Bush Ducks Shoes Thrown in Iraqi Leader’s Office

[BusterPortugal]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCRrAR5He4xY&refer=home

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=George+W.+Bush&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) ducked two shoes thrown at him by an unidentified man during a press conference in the Iraqi prime minister’s office to mark the signing of a security agreement.
Bush wasn’t hit by the shoes, which both sailed over his head after they were thrown one after the other. The president shrugged and said “I’m OK” after the incident in Baghdad today. “All I can report is it is a size 10,” Bush said afterwards.
In Arab culture, throwing shoes is a grave show of disrespect. The man shouted an Arabic phrase, which an Iraqi present translated as “this is a farewell kiss, dog.”
After U.S. troops pulled down a statue of former dictator Saddam Hussein (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Saddam+Hussein&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) in 2003, Iraqi bystanders tossed shoes at it, according to news reports at the time. Bush said today’s incident was an example of free speech in a democracy.
The man threw the shoes from about 25 feet away as Bush, standing with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Nuri+al-Maliki&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), made formal remarks before the signing of the Iraqi-U.S. agreement. Maliki tried to block the second thrown shoe as it flew toward Bush, according to video of the incident shown on television.
Wrestled to Ground
The shoe-thrower, who was in a group of journalists, was wrestled to the ground and taken away. “This is the end,” shouted the man, later identified by the Associated Press as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.
At the signing ceremony, Bush said a free and democratic Iraq will now become “a force for freedom” and a “source of stability in a volatile region.”
“There is still more work to be done,” Bush said. “The war is not over.” The president said that with the agreement, “and the courage of the Iraqi people, and the Iraqi troops, and American troops and civilian personnel, it is decisively on its way to being won.”
Bush arrived today in Baghdad on a surprise visit -- his last to Iraq as commander-in-chief -- to celebrate the agreement, thank U.S. troops and meet with Iraqi leaders.
It was Bush’s fourth visit to a nation transformed by the U.S.-led war he started in 2003. It follows three weeks after Iraq’s parliament approved an accord with the U.S. that provides for the withdrawal of American troops by the end of 2011.
Obama’s Plan
President-elect Barack Obama (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Barack+Obama&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) has said one of his first acts as commander-in-chief would be to direct his military commanders to begin withdrawing troops “as quickly as we can” while maintaining stability in Iraq, ensuring the safety of U.S. troops and preventing a resurgence of terrorism.
The president has made three previous unannounced trips to Iraq -- on Thanksgiving 2003, June 13, 2006, and Sept. 3, 2007.
While those earlier trips were intended largely to bolster troop morale and shore up domestic support for the unpopular war, Bush’s latest Iraq visit amounted to a valedictory appearance. He leaves office on Jan. 20.
Bush later today addressed more than 1,000 troops at Camp Victory, the staging area in Baghdad for U.S. forces. The surge of additional U.S. troops sent to Iraq early last year to quell sectarian violence has been “one of the greatest successes in the history of the U.S. military,” Bush said.
I must say, he has fantastic reflexes!

video: http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=673f1bc7-58b8-421e-858c-a2f4dbc597ce

[Mustard]

I wonder if W realizes just how hated, reviled, and vilified he is outside of the US?

[Da Raider]

All I can report is it is a size 10,

LULZ

[riseabove!]

I wonder if W realizes just how hated, reviled, and vilified he is outside of the US?


Like the rest of the world actually matters to him

[Mustard]

Like the rest of the world actually matters to him
Good point.

You know, having to dodge smelly arab shoes might be a good indicator not all is well abroad though.

[SniffTheLog]

http://i38.tinypic.com/5frhhw.gif

[Mustard]

That guy had decent aim

[Soup Nazi]

Bush is pretty quick, a lot of people his age would not be able to dodge that. I'm impressed.

[FarEastFornicator]

He didn't hide or run or anything he just dodged them and stood back up for more. I guess shoes are significant because it says he's less than a dog in arab and then two shoes means something worse.

http://jp.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=95468&videoChannel=200

[mongo]

sweet, another "let's bash bush" thread!

[Mustard]

with shoes!

