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TechnoratiThousands Demand Release of Iraqi Journalist Who Threw Shoes at George W Bush
Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George Bush.
Arabs across the Middle East hailed the journalist a hero and praised his insult as a proper send-off to the unpopular U.S. president.
![[A shoe is raised during a protest against the visit to Iraq of US President George W. Bush, in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. Dec. 15, 2008. Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday, while yelling in Arabic: 'This is a farewell kiss, you dog, this is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.' (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/shoe-1215.jpg "shoe-1215.jpg")
Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who was kidnapped by Shiite militants last year, was being held by Iraqi security today and interrogated about whether anybody paid him to protest during the press conference.
He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence.
Showing the sole of your shoe to someone in the Arab world is a sign of extreme disrespect, and throwing your shoes is even worse.
In Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City, thousands of supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burned American flags to protest against Bush and called for the release of al-Zeidi.
"Bush, Bush, listen well – Two shoes on your head," the protesters chanted in unison.
Newspapers across the Arab world printed front-page photos of Bush ducking the flying shoes and satellite TV stations repeatedly aired the incident, which provided fodder for jokes and was hailed by the president's many critics in the region.
"Iraq considers Sunday as the international day for shoes," said a text message circulating around the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Many users of the popular internet networking site Facebook posted the video of the incident to their profile pages, showing al-Zeidi leap from his chair as Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were about to shake hands.
"This is a farewell kiss, you dog," al-Zeidi yelled in Arabic as he threw his shoes. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."
Al-Zeidi was immediately wrestled to the ground by Iraqi security guards. The incident raised fears of a security lapse in the heavily guarded Green Zone where the press conference took place. Reporters were repeatedly searched and asked to show identification before entering and while inside the compound, which houses al-Maliki's office and the U S Embassy.
Al-Zeid's tirade was echoed by Arabs across the Middle East who are fed up with U.S. policy in the region and still angry over Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.
Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the influential London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote on the newspaper's website that the incident was "a proper goodbye for a war criminal."
The response to the incident by Arabs in the street was ecstatic.
"Al-Zeidi is the man," said 42-year-old Jordanian businessman Samer Tabalat. "He did what Arab leaders failed to do."
Ghazi Abu Baker, a 55-year-old shopkeeper in the West Bank town of Jenin said, "This journalist should be elected president of Iraq for what he has done."
Hoping to capitalise on this sentiment, al-Zeidi's TV station, Al-Baghdadia, repeatedly aired pleas to release the reporter Monday, while showing footage of explosions and playing background music that denounced the US in Iraq.
"We have all been mobilised to work on releasing him, and all the organisations around the world are with us," said Abdel-Hameed al-Sayeh, the manager of Al-Baghdadia in Cairo, where the station is based.
Al-Jazeera television interviewed Saddam's former chief lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi, who offered to defend al-Zeidi, calling him a "hero."
In Najaf, a Shiite holy city, some protesters threw their shoes at an American patrol as it passed by. Witnesses said the American troops did not respond to the protesters and continued on their patrol.
Al-Zeidi, who is in his late 20s, was kidnapped by Shiite militias on Nov. 16, 2007, and released three days later. His station said no ransom was paid and refused to discuss the case.
Violence in Iraq has declined significantly over the past year, but daily attacks continue to occur. The truck bomb that killed five police officers Monday also wounded 13 others, said Iraqi police.
Hours earlier north of Baghdad, a female suicide bomber knocked on the front door of the home of the leader of a local volunteer Sunni militia and blew herself up, killing him, said Iraqi police.
The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the press.
101 Comments so far
Show AllAh, the tragedy!!! First, we had to lose the shoes on planes. Now we give them up at press conferences. Will the White House press corps have to give up their shoes? Well, if we want to extend the symbolism of Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act, the "No Shoes" policy would appropriately reflect the lack of content that represents the U.S. media when it comes to challenging the Bush Administration.
Now if only somebody could come up with a new shoe called the Muntadhar - sort of an Iraqi answer to the American flip-flop ...
See: http://globalinvestmentwatch.com/
IROTFRLMAO!!!!!
Too bad it was just a shoe and not a grenade! al_Zeidi clearly has more guts and integrity than that fu**ing cowardly toad Bush; he hasn't changed one iota from his AWOL days in Bammy; that, and the massive amount of "nosecandy" he snorted years ago severely damaged his braincells.
By George, now you've got the "legacy" you've so desired!!
I have been so angry for the last eight years, I've been unable to watch our "Commander-in-Chief" on television because I wanted to destroy the TV. His smarmy face and the stupidity that tumbles out, his mangling of our language had me enraged. He had very little respect from the populace for less than eight months after an election that provided no clear winner and lots of talk of criminal tampering by the party that prevailed. The September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center put him firmly in the driver's seat. We were all so stunned that it took a long time to realize that he didn't know how to drive. At each event, he put his foot in his mouth. It seems to me that it was suitable for someone to toss him some shoes.
While he was telling the rest of the people at the event that he was not bothered; the man, who had the courage to do what the majority of the humans on the planet wanted to do, was having his ribs and arms broken and who knows what else.
This regime has been numbing. No forums, no open doors. How it lasted eight years is so far beyond me. I believe that there was tremendous manipulating of the 2004 election, as well as the 2000 election. I hope we never forget this experience. The 2008 election was the very best hope I've seen for at least eight years. We have elected a very bright man who can communicate and chooses individuals for offices on their merits instead of what they can do for him.
