posted
Of course Bush is a good ducker he has had a lot of practice at ducking objects coming his way.
Bush just might be the most disliked person on earth.
And no he does not represent me as an American. Because I don;t consider him an American,as a matter of fact I don't think he should even be in the office he holds
-------------------- Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise. Posts: 3827 | From: beautiful California | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
Reporter who threw shoes at Bush hailed as hero in Iraq
BAGHDAD - Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets Monday to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, as Arabs across the Middle East hailed the journalist as a hero and praised his insult as a proper send-off to the unpopular U.S. president.
The protests came as a suicide truck bomber killed at least five police officers Monday at a checkpoint west of Baghdad, said Iraqi police.
Journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who was kidnapped by Shiite militants last year, was being held by Iraqi security Monday and interrogated about whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at Bush during a press conference the previous day in Baghdad, said an Iraqi official.
He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
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.
Newspapers across the Arab world on Monday 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 joking text message circulating around the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Palestinian journalists in the West Bank town of Ramallah joked about who would be brave enough to toss their shoes at Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, another U.S. official widely disliked in the region.
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 Sunday and hurl his shoes at the president, who was about 20 feet away. Bush ducked the airborne footwear and was not injured in the incident.
"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.
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."
Hoping to capitalize 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 U.S. in Iraq.
"We have all been mobilized to work on releasing him, and all the organizations 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 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.
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 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, police also said.
Posts: 2321 | Registered: Aug 2006
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quote:Originally posted by glassman: RPG's and AK's may break my bones, but shoes will never hurt me
Actually Bush looked pretty dam quick.
My concern is Bush represents the office of President and we can't just brush aside attacks on our commander and chief. Obama is going to have to travel to these same places and feel the same hatred of the U.S. as Bush.
Get serious!
They aren't going to throw shoes at Obama, even if they have the chance. You far right-wing republicans might need to worry should they get a chance at you, though, because, even now, you are wanting to agree with dubya, supporting him and his sicknesses.
Get it through your thick far right-wing republican head: That guy was mad at dubya and the evil he is, which is the evil the right-wing fanatical republicans allowed him to be.
They, the Arabs and the Muslims, are as happy as everyone (except the right-wing republicans...moderate republicans are glad too) that dubya is going.
So they only hate Bush? I guess we can cancel all anti-terrorist activities now. Your such an air-head.
-------------------- Let's Go METS!!! Posts: 3317 | From: CT | Registered: Dec 2006
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posted
The security where bush was speaking was acutaly pretty damn good!!!
Why do you think he threw a shoe???
Cause there is no way in hell he was gonna sneak in an Auto-Matic Gun!!!!
And what was the Secret Service gonna do.....confiscate all of the shoes from the reporters before they entered the building!!!!
If Obama's biggest physical threat is a flying shoe heading toward his head....well I can live with that Posts: 2321 | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
I think the guy understood he would make a far greater statement to the Muslim and Arab worlds by throwing a shoe than by killing dubya.
As it is, he made a pretty solid statement to the non-Arab and non-Muslim worlds too.
I don't think he ever wanted or considered a gun. Gun shots would have sent the wrong message, one that would not have had any chance of helping his people and done more harm than good.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by bdgee: I think the guy understood he would make a far greater statement to the Muslim and Arab worlds by throwing a shoe than by killing dubya.
As it is, he made a pretty solid statement to the non-Arab and non-Muslim worlds too.
I don't think he ever wanted or considered a gun. Gun shots would have sent the wrong message, one that would not have had any chance of helping his people and done more harm than good.
You really should be on MSNBC, what a profound statement that is.
-------------------- Let's Go METS!!! Posts: 3317 | From: CT | Registered: Dec 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Lockman: You really should be on MSNBC, what a profound statement that is.
i agree, and Bush could show that he is a real man by laughing it off and issuing a pardon to the guy.
which i bet he does,if Iraqis will allow it.
one of the reasons i have always been against the war from day one was because it didn't look to me like the Iraqi's had stones. you can't GIVE people freedom if they don't have the grit to keep it. this guy obviously does, he knew he could have been shot on the spot, yet he didn't use deadly or even harmful force.
