An Iraqi Journalist Hurtles His Shoes At George W. Bush
I mean … this story is just too incredible to not share. Over the weekend, lame duck president George W. Bush paid a surprise visit (his last) to Iraq and during a press conference there was assaulted by an Iraqi journalist who threw both of his shoes at the president’s head — narrowly missing him each time. Yelling out, “This is your farewell kiss, you dog!”, Muntadar al-Zeidi chucked his shoes at the president and shockingly NO Secret Service bodyguards were there to protect GWB. If it weren’t for his quick reflexes, he would’ve gotten beaned in the face. Here are a few screencaps from the “bizarre moment”:
President George W. Bush wrapped up a whirlwind trip to two war zones Monday that in many ways was a victory lap without a clear victory. A signature event occurred when an Iraqi reporter hurled two shoes at Bush, an incident the president called “a bizarre moment.” Bush visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to his successor, Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it. The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence 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, but “it is decisively on its way to being won.” … 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. Bush told reporters later that he didn’t think “you can take one guy throwing shoes and say this represents a broad movement in Iraq. You can try to do that if you want but I don’t think that would be accurate.” 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 … Talking to a small group of reporters after the incident, Bush said, “I didn’t know what the guy said, but I saw his sole.” He told the reporters that “you were more concerned than I was. I was watching your faces.” “I’m pretty good at ducking, as most of you know,” Bush joked, adding quickly that “I’m talking about ducking your questions.”
To his credit, GWB really handled this insane sitch very well … at least he was funny about it. My favorite response from GWB when asked about this incident was in regards to the size of the shoes:
The man has a sense of humor, that’s for sure. After the jump, check out video of this entire incident …
I’m pretty confident that this is not the way that GWB wanted to be remembered by the Iraqi people on his last visit there as president but considering the way things turned out in his tenure, well … things have a funny way of working out. Again, I’m pretty appalled that the Secret Service were not there to protect the president. If the journalist had thrown something more substantial, GWB could’ve been injured. I’m very shocked that our president would be left this undefended. Here’s hoping they do a better job protecting President-elect Barack Obama.
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December 15th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Holy shit! As much as I can’t stand Bush and his idiotic demeanor, where the fuck was security to protect him?
December 15th, 2008 at 9:08 am
yeah where the hell were the secret service??
December 15th, 2008 at 9:12 am
LOL this is hilarious. As much as I completely HATE bush, his jokes were pretty funny. However a funny person does not a president make. Wow that was yoda talk.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:15 am
im not gunna lie. i kinda laughed…only cause..well…when was the last time you saw anyone throw a shoe? let alone at the president?
December 15th, 2008 at 9:16 am
I think it’s sad that so many people think this is so funny. I mean, this is still our PRESIDENT. Whether you like him or not, whether you respect his politics or not, he was there as the face of our nation and someone decided to throw shoes at him. It’s really quite sad…
December 15th, 2008 at 9:17 am
coco, i totally agree
December 15th, 2008 at 9:19 am
although funny to watch.. the situation is not funny at all. that attack was able to happen way too easily. there needs to be better protection for our president.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Well, it was funny…in a way. But really, where was the Secret Service? I mean, did they check out of their jobs already? I may not like the guy, but he is still our President…
December 15th, 2008 at 9:35 am
ah hah that was awesome!
December 15th, 2008 at 9:39 am
better protection? im pretty sure theres protection, but comeon it was a shoe, his life was at no risk.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:50 am
wow, he has some quick reflexes. and I agree, the Secret Service should be fired on the spot. it’s bad enough that one shoe got through, but two??
December 15th, 2008 at 9:52 am
There was protection. From what I heard GWB told them it was ok to back off and that he was not hurt. You can see the back doors open and I am sure there were secret service men there. Lets not be stupid!
December 15th, 2008 at 9:54 am
leave it to gw to make a jstupid oke about such a serious situation.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:55 am
stupid joke*
December 15th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I think it’s funny that Bush said that “I don’t know what this guys beef was with me.”
Really, W. Really, you seriously can’t figure out someone in Iraq would be mad at you????
