MSNBC.com

 

'Bizarre moment' dominates Bush's trip

 

War ?decisively on its way to being won,? president says after whirlwind tour

 

NBC News and news services

updated 3:36 p.m. ET, Mon., Dec. 15, 2008

 

KABUL, Afghanistan - 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."

 

Bush then traveled to Afghanistan where he spoke to U.S. soldiers and Marines at a hangar on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base. The rally for over a thousand military personnel took place in the dark, cold pre-dawn hours. Bush was greeted by loud cheers from the troops.

 

"Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago," he said. "We are making hopeful gains."

 

Tape dominates coverage

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.

 

Al-Zeidi was not scheduled to have been at the press conference, his colleagues told NBC News.

 

Al-Zeidi usually reports in Sadr City, a hard-line, violent area in eastern Baghdad. While covering this area for several years, he has had relatives killed. He himself was kidnapped by militants about a year ago and held for three days and his cameraman was tortured.

 

He has anti-American opinions and routinely refers to Bush and Americans as "dogs," his colleagues told NBC News.

 

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.

 

In Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City, supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for protests against Bush and demanded the release of the reporter. Thousands took to the streets Monday, chanting, "Bush, Bush, listen well: Two shoes on your head."

 

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."

 

'A bizarre moment'

On a more serious note, he said, "I mean, it was just a bizarre moment, but I've had other bizarre moments in the presidency. I remember when Hu Jintao was here. Remember? We had the big event? He's speaking, and all of a sudden I hear this noise ? had no earthly idea what was taking place, but it was the Falun Gong woman screaming at the top of her lungs (near the ceremony on the White House lawn). It was kind of an odd moment."

 

The Iraqi government condemned the act and demanded an on-air apology from Al-Baghdadia television, the Iraqi-owned station that employs al-Zeidi.

 

Several people descended on the man immediately after, wrestling him to the ground, and it took a minute or two for security agents to clear the crowd and start hauling him out. As they dragged him off, he was moaning and screaming as if in pain. Later, a large blood trail could be seen on the carpet where he was dragged out of the room.

 

He was taken into custody and reportedly was being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's guards and is being tested for alcohol and drugs.

 

Other Arab journalists and commentators, fed up with U.S. policy in the Middle East and Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam, echoed al-Zeidi's sentiments Monday. Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the influential London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote on the newspaper's Web site that the incident was "a proper goodbye for a war criminal."

 

After a meeting with Hamid Karzai in the capital of Kabul, Bush said he told the president of Afghanistan: "You can count on the United States. Just like you've been able to count on this administration, you'll be able to count on the next administration as well."

 

Heading home to D.C.

After a brief refueling stop in England, Bush headed back to the United States.

 

The mixed reactions to Bush in both countries emphasized the uncertain situations Bush is leaving behind in the region.

 

In Iraq, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, protecting the fragile democracy. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died and $576 billion has been spent since the war began five years and nine months ago.

 

In Afghanistan, there are about 31,000 U.S. troops and commanders have called for up to 20,000 more. The fight is especially difficult in southern Afghanistan, a stronghold of the Taliban where violence has risen sharply this year.

 

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I almost didn't believe this had happened when my mom called me on the road to tell me about it. What a strange ending to a Presidency.

wow, we actually won? Democracy and Freedom of speech have won? And people thought we're there for nothing!

Too bad the shoe didn't hit him...

Im guessing he was probably fearing for his life when he saw the guy wind up. Throwing knives

 

 

It was SO hilarious lol.

you know, i'm not a bush fan or anything, but I def gained a certain level of respect for him when I saw how nimble he was.

 

he moved pretty quick getting out of the way of that shoe! lol. Then, after the first shoe flew by, he kinda starred and smirked at the guy, like daring him to throw another.

 

i was cracking up, hahaha. nice job, bush......if only you could run a country as well as you can dodge a shoe

I saw a still frame where you could see Iraqi PM Maliki going into NBA mode, trying to block the shoes from hitting Bush.

you know, i'm not a bush fan or anything, but I def gained a certain level of respect for him when I saw how nimble he was.

 

he moved pretty quick getting out of the way of that shoe! lol. Then, after the first shoe flew by, he kinda starred and smirked at the guy, like daring him to throw another.

 

i was cracking up, hahaha. nice job, bush......if only you could run a country as well as you can dodge a shoe

 

Lol I felt the same way, too.

