Posted on 09/15/2009 2:46:36 AM PDT by nickcarraway
The man who hurled his shoes at President George W. Bush here nearly a year ago in a brazen act that turned the little-known Iraqi journalist into a hero for many in the Arab world and crystallized the seething anger felt by many Iraqis for the consequences of the American invasion, was freed on Tuesday from a Baghdad jail.
Muntader al-Zaidi, who had originally been sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a visiting foreign leader, spent nine months in jail and, according to his brother, would likely leave Iraq now, fearing for his life.
“He is free,” said his brother, Uday Zaidi, in a brief telephone conversation. The family is scheduled to hold a press conference in Baghdad later Tuesday to discuss the details of his imprisonment and his future plans.
Unlike the fanfare that greeted his arrest and trial, the Iraqi government sought to downplay his release, barring the family from meeting him at the gates of the prison where he was held and, instead, quietly escorting him to his family’s residence in the capital.
A journalist for the independent Iraqi television station, Al Baghdadia, Mr. Zaidi, 29, was attending a December press conference that Mr. Bush was holding on his final visit to the country his administration had invaded six years earlier.
As stunned members of the White House press corps and other Iraqi journalists looked on, Mr. Zaidi rose from his seat and shouted in Arabic: “This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!”
He then whipped one of his shoes straight at Mr. Bush’s head, narrowly missing him when the president quickly ducked.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It’s the media that considers him a hero.
When he wasn’t released yesterday, the family sent word through the media that they wanted everyone to march down to the detention facility to protest.
I’m still looking for information on it but I don’t believe anyone showed up.
Had this slug thrown his shoes at Saddam, he would have been fed into one of those industrial shredding machines within 24 hours.
Actually, looking at the footage of the incident (which the media has played and replayed with orgasmic glee), I am quite frankly highly impressed at how skillfully (and quickly) our former President ducked the incoming shoe leather not once, but TWICE!
Muntader al-Zaidi wouldn’t even make a farm league with that pitching arm, he SHOULD leave Iraq, lol
Any Firesign Theater fans out there?
Principal Poop’s famous words, “Stay calm. Remember. Whatever you do don’t take off your shoes. Help is on the way”.
Just had to share.
It’s interesting that this moron only threw two shoes on the FOXNEWS clip. Watch CNN and MSNBC. He threw at least seven shoes. Their bias is destroying America’s goodness.
My like for Bush by that time was at 1 on a scale of 0-10. It rose to a 4 after that. You can see him smile a little while ducking the first shoe.
Thank goodness that Iraqi didn’t call Bush a liar.
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