Hadji

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003, US Marines Stationed at Camp Coyote (Iraq/Kuwait Border) used the term to distinguise between the enemy and friendly forces.

Because Kuwait has a majority of its population from India for its labor force, Hadji was used to identify the Indians (Friends) from the Muslims.

This word originated from the cartoon character 'Hadji' from the 1964 television cartoon series 'Jonny Quest'. Hadji was a dark-skinned, turban wearing, south-indian sidekick. As Hadji was Jonny Quest's companion, so were the Indian workers that provided camp labor support; including cooking, laundry, waste removal, etc.

As new troops began to arrive in Kuwait, they saw the original troops calling "dark-skin people" Hadji and assumed the term was meant for ALL people in the region.

After the start of the war, "Hadji" became the new derogatory slur for the enemy by April 2003.

The term was later changed again to identify all Muslims in the area after the inital invasion ended and new replacement troops began to occupy the region.

Where is that hadji with our laundry?

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