Al Iraq News, Iraq
EDITORIAL
"Bush deserves even less than the two shoes thrown at him by courageous Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi. It was a magnificent farewell gesture that Bush will remember for the rest of his life – and a news story that the world will remember year after year."
Baghdad, the symbol of Arabism; Baghdad of Al Mansur and Al Rashid and the capital of free men who, in the shadow of their glorious past, stood against the invaders, the greedy and the collaborators, has bid farewell to U.S. President George W. Bush. And it has done so in a manner worthy of that criminal, who visited us so arrogantly in spite of the deep wounds he inflicted in his unsuccessful attempt to break the arms of free Iraqis and despite the fact that a number of midgets chose, for personal reasons, to sail in Bush's swamp of treachery and thuggery and be blessed in his putrid waters.
By throwing both of his shoes at Bush, journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi reflected the magnitude of the rejection of Bush. The fact is that he deserves no more than one Iraqi’s shoes, which are of far greater value than George Bush himself. At least shoes are useful to the one wearing them, while Bush never was and never will be of service to anyone. On the contrary, he has brought disaster and misery not only to Iraq, but to all.
Who among us doesn't remember what Bush’s forces did and continue to do to the Afghan people; or what they did and still do to the wounded Iraqi people, who count over a million widows, five million orphans and tens of thousands of disabled, missing and imprisoned?
Then there was the infamous Guantanamo internment camp and the scandal of Abu Ghraib prison, the stench of which makes one choke. Bush was so indescribably brazen, despite his wounds and hands stained with the blood of Iraqis, as to confess that his war on Iraq was based on mistaken intelligence and on nothing more than guesses and misinformation rather than sincere and genuine knowledge.
When reports arose, accusing Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction, Iraq denied them – a fact that was proven later. Moreover, those same reports [the 2008 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate] confirmed that Iran had no intention of acquiring such weapons, despite the expressed intent of Iranian officials to possess them and their failure to abide by regional and international requests by many countries in Europe, Asia and America itself.
Bush’s reckless policies have transformed America from a country that is respected into one that is humiliated, disrespected and hated by the peoples of all nations, who see in America an oppressive power who returned the world to the law of the jungle in which the strong mercilessly, and with a total lack of conscience, consume the weak.
Bush deserves even less than the two shoes thrown at him by courageous Iraqi journalist Muntazar Al Zeidi. Even though he will be leaving in a few days and will not be missed, this was a magnificent farewell gesture that Bush will remember for the rest of his life – and a news story that the world will remember year after year. His successor Barack Obama should be mindful of this Iraqi lesson and act accordingly, so that such an event is never repeated. Bush tried to absorb this unexpected shock by making the claim that this was just the price of freedom. But in the eyes of the entire world, this is just the newest lie of a small and collapsing man.