December 15th, 2008 at 10:00 am
@ Summer — yes, they were there … behind a closed door. If something more deadly had been snuck in, like a gun perhaps?, then the situation could’ve been much more serious. In my opinion, the Secret Service should’ve been at the ready to deflect any projectiles thrown at the president — at the very least, the guy should not’ve been able to chuck the second shoe.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:12 am
re: secret service. I’m sure everyone who was in that room was frisked, re frisked, sent through a metal detector and they stopped just short of a full body cavity search. The door opened within a second of the first fling. short of mowing down every reporter between them and the shoe throwing man, they made alright time.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
In the video you can see that Bush waved off one of the secret service men that was sitting in the front row he was fine.
The journalist has gone through a really hard year though. It was reported that many of his friends and family have been killed and he was recently kidnapped and tortured for a month! This was a very angry man and after all that has happened to him, he was assigned to this press conference and just snapped at the man who is the icon to all his problems. I don’t blame him. Just a good thing it was just shoes.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I hope Obama is more well-protected than W is. And I also hope his reflexes are as quick as W’s should he need to use them :)
December 15th, 2008 at 10:45 am
the fact that secret service wasnt around aside…. this is the funniest shit ive heard in a while, i hope he relizes he will always be remembered as one of the worse presidents in the history of our country, thank heavens only a few more weeks to go
December 15th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Exactly what should the Secret Service have done? Confiscated shoes? Stood in front of Bush the whole time? I don’t understand how this is in any way a failure of the Secret Service.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:56 am
At the end of the origional video aired on TV after it happened you could hear the guy hollaring as secret service beat the crap out of him. They were there. No worries…………..
December 15th, 2008 at 11:02 am
to everyne who thinks it’s funny and doesn’t care-i’m wondering if you’d have the same reaction/opinion if the shoes were thrown at obama. something tells me no.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Pretty interesting – an informal poll of Americans shows a large number of them are sympathetic to the shoe-thrower: http://pickfu.com/XB8GWC
December 15th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I have to wonder why the above poster is implying it was President Bush’s fault that he was kidnapped and tortured. Was this at the hands of Americans? I’m going to go ahead and venture a “no” on that. I also agree, hate him or love him, it was not cool that this was allowed to happen. It could have easily been a bomb, rather than a shoe.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I for one DO NOT agree with Bush at time’s, but he had to do what he had to do to protect us (americans and other nationalities)….it was pretty funny seeing that shoe fly across the room at his head, and the guy that was standing next to him didn’t even flinch LMAO. If anything the guy who threw his shoe at Bush should have thrown his shoes to his own people, just cause most of the bombs that killed tons of innocent people were …ummmm let me think Iraqis. All I know Im proud of my country and what its done for me so far…..and im glad that there’s finally going to be change with OBama
December 15th, 2008 at 11:48 am
All politics aside (and that is saying a lot, because let’s just same I am not Team Bush). Holy Crap! What amazing reflexes that man has. I mean, seriously! That was a perfect throw and it was insanely fast. How did Bush duck that? That was pro-athlete style!
December 15th, 2008 at 11:52 am
GWB has awesome reflexes! I don’t think I could have dodged both shoes so quickly! Harry Truman was the most hated president during his tenure, and he is now regarded as an excellent President. You never know how future generations will judge these past 8 years.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
…they should sell the shoes on ebay !!!!!!, and spend the money for good cause !
i want the shoe ! ( size 10,.. will fit me :) )
December 15th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
@ Coco: You are right that it shouldn’t be funny because it’s the president, but yet, it kinda is. Besides he joked about it too. And much as I hate to admit it it, his joke about ducking questions made me chuckle.
Besides, arguing that we can’t laugh at this because of his office is a bit of a slippery slope. If we can’t laugh at one thing out of respect for his position, would we be able to laugh at, say, a flight suit?
December 15th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I am not saying that he didn’t handle it in a good way by laughing it off. I am just saying… It is a sad day when American’s are entertained by an attack on their president (even though it was not harmful to him and he was fine) rather than be upset that someone would try to hurt him.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
i’m totally impressed at how quick bush’s reactions are. look at the guy’s reaction next to him. if the shoe thrower was aiming for him, he would have gotten clobbered and slapped that unsuspecting smirk right off his face.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I think it is hysterical how he ducks perfectly. Like maybe this scene has played out with Laura throwing shoes at him when she’s pissed. Also, the Iraqi dude doesn’t seem to be worried he will get hit. Guess he knew they weren’t aimed at him.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I agree with Bubblegum’s response. When they showed the clip I wasn’t paying much attention and with the reaction, I thought someone had tried to shoot Bush.
