Duck, Duck, Bush.

[Winchesta Heat]

Angry Iraqi throws shoes at Bush in Baghdad

(CNN) -- President Bush made a farewell visit Sunday to Baghdad, Iraq, where he met with Iraqi leaders and was targeted by an angry Iraqi man, who jumped up and threw shoes at Bush during a news conference.

Among Muslims, throwing shoes at someone, or sitting so that the bottom of a shoe faces another person, is considered an insult.

The man was dragged out screaming after throwing the shoes. Bush ducked, and the shoes, thrown one at a time, sailed past his head during the news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in his palace in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

As the man continued to scream from another room, Bush said: "That was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want to know."

Bush had been lauding the conclusion of the security pact with Iraq as journalists looked on.

Bush landed at Baghdad International Airport on Sunday and traveled by helicopter to meet with President Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents at Talabani's palace outside the Green Zone.

It marked the first time he has been outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad without being on a military base.

The visit was Bush's fourth since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Afterward, Talabani praised his U.S. counterpart as a "great friend for the Iraqi people" and the man "who helped us to liberate our country and to reach this day, which we have democracy, human rights, and prosperity gradually in our country."

Talabani said he and Bush, who is slated to leave office next month, had spoken "very frankly and friendly" and expressed the hope that the two would remain friends even "back in Texas."

For his part, Bush said he had come to admire Talabani and his vice presidents "for their courage and for their determination to succeed."

As the U.S. and Iraqi national anthems played and Iraqi troops looked on, he and the Iraqi president walked along a red carpet.

Bush's trip was to celebrate the conclusion of the security pact with Iraq, called the Strategic Framework Agreement and the Status of Forces Agreement, the White House said.

Bush called the passage of the pact "a way forward to help the Iraqi people realize the blessings of a free society."

Bush said the work "hasn't been easy, but it has been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope, and world peace."

In remarks to reporters, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who traveled with Bush, described the situation in Iraq as "in a transition."

"For the first time in Iraq's history and really the first time in the region, you have Sunni, Shia and Kurds working together in a democratic framework to chart a way forward for their country," he said.

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[unda_line]

He fucking missed though


The look on Bush's face priceless!!

 

[swiftandsilent]

He fucking missed though


The look on Bush's face priceless!!

 

[keysersoze]

​

Mike Myers: "Who throws a shoe? Honestly?"​

 

[Mack10]

Damn! He got off two rounds before security could respond. I must say though that Bush surprised me on how quick he was on his feet. (no pun)

 

[shanebp1978]

​

Mike Myers: "Who throws a shoe? Honestly?"​

Well, the soles of your shoes are big disrespect in the mideast.

Obama constantly having to remind people Bush is still president, now shoes!



No respect.

 

[QueEx]

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</IFRAME>

 

[MASTERBAKER]

Iraqi Ambassador On Shoe-Thrower: He’s ‘Very Lucky’ It Wasn’t Saddam

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Responding to a group of Code Pink protestors, Ambassador Samir Sumaida’ie said: "Had it been Mr. Saddam Hussein, he'd be dead!"

 

[QueEx]

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<A HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7800453.stm">link</A>

</IFRAME>

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Bush shoe sculpture 'taken down'</font size></center>

The unveiling of the sculpture took place
on Thursday



BBC News
30 January 2009


A sculpture of a shoe erected in Iraq to honour a journalist who threw his footwear at George W Bush has been dismantled, reports say.

Foreign media say the bronze-coloured fibre-glass shoe was removed from its site in the city of Tikrit on the orders of the local authorities.

It had been erected in the grounds of an orphanage.

The monument was reportedly taken down just a day after being unveiled in the late Saddam Hussein's home town.

The head of the Childhood organisation, which owns the orphanage, said she had been told to remove the monument immediately by the Salaheddin Provincial Joint Coordination Centre.

"I did take the shoe down immediately and destroyed it, and I did not ask why," Shahah Daham told the German news agency DPA.

Salaheddin's deputy governor, Abdullah Jabara, told DPA: "Children should be put away from any political-related issues. Since this is an orphanage, this monument can instil in children's heart things for which the time is not now."

Mr Jabara was also quoted by CNN as saying: "We will not allow anyone to use the government facilities and buildings for political motives."


'Source of pride'

When the sculpture was unveiled, artist Laith al-Amari insisted it was not a political work, but a "source of pride for all Iraqis".

