Bush's "icy smile" enraged Iraq shoe-thrower

[NOW tense]

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, Feb. 19, 2009 (Reuters) — An Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush said in the past he had videotaped himself practicing the Arab insult to use against the president whose "icy smile" had filled him with uncontrollable rage.

Muntazer al-Zaidi said on Thursday at the start of his trial in Baghdad on charges of assaulting a foreign leader that he took a recording of his shoe-throwing training two years ago and had hoped to accost Bush in Jordan but this did not take place.

Snip

Instead, he said Bush's smile as he talked about achievements in Iraq had made him think of "the killing of more than a million Iraqis, the disrespect for the sanctity of the mosques and houses, the rapes of women," and enraged him.



Read more: http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre51i1ey-us-iraq-shoe/

[SpiralHawk]

1. "That was no smile, that was a smirk. Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

"The smirk is the facial expression peculiar to us Connecticut Yankee preppy cheerleader Chickenhawk Republicons who pretend to be Texas cowboy war heroes. As the Evil Shoe Terrarist correctly notes, my smirk just absolutely reeks of insincerity. Smirk."

- xCommander AWOL (R)

[lutefisk]

16. Picture is worth a thousand words: What an evil son of a bitch!

I still find it hard to accept that that asshole, with his malicious,smug, reverse-Midas-touch, held power over the world for 8 years.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

18. Speaking of "Pictures worth a thousand words"

here's one that sums up *'s pResidency:

[MrModerate]

2. I have similar fantasies about shitting on Schimpanski's . . .

grave.

However, I'm not practicing and it's *not* the sort of thing I'm videotaping for posteriority.

[thunder rising]

3. Got BALLS? He knew the puppets would make up a charge, torture and imprison him. He still did it

[salguine]

6. Makes you wish Obama could find a spot for HIM in his Cabinet. Secretary of Moral Clarity or sump'm.

[hisownpetard]

13. "Secretary of Moral Clarity." Love it!!

[newfie11]

4. I know the feeling.

That smirk has the same effect on me.

[lazer47]

5. I keep watching that video over and over, hopping he will finally hit him.

[NOW tense]

7. He mentions his torture.

"I said this before the guards of the prime minister after I was beaten and after my body was devoured by electricity," said Zaidi, who added that his original plan had been to throw the shoes at Bush during a news conference in Amman.

[liberalmuse]

8. Who would not sympathize with this man?

Many of us completely understand the uncontrollable rage that wells up inside us thinking about W's crimes. The arrogant, self-satisfied smirk is like a slap in the face. I started throwing shoes and all sorts of stuff at my tv whenever I'd see his hideous smirk way back in 2002 and had to get rid of cable for quite a few years because I feared I would chuck my tv out the window one day. I hope they go easy on this guy. He's a hero IMO.

[bdamomma]

9. oh how I wished that shoe made contact with the target!!!

my sympathy goes to that Iraqi reporter for being held.

[AnneD]

10. As one that had to remove all hard objects from the TV viewing area...

during the last 8 years-I totally understand and would vote for acquittal. Seriously-Bush has no ideas how many pillows, slippers, and snacks were throw at his image in households across America.

[marshall]

11. They don't smile much over there

I think facial expressions are a cultural thing, just like shoe throwing. I remember when I was teaching high school, whenever a student would freak out and start arguing with him I just smiled and calmly discussed whatever the "crisis" was. It made them madder for a few moments, then they calmed down. Worked every time.

[trthnd4jstc]

12. We as a world need to have time to throw our shoes at the Smirking Chimp.

[Dukkha]

14. that frozen smile and 1,000 yard empty stare

would set anyone off. Bill Mahr mentioned that, how the Obamas are sincere honest people who don't have that fake frozen smile the Bush's had, particularly Babs with her country club elitism and condescending social ineptitude. This guy is a hero and speaks for the majority of the world with a single shoe throw.
Well, except for the few pro-authority nerds who cower at dissension.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

17. Yyou mean like this?

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

15. His smile/smirk has pissed me off on many an occasion

[LASteve]

19. WP article, also on DU, is better than this one.

Check out "Iraqi (journalist) Defends Shoe-Throwing Incident", further down the DU home page.

The Reuters article, "Bush's icy smile enraged Iraq shoe-thrower" featured as the lead story on DU, got that point right - the icy smile triggering off al-Zaidi, but it is not as clear as it should be elsewhere in the article, leaving the reader with the impression he did make a video of himself preparing for the assault and originally planned to do it in Amman. The Washington Post article makes it clear that al-Zaidi repudiates both assertions. They were made under torture (beatings and electroshock). It also provides more quotes from him about what lead up to the incident, and there is a better description of the hearing, that legal questions involved with his case, and the reaction of Iraqis outside to al-Zaidi entering and exiting the courtroom.

[sabra]

20. Iraqi (journalist) Defends Shoe-Throwing Incident

Source: WP

BAGHDAD, Feb. 19 -- Wearing leather shoes, a pressed beige suit and a scarf emblazoned with the Iraq flag, the Iraqi journalist who became a folk hero in the Arab world by slinging shoes at President George W. Bush defended his conduct on Thursday in court.

"I did not mean to kill the leader of the occupation forces," Muntadhar al-Zeidi said, speaking clearly and forcefully from a wooden cage before a packed courtroom. "I was expressing what's inside of me and what's inside the Iraqi people from north to south and from west to east."

...