But seeing it again, man, I am amazed at his reflexes!
And while yes, it was literally a physical attack, in Iraqi culture, throwing your shoe at someone is considered the worst insult. So it wasn’t so much about him trying to physically hurt him as it was about expressing his rage and disgust at the President.
And for those who say if it were Obama would you be laughing: Barack Obama wasn’t the one who lied about WMD and sent troops overseas to attack an innocent country.
I feel pissed off about the war, but if I can’t even imagine what it must be for the innocent Iraqis who’ve been experiencing destruction and chaos. I would like to figuratively throw my shoe at the entire administration.
*BTW: Iraq is ranked the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Bee….right on!
We may be ready for change and yes change is good! But not one person has been in Bush’s shoes with all the stuff that’s been thrown at him for 8 years. You cannot tell me that you know what you would do as a president!!!!
Also…it makes me wonder had it been anyone else as president calling these same shots would he/she be labeled worst president ever!
December 15th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Summer – one thing I definitely would NOT do as President would be to invade an innocent country and lie about the WMD.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
How do you know they haven’t hid them well or sent them off to another country???
We don’t know everything and we aren’t meant to.
What I am trying to say is every president fucks up in some way…not one is perfect. Yes he’s made mistakes but so has previous presidents and so will Obama.
I will support any of our presidents even when I do not vote for them! :)
December 15th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
From a Canadian…I find this funny as hell!!!…Ya’ll don’t be suprise people are trowing shoes to your pres…he sucks! I’m sure alot of people wouldn’t mind trowing a shoe or two at him…!!! Nywho…very funnY!!!!
December 15th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Looks like George has some experience with dodging unexpected objects being thrown at him… I bet Laura has good aim…
Anyway, he did an excellent job at dodging it… (I prolly woulda got smacked, myself)… and what else would anyone expect him to do besides make a joke out of it?? He just better be glad it wasn’t EXPLODING SHOES.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
The Iraqi dude had some damn good aim, btw.
December 15th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
George Bush said in his interview last week with Charlie Gibson that the intelligence was wrong. .
Even if there are WMD somewhere, that doesn’t change the fact that the administration lied and said there were when in actuality they hadn’t found any.
December 15th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I think it’s pretty insulting. I do not like Bush, but he is my president, and I will respect him, go to war for him (even though I doubt I would be able to, especially since things are being wrapped up), etc.
Good thing Bush is having a sense of humour, he’s going to need it these last few weeks as president. Strange, I never truly thought of him as not-president, I was young when Clinton was president.
December 15th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Summer – Bush hasn’t just made some mistakes … his whole Presidency has been an endless f*ck-up (that the world is going to spend the next twenty years TRYING to clean up). Do you remember when he stood on that aircraft carrier with a banner behind him (in uniform) and declared “Mission Accomplished” – that was FIVE years ago … since then 4,000 troops have died. There will be no ‘Victory’ (because there is no such thing) and Americans who STILL think ‘Victory’ is going to happen, are as delusional as Bush. The man deserves ZERO respect.
December 15th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Who throws a shoe? Honestly…
December 15th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
i think this is hilarious. i’m sorry, but i cannot respect someone who i feel has completely fucked the world over. and for those saying “what if it had been obama?”…well, obama i feel would have the respect to listen to what this person had to say…not just laugh it off and make bad jokes about it. i’m not saying obama is perfect and will never do any wrong, but he will be SIGNIFICANTLY better than bush.
December 15th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
REGARDLESS of how you feel about President Bush, we should all be irate over the fact that someone treated the leader of our Country with such flagrant disrespect. I agree w/ Coco. I don’t like Bush, but whether it was Bush, Obama, Clinton, WHOEVER, it is SO DISRESPECTFUL to treat a President with such callousness. It’s shocking at the amount of people who DON’T feel that way.
