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The picture shows 10 armed and uniformed Marine snipers flanking an American flag above a dark-blue banner depicting in white the “lightning bolt” double-S symbol of the Schutzstaffel — the Nazi paramilitary group that helped Hitler come to power and carried out some of the worst atrocities of the Holocaust.

“They saw ‘SS’ and associated it with ‘scout sniper’ rather than the Nazis,” Sgt. Oliva said.

The photo was apparently taken in the southern Afghan town of Sangin in September 2010 and came to the attention of the Marine Inspector General’s office last November.

It was not clear how the Marine Corps first became aware of the picture, but by then the commander of the Marines in the photo — from the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force — had decided to use the situation as a teachable moment.

“All Marines in the unit were reminded that any such behavior would not be tolerated and further display could result in punishment,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.

Still, with the Defense Department already investigating a video that came to light last month of Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban soldiers, furor over the SS photo could linger.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an independent watchdog group that targets discrimination in the Armed Forces, called for Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos to order an investigation of the photo’s origins.

“The fact that United States service personnel were caught proudly posing with the emblem of the Nazi SS, which symbolizes the vile ideology of Hitlerian fascism, sends a menacing signal to religious minorities within the United States Armed Forces,” foundation President Michael Weinstein said.

© Thomson Reuters 2012

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