protest their wrongful killing. Well, 9 times out of 10, there isn't a voice for those people. They're accepted as unavoidable casualties. "Less civilian deaths in the future!" the military promises, but it never happens. Gotta kill those important targets, regardless of civilian deaths, and even though they're not doing any damage to the terrorist organization's hierarchy or infrastructure.

Sent by Greg | 12:48 PM ET | 03-05-2008

It amazes me how much attention this is getting. Last month a man threw a baby off an overpass in Hawaii and it didn't even attract half attention this video is getting.

I don't get it.

Sent by Charlie | 1:32 PM ET | 03-05-2008

I bet throughout that puppy's short life, it was fawned over as most puppys are. You can tell that the puppy trusted people because it wasn't squirming when the Marine was holding it. What's distrubing about that video is that the puppy was probably expecting to get petted and maybe fed. But instead it was horribly killed.

Sent by wm from San Diego | 2:38 PM ET | 03-05-2008

The angle that I find most interesting about this story is the presumption that readers/listeners should be more interested in or outraged by a dead person than a dead puppy. People will have resonances with stories for all kinds of reasons. Attempting to tell someone that they should be more interested in a different story is a waste of breath. It's like telling Jerry Lewis to change his telethon to a more common disease. This story was picked by the BPP and other media specifically because it had already captured the public's imagination not the other way around. Personally, I have no interest in watching this video let alone forwarding it to anyone. On the other hand I watched Winn's birthday dance over and over again. I... could... not... look... away.

Sent by Dave Wiley | 3:21 PM ET | 03-05-2008

"Soldiers are trained to kill, how can we be so outraged when they do what they have been trained to do even if it's not with in their mission or orders."

I'm sorry, at what point in basic training is the "how to throw a puppy off a cliff" briefing held, and what is its military importance?

Soldiers are trained to kill our enemies. There are no published reports of Al Qaeda infiltrating the puppy population. The puppy was not a terrorist, nor an enemy combatant. It was a puppy.

So spare me your rationalization. What we have here, whether it's real or fake, no matter where it happened, is an act of sociopathy.

Sent by Stewart | 3:53 PM ET | 03-05-2008

If it is true, the worthless "human beings" who did that should suffer the same fate as the animal and be mocked as they fall. These soldiers demonstrate the immorality and the inhumanity of the military--any military.

The argument about how much undue attention this gets because human suffering is somehow ignored is absurd. Had the solider thrown a human child, he would be hunted down and punished. So there is no "slight" going on here about the human suffering. If anything, the significance of the animal's suffering is being diminished because the outrage is from a fairly small number of commentators. The violent deaths of innocent lives must be decried and punished, whether animal or human.

Sent by Ty | 3:53 PM ET | 03-05-2008

Soldiers aren't really trained to kill enemies, they're systematically desensitized to the act of killing. They are trained to disregard life to the point that they will take the life of anyone or anything if ordered to do so. The object of this training is to dehumanize the recruits; to break down concepts of empathy and sympathy and view other people as less than human. Combine these brainwashing techniques with a much lower emotional and intellectual maturity level in new recruits, as compared to recruits during WW2, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster.

And Ty, by calling for the cruel and unusual punishment of a human being in response to his killing of an animal, you are in fact diminishing the significance of human suffering. You are equating the suffering of a human with the suffering of an animal. By your reckoning, any person during WW2 who killed a cow with a stray mortar shot is a war criminal.

Sent by Greg | 4:27 PM ET | 03-05-2008

inhumanity exists. we read about it everyday. it is not a contest as to what inhumane act is worse than another...it is difficult enough to read and there is no reason to make it visual...except for those who need to watch brutality in action...after some exposure to buddhism, it became difficult to even kill a spider...please, no more heart breaking visuals...what for? does it wake up sleeping eyes?

Sent by jayn | 8:52 PM ET | 03-05-2008

I agree that this story is getting much attention, maybe more than it should. But I believe footage like this really makes us think what are we doing there? to kill defenceless puppy? or to bring democracy to people in Iraq? By the way, I am a dog lover and I believe he should be charged with animal animal cruelty. In some States it's a felony charge.

Sent by Katie | 9:49 PM ET | 03-05-2008

I could not watch it - There is a worthwhile book called On Killing by Dave Grossman that I think explains why we care more about the puppy. Grossman reminds us that killing is hard to do. What enables people to kill is "distance". Emotional and physical distance. So we often distance an enemy by labeling them. Gooks, Towell Heads, Huns etc. It is easier to kill using a rifle, easier still to drop a bomb.

So killing a puppy violates all the rules - it is the same as killing a baby and killing it using your hands is the closest.

So this man shows us that he has no barriers left. He therefore tells us that he is a very dangerous person. To be able to kill an baby icon with no physical distance means that he could kill anyone and anything.

At some level you don't have to read a book like Col Grossman's to know this and hence this is why there is such a reaction

Sent by Robert Paterson | 7:56 AM ET | 03-06-2008

Public interest mirror (all versions of puppy vid and parodies)

http://WikiLeaks.BlueNorway.Org/puppy.html

Sent by BlueNorway.Org | 10:25 AM ET | 03-06-2008

I agree with what Charlie said about the incident in Hawaii a few weeks ago. A one year old baby was thrown onto the H-1 interstate from an overpass. The baby was struck by a car and died instantly. Apparently the perp was high on meth and the baby's mother was negligent. The only media coverage I saw regarding this was here in Hawaii. I think what the Marine did was wrong but I dont understand why the public is more concerned about a puppy dying than a baby.