December 15th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I find “lizzy”s response truly disgusting. I voted for Obama, and I am NOT AT ALL a supporter of Bush. However, I GIVE THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENCY THE RESPECT IT DESERVES. IT DOESN’T MATTER whether I like the man or not, he holds the highest office in the land, that alone commands respect. What a HIDEOUS representation of the rest of us who are Obama supporters. People like you give the rest of us a bad name.
December 15th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Oh COME on. It was a fucking SHOE. Get OVER it. It is funny, George laughed at it. Why can’t you? And to those of you saying he is still our president, yes that is true. But this is the president who ruined a lot of lives and who has created a dire situation that will take us years to recover from. So uh…no I don’t give a flying fuck if he gets hit by a size 10 doc martin.
December 15th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
This man ALSO said to GWB to this effect,
‘This is for the widows and orphans.’
Which makes a lot more sense why he threw his shoe at him, which is the lowest form of an insult.
December 15th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I gotta say it… I’m gonna miss that man when he leaves office. Not because he did so well for us in the last 8 years (note that is scarcasm) but because that man was one of the most entertaining Presidents we have ever had. I’m going to miss the Bushisms, the speeches and the fun drinking games during the state of the union address. Seriously the man had SHOES thrown at him and his response was that they were a size 10… that’s funny shit right there!
December 15th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Wow Joanne…zero respect that’s kind of harsh! I’m guessing you aren’t from America with that kind of attitude! I wouldn’t care if you had any respect if you aren’t American but if you are…..WOW!
His comment was funny…the action done upon him was not.
Just remember…what ever Obama does to change the country could also Ffuck up the country for years to come!!! He wants a free ride for everyone and that’s just not ever going to work.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
why can’t you be an american with zero respect for the president?? i’m sorry i don’t just go around blindly supporting a president just because he is the president of the country i live in. in fact, if you are so fucking proud of our country, you should realize that it was founded on the premise of free speech, free thought, and questioning what is done by different parts of government (thus the checks and balances system, as one example). so get over it. like tracy said, it’s a fucking shoe. i found the idea of george bush getting hit by a shoe funny but i can not laugh at the actually purpose of the shoe. the reporter was making a statment that should speak loudly to the way iraqis see our country and our president and all gw can do is make a bad joke about it.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
First off all, damn that man has some moves. That shoe would of hit me right in the gut. And that journalist has quite an arm. Second of all, they were in a room full of journalist. Journalist that were searched and checked and re-searched. So saying “what if it was something more serious” is irrelevant because nothing more serious would have made it into that room. The guy was being tackled as he was throwing the second shoe, so that was pretty good time considering they weren’t particularly on edge
December 16th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Thankyou Kar i was just going to post the same thing. When my husband and I 1st started dating in 01 he felt the same way his Dad while not in politics was the head of a school district and felt that who ever was in charge you should just do what they say. That is not the way to just blindly follow someone because they are ion charge. The great thing about this country is we do have the freedom to agree or disagree with the people in charge. My husband has opened up his eyes and knows that just because he is the president he doesnt have to agree with him
December 16th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Haha Trent NOW that is funny! B/C you don’t want this to die down! Hehe!
Maureen that’s how I feel. Don’t blame ONE man!
Kar…I agree that you can disagree but to have NO respect for the president of the US is pretty bad. He holds the highest office and an American has NO respect. I guess I was brought up differently. ie; I didn’t like my principal BUT I respected her even though I may not LIKE her.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Meghan:
You do know that Bush signed a bill that allows torture, right? Even though it is a direct violation of the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). Just one of many reasons why he is disliked around the world.
Summer:
I am a veteran. Enlisted when I was 17 in 1998. There were no WMD. EVER. Not trying to be snarky, but if you did your research, you will find that all details involving WMDs ARE known. It’s great that you love your President and your country, but Operation Iraqi Freedom was based on a lie, had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11 , and was a waste of time, money, and most importantly human life.
Bee:
It was not an attack, but a cultural sign of disrespect. He was not trying to injure Bush, just expressing dissatisfaction with a President who is disliked on a global level. His actions were justified.
