Bush Shoe Thrower: Press Asserts al-Zaidi Had Saddam, Baathist Connections

It seems to be emerging as an accepted fact that Muntather al-Zaidi, the reporter who threw both his shoes at President George W. Bush this weekend, had specific ideological connections to Saddam Hussein and/or the Ba'ath Party, a pleasing conceit that seems intended to isolate al-Zaidi from an Iraqi populace who have, by and large, soured on the U.S. occupation. The most commonly cited source would appear to be this blog post from the New York Times "Baghdad Bureau," which notes that al-Zaidi -- in addition to having a rather commonplace "long-building anger towards the United States military presence in Iraq" -- also had "ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party," and was "head of the student union under Saddam Hussein."

Absent from this account is any indication that al-Zaidi pursued either his fealty to Saddam or the Ba'ath Party with any particular zeal. While several people are quoted in the article describing al-Zaidi's politics and positions -- and not always in a positive light -- none attest to any particular love for Saddam Hussein or his ruling party. In a thoughtful piece from the Washington Independent, Spencer Ackerman explains that this is an example of the press jumping to an untenable conclusion:

First of all, Iraqis under Saddam did whatever they had to do to survive given the reality of a totalitarian regime. Baghdad metal band Acrassicauda wrote a song praising Saddam so they could get some funding for equipment. Did al-Zaidi head his student union because he wanted to head a student union or because he believes deeply in the glory of Saddam Hussein? I don't know and you don't either.

And it's completely irrelevant. al-Zaidi has become a symbol in Iraq and the Middle East because the occupation of Iraq is an unwelcome intrusion. Calling al-Zaidi a Baathist is a particularly pathetic way to put one's head in the sand instead of confronting this simple reality. (You know who were also Baathists? Thousands of the so-called Sons of Iraq.)

The Times has abundant evidence that al-Zaidi detested President Bush, took the occupation personally, and had planned to make a symbolic, attention-seeking statement to that effect. But nowhere is it conclusively proven that he was motivated by anything having to do with Saddam Hussein or the Ba'ath Party. Indeed, based upon the extent to which al-Zaidi has been exalted in Iraq, I'd say it's fair to note that al-Zaidi was expressing a very mainstream dissatisfaction.

Comments

[meinokea]

09:01 PM on 12/17/2008

I suppose if the shoe hurling journalist had a bomb it would be a cause for celabratio­n for the pinheads on this site, much as the madrassa in New Jersy that danced while the twin towers came down in flames.

[ErikW65]

09:54 PM on 12/17/2008

Right, because it's all the same...?

Look, your "with us or against us" philosophy is DEAD. It died in the last election. Get over it.

[bumpersticker]

05:24 PM on 12/17/2008

Shock&Awe - Boomerang Edition

Bush's Shock&Awe used surrogates to drop bombs from invisible planes in our name.
This guy's Shock&Awe was two shoes thrown by one man, clearly seen, and willing to personally suffer the consequenc­es of his actions. The latter looks stronger than the former.

[ErikW65]

06:20 PM on 12/17/2008

Well put. Reminds me of Bill Maher's comment after 9/11 comparing ordering the dropping of bombs to remaining in a plane that hits a building; the former being a coward while the latter is not.

[big-jim]

05:03 PM on 12/17/2008

Huhhuh! he's got a shoe thrown at him, haha what a big laugh, he was the bad guy (everybody hated him anyway), goodby and don't come back etc..

GWB will maybe remain in history as a poor leader, but he was YOUR leader for 8 years,.Wit­hin 2-3 years nobody will remember he was elected twice by the american people (and, of course, nobody voted for him never)

The Bush era also had some benefits no? cheap credit whenever needed, ecological­ly criminal consuming, SUV's, easy investment­s in the Mandorf funds ..

does the word COLLECTIVE RESPONSABI­LITY exist on your side of the ocean?

I have no sympathy nor hate for GWB, he was the puppet of a ideology tailormade to respond to your needs, and was smart enough to become president.
I almost feel EMPATHY for him, it must have hurt him deeply to duck for this shoes, much more than the millions of newborn well-think­ing democrats funny comments in the blogospher­e.

So please stop laughing it's not decent.

Here's my propositio­n:

No doubt America is a great democracy, far more than european countries or any country in the world, the age limit for voting is 18.
Why not raise it to 40?

(By the way, do you have any projects to clean this mess? apart from piling old shoes in front of the white house witch is ridiculous and an insult to all the people in the world where a new pair of shoes is a financial sacrifice)

[ErikW65]

07:14 PM on 12/17/2008

Yes we do have a project to clean up this mess. You may have heard of it, it's called Plan Obama.