Every person that was part of Bush's rule is tainted. Let it remain so except for Colin Powell, who was used badly by the Bush Team. He resigned when they required him to violate his own integrity.
There is little one can do to impact Bush. He isn't intelligent enough to understand.
As an act of solidarity with the intense feelings expressed by Muntadhar al-Zeidi, anyone passing by the White House, either individually or collectively, between now and the inauguration, could place a shoe at the gate or along the wall, or across the street in the park. Anywhere near the White House close enough that the symbolism would not be missed.
If leaving a shoe too close would be considered a threat to national security, then the line of demarcation could be moved a little further back until the edifice of our national shame is encircled by footwear: boots, sandals, pumps, loafers, baby shoes, old and new. Then the rest of the world might understand that we too hold the outgoing president with the deepest disrespect and are more than ready to boot him back to Texas.
What a shame that the guy missed!
This gives a whole new definition to shoe-bomber!
This shoe incident tells just how low in the world's esteem Bush has sunk. I don't wish violence on anyone, even Bush, but seeing him reduced to ducking behind the lectern was entertaining.
Finally, Bush...the torturer-in-chief, who has the blood of 4,200+ American citizen/soldiers and 500,000+ dead Iraqi civilians on his hands has been confronted w/ the fact that people resent their country to be invaded and occupied by a foreign military.
It's disturbing to see Iraq war supports and apoligists betray the very reason our country's was founded - the opposition and rejection of King George's use of British soldiers to control and supress the colonies
Muntadhar, sell your shoes on Ebay. They are more holy than the Shred of Turin. The bidding frenzy will dwarf the dot com bubble. You'll become so rich you can actually pay the United States to go fuck itself.
** Since CD no longer sees fit to print Cindy Sheehan's articles I thought I'd paste her most recent one below.
I Don't Know What His Beef Is
By Cindy Sheehan
"I'm not insulted. I don't hold it against the government. The guy wanted to get on TV and he did. I don't know what his beef is, but whatever it is, I'm sure someone will hear it."
George Bush to ABC News after Iraqi Journalist, Muntazar al-Zaidi threw two shoes at him
I have vacillated over the past 8 years on whether George Bush is the stupidest man in the world, or the evilest. I think that the above statement may prove that he is both. He seriously does not know what al-Zaidi's "beef" is? Does George really believe that his cause was "Noble" and that the Iraqis should be grateful to that "dog" for destroying their country and killing over a million people?
Since the US currently is being governed in the highest office of the land, if not the world (for now), by the stupidest/evilest man on the planet, what does that say about Americans? We elected him, not once, but twice! "But, Cindy" you may protest, "he stole both elections." Yes, that is true and well-documented, but what did you do after Bush stole the elections? Did you storm the White House demanding his resignation? Did you work for election reform? Did you even go to a protest to demonstrate your dissatisfaction? I shamefully did not the first time he (with Al Gore's help) stole an election in 2000, but you can bet I have protested my heart out since 2004. If we lived in almost every other country in the world, the protests against such theft of democracy and lies would have been militantly protested. Calderon stole the election in Mexico in 2006-- from Obrador and the supporters of Obrador shut down Mexico City for five months after! Many Mexicans today claim fealty to the "legitimate" government of Obrador. Here in America, we are lucky to shut down an intersection in DC for two hours.
It is also being reported that al-Zaidi detests "America and Americans." If true, he does not make the distinction between Americans and our government, and he should not. Our government is supposed to be a reflection of us. That means that we are a nation of greedy, self-serving, corrupt and callous people. For years, the majority of Americans have been theoretically against the occupation of Iraq and today it hovers up towards three-quarters of us. We see less than a fraction of a percent of the 225,000,000 US citizens who oppose the wars out protesting them and we saw a popular mandate for a President-elect who NEVER promised to end the occupation and, in fact, promises to increase the forgotten occupation of Afghanistan which will soon vault to the forefront.
I have been publicly advocating for the impeachment and imprisonment of George Bush since November 3rd, 2004, one day after Bush stole his last election. The arguments against impeachment or any kind of accountability have been that it would be: divisive, time consuming, political suicide for the Democrats, or too late now. The shoe incident and the fact that tens of millions of people, perhaps, "detest" America and Americans is enough reason for me to impeach that stupid, evil man and demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are not as stupid and evil as our government is.
Mr. al-Zaida's "beef" does not even need to be explained to most 5 years old children who understand that having a family member(s) killed, or your home destroyed makes most people angry/sad. Most people in the world who are not in the Robber classes also understand the frustration of a population that has absolutely no recourse against humiliation by the world's biggest bully.
We should take this incident as a clarion call for impeachment. George can be impeached after he leaves office. According to many Constitutional experts, he cannot be criminally prosecuted for any crime he has committed in office here in the States. I already know of plans for at least one international war tribunal, though.
Let's hold our government to our high morals.
Let's quit allowing it to drag us down to its filthy gutter.
Thank you Cygnus-X1-isaHole
Hear Hear! Release that man and give him a medal for bravery.
Sophie Scholl-The Final Days
David verses Golioth
Bush should immediately have pardoned the man and demanded his release. Instead, while the man was being tortured, he smiled like the same idiot who listened to 'My Pet Goat' in 2001.
