al-Zaidi
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You shouldn’t throw shoes at speakers at public events, especially not foreign heads of state. But the Mutander al-Zaidi situation in Iraq is a nice encapsulation of how divergent the Iraqi understanding of the war is from the one that still prevails among American elites:
As Parliament began to discuss legislation on the withdrawal from Iraq of armed forces from nations other than the United States, a group of lawmakers demanded that the legislature instead take up the issue of the detained journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, 29. After his shoes narrowly missed Mr. Bush’s head at the news conference on Sunday, Mr. Zaidi was subdued by a fellow journalist and then beaten by members of the prime minister’s security detail, who hauled him out of the room. Mr. Zaidi’s cries could be heard from a nearby room.
The legislative session became so tumultuous that it prompted the speaker of Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, to announce his resignation, according to The Associated Press. A spokesman for Mr. Mashhadani, Jabar al-Mashhadani, refused to confirm whether the speaker had tendered his resignation, although he would not deny it.
Some in Parliament say the government should release Mr. Zaidi immediately, while others say the judiciary should decide his fate.
It will be better for everyonewhen we’re gone.
27 Responses to “al-Zaidi”
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December 17th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
“Under the Obama-Biden plan, a residual force will remain in Iraq and in the region to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda in Iraq and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel.”
(emphasis added)
December 17th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Boy, it sure is a good thing we toppled Saddam Hussein, so that Iraqis no longer have to suffer government brutality anymore.
December 17th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Normally I hold no brief for PM Nouri al-Maliki, however his problem is that Saddam remains the standard for Iraqi strongmen. Everybody knows what would have been done to a shoe-thrower when Saddam was in power. So Maliki (who probably secretly harbors a desire to do the same thing al-Zaidi did) has to be tough or look powerless.
Meanwhile, demonstrators are marching for al-Zaidi and the parliament is in chaos. Maliki must be wishing Bush had just left Iraq off the itinerary of his fiasco farewell tour.
December 17th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Couldn’t we get Blackwater or Halliburton a contract for Nerf shoes to be handed out for safe throwing material at press briefings? I’m sure they could proven several pair for only a few billion in cash pallets.
December 17th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Heh, heh. I think that guy is about a size ten. Heh.
December 17th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Ingrates! For such an insult, we should invade their country and topple their press!
December 17th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
al-Zaidi looks like a high school kid who hasn’t learned how to shave yet.
December 17th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Awesome.
We’ve gone from a place where the only Iraqi who hated us was Saddam, to a place where pretty much everybody in Iraq hates us.
I utterly fail to see how this has made us more secure. Or was worth $900 billion.
Also, it is yet another sign of Bush’s failures as a leader that he doesn’t publicly ask the Iraqi leadership to pardon this man. As a personal favor to him.
December 17th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I look for Mr. Mutander al-Zaidi to have a sterling future in Iraqi politics. He will probably be the next Prime Minister.
December 17th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I agree that al-Zaidi could have a future in politics, and disagree with Matt’s judgment of his action. It was an excellent act of civil disobedience, and touched just the right chord around the world. Of course, if Matt were to say this he would be on some sort of bad list here in the U.S.
Can anyone think of how the brutalized Iraqis could have more effectively communicated their grievances?
December 17th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
You shouldn’t throw shoes at speakers at public events, especially not foreign heads of state.
Really? Why not?
December 17th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
“Can anyone think of how the brutalized Iraqis could have more effectively communicated their grievances?”
Yeah, but if I said it I’d be arrested for threatening the President and sent to Guantanamo (or maybe Iraq).
December 18th, 2008 at 1:00 am
You shouldn’t throw shoes at speakers at public events, especially not foreign heads of state.
Even war criminals with the blood of many thousands on their hands, who have lead regimes of torture and aggression? What about Milosevic or Pinochet? How far does the shoe-proof bubble extend?
December 18th, 2008 at 1:28 am
I think the point is that the shoe-proof bubble is like the presumption of innocence; we don’t do it out of regard for the criminals . . .
December 18th, 2008 at 2:10 am
One man threw a shoe at another man. Then he threw another shoe. Both shoes missed.
Another man started a war and many many people were killed.
Q: Which man will spend more time in prison?
December 18th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Heck, I suspect that Bush told the Iraqi government they’d better throw the book at this guy or else.
December 18th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
So, do we know if Bush heard this guy’s screams during the remainder of the press conference with Maliki and just stood up there and did nothing?
I’d like to know.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Yes we do know, Bob. Take a look at this video which includes the minutes immediately after al-Zaidi threw his shoes. It clearly includes what happened to al_Zaidi and Bush’s reaction.
http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2008/12/save_muntader_alzaidi.html
December 24th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Al Zaidi is a Hero i have ever seen since 2001. What he does was against Some Moneymakers Like Bush, but not American society!
I supprt him!
December 24th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I completely agree with Al Zaidi, who is ma hero. he has done the best what he can do. Bush deserves this big shame, Bush has not seen any difficulties but Iraqi people are suffering a lot because of Bush.
I hope there will be many Al Zaidis soon!
December 26th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Let me see if I have this correct, under Sadam the minority population had all the political power, tortured its civilians, went to war with Iran, lost over 1 million lives, and the United States is Satan?
Under Sadam, you would have been tortured and killed for throwing shoes at a world leader, the US has spent 1 trillion dollars on a country that is full of ungrateful, backward tribes and people who deserve everything that Sadam could have thrown at them. Uday the son, now that would have been a great successor to the father. Just ask the Iraqi Olympic team, oh yea,, they were killed.
So please, Mathew, keep it up, one day you may be in jail with the other liberals and cowards.
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