Music Video 'Contrary to the High Standards Expected of all Marines'

Washington, DC: The US Marine Corps recently said it agrees with a prominent national Islamic advocacy group that a video posted on the Internet apparently showing Marines cheering a song that glorifies the killing of Iraqi civilians is "insensitive" and "inappropriate."
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on the Pentagon and Congress to investigate the four-minute video posted in March on the youtube.com website.
The video, called "hadji girl," purports to be a "marine in Iraq [sic] singing a song about hadji." (A "Hajji" is a person who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca, but the term has often been used as a pejorative by US troops in Iraq.) The song tells of a US Marine's encounter with an Iraqi woman. It was viewed by almost 50,000 people. (The video was removed from the youtube.com website after CAIR issued its news release.)
The song's lyrics include: "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." Members of the audience, not shown in the video, laughed and cheered wildly for these lyrics.
(The video's audio is slightly out of synchronization.)
In a statement, the Marine Corps said:
"The Marine Corps has recently been made aware of a video posted to a website that purports to show a Marine singing an insensitive song about Iraqis. The video has subsequently been removed from the website. 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. 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."
"We welcome the Marine Corps statement, but we also expect that those who participated in this incident will be identified and disciplined appropriately," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. Awad added that he hoped Congress would conduct hearings on this and similar incidents.

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