If anything even more serious happens to this brave and noble journalist; if he is not released quickly, the Iraqi people and the Muslim world will erupt. This was a very significant act and will be seen as a watershed.
azteacher wrote on December 15th, 2008 7:11 pm
"'m disappointed in the barrage of comments justifying the actions of this reporter. I've been against the war and many actions of this President, however I don't condone or applaud violence towards him. I normally enjoy the enlighting comments of Common Dreams readers but today was a let down."
There comes a point in time when just being against something that is wrong is not enough. As Bill Ayers has said, "it needed changing, and marching, and protesting did not stop 2000 American soldiers dying every month". More needed to be done.
http://www.bccmeteorites.com/misconduct-planetary.html
"Iraqi reporter al-Zaidi's arm, ribs broken"
Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:02:26 GMT
Security agents have broken the arm and ribs of al-Zaidi, a reporter who hurled his shoes at Bush during a press conference Sunday in Baghdad.
"He has got a broken arm and ribs, and cuts to his eye and arm," the reporter's brother Durgham told AFP on Tuesday.
"He is being held by forces under the command of Muaffaq al-Rubaie," he added.
According to Durgham, his brother was being held by Iraqi forces in the heavily fortified Green Zone compound in central Baghdad.
You've heard of shadow governments? As the Bush years come to a close, it feels like we have been ruled by a shadow government that was wrong for us from the start. While some hail the death of Saddam Hussein as a breakthrough for the people of Iraq, I'm sure the mothers and children and wives of those who have died in the war don't agree that war was the way to end Saddam's rule. It is befitting that George W. Bush be given his farewell salute with a shoe thrown at his head, if that is the culture's way of showing disrespect and disdain and downright opposition to what he has done to the people of Iraq. Unfortunately, here in the U.S. there may be some relatives of the many young (or older) soldiers who have been wounded or killed who are still unwilling to consider that if it were not for George W. Bush's greed and total disregard for others, their loved one would be alive, or unhurt today.
In the summation of the Bush years it will one day be known that there wasn't much difference between George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden, who comes from a privileged family and got his underlings to do his dirty work. Both were willing to use violence against innocent people to get what they wanted done. It is so very sad.
A President’s Boast:
In the company of the exceptional few
Like Gordon, Angela, Nicholas and Hu,
I stand tall
Above them all
For I have dodged even a size 10 shoe!
the people's revenge:
but your life's not over yet you bum
in your god's eyes, you owe a sum
for causing untold death, destruction and damage
you'll get your dues, you fcked up savage...........
Oilan Shoe to the Head
Oh man, it was a tough day to stand by President George Bush, even for me, his main PR man, yours truly, Stan D. Garde. They threw everything they had at us today, everything but the book. They fired shoes, sure, you heard about those, size 10, truly a coward’s size, but we also ducked, dodged, and skirted random machine gun fire, rocket propelled grenades, and assorted other small arms fire attacks, half a dozen mortar rounds, and miscellaneous other missiles. Man, where’s the love, man? We liberated these ungrateful Oilans. You would think they would at least give us a pass for that gift. Not so. Instead it’s like they think we blew up their country and slaughtered their people and tried to steal their oil. Oh well, it’s probably only a minority here out to kill us. I’m sure the masses still love us. Well, it’s not like we’re too much safer on our homeland streets back in the good old US of A, you know, what with all those raging pot smokers and immigrant service workers and smart-aleck rappers we need to keep locking up in record numbers. Just what this world is coming to, I haven’t the faintest idea. Fortunately, reality this past century or so is totally optional especially now that we’ve got all the crucial propaganda safely on our side, billions and billions of dollars worth of glorious gloss in ever more righteous e-gaze and garde. Oila for the Oilans! I say. We’re all Oilans now. ... http://apragmaticpolicy.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/oilan-shoe-to-the-head/
Shoes on the White House Lawn!!! (Which would ideally then be donated to people in need).
There have been a flurry of petitions online to demand the release of Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi. No doubt more will appear overnight.
Please considering signing them.
50,000 Signatures for Muntadhar Al-Zeidi
[ http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/iwffomuntatharalzaidi/signatures.html ]
Code Pink- Support Muntadar al-Zaidi!
[ http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/signUp.jsp?key=3909 ]
-- This petition will be delivered to the Iraqi Embassy in Washington DC, this week.
And for those of you on Facebook, there's the following groups and events.
One Million Shoes for George W. Bush
[ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=39966318314&ref=mf#/group.php?gid=54189227152&ref=nf ]
Send Your Smelly Old Shoes to George W. Bush!
[ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=39966318314&ref=mf ]
I'm a fan of the great hero who hit Bush with his shoes in Baghdad !
[ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=39966318314&ref=mf#/group.php?gid=44431042273&ref=mf ]
It takes a brave warrrior, or a fool, to count Coup like this. Bravo!
Muntadhar should be awarded George's lapel pin for this act of courage.
"This journalist should be elected president of Iraq for what he has done."
"This journalist should be elected president of Iraq for what he has done."
"This journalist should be elected president of Iraq for what he has done."
Good show Al-Zeidi! I wish you would have aimed a little lower though.
Shoes have special meaning in Eastern Culture. The friends of bride hide shoes of the groom. Throwing shoes is considered extreme hatred and anger against the recipient. Wearing necklace of the shoes is a sign of utter disgrace. It seems Bush is immune about his disgrace as he surely tops in the class of most hated people across the globe. It is certain that these shoes will be sold at enormous price and these will be preserved in the museum somewhere. I am wondering if the journalist be allowed to attend the press conference with shoes or they press conferences will be in future held on carpeted floor with no shoe permitted??? This is because shoes have now become a tool of terrorism. It will certainly be a headache to control this new form of terrorism!
