Expressive Soles: Why Iraqis use shoes to shoo Saddam

Opinion Journal ^ | 04/11/03 | TUNKU VARADARAJAN

[Pokey78]

I was in a bar (as one frequently is) at the end of a day's labors. There were televisions lit up, one on the left, another on the right, with pictures from statue-strewn Baghdad streets. And just then the barmaid across from me, clearly thirsting as much for information on another culture as I was for a Scotch, asked aloud, and quizzically: "What's with the shoes?!"

[Thane_Banquo]

Reminds me of the old roadie from Waynes World II: "But the shopkeeper and his son were another story altogether. We had to beat them to death, with their own shoes."

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[Diddle E. Squat]

Here ya go, print this out and have your own shoe beating party.

[EternalVigilance]

Now if we could just get a handle on this 'cursing the mustache' thingie...

[LiteKeeper]

bump

[Shermy]

Interesting. I think our "boot licker" epithet reaches a similar sentiment.

[Texasforever]

Now if we could just get a handle on this 'cursing the mustache' thingie...

No real mystery. The "curse" is meant to destroy the ability for facial hair. The ability to grow a beard or mustache is a sign of manhood.

[Dimensio]

So what does that say about Baghdad Bob?

[Texasforever]

So what does that say about Baghdad Bob?

Nothing, unless he does not have the ability to grow a food strainer.

[Illbay]

I guess in the land of extremely small penises, the mustache is king.

[Illbay]

That he isn't a Muslim (which is typically true of the Ba'athists).

FWIW, did you know that the Ba'athist leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad isn't a Muslim at all, but an Alawite?

[crusher999]

I spent some time in Egypt a while ago and learned about this "insult" the hard way....and picked up on what they were doing right away.

I have heard some extreme left liberals (read that BUSH HATERS) claim that these pictures were "fabricated" by the US Military for "photo ops", but this simple display of irreverance (which to them is the greatest of insults) to the "fallen king" should speak volumes to the idiocy of "scripted celebrations".

Another thing that I noticed is the "kissing" or touching of cheeks between Iraqi men and coalition forces during a handshake.

This is a show of friendship, kinship actually, and is also the kind of thing that you just don't fake.

As I understand it....the more kisses two men exchange, the deeper the friendship, with four kisses signifying damn near brotherhood.

At virtually every stop, this is being shown on TV...and I am so proud of the coalition forces for allowing the Iraqi men the opportunity to show them what they mean to them.

Although I have not seen a "four banger" often, I have seen it a few times...and again....the idea that this type of display would be something that is a "set up" is "off the deep end" lunacy.

[squarebarb]

my husband and I were in Turkey (b.o.q. Addan air force base)and took a trip to the countryside, were given a phamplet before we left which said it was a criminal offense in Turkey to show someone the sole of your shoe. Part of their 'insult laws'. Go figure.

[CapandBall]

I got "cultural-training" in '91 when I was scheduled to got to Saudi (defence contractor field engineer).

When in public:

Dont hand someone anything with your left hand unless you point to it with you right hand and say "excuse my left hand".

Dont show the soles of your feet/bottom of your shoe.

I knew why the left hand thing was bad, a history of eat with your right hand and wipe your ass with the left. BUt I never did understand the soles of the feet thing.

Oh yeah, and I had to wear a six-inch square placard around my neck that said "Infidel" in arabic, and that I could be killed if I were seen within 40 miles of Mecca (no joke)

[socal_parrot]

What would these folks think of Dick Morris?

[HP8753]

So what does that say about Baghdad Bob?

He was "tortured" with an eyebrow plucking tweezers. ;-)

[this_ol_patriot]

FWIW, did you know that the Ba'athist leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad isn't a Muslim at all, but an Alawite?

What is that...some kind of eel?

Actually if anyone wants to know what that is click here.

[this_ol_patriot]

"The Alawites celebrate the same festivals as most other Shi'is, like Idu l-Fitr, Idu l-Kabir and Ashura. But they also celebrate some of the same festivals as the Christians, like Christmas and Epiphany, as well as Nawruz, which originally is the Zoroastrian New Year."

[Illbay]

Alawites are sort of the like the Lebanese Druse. They are sort of an amalgam of several "religions of the book."

They are despised by the Muslims.