Bush goes to Iraq, man throws shoes at him, calling him dog

[Phileas Fogg]

I watched the video on TV, it was so funny Here is an article about it anyway:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi reporter called visiting U.S. President George W. Bush a "dog" in Arabic on Sunday and threw his shoes at him during a news conference in Baghdad.

Iraqi security officers and U.S. secret service agents leapt at the man and dragged him struggling and screaming out of the room where Bush was giving a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

The shoes missed their target about 15 feet (4.5 metres) away. One sailed over Bush's head as he stood next to Maliki and smacked into the wall behind him. Bush smiled uncomfortably and Maliki looked strained.
"It doesn't bother me," Bush said, urging everyone to calm down as a ruckus broke out in the conference room.

When asked about the incident shortly after, Bush made light of it. "I didn't feel the least threatened by it," he said.

Other Iraqi journalists apologised on behalf of their colleague, a television journalist.

Bush arrived in Baghdad earlier on Sunday on a farewell visit before he leaves office in January. The U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein triggered years of sectarian bloodshed and insurgency in Iraq, killing tens of thousands.

(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldN...4BD1EX20081214

And here is the video of the incident:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...23089#28223089

Bush is fine in dodging shoes. That is one thing he is good at.

[Каие]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/7782422.stm

We know what one man thinks of George bush. He thought so ill of him, and so angry he threw his shoes at him. The question though is what will the Iraqi people think of him? What will his legacy amongst the Iraqi people be? Does that man speak for Iraqis?

Threads merged, my bad.

---------------

Iraqi liberal democracy wins. Again.

Shoe thrower beaten to a pulp in custody, rips broken, eye mashed.

Is facing charges of 'insulting President & Prime Minister Maliki' which carries 2 year jail penalty, and a maybe even a charge of 'attempted murder' of 15 years.

In other words...Iraqi western liberal democracy epic fails.

[Heinz Guderian]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/7782422.stm

We know what one man thinks of George bush. He thought so ill of him, and so angry he threw his shoes at him. The question though is what will the Iraqi people think of him? What will his legacy amongst the Iraqi people be? Does that man speak for Iraqis?

did a secret service guy dive in front of him in slow motion shouting "nooooooooooooo!" and thus saving the Pres?

the Iraqi government will probably put a drill in his knee.

edit: why cant Iraqis shoot straight?

[Каие]

did a secret service guy dive in front of him in slow motion shouting "nooooooooooooo!" and thus saving the Pres?

Watch the video, nope. Bush did a matrix though.

the Iraqi government will probably put a drill in his knee.

That's exactly what my mum said.

[Primvs Sextvs Loverlord]

did a secret service guy dive in front of him in slow motion shouting "nooooooooooooo!" and thus saving the Pres?

the Iraqi government will probably put a drill in his knee.

edit: why cant Iraqis shoot straight?

(Too bad I can't rep you!)

The thing is that the journalist didn't want to hit Bush with a shoe. Throwing your shoe at someone is a show of anger and disgust.

At least someone in Iraq has some dignity left. Good work.

[mrmouth]

You know, I asked an Iraqi man who owns a PC repair shop in Fallujah, who I email back and forth with, "If Iraq ever becomes a stable democracy, that will likely be a fairly wealthy stable democracy at that, would it be worth the sectarian deaths?"

His answer was yes.

See its doesn't really matter what you read or see in the news, because for many reasons you will never really get any true sentiment. Its hard for people who have been invaded and occupied, especially in that part of the world where pride is everything, to express their true feelings. Often its negative, when behind closed doors its much more hopeful, and positive. Its just the way things are done there.

I think a better representation would be voting numbers.

Iraqis have an almost supernatural ability to forgive. So if Iraq ever does truly stabilize and become what it can be, no matter how long that takes, the Iraqis will forgive whatever mistake we made, and recognize the sacrifices we made for them. In the end though, will the ever increasingly liberal world be able to do the same? Or 30 years from now will we still be plagued with threads about how we stole their oil, which just isn't happening now...

Its completely possible that the people who actually had to live through this will turn the page, and the rest of the world will not. Just ask the Vietnamese.

[Rapax]

You know, I asked an Iraqi man who owns a PC repair shop in Fallujah, who I email back and forth with, "If Iraq ever becomes a stable democracy, that will likely be a fairly wealthy stable democracy at that, would it be worth the sectarian deaths?"

His answer was yes.

I think the relevant part of this is the "If".

