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.
[Source]
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.
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.
Who throws a shoe? Honestly…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
@ 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.
@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.