For all the death and destruction this war criminal brought on the Iraqi people, the shoe incident is a small punishment.
Bushoe should stand trial at Hague and should be handed over by Obama on the 21st of January.
He deserves the treatment of Ceausescu. Atleast!
this is a very good reminder about another irony:
IF bush goes free from his war crimes:
imagine how quickly the UNITEd STATES "leads" the world in condemnation , prosecution and jailing of some dictator somewhere that is demonstrably oppressive and caused the death and suffering of HIS own people...such as Ceaucescu...and it is alwasy of course convenient if that person ALSO happens to have been an "irritant" TO the USA...instead of some RIGHTWING dictator the USA coddled like Pinochet, or the president of Colombia (who is also US educated and has ties with colombian drug mafioso -- ironically enough, considering the USA talks big about "fighting the drug cartels") .
BUT -- it it is the US president that is the leader of the killing and starvation of people of SOME OTHER country that can't really fight back -and often for made-up, or shifting reasons BY the USA -- against regimes that are ALSO IRRITANTS to the USA (IRaq, Iran, Serbia, Venezuela, Russia, N Korth, Cuba, etc.)
THE congress suddenly talks about "off the table with impeachment" - we "must move on" -- or, as obama claims:
"I don't want this to be a cause for republicans saying democrats are playing politics".
in other words -- if WAR CRIMES - are committed by dictators against their own people - usually , because they don't QUITE have the great army like the USA has to go anywhere in the world - and are often limited to oppression of THEIR own people, except in some spill-over across the borders - they are "WAR CRIMINALS AND MUST BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE...by golly"!!! says the USA.
if CLINTON or BUSH commit war crimes against iraq (years of sanctions leading to mass starvation in iraq) - Shock and Awe and illegal occupation and setting up puppet governments -
they are progressively diminished in their actual importance as WAR CRIMES...they are about "american national interests and spreading freedom".
To bad he did not through hand grenades. He could have saved us the trouble of trying to prosecute that war criminal.
Darn! I wish I could have sent that Iraqi my hunting boots. My size 14's would have put George on his butt. What a great video! that shoe chucker is a hero through out the Arab world. LMAO.
Young Bush must be in Iraq because Hillary wanted him to sign off on this deal.
A move of desperation if you will. After eight years of killing and maiming
who will take responsibility? Maybe the Arabs are wise-ing up?
The public will soon realize that they should have elected Ralph Nader..
I understand that al-Zaydi's screams during his "interrogation" were audible as the press conference continued uninterrupted. Where do I send my shoes???
I think it's fair to say that the following is a sufficiently relevant video clip for the Iraqi excellently throwing shoes at Bush's head.
"W's Freudian Slip", (0:09), posted by neosimulacrum, Mar 21 2007
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=5PGeKNk1oWo
The words constituting the slip strike me as much more authentic in terms of Bush's real thoughts and, perhaps anyway, feelings, than what he immediately subsequently says in a clearly clumsy way.
Anyone who "cares" to criticize the Iraqi journalist who threw the shoes at Bush this past weekend needs to carefully listen to Bush's slip-up in the above video clip.
Gives new meaning to the words "Lame DUCK!"
Can we all wear a shoe on our car antennas on Jan 19?
One crazy journalist called George W. Bush "confused"; but, clearly, Bush was transported from Baghdad to any tennis court and therefore was unconfused for the first time in his presidency.
Bush carefully watched the shoes as one after the other they hurtled end over end toward his head and refused to commit himself too soon lest his judgment prove bad same as for a bean ball in tennis.
At the last instant he ducked away from both extremely accurate throws.
American journalists at first not only refused to give the Iraqi or Bush their athletic due but failed once more to understand the depth of a thrower's motivation.
One of the accounts that wasn't too bad was by McClatchey Newspapers. Ever since Bill Moyers promoted McClatchey to the top of the American journalistic heap even as he demoted The New York Times, however, we've had an overly high expectation.
For McClatchey like everybody else speaks in terms of "tens of thousands" of Iraqis killed in Bush's war. The actual figure is over a million as documented by Johns Hopkins and Columbia School of Nursing in the states; and by The Lancet and ORBIT research group in Great Britain-- all of whom offer the best statistical research on Iraq available in the world. Also, about another million of children died during the American sanctions (Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush the Lesser).
A footnote on the "what goes round" theme, at least as far as I'm concerned, is that George W. Bush threw a full bottle of whiskey at a man who now is a university dean back when both were at Yale.
The incident occurred in The Enormous Room, Hamden, Connecticut, where my brother-in-law was leading his blue grass band.
Like Bush now, my brother-in-law ducked, and the full bottle of whiskey narrowly missed his head.
I'm disappointed in the barrage of comments justifying the actions of this reporter. I've been against the war and many actions of this President, however I don't condone or applaud violence towards him. I normally enjoy the enlighting comments of Common Dreams readers but today was a let down.
You think the throwing a pair of shoes to protest to a war criminal violence! I would send a thousand pairs of shoes to Iraqi journalists if I could afford it now. Killing thousands of innocent civilians in the name of freedom - that is violence.
,
Why did the Iraq Government Leadership allow George W. Bush, the "Bloody Butcher" and War Criminal to visit their nation????
Answer: they are "Bloody Puppets", with no balls!!!!
