The Underlying Meaning of Throwing a Pair of Shoes!

Few days ago the Iraqi government released Montather al Zaidi from jail. He was imprisoned for throwing his shoes at President G.W.Bush during his last visit to Iraq in 2008.

Al Zaidi is an Iraqi journalist who shared the suffering and pains of many Iraqis that resulted from the US invasion of Iraq. When he threw his first shoe at President Bush he shouted: this is a message of retaliation on behalf of the widows of Iraq. He threw his second shoe and exclaimed: this is on behalf of the orphans of Iraq.

It is an insult to hit someone with a shoe according to Arab culture.

Within hours after that incident Al Zaidi was viewed as a national hero in the Arab World as well as in many countries outside the Middle East region. It has also been reported by the Arab press that a wealthy Saudi offered a million dollars to get that pair of shoes!!

My point here is to stress the recklessness of the Bush administration in starting an unnecessary war that caused extensive human casualties and physical destruction. More than 1.25 million Iraqis died needlessly. This large number of casualties translates into more than 740,000 widows and around 5 millions orphans. Moreover, this war has destabilized the Iraqi society by creating 5 millions refugees.

We Americans have also suffered tremendously in terms of human loss and economic debacle.

Shouldn't the Bush administration be held accountable and responsible for misleading the American public??