Iraqi Reporter Throws Shoes At Bush
I guess he can’t call his final trip to Iraq as President uninteresting. During the unannounced visit, President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were holding a news conference about the recently signed security deal when a reporter got up, called Bush a “dog,” and proceeded to throw his shoes at Bush. Hitting, or trying to hit someone with your shoes, is one of the ultimate insults in Iraq.
Maybe this is my “YEAH AMERICA!” moment of the day, but I’d probably give that guy the finger if I’d seen him do that. At the very least. In any case, Bush is in all good humor about it:
“All I can report is a size 10,” Mr Bush said according to the Associated Press news agency.
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At least someone has the guts to call a pig a pig somewhere else in the world.
No one in Iraq wants the US there. No one in the USA wants our troops to be there. How bout we send Bush Cheney and the entire congress over there to fight out the last days of the war without our military.
What the heck were those SS agents thinking about being stationed so far away from the President? That really upsets me that this jerk was able to get two shoe shots off. The President should of been better protected than that. I want that Detail to give an account of why they were so laxed! Why they were so far away? The point man should of been close enough to deflect the shoe. He should of been positioned between My President and that audience. I have great concerns about this. Secret Service I respect what you do, but this was very bad gentlemen
Marty: Give my regards to the far left. I’m not a big fan of Bush either, but I don’t buy into BDS.
ghost: I’m sure everybody who was let in was checked first for the obvious weapons. You typically don’t expect someone to take off their shoes and throw them at you. I’d wager the same is true even in Iraq. It wouldn’t be the first time Bush and Maliki have given press conferences there.
You can’t have agents so close that it hampers your ability to do anything. It’d be downright uncomfortable for someone to be so close to me I could practically reach out and touch their shoulder.
Like I said, it’s not an incident you typically expect, even from that crowd.
Interestingly, I think this incident says more about what Iraq has become than what Bush did to Iraq. A place where you can actually insult leaders and live to see another day. Ironically, an act of protest reassures the goals of the person he is protesting.
See the Dicta.
It’s sad that the U.S. president is so unpopular around the world.
It’s sadder that he still doesn’t get this message.
But most of all, it’s just a pity the guy missed.
You know I clicked on this post knowing I’d see at least two comments expressing regret that the target wasn’t hit. I wasn’t disappointed.
Hatred is the foodstuff of the far left (and far right). This is no surprise.
Now after watching the video multiple times I have to say Prime Minister Malicki’s action during the incident symbolize the Iraqi military: late, half-hearted and open to questioning motives. I mean c’mon Malicki, act like you care!!
A truly ironic incident. And the right to see a leader in a potentially week position–and film/broadcast it, too!–surely speaks just as loudly as the insult itself does of American-won personal rights.
Also, nice dodge, Bush. Nice to see you can hold your own ground in emergency situations like this.
this is so funny i love it
THIS IS THE FAREWELL KISS, YOU DOG! “This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is the farewell kiss, you dog,” the journalist shouted (in Arabic), Steven Lee Myers of The New York Times reported in a pool report to the White House press corps. Myers reported that the man threw the second shoe and added: “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”
And then Bush smiled fatuously and made a joke, just to show that thousands of dead, wounded, and displaced Iraqi civilians is no skin off HIS nose. What a hero!
His press secretary got a black eye in the melee, apparently (though not from the shoe). I really wish Bush could be wearing a souvenir of that day.
I love how those who claim to support “peace” and “tolerance” are often so blatantly violent and hateful towards anyone that disagrees with them.
This incident among many others has exposed a basic hypocrisy among the so-called “peace movement”. If their credibility was not already shot with me as a result of their fatuous, non-responsive-to-reality slogans that usually function as their stand-ins for actual arguments, this would have done the trick.
Right Jason, not only that, but the lack of respect that they show for the position of President when the President is someone they do not like. (emphasizing the person, rather than the position) If that were Obama up there dodging shoes, it would have been “How dare you attack our dear leader!” I think it’s called Hypocracy.