Maureen:
The blame wasn’t placed solely on the president, which is why more democrats were elected this year. They were in control for the majority of eight agonizing years. Besides, Bush is president, the “face” of America; who are non-Americans supposed to blame when he represents our country?
What I found more crass was his reaction: the little joke he made. A man is distressed, outraged, and in emotional turmoil, so you laugh at his expense? That is what I found not funny. What if any of you were going through what he is going through?
Lastly, I love being an American, I love my country, and I would die for my country; Bush is NOT my country, I am required neither to respect nor love him. He has not earned it. No other president has skewered the image of the US like he has. No other president has made as many blunders and bad decisions as he has. I guess that’s what we get when we elect a C- student for two consecutive terms. Oh, that’s right…… I didn’t vote for him.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:00 am
thanks for the insight, bee! your name calling shows your maturity, and has wooed me over to your side of the argument! you’ve opened my eyes to my ignorant cunt, dumb fuck ways. :) NOW i respect george bush and totally care if people throw shit at him.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:29 am
i like how people think they know all the info that was/wasn’t true as far as the wmd. NO ONE outside of the government will EVER know everything that goes down, including you keishon, regardless if you’re in the military or not.
i can’t wait to see how everyone reacts when obama has his first fuck up
December 16th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I’m appalled by the incident as well as by the reaction from people here on this board.
Not only was it an insult to GW alone, but to the entire nation! He still is the President, for God’s sakes! Show some respect! Maybe not for the person, but definitely for the office he holds!
You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:40 am
@ maureen – if he’s hated so much why did he get re-elected?? i’ve asked myself that question every day for the last 4 years. it’s not ALL gw’s fault but it mostly is.
@ christine – i’m sure obama will fuck up at some point but it will NEVER be as bad as gw has fucked up.
@rome – you’re appalled by the reaction of people here?? i’m appalled by gw and every single thing he’s done and the way he conducts himself. i’m appalled that people still defend him. besides being endlessly dumb, gw has not the humility to admit that he was wrong about everything about iraq or the humility to address the reporter’s anger correctly. all he can do is make jokes about everything he’s done wrong.. “goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter” he says at the g8 summit. don’t talk to me about being appalled.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
@kar
“The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”
He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.” (from the Britsh “Telegraph”)
I’d already forgotten about this. What a douche. Still, it doesn’t ever warrant personal injury and physical harm to his person.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Bee (and others) – Ever heard of the term ‘blind faith’? People who say we must respect a President (no matter how much he screws up), simply because he got the job title – are people who prefer to not think too deeply … or educate themselves about the issues.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Maureen – You say we must respect him for the office he hold or job…but would you respect a child-molester priest…just because he’s a priest… what about a sexist-unsulting boss… just because he’s the boss…I don’t think so…Why is his job so important that we must respect him … It’s stupid eh… Not catorizing all the Republicans, but you all seem to always say…we must respect our president… but I wonder if it GW would of been a Democrat ( ya right!!!) .. I bet you would be on his ass about everything…Ya’ll are just not happy that your party leader is probably the worst leader in a long time!!!
December 17th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Christine:
Of course, EVERYthing isn’t known by the public, or even some government officials, including myself, but information about WMDs has been released and verified. It’s on you to educate yourself and research. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”…. or is it think in this case? Believe what you want to believe. I’ll take the word of the soldiers who were actually there (3rd Infantry Division, HOOAH!) anyday rather than the man who has been on vacation the majority of his presidential term.
December 17th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Who gives a shit about respecting ur president?..that is the last thing on the minds of the majority of Iraq.
When Millions of ur countrymen and Women are killed injured and forced to leave their homes …hundreds of thousands of children orphaned and the entire infrastructure of ur country has been damaged to a great extent the last thing on ur mind is to respect the man responsible for the damage! …why don’t u respect the value of a human life and demand the withdrawl of ur troops ?? ..or do we not deserve that kind of consideration? ..do u think people who are not American are less human or something?..
and Im saying this to the people who have so much time on their hands that they cant help but argue over the fact that an Iraqi man disrespected their president ..while they in fact do not give a shit about the Iraqi mans dignity and all that his humanity entitles…for every action there is a reaction and this one was nothing compared to what he deserves!