Baghdad: Protester launched a couple of shoes at George W Bush

A couple of shoes were launched at George W. Bush at a news conference in Baghdad.

More info to follow soon.

weapons of mass destruction

Additions

If only they had been hand grenades!

15.12.2008 19:58

I was delighted to see the Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi hurl his shoes at war criminal Bush and his puppet Al Maliki. Far from being arrested he should get a medal for expressing what the majority of people in both Iraq and the UK want - a total withdrawal of all foreign forces.

It was great that it has been shown on television around the world and hopefully will act as an encouragement to all those opposed to imperialism and mass murder.

Let us never forget the half million or more Iraqi children murdered by UN (actually US/British) sanctions of 1990 - 2003 and the deaths of a million or more people since the 2003 invasion. One thing, which gets almost no coverage in the mainstream media, is the terrible Iraqi refugee problem. Over four million Iraqis are displaced either internally or externally.

Here for posterity is a video of the incident:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7783608.stm

Here is Z net article about the million people killed since the invasion:

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/14507

Here is an article about Iraqi refugees in Syria:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/50000-iraqi-refugees-forced-into-prostitution-454424.html

An admirer of Muntadar al-Zaidi

Comments

Hide the following 10 comments

weapons of mass smellyness

15.12.2008 00:06

Never known a culture that is so obsessed with throwing shoes at each other
The pen is mightier than the shoe

clarkes

what will happen to the "offender"?

15.12.2008 09:38

Do we have any information on what will now happen to the person who threw the shoes? Can we keep on the alert for news about this, and be ready to protest etc if he is punished?

pat heron
mail e-mail: patheronuk@yahoo.co.uk

Americian atrocities.

15.12.2008 11:58

@ pat heron

He will probably be illegally, extraordinary rendition'ed by the usa, face months of torture, be brain washed and tortured to the point of saying that he killed Elvis and JFk and then be hung by the USA before any truth can be found out.

Or the usa will just use some illegal chemical weapon to murder him!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1134673789364675735&q=fallujah+hidden&pl=true

fta: The Hidden Massacre of Fallujah

This is the terrible testimony given by Jeff Englehart, veteran of the war in Iraq. "I have seen women and children burnt bodies - the former U.S. soldier added - phosphorus explodes and it creates a cloud. Whoever is within 150 mt is dead." Some witnesses have seen a rainfall of burning substances of different colors that were burning people when hit and even those who were not hit had problems breathing", told us Mohamad Tareq al-Deraji, director of the center for human rights studies in Fallujah

American Murder

Reply to "weapons of mass smellyness"

15.12.2008 15:09

Only a perverse person could see your comment as humour.

This is pure fascism, devoid of any human feeling.

anti-imperialist

A fine gesture

15.12.2008 15:26

The papers just say he's 'an Iraqi journalist' and I guess that's the end of his career... BUT, what a brave gesture to stand up among the fawning press who, even if they have private worries about Bush, toe the line to keep their jobs. Even if I longed for it to be a grenade, I'm full of admiration for the thrower of shoes.

anon

Pics of Bush senior and Bush junior getting shoed

15.12.2008 20:20

Pass the shoe!

An admirer of Muntadar al-Zaidi

reply to anti-imperialist

15.12.2008 20:27

re: anti-imperialist "Only a perverse person could see your comment as humour.
This is pure fascism, devoid of any human feeling."

Sounds like you are devoid of any sense of humour.

Humour has no boundaries, it is our way of coping with the problems of life. You need to lighten up and remove that pole that's been jammed right up your arse!

anon

humour

15.12.2008 23:49

When people start saying you are not allowed to have a sense of humour then you know things are in serious trouble. Humour is not devoid of human feeling - it is an integral part of it. Otherwise we would all be androids.

salt & pepper

Does humour really have no boundaries???

16.12.2008 01:21

So, guys, you both seem to be arguing that it is perfectly OK to joke about a monumental lie which served as justification for a (still ongoing) genocide.

This is precisely what Hannah Arendt meant by "the banality of evil".

Maria

maria

16.12.2008 03:34

No - please don't twist what I have written. I said: it is concerning when people can tell you when you are allowed to have a sense of humour (a dig at the thought and political correctness police) and that humour is a good sign human emotions.

Hannah's banality quote was absolutely nothing to do with humour - it was morals and the ability to question orders.

salt & pepper