Love the video, I'm sure someone in the Secret Service will get yelled at for that. I mean really, the guy not only gets to throw one shoe at the president, but two! Don't they know the dangers?

[mrmouth]

I think the relevant part of this is the "If".

no

[Rapax]

no

Exactly.
If I become a billionaire and get to supermodels every day I probably wouldn't mind getting my hand hacked off either.

[Heinz Guderian]

You know, I asked an Iraqi man who owns a PC repair shop in Fallujah, who I email back and forth with, "If Iraq ever becomes a stable democracy, that will likely be a fairly wealthy stable democracy at that, would it be worth the sectarian deaths?"
.

was he prevented from leaving his own city when the US forces surrounded it because he was of military age?

did he know any of the at least 6000 civillians killed in the second attack?

did his PC repair shop get bomber by F-15s when his city was "pacified"? There is a one in two chance that it did.

did he get any white phosphorus in his hair and did he manage to wash it off?

Did he like getting a biometric ID card from the Americans that would allow him to enter and leave his own city?

does he have any idea what the Geneva Conventions are?

[GeneralLee]

was he prevented from leaving his own city when the US forces surrounded it because he was of military age?

did he know any of the at least 6000 civillians killed in the second attack?

did his PC repair shop get bomber by F-15s when his city was "pacified"? There is a one in two chance that it did.

did he get any white phosphorus in his hair and did he manage to wash it off?

Did he like getting a biometric ID card from the Americans that would allow him to enter and leave his own city?

does he have any idea what the Geneva Conventions are?

And how would you have taken the city thrown tissues at it? That it was taken with as little loss of life as there was is a miracle. I would like to see the German army try it but everyone seems to prefer watching us do the work.

[Central Asian Qaghan]

And how would you have taken the city thrown tissues at it? That it was taken with as little loss of life as there was is a miracle. I would like to see the German army try it but everyone seems to prefer watching us do the work.

Yep they sure do. They like watching the US make fools of themselves while they bomb weddings and killing innocent famlies at checkpoints.

[GeneralLee]

Yep they sure do. They like watching the US make fools of themselves while they bomb weddings and killing innocent famlies at checkpoints.

The Turkish army is only the pinnacle of precision and professionalism.

[GrnEyedDvl]

did his PC repair shop get bomber by F-15s when his city was "pacified"? There is a one in two chance that it did.

One out of every two buildings destroyed?? bah

Sensationalism.

[Oswald von Wolkenstein]

One out of every two buildings destroyed?? bah

Sensationalism.

It's looks like a rehash of accusations from 2005 which were discredited:

On Nov. 8, 2005 Italian public television showed a documentary renewing persistent charges that the United States had used white phosphorus rounds, incendiary munitions that the film incorrectly called chemical weapons, against Iraqis in Falluja last year. Many civilians died of burns, the report said. The half-hour film was riddled with errors and exaggerations, according to United States officials and independent military experts. But the State Department and Pentagon have so bungled their response - making and then withdrawing incorrect statements about what American troops really did when they fought a pitched battle against insurgents in the rebellious city - that the charges have produced dozens of stories in the foreign news media and on Web sites suggesting that the Americans used banned weapons and tried to cover it up.
The Iraqi government has announced an investigation, and a United Nations spokeswoman has expressed concern.
"It's discredited the American military without any basis in fact," said John E. Pike, an expert on weapons who runs GlobalSecurity.org, an independent clearinghouse for military information. He said the "stupidity and incompetence" of official comments had fueled suspicions of a cover-up.
"The story most people around the world have is that the Americans are up to their old tricks - committing atrocities and lying about it," Mr. Pike said. "And that's completely incorrect."

[Heinz Guderian]

One out of every two buildings destroyed?? bah

Sensationalism.

The Americans surely wouldnt destroy a city to save it right? That would be totally unamerican.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2005Apr18.html

Nearly all of the city's estimated 250,000 residents fled before the fighting started, and about 90,000 have returned to find wide swaths of the town in ruin. More than half of Fallujah's 39,000 homes were damaged, and about 10,000 of those were destroyed or left structurally unsound to live in, U.S. officials say. Limited food and fuel supplies mean higher prices and lines that can reach 100 cars at government gas stations.

many other sources say 70% of the buildings suffered damage or destruction. But they come from crazy left wing sources like the New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent or the BBC.

So i choose to use The Washy Post. More than a 50% chance that the d00d's PC Repair Shop/IED Factory got turned inside out.

P.S. bah yourself.