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Lockman: You really should be on MSNBC, what a profound statement that is.
i agree, and Bush could show that he is a real man by laughing it off and issuing a pardon to the guy.
which i bet he does,if Iraqis will allow it.
one of the reasons i have always been against the war from day one was because it didn't look to me like the Iraqi's had stones. you can't GIVE people freedom if they don't have the grit to keep it. this guy obviously does, he knew he could have been shot on the spot, yet he didn't use deadly or even harmful force.
What he did is on par with Patric Henry's "Give me liberty of give me death".
And just as admirable;
It should settle in as a point of pride for all of his people.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
He probably didnt use deadly force because of security -
Bush in no way should issue a pardon - As any event, many in the Muslim world will march in the streets and shout death to america - and, those of you who have shown glee, should go march with the Iraqis -
Posts: 864 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Don't you guys ever get tired of thinking nasty thoughts about whomever is different from your vision of WASP Americans that worship the RNC?
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by thinkmoney: And, by what is on the news - the shoe guy hates americans - planned it -
If he does, so what?
We, by actions of the republicans working in lock step with dubya, invaded his country with no good reason. Most likely, among the many thousands, that would otherwise be alive there, but who in the wake of our illegal invasion and occupation are not, he lost several relatives and more friends.
I don't hate Iraqis because of 9-11. For two reasons. Neither the country or its people had any part in that attack. I don't hate the Saudis for 9-11 either, though it was surely carried out mostly by Saudis, because most of them were as surprised by it as I was.
Anyway, what is to be gained by hatred. I lost any and all respect and concern for the republican party because of its use of hatred in political discourse.
I hope, if that guy "hates" America, he learns to get over that. It will be best for his digestion.
(I've kept up with the news pretty close today. From various sources and news agencies. I haven't noted any information from any, other than Fox, that would indicate that that guy hates Americans. Perhaps you are confusing "what is on Fox" with "what is on the news". Two entirely different beast.)
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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Are you so closed minded that you mistake what you do as polite?
As for the guy that tossed the shoes hating America or not, I repeat.
"If he does, so what?"
It ain't no skin of my back either way.
And it just wouldn't be Christian to hate him back, would it?
You need to find a hobby or something to fill in some of that idle time rather than waste it putting on a mean front.
And, like I said before, get over the hatred, your digestion will be better.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I still say I would like to buy mr. Shoe thrower a beer
-------------------- Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise. Posts: 3827 | From: beautiful California | Registered: Sep 2008
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quote:Anyway, what is to be gained by hatred. I lost any and all respect and concern for the republican party because of its use of hatred in political discourse.
That's funny coming from a person who hates President Bush and everyone else that doesn't agree with this socialist views!
Posts: 1577 | From: Ohio | Registered: Oct 2007
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posted
if more Islamic people expressed their frustration and anger by throwing shoes, and-or other civil disobedience, instead of strapping bombs to kids? the world would be a much better place.
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
PM, you thrive on hate and disrespect so much you believe that is what motivates everyone else. It's a really bad mental condition you have.
I know you can't understand, but the vast majority of us are not consumed by hate and are not required to disrespect everyone that doesn't copy our emotions.
Sorry, I don't know dubya, don't love him, don't hate him.
I'm not going to ignore him if I run into him at the grocery store and he stops to introduce himself and I won't chase him down to make sure he notices me. I'll treat him with common courtesy, a thing you are hopelessly unfamiliar with.
However, should he ask, I'll not be put off or embarrassed and unable to answer. I'll calmly tell him I think he is evil and a criminal. I'll be honest with him just like anyone else.
And, unlike you, I'd do it without feeling any need to belittling anyone, even him.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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In places and times when everyone is required to agree, like Germany in the 30s and 40s and Russia then and later, not agreeing could get you killed or even something more horrible.
In such places, even if you agree, a jealous ex or a spiteful neighbor or coworker or someone you never knew could report that you were suspected of disagreeing and you would be faced with the task of proving them wrong, without knowing who they were, what they had said, or any help of a lawyer. Not much chance to succeed at that in such a system.
