Subscribe
Notify of
65 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Most of the Iraqi blogs I visit are rather anti-Bush and express the expected praise for Muntadhar. But get a load of this series of reactions printed in the NYTimes, and by way of A Soldier’s Perspective:

In the city of Kut– In the provincial capital of Wasit Province, residents took issue with the Iraqi journalist’s methods and felt that he had insulted Iraqis.

Haider Ali al-Seray, 25, said: “What he has done is improper within our Islamic Iraqi society. Whatever his motive is, Bush was a guest in the state of Iraq. We demand that the prime minister issue restrictions for the reporters in order that this will never happen again.”

Ali Hassan Zweyid, a 30-year-old day laborer, said: “They say that Iraq is a democratic state. Morally speaking, he would have better asking Bush some provocative questions to provoke him and despise him.”

Qasim Abdul Ridha, a 37-year-old teacher, said: “What he has done is improper within the profession of journalism. He conducted an aggression against the flag of Iraq. The democracy is not shoes. We demand the government prosecute him.”

In the city of Karbala – In the holy city that is a main destination for Shiite pilgrims, residents were split on the shoe-hurtling.

Abu Qasim, 47, said: “What this journalist did is an act of street kids, because he doesn’t know that without America, Saddam wouldn’t have fallen — not for tens of years.”

Abu Sura, 43, called it “rash action that doesn’t fit with his profession, which is supposed to be moderate and neutral as it brings the facts to the people.”

Abu Ali, 48, said: “I congratulate this brave man who expressed the opinion of most of the Iraqis.”

In the city of Basra – Iraqis in the oil-rich southern port city of Basra, residents agreed with the Iraqi journalist’s low opinion of President Bush, but not with his actions.

Sayyd Basim al-Musawi, a member in Basra provincial council and the chief of the security committee said: “Professionally, it wasn’t suitable for him as a journalist because there are many democratic expressions that he could have used, like interrupting Bush’s speech during the conference or making noise, but the shoes express the low moral level.”

Dhyaa Mahdi Salih, a 56-year-old lawyer, said: “What this brave journalist did is nothing but rejecting the tyrants in our country. And this journalist deserves to have a statue as he was throwing his shoe at the American president.”

Saeed Naji al-Ibadi, a 49-year-old pharmacist, said: “There’s a reaction against this journalist and his improper behavior as he represents the journalists and educated people in our society. Because he should have rejected the American president with his pen or by embarrassing him with his smart questions, not with his shoes. I totally reject this behavior because it will damage the rights of individuals.”

Nasir Mahmood al-Bahadli, 52, an academic said: “We are Arabs and we have a good reputation in hospitality with enemies before friends. The American president also was accompanying the man who represents the Iraqi government and this made it worse because this journalist also abused the prime minister with his behavior.”

In the city of Baquba – In the largely Sunni Arab capital of Diyala Province, many residents were critical of the journalist.

Saeed Shakir al-Sayyd, a 40-year-old teacher, said: “Freedom and democracy should be explained in a correct way. I think what Muntader al-Zaidi did is incorrect and not professional… He’s a journalist and deals with the language of words, and not throwing the shoes and cursing. This man was wrong.”

Nawal Jaafer, 30, said: “Yes, we all hate America because it destroyed Iraq and distributed sectarianism among its people. I think what al-Zaidi did is a real expression on what’s hidden in the hearts of the Iraqis.”

Karim Muan al-Qaisi, a 50-year-old merchant, said: “Despite my hatred of Bush, he’s a president for a big country and a guest for the Iraqi government. And we as Easterners think insulting the guest is an insult for the host. Despite our hatred of the guest, there should be respect and diplomacy.”

Bilal Midhat Hussein, a 44-year-old photographer, said: “It’s not in the nature of the Iraqis to insult anyone — even their enemies. I was a soldier during the Iraqi-Iranian war and we arrested many Iranian soldiers who killed our colleagues, but we never insulted them. And that’s just a simple example of the big mistake of yesterday because this journalist insulted all the rest of the journalists. Because none of the Arab journalists would have dared to do so because they already know the consequences.”

In the city of Ramadi (of all places) – In the capital of Anbar’s largely Sunni western province of Ramadi, some residents condemned the attack.

Ahmad Jeyyad, 36, a professor in the college of agriculture in Anbar University, said: “What we have seen in TV is more than an action by a journalist. It was an action by an Iraqi citizen who lost his mind because of the woes of occupations. My family clapped when they saw the shoe. They praise Muntader for his action, but we do not know the reasons behind it. He may have had one of his family arrested by American forces or he may have political affiliations or other reasons.”

Ahmad Abu Risha, the head of Sahwa Council in Iraq, said: “We condemn what happened because the American president is the guest of all Iraqis. The Iraqi government has to choose good journalists to attend such conferences.”

