US soldiers faces allegation for killing innocent Afghan civilians

Corporal Jeremy N. Morlock, 22, is one of five GI's charged with pre-meditated murder in a case that includes allegations of widespread drug use, the collection of body parts and photos of the U.S. soldiers holding the Afghan bodies like hunter's trophies. Jeremy Morlock has already confessed to involvement in killings in which he and other members of a Stryker infantry brigade based in Kandahar province are alleged to have blown up and shot three Afghan civilians in separate attacks this year.

Morlock, 22, is accused of hatching the plan to create the kill team in league with a staff sergeant, Calvin Gibbs, 25, who had boasted of similar activity while serving in Iraq. A total of 12 soldiers face charges over the killings; five with carrying them out and seven with attempting to cover them up as well as other crimes such as taking drugs.

In a video of Morlock's interrogation released by military prosecutors, the soldier casually describes on a investigators how his unit's "crazy" sergeant randomly chose three unarmed, innocent victims to be murdered in Afghanistan.

Morlock's lawyer, Michael Waddington, said the statements made in the video are unreliable because his client was in a haze of prescription drugs, including anti-depressants and painkillers, to cope with combat wounds. Waddington said Morlock's memory was "foggy".

The five soldiers accused of murder face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.