The Story behind “Hadji Girl”

The Marine Corps Corporal who sang the song recorded in the video about killing members of an Iraqi family never expected it to get onto the Internet and become one of the most viewed videos. The song tells a story of a Marine who falls in love with an Iraqi girl and is taken to meet her family. The girl’s family shoots her and then attacks the Marine, who uses her younger sister as a shield.

"I grabbed her little sister and put her in front of me. As the bullets began to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes, and then I laughed maniacally. . .I blew those little f**kers to eternity . . .They should have known they were f**king with the Marines."

It is great humor and if you have seen the movie Team America, you know where it came from. Civilians get all hung up over lyrics that refer to the little girl being shot. If you have walked in a grunt's boots, you see the humor and insanity of it all.

It’s all in the four-minute video called “Hadji Girl,” which shows a Marine tell a cheering audience about gunning down members of an Iraqi woman’s family after he is led into the ambush. Needless to say, it also has some groups all in a tizzy.

At this point, the author/singer probably regrets letting the video of his performance be recorded. Without question he regrets the exposure it has received on the Internet. The spill-over from the video has gone well beyond anything he imagined. That comes through in the news story, “Humor attempt falls flat.”

In a recent interview published in The (Jacksonville, NC) Daily News, Cpl. Joshua Belile said he wrote “Hadji Girl” while in Iraq. He said his buddies enjoyed the song and pushed him on stage with his guitar. According to Belile, someone taped the performance and posted it on the Internet, but it has since been removed from the Web site where it was initially posted. (Poor Cpl Belile ... "victimized" like that!) (You can view it here until “they” find it.) But it is also here … for a while anyhow. If all else fails, go to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) web site, they have it there as "evidence" of how "dastardly" the song is.

Of course Belile never realized that the touchie-feelie crowd would be horrified by what most soldiers view as humor, albeit dark humor. He would have never guessed some groups such as CAIR would object that the song somehow demeaned Muslims. In fact if you listen to the lyrics closely - it doesn't.

The CAIR said that in light of recent allegations of atrocities committed by Marines in Haditha and other towns in Iraq, the video should be investigated by the Pentagon and Congress! It is about what I would expect CAIR to say. It all comes down to “silly.”

But Belile, realizing he is probably in over his head on this one, told The Daily News, “I apologize for any feelings that may have been hurt in the Muslim community. This song was written in good humor and not aimed at any party, foreign or domestic. It’s a song that I made up and it was nothing more than something supposed to be funny, based off a catchy line of a movie.”

Actually though, Belile said what he really thought earlier when he said, “I think it was a joke that is trying to be taken seriously.” After he learned the video was on the Internet and here on ROFASix, he added, “I think it’s a joke, and anybody who tries to take it seriously knows it’s a joke. People can’t just laugh at it and let it go. I will never perform this song again, and I will remove all video and text in relation to this that I have control of,” said Belile. The 23 year-old Marine is assigned to the Marine Light/Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. After that comment, he later called the newspaper and asked to have his comments replaced with a “no comment.”

The USMC of course, still trying to be "sensitive" to the alleged incident at Haditha, sees no humor in the song. A Marine spokesman said Tuesday the Corps was aware of a video that “purports to show a Marine singing an insensitive song about Iraqis,” adding officers were investigating. LTC Scott Fazekas said the Corps didn’t know the identity of the singer or whether he is in the military, calling the song “inappropriate and contrary to the high standards expected of all Marines.” It is a dumb comment, but let’s hope LTC Fazekas continues to be unable to ID the singer of the song!

Belile stressed the blindly obvious saying, “The song is a work of fiction not connected to any alleged misconduct. This is in no way, shape or form related to the events that happened at Haditha,” he said. “The song was written long before the (alleged) events happened. The song reflects nobody’s viewpoint. It’s completely made up. It’s completely fictional.”

What he doesn’t say is this song, more than any, reflects the difference between those who sleep snugly in their beds at night and the tough men work so hard to protect us. Let’s get on with what is important in the War on Terrorists. Sensitivity sure isn’t one of those things we want from our warriors.

One parting thought - Ever wonder why "Crazy Ramadi" (now "Lazy Ramadi") did not get this sort of attention? I suppose it was simply CAIR hasn't found it yet!