He added, “I had attended the White House and there were reporters known as White House’s reporters. So why are there not well known professional reporters be chosen for such tasks?

“On the other hand, Muntader insulted Iraqi journalists. We are calling for his channel to apologize.” He added that “in spite of everything, we are demanding to release Muntader.”

Ahmad Jbaeir, a 25-year-old law school student, said: “I was very glad when I saw the shoe on TV. I do not care even if he was a journalist or an ordinary citizen, but he expressed the feelings of Iraqis who hate Bush because he killed us. So we are demanding his release.”

Saddam Loqman, a 21-year-old shopkeeper, said: “My father was arrested by Americans and I wish I [could have thrown the shoe] instead, but if I was a journalist, then I have to respect the occupation when I get to the conference hall.” Then he laughed and said, “I think that the Iraqi government will permit journalists to attend conferences only after taking their shoes off.”

Haitham al-Kood, 30, said: “I think Muntader was paid for his action. He has to be pushed by some side. We are demanding the government to prevent such actions. And if only Maliki was in the conference, then Muntader would be dead, but fortunately Bush was in the conference too and he said ‘it is the price of freedom.’”

It’s also good to see that Bush still has his combat pilot’s quick reaction. Did you see that duck and weave?!

Also found at A Soldier’s Perspective:

I seriously wonder what was going on with his personal security detail. That was totally unacceptable!

In an effort to keep the puns rolling; Just goes to show that Bush is better at ducking shoes than Obama is at ducking serious issues/questions.

Thanks for that vid Word-man. It amply points out how ignorant & naive the lib Koolaid drinkers like Andrea Buffa of United for Peace & Justice are on the issue of Iraq. Just as the opinions from a cross-section of actual Iraqi’s well disputes the moonbat blanket statement that all Iraqi’s hate Bush and America.

Before commenting on what our government has done to Iraq viewing that video first should be a requirement. It shows the mass graves of innocent Iraqi civilians Saddam tested his WMD chemical weapons on uncovered by our forces. That was the very reason Hussien was convicted and hanged by the Iraqi courts. I defy those who pretend to be for human rights when it comes to terrorists, whom would do the same to other innocents if granted the opportunity, to explain why they choose to look away from the crimes perpetrated by such animals and want to erect a kangaroo court system which would release them to do more of the same.

What if Bush had chosen to take similar actions domestically against socialist and anarchists enclaves in our own country? Against the hordes of gang members that freely commit crimes on our urban streets? Or made war against those of a different culture or religious following as Saddam did in Iraq? Would you take up arms as illegal combatants/insurgents against other countries if they felt a need to topple him and restore democracy? Or would you cower under your beds until you thought it was safe enough for your weaselly butts to emerge and protest against your government and the liberators?

Could an administration do such a thing? That’s what concerns some of us on the Conservative side. And we actually have valid reasons for this concern because we saw something similar enacted by the Clinton administration. Do you remember Waco? Yes it was a religious cult much like Black Liberation Theology is a cult. Explain what their crimes were? Why it was necessary for those 80-100 people, including children, to perish in fire when the Clintonista’s (to use a Limbaugh term) led by Janet Reno became too impatient to wait for them to surrender quietly and forced entry. From what I’ve been able to glean from what the Clinton administration released and our “so trustworthy media” was telling us, justifications were the

unproven

allegations that;

1) the leader was having sex with underage teen and preteen girls (i.e. statutory rape).
2) A hearsay phone call from a clergy in Australia that claimed parents of a cult member called him to report it could turn out to be another Jonestown-like suicide cult.
3) Calls from another Australian anonymous source to the ATF that the Koresh group was stockpiling weapons.

http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=133
http://www.spirituallysmart.com/waco.html

Were any of these allegations proven before they were ordered in?
No.

Were personnel in the Clinton administration arrested, indicted, or tried for Waco by the courts, as libs would have Bush tried for Iraq?
No.

Did any impeachments arise out of this?
No.

Was the media ever taken to task for not reporting the truth and misleading the country?
No. If fact they’ve become even more blatant in it.

And now 15+ years later liberals can’t understand how conservatives are feeling a little bit queasy that Obama, with ties to socialists, former terrorists, corruption, & racists, is bringing back a lot of the old Clinton cronies to work alongside his in the Obamination of America?

Going back to the silly-ass reporter, his idea was obviously to get photos of Bush being HIT by the shoes, then capture Bush’s humiliating facial expression or crouch that will stay in western photographic media for all time. Like Saddam being hung on video or looking like a beggar when he was caught.

BUT the reporter TOTALLY FAILED due to Bush’s quick reactions and physical coordination. All we can see is Bush CALMLY dodging the shoes and never taking his eye of the reporter. We never see Bush’s left hand, he might have been thinking of going for his firearm(I think ankle holster). Only, it turned out to be just shoes. Everyone in the media is saying, “good duck”, even those who hate Bush.

