Exposed: Iraqi 'weapon of mass destruction' is a shoe

Sonila Reka

When you walk down the street people may physically attack you, verbally abuse you or even throw a shoe at you; you never know what is around the corner.

You may go home and tell a family member or even a close friend about what happened but you know that not many people will be concerned about it.

But when Muntadar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi television journalist, throws a shoe at George Bush, the president of USA, and calls him a  'dog', nearly the whole world is traumatised.

My friend cut short a visit to me and said she was rushing home to see "the man who threw the shoe" on the television news.

Everywhere you go people seem to tittle-tattle about this incident. In supermarkets elderly people inform each other about how  'an Iraqi man threw a shoe at the president of the USA'. On buses, women express their outrage about this  'disrespectful man' who tossed his leather footwear at president Bush. As a university student myself, I can tell you that it has even grabbed the attention of the younger generation, who just about know who George Bush is.

People are curious to find out the reason why it happened. Tall tales then begin to develop.

Reports reveal that Mr al-Zaidi was once kidnapped by a militia and beaten up. Some commentators assume that the attack is symbolic, referring back to when executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's statue was overthrown; people threw shoes at the statue to beat it.

But the truth is, no one knows the real reason why Mr Bush got attacked. No one knows what went through this now imprisoned man's mind when he threw his shoe at the president.

So what if this journalist threw a shoe at the president? Bush ducked and the missile missed him and no one else was injured.

Yet, though George Bush is the leaders of the world's only superpower, he is just a human being like the rest of us. Ok  — so he is powerful  — but not as powerful as the public who gave him the power, ordinary people. And for me the incident represented a fightback against US domination by the Iraqi public who, despite the American and British lies about 'weapons of mass destruction', only have a shoe to use as a missile.

Bush 'spin' about the shoe throwing incident: