Posted on 12/15/2023 7:01:33 AM PST by ChicagoConservative27
ifteen years ago today, an Iraqi journalist stood up in the middle of a press conference in Baghdad and shouted in Arabic, “This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!” and then proceeded to hurl his shoes, one after the other, at then-President George W. Bush. The gesture by the journalist, Muntadhar al-Zaidi, had dire effects on his own life — a risk he was well aware of beforehand — but it lives on in the public imagination worldwide as perhaps the most effective individual protest against America’s bloody and ultimately disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Al-Zaidi flung his footwear just weeks after United States voters had given Barack Obama a landslide victory to succeed Bush, in no small part on the strength of the position that Bush had launched a “dumb war.” If Bush thought he might somehow repair his outgoing 24 percent approval rating with a press conference alongside an apparently stable and benevolent Iraqi leader, he was mistaken — or was at least thwarted by al-Zaidi’s viral protest.
(Excerpt) Read more at nymag.com ...
It was a quick reaction. Joe would have been hit squarely in the head. Ha.
It has been documented and witnessed (although in this day and age, the truth is risky to the speaker) that George W Bush (”W”) wanted to invade Iraq to avenge the threat on his dad ten years earlier in Iraq.
No matter how his advisors and others tried to dissuade him, “W” was determined and just wanted a phony excuse to invade Iraq regardless of the cost of American lives. The lying “WMD” thing was good enough for him. The unjustified and illegal invasion was all he wanted so of course it was a bloody disaster.
In the meantime, having found where OBL was hiding in the mountains of east Afghanistan, for the sake of political correctness, bloody “W” purposely let OBL get away.
Later government-loving “W” would say that the Constitution was terrible and should be ignored.
“W” was a really bad President.
> America’s bloody and ultimately disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq <
I’m usually not a fan of the press’s habit of throwing personal opinions into a story. But I cannot argue with that characterization. Except I’d replace the word “America’s” with “Bush’s”.
Bush II made the decision on his own.
The cost in blood and treasure aside, Bush upset the apple cart in the whole region. Iraq is no longer a counterbalance to Iran. The flow of “immigrants” (invaders) from the region into Europe increased. Muslims were seen less as terrorists and more as victims. Etc.
Personally, I believe America should have finished the first Gulf war and dethroned Saddam Insane there and then.
Didn’t Powell stop 41 from doing that?
The only winner is the end was Iran.
> for the sake of political correctness, bloody “W” purposely let OBL get away <
Yep. From what I’ve read, Bush II wanted America’s Afghani allies to capture bin Laden. It would make for a better story. More PC, as you noted.
So American forces would locate bin Laden. But then they had to call in the Afghanis to make the final attack. But the Afghanis were never keen to do so. They moved slowly, on purpose. And bin Laden slipped away.
This happened over and over again, until bin Laden finally disappeared.
Contrast that with FDR’s wartime leadership. He set the grand strategy, but left it to the generals to get the job done. On the other hand, Bush II was another incompetent, interfering LBJ.
He wanted the US in Afghanistan in perpetuity to nation build.
If he had caught Bin Laden, then there would have been immense pressure to pull out.
Nixon was known as getting us out of Vietnam without winning the war. Bush Jr's Afghan war policy of "win over hearts and minds" was making the Afghan war take forever with no real indication of victory on the horizon (leading to inevitable withdraw without winning moment). And Bush didn't think he had the political capital to redefine the war like I wish he had defined it from the beginning (kill however many it takes for Afghanistan to surrender and apologize loudly and proudly for their role in Al Qaeda and warn every other Muslim nation not to attack the U.S.).
So Bush Jr started the war in Iraq but this time with an achievable goal -- remove Hussein from power (not the Obama Hussein, the other Hussein). Did Iraq become a wonderful beacon of freedom after that? Nope, but at least Bush could say he achieved a wartime goal.
Bush was too stupid to see that Iran was the much bigger long-term threat, and removing Saddam only got the biggest check against Iran out of the way.
This is what I remember distinctly from the very posts on FreeRepublic. Iraq had to agree to having certain sites inspected, the U.N. had to announce the inspection prior to the inspection.
I remeber on many occasions the Iraqi’s not allowing quick access to bases and saw aerial photos of convoys of vehicles leaving the facility before the inspectors were let in.
It was stupid then to allow such foolishness but most people that I remember felt Iraq was hiding WMD’s.
If we were mislead, shame on them but that is how I remember events of that time period.
LOL! Perfect!!
W missed a perfect opportunity.
He could have responded with “I can clearly see your sole.”
Good reflexes and steady nerves.
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