Sent by Kevin | 12:41 PM ET | 03-06-2008

@Kevin, was the baby-throwing incident caught on tape? If it wasn't, there may lie your answer. If it was, I can't explain it.

Sent by Tricia, NPR | 4:23 PM ET | 03-06-2008

Is it fake or not? Was the puppy dead or alive before it was tossed?

It the end it does not matter.

What matters is this. The video shows the mentality of so called soldiers we have over there in Iraq. Even if the video was just some kind of joking horseplay.

If they are real then we must ask ourselves this. If they can do this to a innocent helpless creature. Then what are they doing to the children and women of Iraq? An also is this how America spreads democracy and its love around the world. Does this explain why America is despised and hated aboard?

Sent by Edgars F | 2:19 AM ET | 03-07-2008

I didn't want to hear (I skipped past it while listening online) or watch the video of this, so I haven't. I certainly wouldn't want to watch a baby getting hit by a car, if it had been caught on tape. Maybe that's the difference -- a story about a baby dying is too revolting to take off, a puppy dying is just revolting enough.

Sent by David Newberry | 4:14 AM ET | 03-07-2008

There is absolutely no reason or need for this type of behavior. Whether it's a helpless puppy, a helpless person, whatever - thre are no reasons to explain why we need to commit an act of violence against another person/thing for just amusement.

Now, for those of you who are complaining how people are upset over a puppy versus all the deaths in Iraq, perhaps with the daily death report we just became numb and tired of being in mourning mode. We just need a way to sort ourselves out the situation.

Sent by ptahcha | 10:42 AM ET | 03-07-2008

Fake. Even if that was a real puppy he had, it was DEAD already. What sort of dog stays completely still while being held like that? People are gullible. Either Way, it's terrible. But still.

Sent by Evan | 5:58 AM ET | 03-08-2008

Evan, for your information all puppies stay still like that when held by the back of the neck. Momma can then carry them around. Shows how much you know.

Greg, Soldiers are trained to kill enemies. Training them is not simply desensitizing them to killing. And what are your credentials? I was a sailor trained to assist in launching Nuclear missles. Are you going to tell me that my training consisted of desensitizing me to creating a Nuclear firestorm. WRONG. To make statements like that about military training is pompous,arrogant and shows how ignorant you are. You shouldn't make such sweeping statements that insult so many when you know so little. You don't have a clue.

Clay

Sent by Clay | 9:55 PM ET | 03-09-2008

Brad and Sara Lee, you've captured my feelings spot on. Brutality because one is larger and more powerful is a sickness and this man deserves to be outed for his lack of ruth towards another living being.

Shame to both him and his fellow videographer who stood by and allowed this to happen.

Sent by Lucinda | 5:46 PM ET | 03-12-2008

who cares it's just a dog.

Sent by richard chernek | 5:23 PM ET | 03-13-2008

It is sad and I don't know of any good reason to do that. I wish that it was a fake - maybe it is. But, if you really want "shocking", consider going on patrol with soldiers through a war zone - now, that would be shocking.

Sent by Shalin | 8:07 PM ET | 03-13-2008

There is another explaination to this uproar about this video is that people might be indifferent/ hold prejudice against other people from another country(especially when the reporting of the war in general media is masked by numbers and rarely about the actual lives of civilians), but puppies general look the same anywhere. It's much easier to relate to a puppy that might look just like someone's pet at home. Then again if it wasn't a puppy but a baby in the video, you bet there will be an uproar. Well, I guess I'm still half optimistic about the human race.
Frankly, most of us are too fortunate to put ourselves in the place of civilians in Iraq (or what the troops are actually going through physically and mentally). For some people... they just don't care.

Sent by Kayan | 11:00 PM ET | 03-16-2008

Good job troops-you've lost ALL support & sympathy I've ever had for you guys. Hopefully the puupy-tossing loser won't make it home alive.

Sent by Cathy | 8:04 PM ET | 05-11-2008

I've been looking for updates to this story and am wondering if the investigation is still under way.?? My gut is that the military will not take nearly the action the necessary and will more than likely try to sweep this "under the rug" until everyone forgets... maybe they already have. People die every day, animals are abused and neglected every day - a tragedy for sure. We have seen honorable acts by the military, not only rescuing other animals but small children, casualties of war in which I am proud that our military has the humanity to reach out and help those in need despite their own frustrations in the war... the puppy is such an outrage because this man portrays himself as a marine. The "best of the best" and if that is the case, I am curious to know who the worst is. An unnecessary act I think no one can argue who deserves to mentally evaluated as it is obvious perhaps the stress of the career he has chosen has proven to be too much for him. I support our troops and pray for them daily and in that support I give to them I expect a certain amount of sanity, humanity, and sensibility. God Bless our troops. I hope, however, this investigation is completed with due process and corrective action is taken.

Sent by Caramia | 7:37 AM ET | 06-05-2008

I was a Marine deployed to Iraq and that dirty nasty mutt is lucky I wasn't there because I would have punted it off that cliff instead of throwing it. If you haven't been there you don't know what it's like. Dogs in Iraq are like rats. They run around wild, dirty and diseased. It's nothing like the dogs here in the United States and they sure don't have any sort of animal control. If he hadn't I'm sure one of the Iraqis would have. And for everyone who doesn't know what it's like to be in the Marine Corps Infantry (not a sailor on a ship, Clay) I suggest you watch Jack Nicholson's speech at the end of A Few Good Men or understand this quote from
George Orwell-"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Sent by Steve | 12:49 PM ET | 06-12-2008