The shoe throwing journalist should run for President of Iraq...He's the Man!!!!
,
For people who wish to join their voices in demanding the release of this Iraqi journalist, the following is for signing the or a petition.
"Free Muntather al-Zaidi
The 50,000 Signatures Campaign for Muntather al-Zaidi",
Dec 14, 2008
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m49604&hd=&size=1&l=e
The following is not for signing any petition, but is a related article, makes a good statement, and besides for some pictures of the Iraqi journalist throwing shoes (pretty good shot, too), there's also a related, but of 2003, picture and the caption reads, "Thousands of bodies of U.S. war victims laid out in Baghdad on May 28, 2003". I've never seen a picture like that one, until now.
"Muntadar al-Zeidi: "THIS IS A FAREWELL KISS, YOU DOG!" - as he attacks George W. Bush with his shoes",
by Les Blough, Editor, Axis of Logic, Dec 14, 2008
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m49596&hd=&size=1&l=e
Following are some videos for this throwing-of-shoes story in case anyone's interested in viewing these.
AP video, 0:29,
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=OM3Z_Kskl_U
MSNBC (seems to have enough bs in it too), 2:10,
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=M8GOrc0-Ygg
MSNBC (or maybe this is the MSNBC video with plenty of news media bs in it), 3:36,
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=V4rZjySmj0Q
SHOO!
SHOO!
THE TERRIBLE MAN WITH
HIS FOOT IN HIS MOUTH
HIS BOOTS IN THEIR SAND -
THEIR BLOOD ON HIS HANDS!
WAS OUR HERO ACTING ALONE -
OR ARE THERE MORE SHOETERS?
THROW YOUR SHOES AT THE DUCKER -
LET THEM KISS THE KING OF DEATH.
www.poetreefree.us
I think this was a great, spontaneous action by that courageous reporter, and I hope it serves as the catalyst for a worldwide cascade of similar symbolic actions against this tragic farce of a president we have to endure in shame for another month.
At the minimum, I hope there is a universal outpouring of support to protect and even promote this brave shoe-throwing reporter to the recognition and accolades he deserves; as I heard his brother comment on a radio broadcast where he was asked what he thought of what his brother did, he said his brother was a hero and expressed the condemnation of Bush that all his mourning countrymen feel.
Of course the shoe-at-chimp will help ignite the worldwide peasant/progress/peace movement. Just don't expect anyone behind the Petro Curtain to join the movement.
freefall
The throwing of the shoes should become a tradition at all protests against the imperial warmongers, multinational corporate criminals and their mouthpieces, with a fundamental respect to the people of Iraq and the world who have suffered through more than just this Bush administration. With prayers for Afghanistan now - I hope we don't have to throw shoes at Obama, too.
they can't disappear this reporter - now that the world saw it all live - and the arab world is "circling" around HIM . if they do - just watch -- the Sadr militias can be "reactivated" and THAT is something Maliki FEARS no matter that he is backed up by the US military. they will have a bloodbath that will make the shock and awe look like an appetizer and this time the USA army will like sitting ducks surrounded by an ocean of arabs that have the willingess to die for it. how MANY thousands can the USA SEND to match that?
this is untenable whatever the USA wants to do to STAY in iraq until the oil fields are dry. it's NOT gonna happen.
as it is -- the REAL reason that there is RELATIVE calm in insurgencies and ethnic fights is BECAUSE of the INFLUENCE of IRAN on the shiites by HOLDING THEM back . america actually has had secret discussions with iran, they just don't acknowledge it...but they KNOW iran HOLDS the cards and could EASILY unleash untold chaos
BY MERELY asking the ayatollahs to declare FATWAH - and all out war against the foreigners.
already arabs say:
in effect...that the ONLY reason they are HOLDING BACK at all is because they are NOT being exhorted by their islamic laws to apply "JIHAD" -- which is translated more properly ,as I understand, as "THE REMOVING OF A YOKE FROM ONE"S NECK".
americans, obama, etc. really DON"T understand what they have gotten themselves into.
as the iranians say: no matter the US and western sanctions (germany is trying to escalate sanctions...but won't get far as Russia HAS ethnic PERSIANS in its borders as well as long ties with iran...and germany CAN"T possibly wish to ANNOY russia that holds germany's energy requirements, MERKEL is only dreaming if she thinks she can work THAT out) --
"we are happy that the USA got rid of saddam who was our mortal enemy...and it is good for US that they keep iraq from collapsing completely...but if they threaten US....we are also going to be happy because we will have at least 150,000 americans as our hostages".
yeah, they'll have a riot like the ones in athens...................
btw, is that you jcrumb?
After getting a good belly laugh at the humor of it all--it occurred to me that this is the first time in 8 years that I have seen George Bush do anything that looked spontaneous and unprogrammed.
This Iraqi journalist with the suddeness of two hurled shoes and an angry taunt humanized an otherwise wooden and preprogrammed figure and got the robot "off message" and into the present moment.
George W. Bush ought to thank the journalilst for humanizig his "legacy".
Poet
Why was it important for Bush to say it was a size 10 shoe? What size does he take?
And what if one of the US journalists at one of the DC press conferences did the same thing? Where would he or she end up? Any difference? Looking at Bush cross=eyed at a parade gets you a visit from the FBI.
Freedom of expression, my bootie.
When Bush said "It must be a 10," he was referring to his own IQ.
Dan Rather, to name one, should have thrown his shoes at Bush years ago.
