Al-Zeidi's Brother Finally Sees Him, Reports a Missing Tooth, Cigarette Burns on His Face

[tekisui]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD (AP) — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki moved Monday to undermine the popularity of the Iraqi who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, saying the journalist confessed that the mastermind of the attack was a militant known for slitting his victims' throats.

(snip)

Al-Zeidi's brother Dhargham said that it was "unfair" of al-Maliki to make the allegation about the throat-slitter and described the prime minister as "a sectarian man who is destroying the Iraqi people."

Earlier, another brother said he met the journalist in prison and that he had expressed no regret for throwing the shoes.

"He told me that he has no regret for what he did and that he would do it again," Uday al-Zeidi told The Associated Press.

He said he visited his brother Sunday and found him missing a tooth and with cigarette burns on his ears. He also said his brother told him that jailers also doused him with cold water while he was naked.

"When I saw him yesterday, there were bruises on his face and body. He told me that they used an iron bar to hit him when they took him out of the press conference room. He told me that he began screaming and thought all those at the press conference would have heard his voice," Uday al-Zeidi told AP Television News.

The investigating judge, Dhia al-Kinani, has said that the journalist was beaten around the face and eyes when he was wrestled to the ground after throwing the shoes at Bush during a Dec. 14 press conference in the Green Zone. The judge said al-Zeidi's face was bruised but he did not provide a further description.

more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD957VIN00

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. This man is a hero and a tragedy at the same time.

[soulcore]

2. So much for a free Iraq. k&r!

[MineralMan]

3. As many of us predicted, way back when...

As soon as we leave Iraq it will revert quickly back into the hell that it was before we got there.

What a waste of lives this war has been!

[stillcool]

18. The hell started when we invaded...

nothing can compare to what has been done to their country and it's people since the invasion and occupation. There is no way they can revert to anything they were before we got there. Nothing is there.

[DesertFlower]

4. Jesus H. Christ. nt

[uppityperson]

5. k&r for update, am glad his brother finally got to see him and appalled but not surprised at what he

found.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. I'm also guessing Mr Al-Zeidi is a Sunni. nt

[soulcore]

7. I hadn't even thought of that....

If he is indeed Sunni I'll be surprised if he makes it out of the Shiite Justice System alive .

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

I was wrong. see below. nt

[kenny blankenship]

8. He is a Shia, IIRC

But has a record of being an Anti-Iran Shia.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

10. Thank you. nt

[AzDar]

9. ...

:puke:

[TWiley]

11. Onward Christian Soldiers Marching off to War

What .... it is the Christmas season. How did you expect them to react towards someone who insulted their leader?

[KittyWampus]

12. This is why I have never once laughed at the footage. Not once.

[Festivito]

13. Iraqis are an awful people.

At least we made the pretense of torturing to get information in order to save other people. These lowest of the low torture because they feign anger, for the sake of getting a confession no fool would trust.

These fool people would be better off with Saddam. In fact, Saddam would be too good for them.

The judge sits there and mentions he sees torture AND DOES NOTHING.

What worthless nitwits.

[tekisui]

15. Iraqis are not an awful people.

They are no more awful than you, I or any other people.

[Festivito]

17. Who is doing this? It is the Iraqis. Shame on them.

If we are no better, then shame to us as well. But, as I said and you did not include, we did offer a reason.

[uppityperson]

21. Some people of a nationality torture does not mean all of that group do.Sh

Shame on you for your prejudicial statements.

[Festivito]

25. It certainly doesn't mean they all torture.

But, we are all in some small way responsible for what Bush has done to Iraq, ourselves and the world. We are all responsible.

[uppityperson]

28. Of course. But your post starting subthread is still wrong.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4702960&mesg_id=4705323

Seems the "was" "was not" etc LBN subtopic is missing. Of course, but still, "Iraqis are an awful people" is a bigoted statement and wrong. Some are, some aren't. Broadbrushing a nationality like that is wrong.

[tekisui]

26. Complete bullshit.

Those who abused al-Zaidi offered the same rationale that US soldiers and intelligence officers did.

You are making prejudiced statements, calling these acts of "the Iraqi people". People are people. We are all the same. There is nothing inherent in Iraqi blood that makes them more prone to violence than anyone else.

[stillcool]

19. You know he was held in the Green Zone?

I think only Americans have such arrogance and self-righteousness to declare an entire nations people 'worthless nitwits". Actually they would be far, far better off with Saddam. Over a million Iraqi's would still be alive, and their country would not be in rubble. And you probably wouldn't even know where the country is on a map.

[Festivito]

20. Are you saying that our troops did this?

I don't think so.

These guards are representing Iraq in their actions. And, I think there is something else wrong, something else that elicited their actions.

[stillcool]

22. No I'm not..

I wouldn't presume to know what took place..nor would I presume to know what takes place in Iraq on a daily basis. I wouldn't even presume to know who's in charge. I saw the shoe thrown, and that's it. There is so little news that comes out from that country..even soldier's deaths are not reported. I do think it's sad though, when people judge other people as somehow less than they, because of the accidental geographic location of their birth.

[Festivito]

24. I will ask my friend, what is it with you Iraqis?

I'll ask it with a playful smile.

And, I know, to some degree how he'll answer. He will take some responsibility for their actions. Shake his head.

As I must take some responsibility for the actions of Bush, Rumsfeld, and Kissinger.

[uppityperson]

29. I'll ask my black friend "what is it with you black dudes" with a playful smile.

For any who may be concerned I have lost my wits, that was :sarcasm: as no way in hell would I do this. Even with a "playful smile".

You are digging yourself in deeper here.

[LisaL]

14. Mastermind of an attack?

Did somebody really need to mastermind for this guy to throw his shoes at Bush?

[uppityperson]

23. No one told him to, so he is the mastermind behind that attack. Too funny, too sad.

sometimes media stories make me go wtf?

[RedCappedBandit]

16. You can get someone to admit ANYTHING when you torture them. nt

[lonestarnot]

27. Welp did they get him to admit he threw the shoe or the shit?

[eppur_se_muova]

30. Oh, he, uh, fell down the stairs ... yeah, that's the ticket!

Stairways in police stations are notoriously tricky.