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Iraqi Man Throws Shoes at President Bush
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ShareDecember 14, 2008 12:54 PM
ABC News' Martha Raddatz reports from Baghdad: Not everyone is excited about President Bush's surprise trip to Iraq.
An Iraqi journalist in Prime Minister Nouri-al Maliki's palace threw two shoes at President Bush during a joint press conference with Maliki. The president quickly had to duck to avoid the shoes, while Maliki stretched out his right hand to try to catch the second one. Neither leader was hit.
As he threw the shoes the man, identified as Muntadhar al-Zaiydi, a local television correspondent, yelled "This is a farewell kiss, dog!" and, "This is the end!"
Watch it Here:
Displaying the soles of shoes or throwing shoes is not polite behavior anywhere, but in much of the Arab world the shoe is used as a special tool of insult or affront. Before the Iraq war, Saddam Hussein had a mosaic of former President George H.W. Bush on the ground at the entrance to the main foreign hotel in Baghdad, the Al-Rashid. You had to step on Bush's face to get in.
Right after the fall of Saddam, men beat his ubiquitous posters with their shoes.
Al-Zaiydi was grabbed and dragged out of the news conference screaming.
Bush, who reacted spryly as he saw his assailant winding up, joked about the incident, saying, "That was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want you to know. "
As security grabbed the man, White House press secretary Dana Perino got knocked beneath her eye by a microphone and ended up with a small shiner.
After order had been restored to the room, the man could still be heard screaming from another room.
December 14, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (222)
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If the shoe fits ....
Posted by: Almo | Dec 14, 2008 1:16:44 PM
I'll bet the Iraqi guy's opinion wasn't the only thing that stunk...
Posted by: Rich | Dec 14, 2008 1:20:45 PM
Oh gosh! people have lost respect.
Posted by: Rita | Dec 14, 2008 1:22:18 PM
Probably a reporter.
Posted by: Trypto | Dec 14, 2008 1:22:39 PM
ahhhh cant wait to see the liberals comments on this little gem.. lol
Posted by: tim | Dec 14, 2008 1:23:50 PM
thats not cool
Posted by: Sexymunsta | Dec 14, 2008 1:25:11 PM
Well at least a shoe doesn't kill anybody....
Posted by: Ben Straub | Dec 14, 2008 1:26:41 PM
Yahoo really sucks~~ one minute I saw the headline of this story...next minute they took it off and search result shows nothing about it!!! I found this story through Google. And perhaps that's why Yahoo! is losing money!!!
Posted by: pt328 | Dec 14, 2008 1:28:29 PM
I think many Iraqis have a very positive view of President Bush, especially the millions who have friends and relatives buried in the sand by Saddam.
One guy throwin' shoes is a story but should not be construed to mean that all Iraqis hate Dubya.
Why were the lives we sought to save in Kosovo worth more than the lives our brave troops saved in Iraq?
Posted by: Aaron Burr | Dec 14, 2008 1:28:37 PM
This guy should have ordered one of Shaq's shoes. You can't really miss with one of those.
Posted by: Huh | Dec 14, 2008 1:29:06 PM
I'm sure most Democrats were only hoping it was a grenade.
Great sadness in liberal circles tonight.
Posted by: Dan | Dec 14, 2008 1:29:32 PM
Dan - My guess is that libs don't want this guys shoe/grenade to take Bush out. I think libs probably want Bush in jail. I am not a lib, but this is my assumption on their behalf.
Posted by: Huh | Dec 14, 2008 1:31:45 PM
you forgot to mention that the "thrower" was a journalist
Posted by: OldSarg | Dec 14, 2008 1:33:09 PM
Was Keith Olbermann in Baghdad...?
"The man was grabbed and dragged out screaming. "
Posted by: NeoKong | Dec 14, 2008 1:33:25 PM
If the shoe fits, wear it?
Posted by: Tony Winkler | Dec 14, 2008 1:34:27 PM
You see, Iraq really isn't all that different from the USA. Both countries want more than anything to shoe Bush away.
Posted by: KC | Dec 14, 2008 1:35:40 PM
Who Cares! Wasn't worth reporting,
unless you are anti Bush
Posted by: John M | Dec 14, 2008 1:36:24 PM
He missed because it's the first time anyone in Iraq has had the chance and survived. Not a common occurance under the previous government.
Posted by: tim | Dec 14, 2008 1:36:54 PM
tim:
I am a liberal but am not impressed at all with this kind of behavior.
Posted by: FM | Dec 14, 2008 1:38:30 PM
FM
I am a conservative that is impressed with this guy taking a stand against the guy that maybe indirectly killed his family. Who knows.....
Posted by: Huh | Dec 14, 2008 1:40:25 PM
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