He had Bush on his Vietnam-years National Guard "service" in 2004; that was a serious news story. He and CBS just let go of it, instead of pursuing it.
Come to think of it, Walter Cronkite should have thrown his shoes at LBJ, and at Nixon, too!
"December Fourteenth. A SHOE which will live....in INFAMY!" (make that two shoes)
(LOL)
I love everyone's shoe ideas - reminds me of the possible 1800's origin of the word SABOTAGE:
"It is said that powered looms could be damaged by angry or disgruntled workers throwing their wooden shoes or clogs (known in French as sabots, hence the term Sabotage) into the machinery, effectively clogging the machinery. This is often referenced as one of the first inklings of the Luddite Movement."
(from wikipedia)
I agree with Saint-Just:
send or throw our shoes at the media who are disregarding the truth. Bush does not get it and those surrounding him will just laugh. Send shoes to "journalists" who have failed to expose the corruption of this administration. Let the news rooms be filled with shoes and images of shoes, accompanied with letters of cancellation to subscriptions. That sends a message. I imagine the mailcarriers will also get the message and tire of carrying shoes to their clientelle.
I'd love to hear what the Pontius Pundits have to say about the abundance of shoes they receive. Suggestion: don't waste your money on "new shoes". Purchase them from thrift shops and help others in need while sending a message.
I am Committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john
The Muslim world is not the only world that has made this guy a hero. I have no religion, and I absolutely love this man. I want to shake the hand that threw those shoes.
I'd wash the feet of the man who threw those shoes. Bless him.
I'm not surprised that George ducked so quickly! For eight years he's been ducking Presidential responsibility with amazing agility so he's had lots of practice. Of course he also ducked military service in Vietnam too.
That the Muslim world has made the journalist a hero is wonderful. Perhaps they'll realize that with bullies like America, you have to stand up to them or they'll cower you into subjection every time.
Go Muntader, go! Throw Muntader, throw!
www.dangerouscreation.com
It appears as if this is another "The Emperor wears no clothes" moment for Dubya (Katrina being the other). Hopefully, it is the first of many where the bubble of the US Presidency no longer envelops him and the world gets to let him know up close and personal exactly how we feel about the wanker. As for Muntadhar al-Zeidi, I hope one day to have the pleasure to thank him personally for doing something was way past due.
www.wunderman-comics.com
I have talked to 2 friends today who are starting a collecting drive:
SHOES FOR IRAQ!!!!!!
Also - A friend who is a pitching coach is willing to go to Baghdad and set up a baseball academy and name it in honor of 'Shoeless' Jackson.
Maybe we can start using the time-honored Middle-East tradition here - start saving your shoes now for future demos.
I've started tossing practice myself.
I am really jealous - but I feel he threw in my name as well as for Iraqis protesting an illegal and bloody murderous occupation of a sovereign country.
But I could be wrong !
you brilliantly named a title that could go for practical purposes as well:
:SHOES FOR IRAQ:
imagine AMERICANS -- the citizens of the EMPIRE headed by the emperor without clothes -- doing what they can, inspite of their own difficulties in the economy , to save a little something for IRAQI children or women and sending THEM shoes, if only to ease their suffering just a little bit...and a DIRECT , heart to heart signal from the ORDINARY american to show iraqis how much americans are pained by what the USA has done to them.
if that were to happen on a LARGE scale directly from american citizens , of their own volition, WITHOUT government coercion or "riding" that wave ..and how will the USA STOP american citizens? charge THEM with "treason?" , "aiding terrorists?" when the whole world knows which country HAS terrorized WHICH citizens thousands of miles away? lol.
if that were to ever happen -- i think it will go a LONG way to signalling to the arab world that americans TRULY do NOT support the way their own government has behaved towards other, weaker nations...as well as -- PERHAPS -- by indirect means -- PRESSURE the american politicians that THEY are the ONES that are ON THE SPOTLIGHT as being the courtiers against whom that shoe was thrown symbolically - and that THEY are the DOGS! but NOT the ordinary americans who have the decency to know when their own government and country's foreign policies do NOT reflect an american's sense of decency and honor and humanity.
and iraqis will KNOW for real -- they HAVE friends - fellow human beings in the country that invaded them and destroyed their lives. and even if that were just a small measure - when things eventually clear up as to the LIMITS of what america OUGHT to be allowed to do - and respecting other cultures -- something like that will be REMEMBERED by the iraqis and arabs -- for they have thousands of years of MEMORY as a civilization. never forget that. while america is a MERE child - overgrown at that -- in comparison.
believe it -- there CAN be and might be real truth in an OLD saying from INDIA to the west:
"we were here long before you were even a civilization...and long before your powers, we already had many fallen kingdoms....and long after your Empires are no more...we will still be here".
in the sands of mesopotamia - are a reflection , in the turn of teh USA as an empire, of something "the Poet of Empire" - Rudyard Kipling wrote in a poem , near the end of his life, at the realization of how WRONG he was in glorifying the British Empire, and after sending his own son to death "to honor the queen and empire" in the Khyber pass in afghanistan in the early 20th century:
and he wrote it as both a reflection of the sadness of losing his son to "glory of empire" -- and the futility , ultimately, of EMPIRE itself:
"HERE LIES A MAN THAT TRIED TO HUSTLE THE EAST".