Note that those specific examples nations I point out are probably the two most directly opposit3e regimes ever, both philosophically and politically, yet they suffered from the same illness. IT IS NOT THE POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT IS THE PROBLEM OR THE IDEOLOGY OR EVEN THE RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE. The problem lies in the absoluteness of the government's zeal to have only its voice heard and to have a one party system.
No, I like it where people can and do disagree openly and not secretly or only in times of crisis. It is with those that want to say what everyone must do, say, and think that I disagree the most and the most often.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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Around the Arab world, if you want to escalate a situation, by saying for example "I'm going to thump you", add the words "with a shoe" and you're adding serious insult to the threat of possible injury.
It's that cultural significance that has added real sting to the assault by an Iraqi journalist against US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.
In Arab culture it's considered rude even to display the sole of one's shoe to a fellow human being.
Certainly, crossing one's legs ankle-on-knee style should never be done in a public place for fear of offending the person next to you.
The sensitivity is related to the fact shoes are considered ritually unclean in the Muslim faith.
In addition to ritual ablutions before prayer, Muslims must take off their shoes to pray, and wearing shoes inside a mosque is forbidden.
Shoes should either be left at the door of the mosque, or carried (preferably in the left hand with the soles pressed together).
But beyond the Islamic significance, the dirty and degrading implication of the sole of a shoe crosses all religious boundaries in the Middle East.
Following in the footsteps
There has been plenty of droll reaction in the wake of Sunday's shoe attack to experts who have informed the public that "throwing a shoe at someone's face is considered an insult in Islam".
History will record Mr Bush's last trip to Iraq, a country his government has left such an indelible mark upon, was greeted with a volley of shoes and a cry of 'dog'
The **** reaction (to articles not unlike the one you are reading) has been a sarcastic, "and in all other religions... it is a sign of affection, friendship, fellowship, and good feeling(!)" to quote chookie on democraticunderground.com.
But it is worth mentioning that there is quite a rich history when it comes to shoe-ing incidents involving Iraq and the Bushes.
The first was the floor mosaic at the front door to Baghdad's Rashid Hotel depicting the first President Bush.
Its location meant visitors to the hotel - frequented by top Baath regime officials and visiting VIPs - had to step on George Bush Snr's likeness, in revenge for alleged "war crimes" committed during the 1991 liberation of Kuwait.
The mosaic was reportedly dug up after the US military took over the hotel, following their overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
In that year the Iraqi shoe was much in evidence during popular protests against the fallen Iraqi ruler, being used to hit the posters and statues dedicated to him around the country.
Boot on the other foot
As anger over Washington's policies in the Middle East has grown in some Arab circles, it has been posters of George W Bush that have received the shoe treatment.
Now history will record that Mr Bush's last presidential trip to Iraq, a country his government has left such an indelible mark upon, was greeted with a volley of shoes and cries of "dog" (another extreme insult in Arabic) from Iraqi cameraman Muntadar al-Zaidi.
Fortunately for Mr Bush, who leaves office in just over a month, he was able to duck out of the way of the two shoes Mr Zaidi threw at him - presumably the only weapon the assailant was able to smuggle through the tight security cordon at Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's office.
Many of Mr Bush's supporters will see it as a mean-spirited gesture against a man whose policies liberated the country from a vicious dictator.
To illustrate the point, in a previous age, the perpetrator would be facing a summary, and probably agonising, death if he had dared confront Saddam Hussein's regime in such a way. Instead Mr Bush has been praised for his dignified response.
But others have hailed Mr Zaidi as a hero, for striking a symbolic blow against someone they hold responsible for devastating wars in the Muslim world that have cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
posted
To illustrate the point, in a previous age, the perpetrator would be facing a summary, and probably agonising, death if he had dared confront Saddam Hussein's regime in such a way. Instead Mr Bush has been praised for his dignified response.
and lacking WMD? Bush's only excuse to invade was to "free" them from such atrocity.
until now i beleived that to be a waste of time, since the people would probably CHOOSE to end up right back where they stared with another strong-arm dictator...
i still think it's very likely they will end with another dictator, but this shoethrower shows that at least it isn't inevitable...