 

It was good to see he took humor out of it rather than getting angry, as well.

 

If Im not mistakin, he did reply saying that it was a size 10 shoe lol.

"Who throws a shoe? Honestly? You fight like a woman!"

 

- Austin Powers

"Who throws a shoe? Honestly? You fight like a woman!"

 

- Austin Powers

 

:lol

 

In their culture, this is the biggest insult.

"Who throws a shoe? Honestly? You fight like a woman!"

 

- Austin Powers

 

:lol

 

In their culture, this is the biggest insult.

 

As opposed to our culture, where throwing a shoe is a sign of affection. I think Bush messed up, now everyone knows he head fakes to the left when things are thrown at him, the next guy's gonna get him.

 

But I do think the big story is that this guy is going to get interrogated, and probably excluded from future government press conferences instead of taken outside, shot in the face, his male relatives killed, and his female relatives raped and killed. So there is progress for you.

I wonder what the reporters fate would have been if he tried this with Saddam Hussein?

I wonder what the reporters fate would have been if he tried this with Saddam Hussein?

Saddam killed other political leaders in Iraq. He would call their name bring them down into a room and never see them again. So change happened and its worked :thumbup

Yeah, except now he's already disappeared into the 'system' of detention in Iraq, which isn't a whole lot better.

I'm not surprised. Bush has been practicing the duck & deflect for 8 years now.

I also figure that he expected it to be a grenade...

he looks like he's having fun

 

''heh heh heh. missed me. heh heh. nanny boo boo. heh heh.''

"Who throws a shoe? Honestly? You fight like a woman!"

 

- Austin Powers

 

:lol

 

In their culture, this is the biggest insult.

 

As opposed to our culture, where throwing a shoe is a sign of affection. I think Bush messed up, now everyone knows he head fakes to the left when things are thrown at him, the next guy's gonna get him.

 

But I do think the big story is that this guy is going to get interrogated, and probably excluded from future government press conferences instead of taken outside, shot in the face, his male relatives killed, and his female relatives raped and killed. So there is progress for you.

 

No doubt. Does this guy's freedom justify all the money and lives that have been wasted and America's diminished position in the world? I don't think it does. You are free to disagree, but don't act like this shows it was worth it.

Yeah, except now he's already disappeared into the 'system' of detention in Iraq, which isn't a whole lot better.

Actually he's already re-appeared in an Iraqi jail. He's complaining that he injured his arm when he was tackled after throwing both shoes.

Yeah, except now he's already disappeared into the 'system' of detention in Iraq, which isn't a whole lot better.

Actually he's already re-appeared in an Iraqi jail. He's complaining that he injured his arm when he was tackled after throwing both shoes.

 

ahh going to jail and then complaining about injuries you recieved while commiting a crime. looks like he's already accustomed to the american way!

Yeah, except now he's already disappeared into the 'system' of detention in Iraq, which isn't a whole lot better.

Actually he's already re-appeared in an Iraqi jail. He's complaining that he injured his arm when he was tackled after throwing both shoes.

 

ahh going to jail and then complaining about injuries you recieved while commiting a crime. looks like he's already accustomed to the american way!

I would certainly like to know what happened to him for the last 4-5 days before he suddenly showed up in a regular jail...

I would certainly like to know what happened to him for the last 4-5 days before he suddenly showed up in a regular jail...

The incident happened Monday. He was in a regular jail Wednesday morning. Hardly 4 or 5 days. Doesn't seem abnormal considering he threw something at the President, even if he were an American pulling that kind of stunt in America.

I would certainly like to know what happened to him for the last 4-5 days before he suddenly showed up in a regular jail...

The incident happened Monday. He was in a regular jail Wednesday morning. Hardly 4 or 5 days. Doesn't seem abnormal considering he threw something at the President, even if he were an American pulling that kind of stunt in America.

no, it is logical.

Based on his first pitch of the 2001 World Series and now this, he's certainly one of the most athletically gifted presidents we've had. Too bad it doesn't amount to anything.

 

Perhaps. His father and Gerald Ford were both much better athletes.

Based on his first pitch of the 2001 World Series and now this, he's certainly one of the most athletically gifted presidents we've had. Too bad it doesn't amount to anything.

 

Perhaps. His father and Gerald Ford were both much better athletes.

 

 

Come on now, Ronald Reagan played college football.

 

College football > college cheerleading.