COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: General
Marine Says Song was Only a Joke
Stars and Stripes
June 15, 2006
JACKSONVILLE,
N.C. — A Marine Corps corporal seen in a video singing about
killing members of an Iraqi family says the song was only a joke and
not tied in any way to allegations that Marines killed as many as two
dozen unarmed civilians in Haditha last year.
“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,” Cpl. Joshua Belile told The Daily News of Jacksonville.
“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.”
In a four-minute video called “Hadji Girl,” a singer who
appears to be a Marine tells a cheering audience about gunning down
members of an Iraqi woman’s family after they confront him with
automatic weapons.
After being named in the media, Belile confirmed to Marine officials
that he was the man in the video, said Maj. Shawn Haney, spokeswoman
for Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
On Wednesday, officials began a preliminary inquiry into the matter to
see if a formal investigation into Belile is necessary, Haney said.
Asked if Belile could face sanctions for the video, Haney said,
“That’s what the prelim inquiry is going to tell us.”
Belile will not be allowed to talk to the press pending the inquiry’s outcome, Haney said.
“Obviously, it’s an insensitive video, and it’s
disturbing to those of us in the Marine Corps, so what’s out
there, we’re taking very seriously,” Haney said.
In an interview with The Daily News, Belile said he wrote “Hadji
Girl” in September while in Iraq. He said his buddies enjoyed the
song and pushed him on stage with his guitar. 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.
The song tells the 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 and watches blood spray from her head.
He then sings about blowing the father and brother “to eternity.”
“I think it was a joke that is trying to be taken
seriously,” said Belile, who learned the video was on the
Internet after he returned from Iraq in March. “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.”
After initially speaking with The Daily News on Tuesday, Belile later
called the newspaper and asked to have his comments replaced with a
“no comment.”
“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, 23, who is assigned to the Marine Light/Attack Helicopter
Squadron 167 based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
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.
Stars and Stripes reporter Jeff Schogol contributed to this report from the Pentagon.
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