the same thing is happening to the USA in the sands of ancient Mesopotamia
and if obama goes ahead to INCREASE militarism in Aghanistan , thinking it is about "catching bin laden" or cutting the heads off of the heads of terrorist organizations -- he is VERY VERY WRONG because to the middle and central asians - it is ALWAYS going to be about A FOREIGN INVADER in their lands...and they will NEVER give it up - until the US EMPIRE BLEEDS itself dry - just like the british, the russians and french and belgians and germans and dutch did.
it is better for the USA to once and for all to BEGIN the dismantling of empire -- it is TOO BIG a TASK for america's SHOES! and only CORRUPTS the very soul of america.
and we know what corruption does eventually - it ALWAYS brings the house DOWN. and when that happens -- it is the future and the children that will PAY the price beyond imagination.
see...the USA is the SHORTEST LIVED empire in the history of the world....it already is on its way to a PERMANENT decline, even if americans or their leaders in all institutions STILL imagine it can be "resurrected" to the glory and power of the 1980's and 1990's. no...it can't happen that way. ONCE the impotence was pricked open for all the world to see how the greatest military power in the world has to practically BEG the iraqis to let them stay or manipulate with the coerced leaders, but ONLY for as long as iraqis TOLERATE it with their own OTHER longer-lasting , thousands of years of complex rules and ways of doing things -- there was never going to be any "going back" or as OBAMA WISHFULLY FANTASIZES
::going forward to creating the most powerful army in the world:: as IF that was going to do the job against resistance of america's domination....
people have to understand that if America's MEMORY is of 200 plus years -- and designs run according to a decade or 2 or fifty years or one hundred or even two hundred, if these leaders can even CONTROL the future that way....
the people in the east have memories and think IN THOUSANDS of years.
He threw in my name too.
"Bush, Bush, listen well – Two shoes on your head," the protesters chanted in unison."
NEAR-MISS, LAME DUCK!
~TWO SHOES ON YOUR HEAD
OOPsee...NOW know your PLACE:
This photo-op-STOP-fist in-your-FACE!
this foot in your mouth!
and the head
of the 1st Horse of your Apocalypse
in your bed...
http://www.bcx.org/photos/art/artgen/?file=ArtistGeneral20080801_07_1681BCX.jpg
Wow! I wish I'd said that.
On yahoo and other M$M sites, I did not read how shoe throwing is an insult for Arabs. So now I have a different view of the situation.
There is no 'security lapse' as it was not intended to harm the President (I would even guess that he did not intend to hit him).
It was symbolic, and that symbolism is lost on Americans viewing only M$M. I got the feeling that the view is Iraqis/Arabs are ungrateful savages...
How hard would it have been to add that 1 sentence about the nature of the insult?
you are absolutely right! the leaders andpundits ALREADY will miss that and continue to miss it - and shunt it to the background as the "work of a disgruntled journalist" and "not reflective of arab thinking"....
in DIRECT contradiction of thousands of years of reality.
and that is the problem of america's leaders --they see the world as they WISH it to BE...but the world SEES things as they ARE.
even congress -- you will NEVER hear them say anything about america's culpability and RESPONSIBILTY for having broken iraq and REPAYING iraq.
INSTEAD they GRIP , including obama, about how "the iraqis have had SIX YEARS of OUR support and it's time THEY start taking ReSPONSIBILITY for rebuilding"
AS IF!!!!..............
have they NO SHAME? don't they realize that the world keeps watching , even if silently (just think of the russians or chinese or other asians just biding their time and waiting as they watch america destroy itself - while they make the moves to INSULATE themselves as much as possible from the waves that are coming up as the "giant" falls of the weight of its own arrogance and ambitions) -- and that this kind of attitude and foreign policy is only making america MORE exposed about being the country that americans say foreigners ":hate" -- and NOT because of ";freedoms" BUT because of ITS HUBRIS and domineering and destructive and exploitative ways?>
The cultural aspect of the shoe throwing is the least of the things USAn are ignorant about.
USAns continue to be clueless as to the sheer scale of destruction the US inflicted on Iraqi society - much worse than anything Saddam did, inclding his awful war with Iran.
This the accusations that the shoe thrower was "ungrateful"
Bush himself called the incident "a sign of democracy", saying, “That’s what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves” ... over the screams and sounds of the reporter being brutally beaten.
---USAn---
Did you all see the movie "Wag the Dog"? Remember the shoe? Let's all toss shoes on the phone lines. Make mass actions. Put out media advisories and press releases.
RELEASE AL-ZEIDI!! GIVE HIM A MEDAL!!!
They might let this guy out, but the evidence against him is quite obvious.
Not so true for Susan Lindaeur. Have you heard about Aafia Siddqui? Those two, both women, have a perplexing lack of evidence assembled against them.
In both case the women were denied their right to confront their accusers. Nor were they provided adequate medical care, and both are/were subjected to forced psychiatric treatments.
Both Siddiqui and Lindaeur's evidence was withheld for years, as they were held against their will, beaten, and abused.
They are examples of Bush-style frontier justice, the kind which got his amigo Cheney indicted down in Texas for that prisons thingee. They were disappeared by our government, like some Third World country we've become. No habeas corpus, no legal rights, or grievance process. Just like me or you could be, classified an enemy combatant, denied any legal rights, tortured, and detained indefinitely without cause.
Why question him. He was probably the sole conspirator!
They gotta have a reason to torture him, so they'll try to tie him to a terrorist group - like they paid him to throw the shoes at bush. As if someone who's suffered and seen suffering caused by someone wouldn't have the brains to "lose it" when they saw the one responsible.
