Bush's Size 10 Attacker

December 15, 2008

Iraqi Journalist Hurls Shoes at Bush and Denounces Him on TV as a 'Dog'

By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ALISSA J. RUBIN

BAGHDAD — President Bush made a valedictory visit on Sunday to Iraq, the country that will largely define his legacy, but the trip will more likely be remembered for the unscripted moment when an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at Mr. Bush's head and denounced him on live television as a "dog" who had delivered death and sorrow here from nearly six years of war.
The drama unfolded shortly after Mr. Bush appeared at a news conference in Baghdad with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to highlight the newly adopted security agreement between the United States and Iraq. The agreement includes a commitment to withdraw all American forces by the end of 2011.

The Iraqi journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, 28, a correspondent for Al Baghdadia, an independent Iraqi television station, stood up about 12 feet from Mr. Bush and shouted in Arabic: "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!" He then threw a shoe at Mr. Bush, who ducked and narrowly avoided it.

As stunned security agents and guards, officials and journalists watched, Mr. Zaidi then threw his other shoe, shouting in Arabic, "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!" That shoe also narrowly missed Mr. Bush as Prime Minister Maliki stuck a hand in front of the president's face to help shield him.
Mr. Maliki's security agents jumped on the man, wrestled him to the floor and hustled him out of the room. They kicked him and beat him until "he was crying like a woman," said Mohammed Taher, a reporter for Afaq, a television station owned by the Dawa Party, which is led by Mr. Maliki. Mr. Zaidi was then detained on unspecified charges.

Other Iraqi journalists in the front row apologized to Mr. Bush, who was uninjured and tried to brush off the incident by making a joke. "All I can report is it is a size 10," he said, continuing to take questions and noting the apologies. He also called the incident a sign of democracy, saying, "That's what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves," as the man's screaming could be heard outside.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/middleeast/15prexy.html?_r=1
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My Thoughts

Apparently, the journalist liked it better when Hussein was in power. There was the 8 years of war with Iran and the 1 year with the US and Kuwait. Those wars weren't exactly filled with love and happiness. He didn't gas the Kurds and Iranians with laughing gas. Does he have the same concern for the many widows that Sadaam made during his reign of terror? Let's not forget that many were, also, wrongly imprisoned or executed for speaking out against Sadaam or his party. If the reporter would have thrown a shoe at Hussein, he probably would be missing a limb or in a shallow grave. I hope that he enjoys the freedom of speech and the right of dissent that he has now.