Iraqi journalist throws shoe at Bush

[your_adress_here 11]

Iraqi journalist hurls shoes at 'dog' Bush

1 hour ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) — An Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes and an insult at George W. Bush, without hitting him, as the US president was shaking hands with the Iraqi premier at his Baghdad office on Sunday.

As the two leaders met in Nuri al-Maliki's private office, a journalist sitting in the third row jumped up, shouting: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog," and threw his shoes one after the other towards Bush.

Maliki made a protective gesture towards the US president, who ducked and was not hit.

The journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi from Al-Baghdadia channel which broadcasts from Cairo, was frogmarched from the room by security staff, an AFP journalist said.

Soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture. After Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled in Baghdad in April 2003, many onlookers beat the statue's face with their soles.

Some Iraqi journalists stood up to apologise.

The White House said Bush ducked to avoid the first shoe, while the second narrowly missed the president.

Bush said: "Thanks for apologising on behalf of the Iraqi people. It doesn't bother me. If you want the facts, it was a size 10 shoe that he threw".

Playing down the incident, the president later added: "I don't know what the guy's cause is... I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it."

quote>

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hIc6JbVJaVwlTwkUiARRCfbyVVdg

[JakeMD 107]

We were just having a conversation in the chat about bush being in Iraq. You fail Bush.

[TV-VCR 14]

Damn. I would have loved it if the shoes actually hit ol' Bushy right across the face.

[patriots_1228 51]

funniest thing ever.

Swat Medic, i don't get it. how is the president visiting Iraq failing? its dangerous, but it has its plus sides too.

[JakeMD 107]

Swat Medic, i don't get it. how is the president visiting Iraq failing? its dangerous, but it has its plus sides too. quote>

If your the president of the united states, and you get a shoe thrown at you , i consider that a fail.

[TV-VCR 14]

Originally posted by: SWAT-MEDIC

Swat Medic, i don't get it. how is the president visiting Iraq failing? its dangerous, but it has its plus sides too. quote>

If your the president of the united states, and you get a shoe thrown at you , i consider that a fail.quote>

I'm pretty sure for every president there's been a person who would have loved to nail the guy with a shoe.

[patriots_1228 51]

Well hey, i would take the shoe as a compliment. After all, there are a lot worse things many people in the middle east would like to throw at the president.

[JakeMD 107]

It says that a soul of a shoe is a very nasty gesture. To show the souls of your shoes at another person in Iraq is like saying the F word to your grandma then pushing her off a cliff.

[patriots_1228 51]

wait...you mean its bad to say the F word to your grandma then push her off a cliff?!

oops...Darn.

[Craig91 12]

Best story ever!!! I think it would have made my year had it hit him

[Sim shady 12]

lol I have to say, Bush has quite a sense of humor. Now if only he could have been a better president...hopefully he can do something productive besides dodging flying shoes while he is in Iraq.

[panthersimcity4 162]

I have a new hero.

[miguelkuk 109]

I'd have prefered it if the journalist had stepped on dog crap before throwing his shoes.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

Well done, well done indeed. I think he *threw* on behalf of many a person in the world.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Rather funny....I love how after the event how beautifully eloquent Mr. Bush was, just as he is all the time.

[GreekMan 246]

atta boy Bush! I was very happy that he ducked out of the way!

Bush=Fail NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

[tepodon 29]

bush is certainly quite fit for his age, if it were maliki i bet he would have been hit. lol, or any other head of state, except maybe putin, putin would grab the shoe in midflight, eat it, and than obliterate the journalist in a split second after.

watch as the journalist finishes throwing his last shoes, a secret service agent approaches bush but noooooooooooooooo, bush thrusts his arm as if to make a gesture proclaiming, "leave us... agent "#$%, he's mine!'"

Then we never see what happened to bush or the journalist, I suspect that bush lurked around the entire crowd, and mangeled the intestines of the journalist, as can be told from the background yelping noise.

but ya if ur gettin shoes thrown at in a press conference ur definetely not loved, respected, or doing a very good job.

[Duke87 1,070]

Please tell me this was caught on tape.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Indeed it was, not sure if Americans can view the below video...

Shoes thrown at Bush on Iraq trip

President Bush ducks as the shoes are thrown

A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference.

An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor by security guards after he called Mr Bush "a dog" and threw his footwear, just missing the president.

Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.

During the trip, Mr Bush and Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki signed the new security agreement between their countries.

The pact calls for US troops to leave Iraq in 2011 - eight years after the 2003 invasion that has in part defined the Bush presidency.

If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw US President George W Bush

Speaking just over five weeks before he hands over power to Barack Obama, Mr Bush also said the war in Iraq was not over and more work remained to be done.

His previously unannounced visit came a day after Defence Secretary Robert Gates told US troops the Iraq mission was in its "endgame".

'Size 10'

In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him.

Muntadar al-Zaidi was quickly wrestled to the ground and hauled away

With his second shoe, which the president also managed to dodge, Mr Zaidi said: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."

Mr Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, was then wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away.

"If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw," Mr Bush joked afterwards.

Al-Baghdadiya's bureau chief told the Associated Press that he had no idea what prompted Mr Zaidi to attack President Bush, although reports say he was once kidnapped by a militia and beaten up.

"I am trying to reach Muntadar since the incident, but in vain," said Fityan Mohammed. "His phone is switched off."

Correspondents said the attack was symbolic. Iraqis threw shoes and used them to beat Saddam Hussein's statue after his overthrow.

'American security'

Mr Bush's first stop upon arriving in Baghdad was the Iraqi presidential palace in the heavily-fortified Green Zone, where he held talks with President Jalal Talabani.

PREVIOUS BUSH VISITS TO IRAQ Nov 2003: Serves Thanksgiving dinner to troops in Baghdad June 2006: Meets new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki Sept 2007: Visits Anbar province - former stronghold of Saddam Hussein

"The work hasn't been easy but it's been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope and world peace," Mr Bush said during his talks with Mr Talabani.

The Iraqi president called Mr Bush "a great friend for the Iraqi people, who helped us liberate our country".

The BBC's Humphrey Hawksley, in Baghdad, says the key issue at present is exactly how American troops will withdraw within the next three years and what sort of Iraq they will leave behind.

President Bush said events have been necessary for US security and world peace

The US media has just published details of a US government report saying that post invasion reconstruction of Iraq was crippled by bureaucratic turf wars and an ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society.

The report is circulating among US officials in draft form, says the New York Times.

It reveals details of a reconstruction effort that cost more than $100bn (£67bn) and only succeeded in restoring what was destroyed in the invasion and the widespread looting that followed it, the newspaper said.

Troop promises

Mr Bush's visit, unannounced in advance and conducted under tight security, follows the approval last month of a security pact between Washington and Baghdad that calls for US troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011.

US troops are first to withdraw from Iraqi cities, including Baghdad, by June next year.

Defence Secretary Gates said on Saturday that "the process of the drawdown" had begun.

The end in sight for US troops in Iraq?

"We are, I believe, in terms of the American commitment, in the endgame here in Iraq," he told US troops at an airbase near Baghdad.

Mr Gates has been picked to stay on as defence secretary by President-elect Barack Obama.

President Bush leaves the White House in less than six weeks. He said in a recent interview with ABC News that the biggest regret of his presidency was the false intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Finding these was one of the key justifications for the invasion. None were ever found.

Mr Obama has promised to bring home US combat troops from Iraq in a little over a year from when he takes office in January.

More than 4,200 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and security personnel have been killed since the invasion in 2003.

There are currently about 149,000 US soldiers in Iraq, down from last year's peak of 170,000 after extra troops were poured in to deal with a worsening security situation.

As Mr Bush arrived in Baghdad, Gen David Petraeus, the head of the US Central Command, which includes Iraq, said attacks in the country had dropped from 180 a day in June 2007 to 10 a day now.

In a sign of modest security gains in Iraq, Mr Bush was welcomed with a formal arrival ceremony - a flourish that was not part of his previous three visits.

He arrived in the country on Air Force One, which landed at Baghdad International Airport in the afternoon, after a secretive Saturday night departure from Washington on an 11-hour flight. quote>

[panthersimcity4 162]

Wow, I LMAO'd at that video. I'm so cruel

[Fresh Prince of Wmbg 44]

Another example of how badly Bush screwed up. A little lower and al-Zaidi would have got a hit. I'm sure someone will try it at the inauguration.

This was the best thing that has happen on my birthday yet.....lol

[Haljackey 17,241]

lol he had 2 shots and he failed not once, but twice. Epic fail!

[Godzillaman 21]

Heh...Bush has nice reaction times...

[Sim shady 12]

ROFL MEH WAFFLES! The video is hilarious. Bush does have good reflexes lol.

[Explodingsims 3]

Wow...Epic Lol.

Gotta love how dramatic they make this sound though:

"He narrowly missed the second"

[Cockatoo 2,256]

That dude is my hero.

Sad thing is though that he's probably in some horrible prison by now, awaiting his interrogation.

[hym 358]

Originally posted by: Cockatoo-210893 That dude is my hero.

Sad thing is though that he's probably in some horrible prison by now, awaiting his interrogation.quote>

He just committed attempted assault.  If there is an Iraqi law against such an action, he deserves to be in jail.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Reminds me of this skit:

[Ace_F15 16]

I don't care how you feel about George Bush, throwing a shoe at him isn't going to solve anything.. -_-

Although, he does have damn good reflexes.

[6underground 11]

LOL, hilarious.