DK Blake I think we should ALL show our support for this act and our disdain for Bush by hanging a shoe from the rear view mirror-great idea voxclamantis! This is probably the most we can do as it is doubtful that this war criminal will get the punishment he deserves.
I want to do this.... but I am afraid it would have an op-ti-grab effect on me.... while driving.... Perhaps attatched to the bumber wedding-style?...
I hung one right above my license plate. Probably more visible on the back of the car someplace.
a brave iraqi journalist threw his two shoes
at george wanker bush at a conference of news
unfortunately they missed, as george quickly ducked
let's hope the journalist will not now be .........
Hi _ C O C O _,
You go girl !
Thank you, for a fitting rhyme,
an arrow besmirching W's crime.
Perhaps this flight awakens the blame
toward that lame ducking shame ?
Namaste
hey namaste, where've you been? any sign of kem?
where have all the 'flowers' gone?
The video of Bush ducking the shoe is so hilaripus, I almost fell over laughing at it! Who knew GWB had such lightning-quick reflexes?!
Brings out the lolz!
May be he has lots of experience ducking things because of Laura. If I were married to that nasty piece of work, I would throw things at him!
matthew loughran
there needs to be more shoes flying bush the assholes way. he can't duck all of them.
shoes also need to be thrown at cheney and clowns in congress who are responsible for this criminal war in iraq and the collapse of the US banking system from widespread fraud.
"Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets..."
Cool. Democracy and freedom in action. Mission accomplished.
something you don't see in the "land of the free" , except by permission of "law and order" that protects the status quo....and allowed only in "free speech zones".....
ironic isn't it? the USA wanted to "export democracy" abroad and ends up LOSING it at home.
I only happened to catch the footage on the Today show a few hours ago--taped it so my wife could enjoy it--delighted as my teenager laughed at the sight of Dubya dodging size-10s--and felt heartened that someone had the guts to do it.
joshuafalchion
joshua -- you and your wife have a daughter who already has the RIGHT conscience...that much is clear from your description of her laughing at the BOY KING and EMPEROR without Clothes.
that journalist it turned out was the RIGHT one , not bush, in saying HE represented how the arab world felt!
how is maliki and leaders and bush and american and western media going to portray it?: "just another bad apple?" like they tried with a "few bad apples in the army" on torture?
they can't. they're COMPLETELY EXPOSED as the ONES that are OUT OF STEP with the rest of the world. they have NO ONE LEFT TO FOOL . the only thing left is for the rest of them to be surrounded under pressure and whoever wants to escape vilification BETTER DISTANCE themselves from george bush some more . lol.
this was the equivalent of "the boy that said: BUT SIRS, the Emperor has NO CLOTHES!!".
the man showed, using the highest kind of INSULT in the arab world :showing the bottom of the shoe -- and even throwing it at someone - to imply one is beneath contempt, showed the entire world - when the Emperor deigned to "survey" his court just what he is, even lower than a DOG, he doesn't even deserve the shoe thrown at him.
those officials would likely have no recourse about that journalest but eventualy release him, un harmed or they have a revolt on their hands and maliki can kiss his presidency goodbye. that much is clear.
There is a shoe hanging from my rear view mirror.
The Green Zone will now become a 'Barefoot Zone'. You will only
be able to enter without shoes.
This incident shows one thing clearly, the shame it puts on all
Americans. It's their criminal president and they are supposed
to throw shoes at this sad excuse of a human being.
I am wondering whether Al-Zeidi will be waterboarded now.
Hopefully he is still alive.
The lesson to be learned is to dis those 'press conferences'
altogether. News are already entirely written by the white house
through censorship and intimidation.
Americans are to pity. Their moronic president has steered the
national ship into an iceberg and it is sinking fast.
I guess You could say it's just Karma!
May all Beings be blessed. Specifically the weak and ill minded.
It's just a shame that the guy didn't have better aim.
q
His aim was right on, Bush has just had so much practice ducking shit.
There's a famous photo from World War II of a captured French resistance fighter tied to a post, about to be shot by a Nazi firing squad. He grins at them mockingly, even though he is about to die in the next few seconds. Even now, that photo inspires awe. The video of Mr. al-Zeidi throwing his shoes at George Wanker Bush inspires similar awe.
where can i find this photo...i am intrigued
A fantastic comparison, and I have seen that footage also, and have always laughed at the Germans for having allowed it to escape the censors. That kind of defiance is inspiring.
Then again, if one remembers what happend to the Nazi power structure, though not nearly enough of them answered for their crimes. Mr. Bush should be made to answer first, then as many as possible of the other Americans and any other nationals who have participated in the Iraq war, "where the Americans would be greated as liberators for bringing freedom".
My wish is that the "shoe thrower" be given the "star status" he deserves; and that it is a shame upon "freedom" that if someone here in America were to do the same, they would be locked up for years and years. Isn't "freedom" what all those Iraqi people and their country were destroyed for? And to think, G.W. Bush & Co. "brung it to em".
"Ghazi Abu Baker, a 55-year-old shopkeeper in the West Bank town of Jenin said, "This journalist should be elected president of Iraq for what he has done."
Like someone here said before, "if he decides to run he will be a Shoe-in."
I'm all for giving us the "boot" and getting out of Iraq, Afghanistan,Iran etc. Due to bad behavior, the gods have taken away our license to run the world.
Dr Wu, the last of the big-time thinkers