Family: Shoe Thrower Hates Both U.S., Iran Role

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Family: Shoe thrower hates both US, Iran role
By ROBERT H. REID (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
December 15, 2008 9:48 PM EST
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi TV reporter who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush was kidnapped once by militants and, separately, detained briefly by the U.S. military. Over time, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a 28-year-old unmarried Shiite, came to hate both the U.S. military occupation and Iran's interference in Iraq, his family told The Associated Press on Monday.

- snip -

Bush was not hit or injured in the attack, and Iraqi security guards wrestled al-Zeidi to the ground immediately after he tossed his shoes. White House press secretary Dana Perino suffered an eye injury when she was hit in the face with a microphone during the melee. But Bush took a drubbing later as Arab satellite TV networks repeatedly broadcast images of him ducking the shoes at the Baghdad press conference. The sight of an average Arab standing up and making a public show of resentment was striking - especially against a leader widely blamed for a litany of crimes including the turmoil in Iraq, where tens of thousands of civilians have died in the war.

A geography teacher at a Baghdad elementary school asked her students if they had seen the footage of the shoe-throwing. "All Iraqis should be proud of this Iraqi brave man, Muntadhar. History will remember him forever," she said.

- snip -

Family members expressed bewilderment over al-Zeidi's action and concern about his treatment in Iraqi custody. But they also expressed pride over his defiance of an American president who many Iraqis believe has destroyed their country. "I swear to Allah, he is a hero," said his sister, who goes by the nickname Umm Firas (mother of Firas, her oldest son), as she watched a replay of her brother's attack on an Arabic satellite station. "May Allah protect him." The family insisted that al-Zeidi's action was spontaneous - perhaps motivated by the political turmoil that their brother had reported on, plus his personal brushes with violence and the threat of death that millions of Iraqis face daily.

Read more: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20081215/49...

[uppityperson]

1. "wrestled to the ground", does this explain the broken ribs, hand & why he can't use his arm?

Bit on KOS about it also.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/12/15/212620/44/799/...

[maddezmom]

2. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...