Screen shot of the controversial video. (LiveLeak)

• Two of the Marines have been interviewed by military officials involved in a criminal investigation into the video, which surfaced online Wednesday, the official said. At less than a minute long, the video appears to show four men in uniform looking around before urinating on three dead bodies. At least one of the men chuckles as they do so.

According to CNN, the source who recorded the event or posted the video is unclear, but it has caused an outcry among officials just as the United States and the Taliban have begun taking their first steps toward amicable negotiations.

On Friday, a video was posted by the deputy commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan which commanded U.S. soldiers to "treat the living and the dead with dignity and respect."

The video also states that "defiling, desecrating, mocking, photographing or filming for personal use insurgent dead constitutes a grave breach" of the armed-conflict laws. It also violates "basic standards of human decency, and can cause serious damage to relations with the Afghan government."

A Marine Corps official told CNN that two of the four marines have been identified.  The other two are expected to be identified Friday.

Though their identities will remain confidential for the time being, NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman said that the Marine's unit has already been determined.

• "It was 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. These Marines who were involved in this act were part of a scout sniper team from that battalion. They served from last March through September of last year in Helmand province, in the northern part of the province, in an area called Musa Qala and Now Zad."

According to CBS News, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said these marines could "be party to a war crime."

"Anyone, anyone found to have participated or know about it, having engaged in such conduct, must be held fully accountable," Clinton said Thursday, reported CBS.

A video that explores the marines' actions and why thought they could get away with it can be viewed here: