Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker

[DS1]

Source: BBC

Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.

Crowds gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City district, calling for "hero" Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody. There were similar scenes in Najaf.

Officials at the Iraqi-owned TV station, al-Baghdadiya, also called for the release of their journalist.

Iraqi officials have described the incident as shameful.

A statement released by the government said Mr Zaidi's actions, which also included him shouting insults at President Bush, "harmed the reputation of Iraqi journalists and Iraqi journalism in general".

The government has demanded an on-air apology from his employer.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7783608.stm

---

[SpiralHawk]

1. Free Squeaky Now !

Oooops, wait, haven't had my morning coffee yet...

[jbane]

3. That guy in Iraq did throw like a girl...

Bush was laughing at him, that must have really pissed the guy off.

[DS1]

4. under the circumstances I thought he did pretty well

perhaps I don't have my "Internet Tough Guy" filter on at the moment :eyes:

[Dangerously Amused]

12. Apparently we didn't see the same video.

Those throws were strong and accurate; had Bush not ducked he would have got it square in the face both times.

[Vanje]

13. Thats what I saw

The footwear came fast and straight.
I was surprised that Bush's reflexes were fast enough to sucessfully duck the speeding size tens.

[Dangerously Amused]

15. I doubt Bush would have been fast enough if the guy didn't get his attention

...by yelling at him before he threw the first shoe.

[ACTION BASTARD]

29. He just needs a little work on his fastball and blamo! It would have a throw for the ages

[bvar22]

16. ?

[Aristus]

18. "Throw like a girl"? I don't think so. Check out the videos.

Those are sizzling, overhanded pitches that would make Nolan Ryan proud. I'd give anything for those shoes to have connected. Bush with a bloody nose; maybe then he wouldn't have been so cocky in response to the question about Al-Qaida infiltrating Iraq after the invasion. "So what?" Fuck, man. I'd have thrown a shoe or two at him for that!

[EFerrari]

27. No, he had a great arm. Bush is always giggling like an idiot. n/t

[janx]

6. ...

:rofl:

[panader0]

2. I knew this support would be huge.

I hope he dosn't have to spend another day in jail. What was bush thinking? Even without the shoe throwing, his very presence in Iraq was seen as an insult, and would likely cause violence.

[Lucky 13]

7. No one could have seen this coming! Iraqis love Bush and view him as the great liberator!

or didn't you get that memo?

;)

[LynnTheDem]

5. I would like to publicly dare the Iraqi "government" to spend 15 minutes

outside the Green Zone.

Just 15 minutes.

[Mari333]

8. on cnn's website

they mention the protests in the bush story. if the MSM is picking it up it is now a fitting end tribute to Bush's madness.

and more:

This interview with Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the 1st Armored Division commander, who has been in Samarra, is refreshing for its candor even as the general rightly stresses the improvements in the security situation.

There are still 400 attacks a month in Iraq; unemployment ranges from 40% to 80%; the infrastructure of the country is completely dilapidated, with the Beiji refinery an ecological disaster; and the Shiite government shows no interest in the welfare and progress of the Sunni Arab north-- "It would be like having a central government in Bonn that didn’t care anything about what was going on in Wiesbaden or Frankfurt . . ."
http://www.juancole.com/2008/12/shoe-thrower-had-been-traumatized-by-us.html

[trusty elf]

9. He wasn't the sole attacker.

[Vanje]

14. I LOVE that picture! nt

[tanyev]

25. LOL!

[HCE SuiGeneris]

32. Brilliant!

:toast:

[dysfunctional press]

10. on-air apology..."we're sorry that he threw the shoes...and missed with both."

nt

[Dukkha]

11. we were denied a great AP photo

[Fire1]

22. DITTO, DAMN IT!!

[bvar22]

17. Lets make him RICH!

If he puts up a website, I'll send him a few bucks.

[EFerrari]

26. Maybe his employer would be willing to do it. n/t

[Stuart G]

19. This has started,,and will not stop till Jan 20....nt

[Bake]

20. You realize that if he had hit him with a shoe, he'd be dead now.

Yeah, let's all applaud the idiot. A JOURNALIST? And the best he can do is throw a shoe? He can't come up with a scathing piece of journalism? Wow. What a heel.

Bake

[DS1]

21. maybe he didn't care

[frylock]

23. harry reid would be proud

[noiretextatique]

24. hitting someone with a shoe is not a capital offense

and he didn't even hit him. if they killed him, he would be another instant martyr.

[Nihil]

34. You realise that if you had journalists with a fraction of his courage ...

... you would probably be a respected nation these days?

Yes, he is a journalist. He has been illegally imprisoned, beaten up
and tortured for the sake of his work ... by the American forces.

Such events have been reported by journalists around the world ... with
one major exception.

Is it any surprise that after all he's been through, when your president
turns up for a farewell gloat the frustration gets too much for him?

I applaud "that idiot". I applaud his past works and his actions that day.
I am genuinely sorry that neither shoe hit Bush but that wasn't the point.
The point was that his actions were the most widely understood insult
to any person and it was delivered to your president.

I am disgusted with the people who hide behind the label of "democratic"
yet sneer at the bravery of a protester like that. Go and join Pelosi,
Reid, Liebermann and the rest of the Bush-supporting scum.

[underpants]

28. PICS

A shoe is raised during a protest against the visit to Iraq of US President George W. Bush, in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday. Dec. 15, 2008. Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday, while yelling in Arabic: 'This is a farewell kiss, you dog, this is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.'
(AP Photo/Karim Kadim)






Iraqis hold up a posters calling for the release of an Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at visiting US President George W. Bush. Iraq faced mounting calls to release the journalist who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush, an action branded shameful by the government but hailed in the Arab world as an ideal parting gift to the unpopular US president.
(AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)


Replicas of the US flag are burnt during a protest against a visit by US President George W. Bush and the arrest of an Iraqi journalist in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City. Iraq faced mounting calls to release the journalist who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush, an action branded shameful by the govt but hailed in the Arab world as an ideal parting gift to the unpopular US president.
(AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4657184&mesg_id=4657184

[Mnemosyne]

31. Great pics, underpants! * may well be the most hated

president in US history.

And don't you know, * will be whining to whatever "friends" he has about how 'ungrateful' those Iraqis are to him, after all he's done "for" them.

Such ignorance just boggles the mind...

[damntexdem]

30. They should apologize -- as in: "We're sorry he missed."

;-)

[CODEPINK]

33. SIGN PETITION and JOIN ACTION IN DC

CodePink is taking action in solidarity with the journalist who threw his shoes at Bush on Sunday. Get involved!

PETITION: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/signUp.jsp?key=3909

FACEBOOK GROUP: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/175918

DC EVENT ON WEDNESDAY: http://codepink4peace.org/blog/2008/12/official-release-peace-activists-take-shoes-to-white-house-in-solidarity-with-shoe-throwing-iraqi-journalist/