[Gary_Busey]

I like how he kind of grins after he dodges the first one. Coolest thing he's done in his presidency.

[mongo]

i agree, the sly grin is priceless.

[Morfin]

I agree you gotta give Bush credit for ducking and then facing the thrower. Then again, it's a fine line between courage and stupidity.

[Insomniac]

He's already had a grenade thrown at him. This was nothing.

[Satan]

14 replies and no one has said it?

Who throws a shoe? Seriously!

[FarEastFornicator]

someone who can't get a weapon through security?

[mongo]

14 replies and no one has said it?

Who throws a shoe? Seriously!

austin powers is so fucking 1998. grow up.

[jabs04]

I hope that shoe was full of dogshit

[shdaow]

Look at the arc he put on that shoe... I think we've found a new QB for the 49ers!

Bush should've thrown some shoes back at him.

[FarEastFornicator]

http://i36.tinypic.com/16ln1cl.jpg

[Kerjack]

14 replies and no one has said it?

Who throws a shoe? Seriously!

*Honestly

[}{arlequin]

he should've caught it and thrown right back at the guy, jack burton style

[FarEastFornicator]

Can you imagine if the secret service opened up and wasted the guy?

[shdaow]

Can you imagine if the secret service opened up and wasted the guy?

Better yet, imagine if they said fuck it and wasted the whole room. I could see Bush high-fiving and fist pounding all his boys now.

[Debo]

If anyone ever starts a professional dodge ball team, Bush is going to be the first pick in the draft.

[Morfin]

14 replies and no one has said it?

Who throws a shoe? Seriously!

Khrushchev fan?

http://www.machacas.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/khrushchev_shoe1.jpg

[Archangel]

I wonder if W realizes just how hated, reviled, and vilified he is outside of the US?

Um, last I checked, he wasn't exactly the most popular guy in his own country, either.

[Grieves]

I hope reporters weren't too attached to the idea of wearing shoes to political press conferences, because I'm guessing it won't be allowed anymore and they'll have to take notes with crayons.

[vasili denisov]

Where did this guy think he was, a Kanye West show?

[Vagrant]

"Is that all you got, punk? I dodged 'Nam. That was NOTHING!".

[TheImpossibleMan]

http://i36.tinypic.com/16ln1cl.jpg
I'LL TEACH YOU TO SPEAK ENGLISH WITH THIS FUCKING SHOE!

[Blue]

President George W. Bush ducked two shoes thrown at him...

Fuck the shoes, do it Python style!

http://www.mofahaimages.com/b3ta/bushpython.gif

[Pharon]

Finally, hard evidence of all those weapons of mass destruction.

[Limp]

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/SigUpPrytz204/motivationposter.jpg

[Limp]

That Iraqi put his heart and sole into that interview.

[Datači]

http://e.imagehost.org/0904/Bush_Matrix_YTMND.gif

[redsox39]

Good point.

You know, having to dodge smelly arab shoes might be a good indicator not all is well abroad though.

yeah, those Arabs usually love people from all walks of life. They are so accepting.

[Nosebuckle]

I bet that guy got the shit beat out of him

[redsox39]

Can you imagine if the secret service opened up and wasted the guy?


did you notice how long it took for the Secret service to get out there? I think they are getting lax right now...must not be the same guys assigned to Obama, or he won't last 6 months.

[Nature's Folly]

I dig how bush was just kinda smiling the whole time.

[redsox39]

Me too, that was awesome. Iraqi's suck at everything.*


*now including shoe throwing

[Nature's Folly]

Would of been awesome if he followed it up by saying...."What now motherfucker??"

[BIG PIZZLE]

I heard more on this story a while ago. From what I heard on the radio, the guy throwing the shoe had previously been captured and tortured. Also Bush was like "I dont know why he did it..." Priceless.

[Alcestis]

I heard more on this story a while ago. From what I heard on the radio, the guy throwing the shoe had previously been captured and tortured. Also Bush was like "I dont know why he did it..." Priceless.

www.msnbc.msn.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28235031/)

Journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a 28-year-old unmarried Shiite, was kidnapped by militants last year and, separately, detained briefly by the U.S. military prior to this incident — a story of getting hit from all sides that is bitterly familiar to many Iraqis.

