By Larry Shaughnessy
Nine Marines and Army soldiers have been disciplined for their roles in separate incidents in Afghanistan that inflamed anti-American sentiment and, in one case, triggered mass protests that killed four U.S. troops and more than a dozen Afghans.
Those punished are all likely to lose their military careers.
Three Marines were disciplined for their role in a videotaped incident that showed four Marines urinating on the corpse of a Taliban fighter in July of last year, the Marine Corps said in a statement.
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By Jennifer Rizzo
The trial of Maj. Nidal Hasan can move forward amid a dispute about the beard the Army psychiatrist grew while awaiting trial in the 2009 Fort Hood killings, an appeals court has ruled.
Hasan's court martial was to start last week at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, where he is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32, but was delayed when Hasan's legal team petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals to prevent the military judge from ordering Hasan's facial hair forcibly shaved. The presiding judge, Col. Gregory Gross, had threatened to order the shaving unless Hasan got rid of the beard, which is against Army regulations.
The Court of Appeals found that Hasan's petition was "premature" because Gross has not yet issued a definitive order. If an official order was given, the appeals court said, Hasan could file another petition.
The government contends it is within its right to order Hasan shaved, citing military regulations and the right to ensure "that a military trial proceeds without a distracting and disruptive sideshow."
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By Mike Mount, CNN Senior National Security Producer
International weapons sales by the United States tripled last year to a record high of $66.3 billion, according to a congressional report that noted big fighter jet and helicopter purchases by Saudi Arabia.
The data by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service noted an "extraordinary increase" over 2010, saying the total U.S. figure accounted for almost 78 percent of sales globally.
Russia followed the United States at $4.8 billion with France at $4.4 billion, according to the report, "Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2004-2011."
An Afghan soldier opened fire on NATO troops Monday, killing two in the latest "green-on-blue" attack in the country, a military statement said.
The attacker fired on troops with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in eastern Afghanistan, according to the coalition.
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