"I am charged now with attacking the prime minister's guest," he said stoically, making his first public remarks since the incident. "We Arabs are famous for being generous with guests. But Bush and his soldiers have been here for six years. Guests should knock on the door. Those who come sneaking in are not guests."

...

Bush smirked "icily" as he spoke, Zeidi said, flashing a "smile with no spirit."

As the news conference was winding down, and the two heads of state were preparing to dine together, Zeidi was overtaken by rage.

"In that moment, I only saw Bush," he said. "I was feeling the blood of innocent people flow under my feet as he was smiling. I felt that he is the killer of my people and I am one of those people. I became emotional because he's responsible for what is going on in Iraq so I hit him with my shoe."

...

Zeidi said his initial statements about the incident to investigators were provided as he was submitted to electric shocks.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/19/AR2009021900322.html?hpid=topnews

[wtmusic]

21. They keep him in a wooden cage like a fucking animal.

Swap him out with W and you would have an approximation of justice.

[SpiralHawk]

22. They tortured him with electric shocks

How perfectly Repulicon. They are well-trained hate puppets.

[Winterblues]

23. I guess "American" Democracy has come to Iraq

Bush* style Democracy anyway.

[40ozDonkey]

24. Electric shocks, eh...

I promise you Iraq's government will be heinous, embarrassing, and needy for years to come - the natural result of any Republican project.

[Dradcliff]

25. What the f*ck?!

Wooden cages and electric shocks. Plus being beaten while in custody. How can they justify this. He threw a fucking shoe at W. Its not like he is a terrorist for standing up for the truth.

[wtmusic]

26. They can't justify it

and if W had any humanity he would have set this guy free. Still waiting on Obama - it's just the right thing to do.

Welcome to DU!

:bounce: :toast: :bounce:

[wickerwoman]

27. We just got Wii Sports

and there's a balance game where you're supposed to head the soccer ball that's thrown at you except for random times when a shoe is thrown and you have to dodge it.

It's very clear to me that Bush has been doing nothing but playing with his Wii for more than a year.

[Cha]

28. Icy Smirk..yeah, we know

it, too, Muntazer al-Zaidi, and I hope you come out of your trial.. Okay!

[Hissyspit]

29. Iraq Shoe-Thrower: Bush Was 'Smiling That Icy Smile' (Trial Begins)

Source: Los Angeles Times

Iraq shoe-thrower: Bush was 'smiling that icy smile'

By Tina Susman and Raheem Salman, Los Angeles Times
Posted: 02/19/2009 10:13:50 PM PST

BAGHDAD — It was the hottest ticket in town, drawing spectators from as far away as Sweden and sparking a scramble for choice seats. Police formed human chains to block crowds that surged to glimpse the star attraction: a defiant-looking man in black loafers. This time, Muntadher al-Zeidi's loafers stayed on as he went on trial Thursday for hurling his shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December. If convicted of assaulting a visiting head of state, the Iraqi journalist could face 15 years in prison. But with a legal dream team objecting to the case on technicalities, court was adjourned after 90 minutes until March 12, when a three-judge panel will decide if the charge is warranted.

Nobody questions whether al-Zeidi, 30, flung his footwear at the president's face during his farewell visit to Iraq on Dec. 14. Nor does al-Zeidi deny trying to clock Bush as he stood at a lectern beside Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, shortly before the two leaders sat down to dinner.

On Thursday, standing inside the wooden defendant's pen, al-Zeidi said he acted in a burst of rage as Bush, "smiling that icy smile," spoke of achievements in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003 and mentioned his upcoming meal with al-Maliki.

Al-Zeidi, voice calm but forceful and an Iraqi flag draped like a cravat around his neck, said it was more than he could bear. "I thought about what the achievements were -- killing about a million Iraqis," al-Zeidi said.
Everything in the room faded to black, he said, except his target as he yanked off his shoes and threw them, one after another. "I didn't see anything but Bush." Al-Zeidi's legal team, more than 20 lawyers who jostled for space around the pen, cited two principal reasons why their client should not have been charged.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_11745410?nclick_check=1

[trusty elf]

30. I hope this is a speedy trial ending in acquittal.

He should be released immediately. Hasn't he been punished (beaten and tortured) enough already? The whole thing is outrageous.

[Hissyspit]

31. USA Today: Iraqi Says He Plotted, Practiced Shoe Attack

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-02-19-shoethrower_N.htm

Iraqi says he plotted, practiced shoe attack

By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

BAGHDAD — Muntadhar al-Zeidi missed — twice. But the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush said Thursday that he had rehearsed the attack two years previously, and even videotaped himself doing so.

In his first public comments since the incident that made him a hero among some in the Muslim world, al-Zeidi told an Iraqi courtroom that he had been tortured while in custody awaiting trial on charges of assaulting a foreign leader.

The Iraqi government has denied those allegations.

Al-Zeidi said he didn't decide to go through with the attack until he saw the "icy smile" on Bush's face at a news conference Dec. 14 on his final visit to Iraq as president.

"(Bush) was talking and at the same time smiling icily at the (Iraqi) prime minister. He said to the prime minister that he was going to have dinner with him," al-Zeidi told the judges. "Suddenly, I saw no one in the room but Bush. I felt the blood of innocents was running under his feet while he was smiling coldly as if he had come to write off Iraq with a farewell meal."

MORE

[amyrose2712]

32. I get an error when i click on link...nt

[BrightKnight]

33. The off button has saved my TV a number of times.

Chimpy's smirk pisses a lot of people off.

[FiveGoodMen]

34. Same here!

That face and/or voice always make me want to throw things.