[Viking Prince]

The Americans surely wouldnt destroy a city to save it right? That would be totally unamerican.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2005Apr18.html

many other sources say 70% of the buildings suffered damage or destruction. But they come from crazy left wing sources like the New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent or the BBC.

So i choose to use The Washy Post. More than a 50% chance that the d00d's PC Repair Shop/IED Factory got turned inside out.

P.S. bah yourself.

Are we debating two concepts -- you show over 50% damaged and the other post claims over 50% destroyed.

The problem with the damaged statement is that does not actually show the degree of damage.

I think that we can agree that when an enemy digs in for urban warfare -- a great deal of the urban setting will be seriously damaged.

[Lord Consul]

Its completely possible that the people who actually had to live through this will turn the page, and the rest of the world will not. Just ask the Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese are so forgiving because they won. They managed to conquer South Vietnam and reunify the country.

However, those in the losing end of a conflict are not usually so willing to forgive. Ask Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and others who suffered from American intervention and occupation and did not have the political organization and willpower to throw the invaders out.

In the end, it will come down to what you said. If Iraq becomes a stable democracy, then all the hardships will be forgotten in the long run. Otherwise...

[mrmouth]

The Vietnamese are so forgiving because they won.

Ask Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and others who suffered from American intervention and occupation and did not have the political organization and willpower to throw the invaders out.

In the end, it will come down to what you said. If Iraq becomes a stable democracy, then all the hardships will be forgotten in the long run. Otherwise...

Im speaking of the South Vietnamese. I mean, how did we do any wrong to the North?

The South Vietnamese didn't win anything. They felt abandoned, and justifiably so. Tens of thousands of South Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Lao Hmong were summarily executed for aiding the US.

Yet today you can visit those countries without any reason to fear for your safety because of our past relations with them.

As far as those other countries you named that we raped and pillaged, aside from Mexico, I don't even know why you mentioned Mexico, there are still strong debates about those interventions, because its simply too difficult to assign a 'right' or 'wrong' tag.

Haiti:
In 1914 the Haitian government was in turmoil, following years of presidential assassinations and mass executions. Some Haitians were so desperate, they resorted to suicide. World War I was also starting, and the Americans feared that the Germans might try to overtake the island of Hispanola in order to block the Windward Passage, an important shipping channel between Haiti and Cuba.

Because they felt threatened, the Americans wanted to make their presence known on the island.

On July 28, 1915, the opportunity came. Haiti’s president, Jean Vilbran Guillaume Sam, executed 160 Haitian prisoners. In response, a mob of protesters tore off his limbs. Upon hearing of yet another presidential assassination in Haiti, the U.S. military decided to act, invading the country and altering the government.

They trained the Haitian police, rewrote the constitution, and seized the nation’s gold. With the help of prison labor and public workers, they also built hospitals, clinics, roads, and modern sewage systems.

The U.S. believed their actions would help Haiti, but the Haitians felt like prisoners in their own land. They stood up to the Americans by forming two rebel groups. Charlemange Perault led the northern Haitians and Benoit Batraville led the Artibonites, coming from the basin surrounding the Artibonite River. The conflict that followed cost the U.S. lots of money and the Haitians 2,000 lives.

The U.S. fought hard, decimating the armed rebel factions and leaving only journalistic opposition. However, the Americans’ racism hindered the subsequent peace between the two countries. The U.S. would only deal diplomatically with the mullato class, not with the black community which made up 95 percent of the population. Black Haitians felt wronged by this practice, but had no leader to voice their frustrations.

As far as Nicaragua, which situation are you eluding to, early in the last century where we prevented a civil war, or Iran-Contra?

[Lord Consul]

Im speaking of the South Vietnamese. I mean, how did we do any wrong to the North?

The South Vietnamese didn't win anything. They felt abandoned, and justifiably so. Tens of thousands of South Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Lao Hmong were summarily executed for aiding the US.

Yet today you can visit those countries without any reason to fear for your safety because of our past relations with them.

As far as those other countries you named that we raped and pillaged, aside from Mexico, I don't even know why you mentioned Mexico, there are still strong debates about those interventions, because its simply too difficult to assign a 'right' or 'wrong' tag.

I'm not talking right or wrong here or whether the interventions were justified or not. Regardless of the reasons behind such actions, what I intended to say was: the people of the aforementioned countries do hold some sort of grudge against Americans.

As for the North Vietnamese, they were bombed daily and suffered heavy casualties, yet they "won", so they think matter has been settled. It's easier for the victor to forgive.