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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Bush shoe incident catches Secret Service flatfooted
WASHINGTON — Although the Secret Service put everyone who attended President George W. Bush's Baghdad news conference through several layers of security Sunday, the agency appeared to be caught off guard when an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the president.
``We'll be our own harshest critic regarding this incident,'' Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said Monday, ``and we'll make any appropriate changes to security.''
Donovan said, however, that agents on the scene knew that everyone in attendance had been screened for weapons and that they appeared to have taken the ``appropriate level of action.'' No shots were fired as Bush's Secret Service detail joined Iraqi police in taking the shoe thrower into custody.
The arrested man, Muntathar al Zaidi, a 29-year-old employee of Cairo, Egypt -based Baghdadiya Television, remained in Iraqi custody Monday. Officials in Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's office refused to comment on his condition or on whether he'd be criminally charged.
Throngs of Iraqi Shiite Muslims marched Monday in Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad slum, hailing Zaidi as a hero and holding up shoes as they demanded his release.
The National Media Center, an arm of the Iraqi government that deals with the news media, condemned Zaidi's behavior as barbaric and harmful to ``Iraqi journalists and journalism in general,'' demanding an apology from his employer.
Baghdadiya hasn't apologized, and it pressed for Zaidi's release.
The Iraqi Union of Journalists took a middle road, saying it was ``astonished by this behavior'' but urging Zaidi's release ``for humanitarian reasons."
Video of the event at the prime minister's palace shows a tightly packed room in which most security personnel were forced to the sides, and 20 video cameras lined the back of the room.
About an hour before the news conference, a Secret Service agent arrived and gave waiting Iraqi journalists, who didn't know that Bush was making a surprise visit, a fourth and final search.
No Secret Service agent was in view on the video when Zaidi threw the first shoe at Bush's head from about 20 feet away and shouted in Arabic: ``This is a goodbye kiss, you dog.''
Bush dodged the shoe, and Maliki, who was standing to Bush's left, tried to block Zaidi's second attempt, which also missed its target. A Secret Service agent appeared to move to Bush's side, but the president waved him off.
The video shows that another Iraqi journalist, not security agents, pulled Zaidi to the floor before Iraqi police and Secret Service agents piled on him and carried him from the room.
While Bush wasn't harmed, the incident was reminiscent of John W. Hinckley's failed attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 . Hinckley slipped into a crowd of reporters outside the Washington Hilton , and when Reagan emerged from a speaking appearance, the 25-year-old drifter fired six shots with a .22-caliber handgun, hitting Reagan in the chest, permanently disabling presidential press secretary Jim Brady with a bullet to the head and wounding a Secret Service agent and a police officer.
After that incident, the Secret Service began requiring journalists to undergo background checks, credentialing and screening with metal detectors.
Donovan said that everyone attending Sunday's event ``was searched for weapons and passed through several layers of security'' before entering the room. He said that they also were subject to name checks, identification checks and verification that they represented their identified news employers.
``It's obvious that (Bush) could have been hit in the head with a shoe,'' he said. ``Anytime there's an incident like this, we're going to review it. We're always trying to improve ourselves.''
(Ashton, a staff writer for The Modesto (Calif.) Bee , reported from Baghdad .)
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY:
Iraqi who threw shoes covered U.S. bombing of Shiite area
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posted
The atheists on this board are the most sinister and ill willed of them all. Nothing speaks bigotry like bdgee or jordan reed the slander sorcerers! No wonder they are so unhappy in their life. It shows....no it SCREAMS from their posts how depressed they are. Lost souls? Or just grumps? YOU decide!
-------------------- It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so. Posts: 6949 | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:Originally posted by CashCowMoo: The atheists on this board are the most sinister and ill willed of them all. Nothing speaks bigotry like bdgee or jordan reed the slander sorcerers! No wonder they are so unhappy in their life. It shows....no it SCREAMS from their posts how depressed they are. Lost souls? Or just grumps? YOU decide!
There ya go spouting hate and lies again.
You are a really a nasty hateful slime ball.
What screams from post is your hate and meanness and ignorance. You are simple too biased and bigoted to think and you resent anyone that does.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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