The Bush/Cheney Legacy summed up in two words: Thrown Shoes

A related practice is shoe tossing onto trees or fences. Shoe tossing has been observed in areas of the United States, Canada, Britain, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Ireland, Israel, Romania, and yes Iraq and Afghanistan. [Since there’s been hardly any reports of shoe throwing at our troops in Iraq, compared to the recent incident with President Bush and mixed reaction to it. We may rejoice in the comfort that at least the Iraqis have more respect for our troops that they do Saddam Hussein or George W. Bush].

I leave you with this thought and the following entertaining story, "wonder what will be thrown at President Barrack Obama in Iraq come four years from now? Flowers or shoes."

Robert L. Hanafin
Major, U.S. Air Force-Retired
Staff Writer, VT

In the Arab world, shoe flinging is a gesture of extreme disrespect. A notable occurrence of this gesture happened in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. When U.S. forces pulled down a giant statue of Saddam Hussein during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, many Iraqi detractors of Hussein threw their shoes at the fallen statue.

This may be an ancient gesture from the Middle East; Psalms 60:8, speaking of some of the traditional enemies of Judah, says that "Moab is my wash pot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe…." (King James Version of the Bible)

The president visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to his successor, Barack Obama, who has pledged to end the Iraq occupation. The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence [not the throwing of shoes] and to celebrate a recent U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which calls for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.

"The war is not over," Bush said, [except almost for me] but "it is decisively on its way to being won."

Bush then traveled to Afghanistan where he spoke to U.S. soldiers and Marines at a hangar on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base. The rally for over a thousand military personnel took place in the dark, cold pre-dawn hours. Bush was greeted by loud cheers from the troops.

"Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago," he said. "We are making hopeful gains."

But the president’s message on progress in the region was having trouble competing with the videotaped image of the angry Iraqi who hurled his shoes at Bush in a near-miss, shouting in Arabic, "This is your farewell kiss, you dog!" The reporter was later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.

In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam with their shoes after U.S. Marines toppled it to the ground following the 2003 invasion.

Reaction in Iraq was swift but mixed, with some condemning the act and others applauding it. Television news stations throughout Iraq repeatedly showed footage of the incident, and newspapers carried headline stories. [Despite Iraqi government attempts to put out the fire, Arab hatred for George Bush far surpassed Saddam Hussein and it sells, it’s profitable, like patrioitism and nationalism sells here in America].

In Baghdad’s Shiite slum of Sadr City, supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for protests against President Bush and demanded the release of the reporter, who was jailed after throwing his shoes. Thousands took to the streets Monday, chanting, "Bush, Bush, listen well: Two shoes on your head [in hell]."

The Iraqi government condemned the act and demanded an on-air apology from Al-Baghdadia television, the Iraqi-owned station that employs Muntadar al-Zeidi. The reporter was taken into custody and reportedly was being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s guards and is being tested for alcohol and drugs.[Translation tortured].

"It harmed the reputation of Iraqi journalists and Iraqi journalism in general," according to a statement released by the [Iraqi] government.

Other Arab journalists and commentators, fed up with U.S. policy in the Middle East and Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam, echoed al-Zeidi’s sentiments. Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the influential London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote on the newspaper’s Web site that the incident was "a proper goodbye for a war criminal."

After word spread of the shoe attack, Afghan reporters had gathered at the presidential palace in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, before a news conference by Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Some of the reporters — a collegial bunch that sees one another several times a week — egged on one of their colleagues, jokingly trying to pressure the television reporter into taking off his shoe and hurling it once the U.S. president arrived. He did not.

Karzai’s deputy spokesman, Saimak Herwai, told Afghan reporters that they had to address Bush as "His Excellency," an honorary title not typically used with U.S. presidents. [Or risk Bush-style QITMO punishment] The request was followed by some, not by others.

Bush then took a helicopter ride to Kabul. After meeting [with Karzai], Bush told Karzai: "You can count on the United States. Just like you’ve been able to count on this administration, you’ll be able to count on the next administration as well."
The mixed reactions to Bush in both countries emphasized the uncertain situations Bush is leaving behind in the region.

In Iraq, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops remain protecting the fragile democracy. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died and $576 billion has been spent since the war began five years and nine months ago. The Bush administration and even White House critics credit last year’s military buildup with the security gains in Iraq. Last month, attacks fell to the lowest monthly level since the war began in 2003.

[What are the real reasons for this? Has Al Qaeda-Iraq plus other extremists been beaten to near destruction or are they laying low monitoring the U.S. political race and outcome in order to reconsolidate their efforts in 2009 in both Iraq and Afghanistan? How many recruits and draftees [well they really do not need THE DRAFT to get the volunteers they need] has any group in opposition to the American presence in both nations been able to recruit during this sabbatical in low number of attacks? Do we really believe the bad guys (patriots in their eyes) are doing absolutely nothing? Hopefully, Obama is getting reliable and truthful intelligence on what Al Qaeda in Iraq and others have been up to as U.S. troops increased in Iraq. Frankly, I believe they took a breather to rearm, recruit, and raise funds. Otherwise, why is the Pentagon, CIA, or whomever coming out with intelligence reports telling our government and the American people, we have achieved some sort of victory in at least wiping out all who resist us].

In Afghanistan, there are about 31,000 U.S. troops and commanders have called for up to 20,000 more. The fight is especially difficult in southern Afghanistan, a stronghold of the Taliban where violence has risen sharply this year.

It was Bush’s last trip to the war zones before Obama takes office Jan. 20.

Obama Promises:

Obama, a Democrat, promised he will bring all U.S. combat troops back home from Iraq a little over a year into his term, as long as commanders agree a withdrawal would not endanger American personnel or Iraq’s security. [OPPS – pothole, I mean loophole up ahead] Obama has said the drawdown in Iraq would allow him to shift troops and bolster the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. [So much for the dwell time that Senator Webb from Virginia wants, and our ground troops desparately need, but as long as there are volunteers willing to go on endless combat tours, while the rest of American youth skates, why not send them from the frying pan into the fire].

It’s unclear what will happen in Iraq when the U.S. troops leave.

[Depends on how many leave, how many stay, and how many more Iraqis will be ready to throw shoes at Obama should he visit Iraq, but I frankly do not foresee any more shoe throwing. What will be done to that reporter who saw democracy being spread to Iraq as leverage to throw shoes at the President of the United States, has quickly learned that the 1st Amendment has limitations, and does not apply in Iraq. Not a reporter in the U.S. would get away with throwing shoes at an American President, but American reporters would not be subject to the kind of torture this Iraqi reporter is most likely going through that would make what our government has blessed [water boarding] seen humane in comparison]. While violence has slowed in Iraq, attacks continue, especially in the north.

After the shoe-throwing incident, White House press secretary Dana Perino suffered an eye injury when she was hit in the face with a microphone during the melee.

Bush, who has grown used to protests of his Iraq policy, brushed off the incident. He said, "So what if a guy threw his shoe at me?"

[So much for Bush’s understanding or Iraqi culture or even caring, since they are only Hadjis].

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
For more in-depth story and video of the thrown shoe escapade go to:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081215/ap_on_re_as/bush

Related stories and Sources:
On the origins, fads, and customs of shoe tossing see:
http://www.shoefiti.com/
http://www.bdb.co.za/shackle/articles/fences.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juntura,_Oregon
Urban legend
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/shoetrees2.html
http://newcastlephotos.blogspot.com/2005/12/armstrong-park.html
http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=847&event=shoes
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2003/04/21/38692
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/08/09/68675
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Children%27s_games

For shoe throwing as an insult see over 1,070,000 Arabic and English links at Google:
http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2&q=shoe+throwing+as+an+insult&btnG=Search

That’s 1,070,000 reasons why America must change it’s [Bush/Cheney/Lieberman] image and behavior in the Arab world. If I had added several other international languages, the number of hits on Google would have quadrupled into the trillions.