The reporter wasn’t expresssing anger, he was mainly trying to HUMILIATE Bush and have it captured on media for posterity. HE FAILED. SAD STORY.

He is lucky Bush did not CATCH the shoes and THROW them BACK at him.

Come on, this reporter is a coward. Do we think he would have the guts to throw shoes at Saddam and his sons????. He would be forced to eat shoes until he bursts. But when there is freedom and democracy in Iraq, then he throws shoes. Silly no-balls Ass.

Anyway, Bush has cemented his legacy as the leader of the liberation in Iraq. Obama won’t even come close to that. In any case if shoes are thrown at Obie, he can just open his mouth and the shoes will vanish into it.

Yes, I agree Waco was a disgrace.
It’s disgusting that there was no effective inquiry or investigation into this criminal genocide.

Hmm. I think my post on this from yesterday giving a little more info on this particular reporter and his associations might have ended up in the spam filter:

Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

Could somebody check on it for me? THX

Hey Rocky B. Just tapped in, and whenever I’m online, I try to monitor the spam and moderation filters. There was 397 in there. Took a while to go thru the 20 pages of spam and did pull a couple of yours out, and one from Ms. Warp’ed (always have to bail her out… and I do wonder why I bother sometimes… :0)

I don’t know if you got caught in a batch someone may have dumped en masse. Takes a while to go thru them, and the spam has been exceptionally heavy of late. My suggestion is to keep a cyber “post it” handy on your desk top. If your comment disappears, and you can’t seem to get it posted, at least you’ll have a copy to try again. And change some of the wording in it so it doesn’t view it the same. That has sometimes worked before.

But sorry if it disappeared into the cyber black hole of posts…

~~~

Word, thanks for the article on Iraqi “man on the street” comments. At least seven of them agree with me that the journalist was unprofessional, and an insult to the ideals of the profession. As I said, all standards that make him a “shoe in for MSNBC”. Perhaps Olbermeister is looking for a sidekick?

What Bush should have done is laughed at the guy and said: “You throw like an Iranian”. 🙂

Good one Tony…

Especially since the guy is probably working for the Iranians.

But if Bush had said that the lefties would be saying he was being needlessly provocative!

@MataHarley:

Word, thanks for the article on Iraqi “man on the street” comments. At least seven of them agree with me that the journalist was unprofessional, and an insult to the ideals of the profession.

Here’s a great piece by Ralph Peters, Mata. I think it’s spot on…..plus, gotta love more puns.

@MataHarley:

As I said, all standards that make him a “shoe in for MSNBC”. Perhaps Olbermeister is looking for a sidekick?

Maybe…only if Al-Baghdadia channel gives him the boot. 😉

OWWWW! Got hit by that flying pun! :0) Good shot, Wordsmith.

Yeah, I saw the Ralph Peters bit in the NY Post today. You forgot to provide the link, so I did it here after the fact for others to enjoy.

Thanks Mata;
I’ve been trying to copy and paste posts into a notebook file just in case something like that happens and take them out if they appear. Forget to do so before hitting send once in a while but did on that one so here it is:

Hmm… Seems this reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi of Cairo based al- Baghdadiya television station has shown up as being the topic of news story before:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19159708.htm

Was it just staged for a little publicity? Or was it real, yet when his captors realized who they had they let him go? A little background on his TV station.
http://eyeraki.blogspot.com/2007/01/al-baghdadiya_15.html

The station is part of the liberal Worldwide Press Freedom Organization and Reporters Without Borders, both agencies are viewed with some suspicion and even contempt by Iraqi officials and other regional government officials. Here’s a typical media take on Reporters Without Borders (http://www.roastfrog.net/?p=258):

Reporters Without Borders is an international organisation which defends press freedom around the world, partly through activism and partly through collecting the type of information designed to embarrass people and governments.

In other words, these media types just love to spin a story. They pander to dissidents by insulting government officials then crying foul on freedom of speech should they be arrested or brought in for questioning. If a border is closed by the government, they’ll try to break through it. These reporters often hold a grudge against U.S. forces in Iraq because some of their members have been detained upon occasion and accused of collaborating with insurgents. They have often been arrested by the Iraqi & Turkish governments and at times kidnapped by unknown factions. Yet since 2003, they tend to place the blame on the U.S. first.:

http://www.pmw.c2o.org/2005/global4627.html
http://www.ifex.org/es/content/view/full/72174
http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/alerts/2868-iraq-hawlati-editor-released-bail-five-journalists-brave-travel-ban
http://www.lobbyforcyprus.org/press/press2004/rsf_161204_turkeypress.htm

Basically you could classify them as an organization of world-wide media reporters who view ALL governments with the same disdain that William Ayers does ours.