Haji Girl

Marines reluctant to accept 'Hadji Girl' song proceeds for MWR By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Friday, July 28, 2006

Music producers want to give a large part of the proceeds from sales of a controversial song to the Marines, but a Marine Corps spokesman said the Corps may not be able to take the money. Alan Grossman, of Hit Music Inc., said the song “Hadji Girl” can be downloaded for $1.99 at: www.hadjigirlsong.com. Of the proceeds, 99 cents per every purchase is earmarked to support Morale, Welfare and Recreation facilities for U.S. troops overseas. The song outraged a Muslim- American advocacy group after a video posted on the Internet showed Marine Cpl. Josh Belile singing about falling in love with an Iraqi girl, but then being forced to kill her family after they attack him. In one line, Belile sings about using the girl’s sister as a human shield. The Marine Corps called the song insensitive and launched a preliminary inquiry but decided not to take disciplinary action against Belile. Producers approached Belile about recording a professional version of the song, but they ended up using a band called the Young Americans after Belile was ordered not to participate, Grossman said. While a good chunk of song sales are intended for U.S. troops, the Marine Corps may not be able to accept the money because regulations prohibit “any donation that may bring discredit on the service,” said Bryan Driver, a Personal and Family Readiness Division spokesman. The Marines have told the song’s producers that they need to submit a formal application letter before the Marine Corps can decide whether to accept the money, and the Marines have also suggested the producers look at giving the money to charities that support Marines, Driver said. No matter what the Marine Corps decides, Grossman vowed to somehow get the money to Marines. “I’ve never heard of anybody who doesn’t want money. It’s not like we did anything bad,” Grossman said. Grossman also called the song a tribute to boot camp, saying the training paid off for the fictional Marine in the song. “Because he was attacked and he killed everyone who tried to attack him instead of him getting killed,” Grossman said. Belile said he intended the song to be humorous, not offensive. “I was playing my guitar outside one day in Iraq and we had just got finished watching the movie ‘Team America: World Police’ created by Matt Parker and Trey Stone, and the catch phrase was stuck in my head, and I thought it would be funny to write a song with the phrase, ‘dirka dirka Mohammed Jihad,’” Belie said. Belile said he gave producers permission to make a professional version of the song to support U.S. troops. “There’s a large number of people who like it and enjoy it because it’s a good song, and I’m hoping that those people will decide to purchase this song to support the troops,” he said. But Ibrahim Hooper, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he expects the Marine Corps to reject the money because it has said the song is inappropriate. “Acceptance of the money would indicate approval of the source,” Hooper said.

After all the poop-n-scoop those guys have gone through, darn tootin' the Marines should accept their share and use it to buy whatever they need over there for the troops! H/T: Blue Star Chronicles