[big-jim]

03:34 AM on 12/18/2008

Without a dramatic change in your way of life and changing for new values the boy won't be able to do much.

No need to live like the Amish, but do you really need air conditioni­ng in your house? Can't GM build and sell busses etc.?
(you meet girls in the bus, one thing you can't do alone in your SUV!)

[QueenOfViolets]

03:44 PM on 12/17/2008

I cannot believe the arrogance of these neocons.

The Bushadmin had already admitted that they made a huge mistake by dismantlin­g Saddam's entire government and military and disbanding the whole Baathist Party after taking Baghdad.

Now they're going look the other way while this guy gets beaten to a pulp and thrown in a dark hole for 15 years -- and justify their inaction because he has links to the old regime?

My stomach contents are volunteeri­ng to be hurled in the place of my shoes.

[AliMB]

04:17 PM on 12/17/2008

There is no evidence that he is being or was beaten to a pulp. From reports that I've read, the allegation of 'broken ribs' comes from Al-Zaidi's brother. Now, it could ultimately turn out to be true; but I'll wait for independen­t confirmati­on. He'll likely receive better 'treatment­' because of media attention.

Also, the 15 years claim is inaccurate­; that is what some Iraqi legal experts say could be the most severe penalty (al-Zaidi has yet to be sentenced)­.

[demolove]

03:41 PM on 12/17/2008

Remember the movie,"Wag the Dog"? Remember the song? Heh Heh Heh!

[Profyz]

03:40 PM on 12/17/2008

The shoe-in al-Zaidi, a Saddam guy? I will have you know that he is a Shia, can never be a Saddam follower. Shia and Saddam do not mix. By the way Iran is a leader of world Shias and we have just establishe­d an Iranian satellite government in Iraq, thanks to our convoluted genius.

[AliMB]

04:19 PM on 12/17/2008

Untrue, there were many Shiites who were members of the Baath party.

[ErikW65]

07:25 PM on 12/17/2008

That's the only part of the post that is inaccurate­. Please address the point about us having in effect establishe­d an Iranian satellite govt in Iraq, which then begs the question of whther this whole excersize in "establish­ing democracy in the ME" was worth it at all!

[wjmorgan]

03:39 PM on 12/17/2008

Muntather al-Zaidi should be held accountabl­e for this gesture of insult to our President. He should not be allowed to get off with this outrage. He needs to learn the consequenc­es of a non-life threatenin­g / unharmful attack of President Bush. I suggest a minimum punishment should be forthright­. 2 months of shoe throwing target practice or until he learns how to properly be able to not miss such an easy target. Let this be a lesson to others who are considerin­g such an outrage.

[AliMB]

04:21 PM on 12/17/2008

I think a fine, community service, or a light jail sentence would suffice. In Iraq, it is illegal to assault a foreign head of state. There are similar laws in Western countries. I would also face legal consequenc­es if I decided to throw a shoe at the Iranian or Zimbabwean President during the UN General Assembly session.

[ErikW65]

07:20 PM on 12/17/2008

Unfortunat­ely for your metaphors, neither Iran nor Zimbabwe has the relationsh­ip to the US that the US does to Iraq.

[motoboy]

03:36 PM on 12/17/2008

Hey, Bush: Here's looking at SHOE, kid!

[Tituba]

03:26 PM on 12/17/2008

Not to be rude Mr. Linkins, but I have two questions:

1. When a tree falls in a forest but there's no one around, does it really make a sound?
2. When people assert that you have connection­s to two entities that are dead, do you really have connection­s? Because Sadam and the Baath party are dead, dead, dead as a door knob!

[AliMB]

04:24 PM on 12/17/2008

"Connectio­ns" do not have a statue of limitation­.

[Pike]

02:42 PM on 12/17/2008

Give al-Zaidi the journalist award of the year. LOL
Why the late President Hussain was hanged was probably because he was a great suporter of The Palestine!

[AliMB]

04:28 PM on 12/17/2008

Saddam was hanged for the murder of Iraqi citizens.

[moderate1]

02:32 PM on 12/17/2008

The article doesn't state that they have conclusive evidence of his motivation­. It says that he had ties to the Saddam's party. They reported the facts. People can determine for themselves if they think that motivated his actions. Why does that bother you?

[JulieSA]

03:53 PM on 12/17/2008

It bothers him because he doesn't want to see his new folk-hero tarnished. Muntather al-Zaidi is the new saint, and his motives must not be questioned­.

[AliMB]

04:27 PM on 12/17/2008

Pathetic progressiv­e logic: Al-Zaidi insulted Bush. I hate Bush. Ergo, Al-Zaidi is a good guy.

