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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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Whacko reporters. Check his paychecks. he might be paid by the Iranian regime
Posted by: winston | Dec 14, 2008 1:40:59 PM
"Well at least a shoe doesn't kill anybody...."
Google "Reid shoe bomber" for my response.
Posted by: unclesmrgol | Dec 14, 2008 1:41:44 PM
Violence is not the answer. Bush should be forced to meet with the families of million Iraqi's he murdered , the victims of his torture . the families of the Iraqi vets who committed suicide , the families of the maimed vets and the families of the 300,000 vets with PTSD. The incalcuable damage this inhuman monster has wrought on civilization is beyond all comprehension. He disgusts me as a human being and should be prosecuted for war crimes. No one who believes in the US or it's constitution could feel otherwise. Stalin, Hitler, Bush. Three of a kind
Posted by: Darlie2 | Dec 14, 2008 1:45:37 PM
You all seem to want to blame Pres. Bush for everything, it does not matter who is president, ther is always going to be discontent with our government, they may have not been any weapons of mass destruction, but then again, Bill Clinton never had sex with Monica either.
Posted by: Lee | Dec 14, 2008 1:51:04 PM
Huh:
Everything has a limit. This was over and above the limit. I am so sad.
Posted by: FM | Dec 14, 2008 1:52:27 PM
shows his unpopularity
Posted by: Josh | Dec 14, 2008 1:52:48 PM
one person ...no one can possibly respect....responsible for 400,000 death....
Posted by: Ali | Dec 14, 2008 1:53:36 PM
FM - I appreciate your viewpoint. Without knowing this guy's reasoning and story, I can not say that he should or should not have done it.
Posted by: Huh | Dec 14, 2008 1:54:47 PM
To bad one of the peep's from Iraq who named their kids after President George Bush wasn't in the room, they could have smacked the idiot shoe thrower guy with a flip-flop!
The real freedom loving people in Iraq LOVE President Bush and our Military.
Posted by: Chris | Dec 14, 2008 1:56:19 PM
Ok Darlie --- the millions that Bush killed? The Saddam cronies that murdered their own people for 20 years? The torture he did not sanction? How about the THOUSANDS that Saddam tortured and then killed after he raped their wives in front of them? Do you really think Bush went in without thinking? The world is a better place without Saddam in it. Just ask ANY Iraqi -- pick one of the MILLIONS that have been liberated from a brutal Ditatorship.
Posted by: Xianstudio | Dec 14, 2008 1:57:49 PM
George Bush dodging that shoe cracks me up! He was pretty quick!
Posted by: Holly | Dec 14, 2008 1:58:57 PM
Chris - Many military folks that I have talked with are very upset with current US foreign policy. There are also military folks that see things as you do, but as a whole I think the military sees the futility of our current predicament. There are Kurds who have named their children after Bush in part because of the no-fly zone established by the first Bush, but many of the Shiites and Sunnis want us gone.
Posted by: Huh | Dec 14, 2008 1:59:56 PM
Hey Ali,
"400,000 death..",,,so that's this weeks numbers?..I have a number for you,..how about 3,000 in one day? September 11,2001...or how about THOUSANDS killed for the fun of it by Saddam and his terrorist friends?
BTW,..do some research on Yellow cake,.the media wont tell you, but they found it,..where?..In IRAQ!
Here's a date for you,..November 22,2008,..VICTORY in Iraq day, the media wont tell you that either.
Posted by: Chris | Dec 14, 2008 2:00:38 PM
Josh,..LOLOL.." 1.2 million Iraqis.",,,you liberals really need to regroup and get your numbers straight.
Posted by: Chris | Dec 14, 2008 2:01:42 PM
unclesmrgol obviously suffers from extreme Bush Derangement Syndrome and an extreme drive by media overdose. Your stupidity is beyond comprehension.
Posted by: happyinhawaii | Dec 14, 2008 2:02:13 PM
BTW,..it was a Iraqi journalist who tossed a shoe...(Like he would even have a job if it wasn't for our Military)
Posted by: Chris | Dec 14, 2008 2:03:02 PM
Xianstudio - We should do a kill count. Saddam on one side, US policy on the other.
All kidding aside, teh world is better without Saddam, especially for Iran. The question is whether or not invading nation preemptively to take out dictators is in our interest or moral. Certainly economically, this war has been a disaster. Maybe we will learn something from it.
Posted by: Huh | Dec 14, 2008 2:03:32 PM
josh...
first off, i believe your number is a little high. secondly, you forgot to mention all the iraqi's that were tortured and killed under husseins rule. always a villain though right??!!
Posted by: tim | Dec 14, 2008 2:04:43 PM
Chris - 3000 on 911. The trillion dollars on the war could have been spent building all sorts of skyscrapers. Now we have another 4000 Americans dead and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis with loved ones that want to throw shoes at us and maybe worse. By the way 911 could be justifiably argued from an arab's view point. Sanctions under Clinton in the 90s killed 500,000 Iraqis. Albright on national news said these deaths were worth it. Interesting isn't it?
Posted by: Huh | Dec 14, 2008 2:06:20 PM
where is the video? I need it for my collection.
Posted by: seemstome | Dec 14, 2008 2:06:22 PM
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