Over time, he came to hate both the U.S. military occupation and Iran's interference in Iraq, his family told The Associated Press on Monday.

He was being held by Iraqi security Monday and interrogated about whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at Bush during a press conference the previous day in Baghdad, said an Iraqi official.

He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

[BIG PIZZLE]

Either bush is a complete moron, a heartless dirtbag, or he cries himself to sleep at night. I'm honestly not sure which.

[Claydon]

tortured? by US troops?

What did they do, make him answer questions form a woman?

[Pharon]

Either bush is a complete moron, a heartless dirtbag, or he cries himself to sleep at night. I'm honestly not sure which.
Those things are not mutually exclusive.

[Alcestis]

tortured? by US troops?

What did they do, make him answer questions form a woman?

Ah, no. Claydon, did you actually read the entire article?

[Claydon]

Claydon, did you actually read the entire article?

i was referring to pizzle, not your article, furthermore it was just a lame attempt at humor.


i got nothing here!

[Weenis]

Can you imagine if the secret service opened up and wasted the guy?

They should have pulled off their own shoes and returned fire.

Maybe that's what Bush should have done for that matter...

[Soup Nazi]

Me too, that was awesome. Iraqi's suck at everything.*


*now including shoe throwing

Are you kidding me? That first shoe was thrown damn near perfectly, if Bush didn't have cat-like reflexes it would have hit him hard directly in the face. Hell, Bush probably is the only U.S. Prez on record that could have dodged that. If anything we found something Iraqi's are proficient at.

[Rover]

did you notice how long it took for the Secret service to get out there? I think they are getting lax right now...must not be the same guys assigned to Obama, or he won't last 6 months.You must have missed the part where the secret service is right there after the shoe is thrown and Bush puts his hand up to tell the secret service guys to back off. Bush was in complete control of that situation.

[Weenis]

Shoe Hurling Iraqi becomes Folk hero (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/world/middleeast/16shoe.html?em)

In Sadr City, the sprawling Baghdad suburb that has seen some of the most intense fighting between insurgents and American soldiers since the 2003 invasion, thousands of people marched in his defense. In Syria, he was hailed as a hero. In Libya, he was given an award for courage.
Opponents of the continued American presence in Iraq (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html?inline=nyt-geo) turned Mr. Zaidi’s detention Monday into a rallying cry. Support for the detained journalist crossed religious, ethnic and class lines in Iraq — vaulting him to near folk hero status.
“I swear by God that all Iraqis with their different nationalities are glad about this act,” said Yaareb Yousif Matti, a 45-year-old teacher from Mosul, a northern city that has is contested by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens.
In Samarra, one of the centers of the Sunni insurgency against American forces, Mr. Zaidi received nearly unanimous approval from people interviewed Monday.
“Although that action was not expressed in a civilized manner, it showed the Iraqi’s feelings, which oppose American occupation,” said Dr. Qutaiba Rajaa, a 58-year old physician.
In Sadr City, thousands of marchers on Monday called for an immediate American withdrawal from Iraq. The demonstrators burned American flags and waved shoes attached to long poles in a show of support for Mr. Zaidi.
In Najaf, several hundred people gathered on a central square to protest President Bush’s Sunday visit to Iraq, and demonstrators threw their shoes at a passing American military convoy.

Iraqi Joe the Plumber?

[Claibo]

Shoe Hurling Iraqi becomes Folk hero (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/world/middleeast/16shoe.html?em)



Iraqi Joe the Plumber?

Do they have plumbing in Iraq outside of the Green Zone?

[Fuh Q]

I dont like Bush but damn his cat like reflexes are impressive

[Weenis]

I dont like Bush but damn his cat like reflexes are impressive

No doubt. That first one was going to hit him dead in the face.

[BIG PIZZLE]

I dont like Bush but damn his cat like reflexes are impressive

He got those skills in the national guard while dodging the draft.

[FarEastFornicator]

OHHH SHIT SON

[taters]

He got those skills in the national guard while dodging the draft.