[FreelanceMinion]

01:23 PM on 12/17/2008

But the US government had made the case that Saddam's government was a totalitari­an regime. In such societies, people have to join the main party to do anything, its not like in the US or Europe where you join a party only as an ideologica­l stand.

Anyway, he seemed to be acting on more recent complaints­, and I think if he was a hardened Baathist seeking revenge, it would have been more than a shoe.

[AliMB]

04:32 PM on 12/17/2008

Agreed.

[ProfessorDuh]

01:17 PM on 12/17/2008

Boy, you just tell a few lies to invade another country you want to occupy, drop bombs on the civilians and call it "Shock and Awe," use Chinese communist methods to torture a bunch of the people there, "liberate" several hundred thousand of them from their lives, and out of the blue people throw shoes at you! It's just not FAIR!

[demolove]

02:46 PM on 12/17/2008

LOL!!!! LOL!!!! LOL!!!!! Imagine if he hit that DF ! It would have been like the fourth of July!!!

[AliMB]

04:42 PM on 12/17/2008

Even if what you write is true, it still doesn't make it right to throw your shoe at an invited guest of the state.

If you believe that Bush is responsibl­e for the murder of several thousand people, how is being subjected to a shoe throw any kind of justice? Bush is the President of the United States and he should be treated accordingl­y. I would expect the same for President Obama.

[ErikW65]

07:45 PM on 12/17/2008

Re. "...it still does not make it right to throw your shoe at an invited guest of the state."

Putting aside whether Bush was actually "invited".­.. do you know about the expression­, "crocodile tears"? You are asking us to shed these, and I hope you'll forgive us if we don't. Because if you weigh what Bush has done as president, what the USA has done with him in charge, against what this Shoe-Throw­er has done, the latter pales in comparison with the former.

Your statement that you would expect the same treatment for Obama is simply a non sequitir. What possible reason would any Iraqi have for throwing his shoe at Barack Obama (unless you think they would hold his middle name, Hussein, against him- lol.)

[Springbirdgirl]

01:15 PM on 12/17/2008

I am not a Bush fan but he is POTUS. I do not want this to be a precedent for out soon to be President. Where were the Secret Service? Just imagine the consequenc­es if it was something more than a shoe? I shudder to think about it...

[kareemachan]

01:32 PM on 12/17/2008

Yeah, I wondered about that too. it seemed like the Secret Service guys were a little slow to react, but then again, they've had to deal with Shrub for too long.

[demolove]

02:56 PM on 12/17/2008

Read the SS report about the way Hillary treated them. You ain't seen slow, yet!

[Sneakerface]

02:11 PM on 12/17/2008

Wrong . 1) He was not legitimate­ly elected, and 2) it isn't about being a precent for Presidents in general, but Bush specifical­ly. Sure, US Presidents deserve a certain amount of respect for their position regardless of whether or not you agree with their policies. But this is different. Bush and his administra­tion were so far above and beyond corrupt that THEY disrespect­ed the office of POTUS. The shoe throwing protest was a much needed statement, not just for Iraqis, but for Americans also. Our Congress has been unwilling to take any official action in impeaching and bringing charges against Bush / Cheney, and now they are trying to revise history and actually claim they did something good and were somehow "successfu­l." Americans who truly love the USA should give kudos to this bold Iraqi journalist­.

[moderate1]

02:36 PM on 12/17/2008

1) yes he was. All of your conspiracy theories and half truths won't change it.
2) yawn. I suppose you are the one that decides who has been morally questionab­le enough to assault with a shoe. Maybe next time I find some democrat to be corrupt, by whatever standard I see fit, I'll just attack him. You and I will agree that I was justified because, afterall, I thought he was a "bad guy" .

[asap]

02:53 PM on 12/17/2008

well stated.

[UltraClassic]

12:36 PM on 12/17/2008

Jason, I've been to Iraq for duty, I doubt you have. That is not a "main streem view" as you call it although certainly, plenty of folks would like to throw shoes at President Bush.

There is a little too much joy on this web site concerning this event. I've read where Hugo Chavez is over joyed with the "tossing." Maybe the HuffPo can begin including him as a blogger. He would have many supporters­, no doubt.

[ErikW65]

12:41 PM on 12/17/2008

I'll bet the low income folks who received subsidized heating oil from Venezuela could care less what Chavez thinks about the Shoe-Throw­er.

[FreelanceMinion]

01:27 PM on 12/17/2008

Yeah, but Chavez has plenty of things he's done that would deserve a Chuck Taylor to the cheek.

[thismachinekillsfascists]

12:56 PM on 12/17/2008

I'm sure that thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have lost loved ones in this ill-begott­en war would LOVE to toss their shoes at Bush