This video has quite a few people upset or at least has given them a reason to claim that they’re upset:
Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas, a spokesman for the Marines, said Tuesday that the Marines were aware of a video posted on the Internet that “purports to show a Marine singing an insensitive song about Iraqis.” Fazekas said officials don’t know the identity of the singer or whether he is in the military.The song was “inappropriate and contrary to the high standards expected of all Marines,” Fazekas said. He said Marine officers are looking into the matter.
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, 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.
“The inappropriate actions of a few individuals should not be allowed to tarnish the reputation of all American military personnel,” said Awad.
The video was posted anonymously on the http://www.youtube.com Web site, but was removed. It is still available on CAIR’s web site. A Hadji is a pilgrim who journeys to Mecca, but CAIR said the word has often been used as a disparaging term by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Insensitive? Marines insensitive? God I hope so. We need them to kick ass and follow orders but we don’t need them to be particularly sensitive. A sensitive Marine Corps will be the death of this country.
This video is black comedy. It’s what you’d expect from guys who face IEDs, mortar attacks, gunfire. Men who’ve seen friends die. You can find it in any army or for that matter any profession that is dangerous or emotionally difficult. Cops, firemen, nurses, and doctors do it too. CAIR and the Marines, the Marines especially, should know this. In fact they do understand. That doesn’t stop them from playing the game though.
I expect CAIR to exploit this video but I’ll be extremely disappointed if the Marine Corps leadership plays along.
The Daily News has more on Cpl. Joshua Belile, the Marine in the video:
Cpl. Joshua Belile thought up the words to “Hadji Girl” in September while drinking coffee with buddies in Iraq.It was just a joke, Belile says, a play on lines from a movie. His fellow Marines seemed to enjoy the song, so they got Belile up on a stage with his guitar.
Someone taped his performance, and now Belile stands in the center of a growing controversy, one that threatens to drag the New River Air Station Marine and his blackly humorous song into the debate about the alleged incident at Haditha and the war in Iraq.
…In his defense, Belile said the song is entirely fictional and has no ties to any of the ongoing investigations about Haditha and other incidents of alleged troop 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 events happened. The song reflects nobody’s viewpoint. It’s completely made up, it’s completely fictional.
“I think it was a joke that is trying to be taken seriously,” he said. “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.”
You can find Joshua’s band site at http://swtrktnz.tripod.com/.
More:
Texas Rainmaker (Song lyrics)
Michelle Malkin
Blackfive
Little Green Footballs
Protein Wisdom
Hot Air
Anti-Idotarian Rottweiler
Expose the Left
Small Town Veteran
Stop the ACLU
Super Fun Power Hour
And unfortunately CAIR
Right Click for URL
June 14th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
[…] [CNN], [Michelle Malkin], [Gateway Pundit], [Hot Air], [Capital Region People], [Blogs of War], [BBC], oh, crap. You get the idea. […]
June 14th, 2006 at 7:47 pm
[…] Update 2: The Marine in the video is Cpl. Joshua Belile (hat tip: BlogsofWar). They also link to Joshua’s band’s website. And of course they sum this whole thing up the best: Insensitive? Marines insensitive? God I hope so. We need them to kick ass and follow orders but we don’t need them to be particularly sensitive. A sensitive Marine Corps will be the death of this country. […]
June 14th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
No More ParodY for the MarineS
An amateur music video ..done by an alleged Marine:
Controversy booms!
…
June 16th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Hadji Girl song
CAIR, in their efforts to attack the Marines over the trumped up Haditha case, has been attacking one who came up with a joke song called Hadji Girl on video, by taking it all out of context, and the MSM went about shilling for them. Michelle Malkin …
June 21st, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Let’s see…
1) go to a foreign country without proper protection and vehicles
2) to invade acountry cuz’ “they tried to kill my Dad” - Prez G. Bush
3) serve endless rotations
4) write a funny song to ease some of the mind cruching tension
5) Now you’re the one in trouble
Yes, friends, this is how America works these days.
