WASHINGTON, 16 June 2006 — Sitting around a camp in Iraq last March, one Marine wrote a song “for fun.” But what he viewed as “fun” has resonated around the world as, at best, cultural insensitivity, or at worst, as yet another example of the US military’s scorn for Iraqis.
Far from finding it “fun,” the Marine command condemned the video as “clearly inappropriate” and demanded to know who the Marine was in the video strumming a guitar and singing a song about killing Iraqis, to the laughter and cheers of other troops.
Cpl. Joshua Belile, a 23-year-old who lives in Jacksonville, North Carolina, told the Jacksonville Daily News yesterday the song was meant only as a joke, based on lines from “Team America: World Police” and apologized to anyone who was offended by the lyrics.
“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,” Belile said. “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.” The four-minute, 13-second video, entitled “Hadji Girl,” tells the story of a Marine in Iraq who falls in love with an Iraqi girl. The girl takes the Marine to her family’s house. In the obscenity-laced lyrics the family then shoots the girl and then points their “AKs” at the Marine. The Marine then grabs the Iraqi girl’s little sister and “put her in front of me.” “As the bullets begin to fly, the blood sprayed from between her eyes and then I laughed maniacally,” according to the song’s lyrics. “Then I hid behind the TV and I locked and loaded my M-16, I blew those little… to eternity When Belile returned from Iraq he discovered the video had found its way onto the Internet. So did the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington DC-based group whose stated aim is to enhance understanding of Islam.
Col. David Lapan, a top Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, told Arab News the video was removed from the website earlier this week.
“The video that was posted anonymously is clearly inappropriate and contrary to the high standards expected of all Marines. The video is not reflective of the tremendous sacrifices and dedication demonstrated, on a daily basis, by tens of thousands of Marines who have assisted the Iraqi people in gaining their freedom.”
Col. Lapan said he was aware that Muslim American groups were offended by the video. “We agree with the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations that the inappropriate actions of a few individuals should not tarnish the reputation of all American military personnel.” In return, CAIR accepted the apology by both Belile, and the Pentagon officials.
“We welcome Corporal Belile’s apology and will leave it to military authorities to determine whether any disciplinary action is warranted,” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
“Our intent was never to target an individual Marine, but instead to address the larger issue of insensitivity to the suffering of Iraqi civilians.” Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s communications director, told reporters: “We agree with the Marine Corps that the video is inappropriate and insensitive and shouldn’t be taken as a reflection on the entire body of US military personnel.” But Hooper said he does not agree with arguments that the song was only a joke. “I don’t think it is a joking matter when you talk about holding up a child to being shot,” he said. “I think especially when we have the allegations of attacks on civilians by military personnel in Haditha and other areas.”
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,” he told reporters.
Belile said he is worried about how the video will affect his career, his family and the Marine Corps.
“I will never perform this song again, and I will remove all video and text in relation to this that I have control of,” he said. But the song served to enflamed passions still high after the Haditha incident. And with US troops now being sent into Iraq for the third and fourth deployment, the Pentagon is increasingly concerned of the physical and emotional price being paid on the ground by both US troops and Iraqis.
Gen. Michael Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps, this week began an intense series of visits to Marines at forward operating bases in Iraq, and here in the US, to address his personal concern over recent serious allegations about actions of Marines in combat. Highlighting the seriousness in which the Marine Corps has taken over reports of inappropriate Marine behavior, Gen. Hagee is reminding Marines of the Law of Armed Conflict, the Geneva Conventions, and Rules of Engagement. He also intends to remind them “that each of them has a duty to obey and issue lawful orders and apply only the necessary force required to accomplish the mission.”
