Originally Posted by etch5895
One point on this, though. A far smaller percentage of Americans have served in the Armed Forces for this conflict than the Vietnam war. So, it won't be such a large number of people (hopefully). But, they will have a sphere of influence on others.
I'd like to say that we can see past that more now, with smarter troops, but this is certainly not always the case. Even now, the term 'Hadji' is almost exclusively used to describe any person of Arab or SW Asian descent, even though to a Muslim, Hadji would be considered a term of great respect. Similar to how 'gook' indicated foreigner in Vietnamese. Funny how we referred to the local nationals as 'foreigners'.
Hadji is one who has done Hadj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, a long arduous trip for most, was indeed an accomplishment in the old days. In one of the Indian languages there is a saying involving the word Hadji, which sort of means I scratch your back, I will scratch yours. You call me Qazi or Qadi ( judge or an officer who presdies presides over matters of law) and I will call you Hadji.