Mr Bush managed to dodge the shoes but the man who threw them, Muntadar al-Zaidi, was arrested and awaits trial.

As he pulled off his shoes, Mr Zaidi, now 30, shouted: "This is from the widows, the orphans, and those who were killed in Iraq."

He also told Mr Bush, who launched the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and was paying a final visit to Iraq last month: "This is a farewell kiss, you dog".

Mr Zaidi shot to fame as a result of his action, which signalled extreme contempt in the Arab world, and inspired rallies across the Middle East and beyond.

Since his arrest, the TV journalist has reportedly been beaten in custody, suffering a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding.

He has been charged with aggression against a foreign head of state, and faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted. His family denies he has done anything wrong.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7862180.stm

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush is freed,</font size><font size="6">
welcomed as hero</font size></center>

Muntadhar al Zaidi, an Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes
at President Bush, speaks after his release from prison
Tuesday.



McClatchy Newspapers
By Hannah Allam
Tuesday, September 15, 2009


BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then-President George W. Bush last year was freed from prison Tuesday, expressing no remorse for hurling what he called a "flower to the occupier."

Muntathar al Zaidi received a hero's welcome at the offices of his employer, al Baghdadiya television station, where his colleagues slaughtered sheep and danced in celebration of his release. Zaidi, 30, originally received a three-year prison term for assaulting a head of state, but the sentence was reduced and he was freed early because he had no criminal record.

Also on Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on a previously unannounced visit to meet with senior U.S. and Iraqi officials at a time when Afghanistan has overshadowed Iraq as a foreign policy priority. Shortly after news of Biden's visit broke, four mortar rounds landed near the fortress-like compound known as the Green Zone, home to the American and Iraqi commands.

Reporters who accompanied Biden said the "take cover" signal sounded at least twice. An Iraqi police official, speaking only on the condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to talk to journalists, said the mortar barrage fell short of the Green Zone, killing two Iraqis and wounding five, all civilians.

A few hours before Biden's arrival, Zaidi told a news conference that Iraqi guards had tortured him with whippings and electric shocks during his nine-month detention. He was missing at least one front tooth. Sporting a dark suit and a scarf printed with the Iraqi flag, Zaidi looked paler and thinner than he did the day he was arrested.

The focus of Zaidi's speech Tuesday wasn't his own ordeal, however, but the death and destruction that Iraqis have experienced since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

"After six years of humiliation, of indignity, of killing and violations of sanctity and desecrations of houses of worship, the killer comes, boasting and bragging about victory and democracy. He came to say goodbye to his victims and wanted flowers in response," Zaidi said. "Put simply, that was my flower to the occupier, and to all those who are in league with him."

Zaidi said the years of witnessing war's brutalities as a journalist built up inside him and exploded last Dec. 14, when Bush gave a farewell news conference alongside Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki in Baghdad. Zaidi interrupted Bush's remarks by throwing his shoes at the president, shouting the words that earned him admiration and notoriety around the globe: "This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Bush ducked the flying shoes, and the episode quickly went viral via YouTube, spawning online shoe-throwing games, parodies, folk songs and poetry. A wealthy Saudi reportedly offered millions for the shoes, Arab women have written love letters to Zaidi and a statue of a giant shoe was erected in Saddam Hussein's hometown before the Iraqi government ordered it removed.

Iraqi government spokesmen weren't available for comment Tuesday.

Zaidi's relatives said he was feeling ill after the news conference and was placed under a doctor's supervision for 24 hours. His cousin Haider Abdel Rasoul al Zaidi, who's spoken for the family in the past week, said Zaidi was scheduled to leave Iraq on Wednesday for Greece, where he was expected to undergo further medical tests.

Zaidi's future in Iraq is unclear. His family has said it would be extremely difficult for him to remain in journalism because of the publicity and hostility from the Iraqi government. Zaidi said in his remarks Tuesday that he hoped to work in civil society, especially on issues related to Iraq's widows and orphans. A Shiite Muslim, Zaidi pledged to remain independent and steer clear of politics.

"I didn't do this so my name would enter history, or for material gains," Zaidi said. "All I wanted was to defend my country, and that's a legitimate cause."

(McClatchy special correspondent Sahar Issa contributed to this article.)


http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/75439.html