When speaking at an event where anti-war activists of Code Pink were also present, Iraq’s Ambassador to the United States Mr. Samir Sumaida’ie took the time to respond to the Code Pinkers’ support for Muntader al-Zaidi, the journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush visited Baghdad recently.

“Mr. Muntader al-Zaidi is very lucky that it was Mr. Bush and Mr. Maliki and not Saddam Hussein” he threw the shoe at, Sumaida’ie said. Because had it been Mr. Saddam Hussein you would be carrying a different plaque by now.”

“Number 2, in our culture, I know that people have told you that, throwing shoes at someone is an insult. But, it is a bigger insult to the host not the guest; in our culture anyone who insults a guest is insulting the host. To a double degree.

“So even if it was a local tribal leader, he would not have stomached that behavior. So in our culture we believe that what Mr al-Zeidi did was reprehensible; it was not representative of the way we behave, as Iraqis; it diminished us as a nation, we’re better than that. We have issues [...] but we believe that we should always behave in a dignified manner and in a correct manner,” Sumaida’ie concluded.

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Most shocking about the controversy surrounding Mr. al-Zeidi was not his behavior, nor the reaction of some people in the Middle East. Rather, it was the reaction of anti-war and anti-American Americans who celebrated this ‘journalist’ as if he were some kind of hero.

Lest these individuals forget, Mr. al-Zeidi is a supporter of Muqtada al-Sadr: the radical Shiite cleric, responsible for the death of thousands of innocent Sunnis, who wants to turn Iraq into a radical Shiite state, led by him as Grand Ayatollah. Additionally, Mr. al-Zeidi pretends to be a journalist: throwing shoes at a head of state is not professional behavior. Rather, it is the behavior of an activist pretending to be a professional. Thirdly, one should always treat a foreign head of state with respect. This is because the individual does not represent himself, but his entire country and thus, people. Bush was not visiting Baghdad as the private person George W. Bush, but as the American president. Insulting him equals insulting the American people.

Mr. Sumaida’ie was correct: the episode was a disgrace for Iraq. But he forgot to add that the reaction of far-left activists in the United States was even more disgraceful.