The force is strong with that one.

[Lone Wolf]

Are you kidding me? That first shoe was thrown damn near perfectly, if Bush didn't have cat-like reflexes it would have hit him hard directly in the face. Hell, Bush probably is the only U.S. Prez on record that could have dodged that. If anything we found something Iraqi's are proficient at.


If anything it shows that Morphius was wrong about Neo, Bush is 'The One'

[eleveneighteen]

They should have pulled off their own shoes and returned fire.

Maybe that's what Bush should have done for that matter...

Bush keeps his shoes off under the podium... in case he has to do math.

[Okie Medicvet]

I just knew that folks here on gmf would cut to the chase and get right to the funnybone with the comments..but it needs more vids like the monty python foot and the matrix one!

And yeah, I despise dubya, have completely loathed him since Katrina, but if I ever form a professional dodgeball team I would definitely sign him up.

[taters]

Im surprised there are no funny gifs on this floating around.

edited - check that

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C-XAFBMvYb0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C-XAFBMvYb0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[Mustard]

Well, at least W got a shoevenir...

[Debo]

Shoe Hurling Iraqi becomes Folk hero (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/world/middleeast/16shoe.html?em)



Iraqi Joe the Plumber?

Only if the media claims that he isn't even a licensed shoe thrower. Nor does he own his own shoe throwing business.

Oh, and somebody has to dig through any and all government records on him illegally.

[Captain Insano]

Well, at least W got a shoevenir...

I hear he's a shoein for the US dodge ball team?

Another Drive by shoe-ing?

I love puns.

[medlar]

The guys accuracy was impressive. I would have a hard time hocking a shoe that hard twice and being dead on. He didn't even throw the whole shoe at once, he put some spin to it by throwing from the heel.

Someone is probably making a flash-game banner ad right now.

http://www2.b3ta.com/host/creative/61609/1229336413/ggtu.gif

[Whiffleball]

I like how Bush joked it off and then saying it was symbolic of how free expression has become in the new Iraq. Then it comes out Maliki wanted to seize the footage because it was embarrassing and that this guy may be being tortured.

http://i38.tinypic.com/juz953.jpg

[riseabove!]

He's probably being tortured, but you know that when America does it, it's for freedom

[mongo]

so, apparently, this guy is a hit.

Egyptian offers daughter to Iraqi shoe-thrower

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian man said on Wednesday he was offering his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush in Baghdad on Sunday,
The daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa, said she agreed with the idea. "This is something that would honour me. I would like to live in Iraq, especially if I were attached to this hero," she told Reuters by telephone.
Her father, Saad Gumaa, said he had called Dergham, Zaidi's brother, to tell him of the offer. "I find nothing more valuable than my daughter to offer to him, and I am prepared to provide her with everything needed for marriage," he added.
Zaidi's gesture has struck a chord across the Arab world, where President Bush is widely despised for invading Iraq in 2003 and for his support for Israel.
Amal is a student in the media faculty at Minya University in central Egypt.
Zaidi's response to the proposal was not immediately clear.

[Claydon]

have you seen egyptian women?

[Datači]

http://play.sockandawe.com/

[Morfin]

Quote:
Egyptian offers daughter to Iraqi shoe-thrower

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian man said on Wednesday he was offering his 20-year-old daughter in marriage to Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush in Baghdad on Sunday,
The daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa, said she agreed with the idea. "This is something that would honour me. I would like to live in Iraq, especially if I were attached to this hero," she told Reuters by telephone.
Her father, Saad Gumaa, said he had called Dergham, Zaidi's brother, to tell him of the offer. "I find nothing more valuable than my daughter to offer to him, and I am prepared to provide her with everything needed for marriage," he added.
Zaidi's gesture has struck a chord across the Arab world, where President Bush is widely despised for invading Iraq in 2003 and for his support for Israel.
Amal is a student in the media faculty at Minya University in central Egypt.
Zaidi's response to the proposal was not immediately clear.

What a great society: Offering children like you would give a gift. Then again, there are some days when I would like to give my son away.

[Le Goat]

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b178/chknfaqr/InTheLineofFire.gif