June 24th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
I know one of the “guys hanging around drinking coffee” with Josh, who helped him write some of the refrain–he’s my son, and he isn’t a racist or a violent madman, but a decent person and a good father, and an exemplary son, on his third tour in iraq (he was there for the invasion). It enrages me to see Josh in this kind of trouble for helping a bunch of marines have a good time. I oppose the war, I oppose the administration, but these guys are the jagged edge of the advance guard and there is no reason to oppose them. The song is funny, not intended to offend. In fact Josh and my son have many moslem friends on the base and they were all enjoying the song as well. No one was offended except those whose professional duty is to be offended. American troops, by and large, don’t understand Arabic–it sounds like gibberish to them.
June 27th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
I am sick and tired of you people whining about how tough our marines have it. You act like they didnt know it was going to be tough. They signed up, took the oath and got fucking paid for it. So STFU. No one is paying those damn marines to think. Their’s is not to reason why, their’s is but to do and DIE. They are Bush’s little bitch.
June 29th, 2006 at 12:13 am
Hey Cpl. Joshua Belile, if you read this. I am also a song writer and musician. I wrote a good war tune you or your band might like. I dont think it would piss anyone off and you might make some money from it. I sent a copy to Yoko Ono but she sent it back unopened ha ha. Bitch. For a free copy send me an email address to tbags123@hotmail.com
June 29th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
Well, as a 10-year Marine veteran (SNCO, two tours in RVN), I can honestly say that if anyone in my units (Recon & 7th Marines) had done what Belile did, there would have been a stampede of NCOs/SNCOs to beat the shit out of him — and you may recall, we had a passing experience with combat conditions in ‘Nam. Do you assholes have any idea how badly the people out there on the other side, and in the middle, will react to this garbage? Do you have any idea how many more will fight, and how many more Marines (and other Americans) will die because of it? Marines these days are tougher physically, better educated, and much better paid than in the days of Vietnam, no question about it. All they seem to lack are leadership, discipline and judgement — a probable consequence of a rank-heavy Corps.
June 29th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
“Do you ——– have any idea how badly the people out there on the other side, and in the middle, will react to this garbage?”
Yes. That’s why I decided not to post this video until the story broke. One of the big, but mostly overlooked, stories of this war is the average soldier’s ability to, with cell phones, digital cameras, and the internet, reach an audience of millions. That isn’t always a good thing and I don’t think it was intended with this video but I’ve learned more about this war from youtube.com than I have CNN or FOX.
June 29th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Mr. Little - Apologies, wasn’t referring to you, but to some of those yahoos who think the whole thing is neat, defesnible, and so forth. Agree entirely with your restraint. - Alan
July 1st, 2006 at 9:28 am
Insightful comments, as always, Dr. Sabrosky.
July 30th, 2006 at 7:58 am
Hey I once watched a song made by a guy dressed up like a terrorist. He cursed america and laughed at the end when a video of a plane penetrating the world trade centre was shown. Now ALL OF YOU FREEDOM FREAKS wont have any problems with that video would you?
August 1st, 2006 at 10:05 pm
After Dr. Sabrosky’s comments about yahoos, was almost afraid to list my email address! Sending military personnel abroad sans cultural awareness training is a mistake. Young soldiers in Iraq need to be reminded they are the living prisms through US is viewed by native Iraqis, by which radicals will interpret our culture. That tape is ammo for the radical Muslims to use against us. That boy was looking for attention and did not stop to think. Commonsense is still quite an asset, no matter how old one is!
October 8th, 2006 at 4:50 am
I think that people need to understand that this was a line from a movie that NO ONE seemed to take offense to after 9/11. Cpl. Belile was just letting off steam in a humorous way and trying to make a tour of duty easier for himself and his comrades. Oorah corporal.