Iraqi Death Scene Pics of Marines Burning Bodies Trigger U.S. Military Investigation [PHOTOS] 
 
 Pics of Marines Burning Bodies Trigger U.S. Military Investigation [PHOTOS] 
 
 EXCLUSIVE 
 
 The United States military is conducting a formal investigation into American soldiers burning the dead bodies of what appear to be Iraqi insurgents.TMZ obtained 41 pictures that we're told were shot in Fallujah in 2004. Two pictures show a Marine appearing to pour gasoline or some other flammable on the remains of what officials believe are 2 insurgents. Two other photos show the bodies on fire. You then see charred remains.Another photo shows a Marine crouched down next to a dead body and mugging for the camera.Still another pic shows a Marine rifling through the pocket of the pants on a corpse.We have not included all of the photos. Many are just too gruesome. There are well over a dozen bodies in the pics and some are covered with flies and one is being eaten by a dog.We turned them all over to the Pentagon last week, and a Pentagon official tells us the pics have triggered a Marine Corps investigation.We're told U.S. Central Command -- the organization in charge of military operations in the Middle East -- also reviewed the photos to determine if they had been previously brought to their attention and determined they had not., Director of Press Operations for the Dept. of Defense, tells TMZ ... the pictures appear to show U.S. soldiers in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice ... which makes it a crime to mishandle remains.There is no statute of limitations on the crime -- even if the soldiers are now private citizens ... they can still be prosecuted, which could land them behind bars.Col. Warren tells TMZ, "The actions that are depicted in these photos are not in any way representative of the honorable, professional service of the 2 1/2 million service members who went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last decade." ||||| TMZ obtained a trove of photos that allegedly show U.S. Marines posing next to and burning dead bodies of insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. (Warning: graphic images ahead.) 
 
 TMZ leaked 9 of 41 photos that appear to show Marines in Iraq pouring gasoline and then burning the dead bodies of Iraqis. An investigation into the photos has now been opened by the Marine Corps to see whether punishment is necessary. 
 
 "We have no details beyond the photos themselves," Pentagon spokesperson Commander Bill Speaks told The Wire over the phone, contradicting slightly what TMZ reported. The Defense Department plans to investigate the veracity of the photos and possibly the identify the soldiers involved. Burning bodies directly violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Crimes against the code can still be prosecuted, even all these years later. 
 
 The full set, which TMZ says was turned over to the military last week, allegedly also shows Marines posing next to corpses, a Marine going through a dean man's pockets, and a dog eating one body. "We have not included all of the photos," TMZ says. "Many are just too gruesome." 
 
 The photos were allegedly taken in Fallujah, which, in 2004, was one of the most dangerous cities for U.S. troops at the height of the Iraq war. In the last few weeks, Al Qaeda insurgents took over the city, and the Iraqi military has debated whether or not to attack to reclaim it. "It is heartbreaking to watch Fallujah descend into this kind of violence again," Jessica Lewis, a two-tour Iraq war veteran, told the CBC recently. 
 
 Here's the full statement from Commander Speaks:
– TMZ is venturing well off the Justin Bieber beat with a potentially serious story about the behavior of Marines during the Iraq war. The site has published eight grisly photos that it says show US troops burning the corpses of Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah in 2004, rifling through pockets, and mugging for the camera. It turned over the full set of 41 photos to the US military last week, and a Pentagon spokesman says an investigation is under way, first to determine the veracity of the images and then to possibly identify any of the Marines. If true, the behavior would violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice on the handling of bodies. "We have no details beyond the photos themselves," a Pentagon spokesperson tells the Wire. In a fuller statement, the spokesperson says "the actions depicted in these photos are not what we expect from our service members." Charges could still be filed, even if any of the Marines are no longer in the military. You can see the images at TMZ, but, be warned, they are graphic. (The development comes as Fallujah continues to fall under the sway of al-Qaeda.)