This video is called Release Bush‘s Shoe Thrower | Free Iraqi Journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi.
From British weekly The Observer:
‘Baghdad Clogger’ suffered brutal beating after arrest
Muntazer al-Zaidi has not been seen in public since he hurled his shoes at President George Bush. In Baghdad, Afif Sarhan talks to witnesses who claim that a series of savage attacks left him with a broken rib and serious damage to his eye.
Media lies about the Iraq war: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Al-Zaidi Supporters Refuse to Disperse
“I have told them I won’t move anywhere unless it is to my grave,” said Uday al-Zaidi, 32, one of the reporter’s brothers.
Thrown Shoes Unite Iraq
Muntather’s action has, for these days, united Sunnis, Shiites and Christians. It united Iraqis as Iraqis. And it only took a few seconds.
http://www.sfbayview.com/2008/thrown-shoes-unite-iraq/
‘Bush Shoe’ Sales Skyrocket
“Mr. Bush served some good purpose to the economy before he left.”
Forget SOFA: U.S. Troops Will Replace British
‘”We will take into account what is going on in Anbar, in the rest of the country, to make sure that we have the proper force structure to continue our mission to make sure we don’t give up any of the security gains we have.”‘
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2008/12/21/world/AP-ML-Iraq.html?ref=world
Blowback: ‘Lethal Warriors’ in Iraq, Linked to String of Crimes Back Home
“The only thing I know how to do is shoot.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-me-battalion21-2008dec21,0,7036557.story
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G.I. RESISTANCE
Matthis Resists
From this website, you can access up to date information on my refusal, activism and what you can do to help.
http://matthisresists.us/
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And he has not been beheaded in a public square! Don’t you guys it, the Iraqis believe in democracy!! Let them enjoy it beofre the civil war in 2009 and everyone will be killed for political and religious thinking again!
Think America, this is what George W. Bush gave them, freedom!
Thank you President Bush and Vice President Cheney for keeping us safe for 7 ½ years.
Dear Mr. President,
Thank you Sir for your courage, and your leadership that has kept the American homeland safe for every second after 9/11.
You have taken a huge challenge and make good on your promise.
Thank you for liberating Iraq from a coward and then for having the courage to build that country up again.
History may rethink your decisions and will finally understand your huge leadership to introduce democracy to a land of religious theocracies.
You may have changed the face of the future more than any other president in our recent history, in the same regard as Regan after the victory of the cold war.
The best to you Sir,
REID D. REASOR, Lt Col (Ret) USAF B.S. M.T.
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Hi, Mr Retired Lieutenant Colonel, is this comment satire? It seems that you don’t mind torture, whether in Abu Ghraib or in the Green Zone. “Liberating” Iraq, with over a million people killed? `Liberating` with four million refugees? Some ´democracy´.
´Building up Iraq´ while cholera breaks out and the only things built are prisons, segregation walls, and the huge US embassy is also a rather funny expression of yours. You seem to have forgotten your medication.
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Hey Mr. Administrator, have the courage to sign your name..and if you think Iraq is better off in 1990, you are ignorant of the middle eastern mind. Have you ever been there? No, I don’t think so, have you ever talked with an Islamic extreamist, nope, and how about an Isreali fighter pilot, nope. So before you comment on any world opions, read my article on “The need for force” or you can go to years of international school like we do. Ignorance and arrogance is a terrible combination.
REID REASOR yes that is my real name.. yours?
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Hi Mr Reid Reasor, I note that you don’t go into any of the points which I have raised. Especially not the points about torture. Obviously you can’t. It must be the hangover from the verdict of the United States electorate on your “heroes”‘ policies in November 2008. Oh yes, and I have been to the Middle East (though millions of people who have never been there still talk more sense about it than you, who apparently went there, pre determined that not any fact would ever upset your extreme Right blinkered prejudices).
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Still no name, lack of courage I think Mr. Administrator. And let me make sure I repeat what you have said. You have never been to the Middle East, and you have never taken any courses at all in Middle Eastern studies, and you have never met an Islamic extremist face to face who wants to kill you, slowly. Now that we have the ground rules out, let me ask you some questions, Mr. or Ms Liberal. Have you ever had homeless people live with you? No, didn’t think so. Have you ever saved a child from abortion by housing unwed mothers? No, didn’t think so, I would be happy to introduce you to five happy teens that are alive because of us. Do you give 10% of your income to the poor? No, I didn’t think so. But what you do is think that you are serving people by being a flaming liberal who hates the military. Now let me answer your questions, if you have the courage to read the answers. Should people be hit and beat for throwing a shoe at the President? No, they should be arrested and tried. What if it was a knife and it was thrown at Obama? You would feel different, just because you hate Bush your mind is predisposed to think ilk. But my point is simple, he is still alive, and will face trial, and so will those who beat him. How you ever stood on a killing tower Mr. Administrator? No again. These are platforms about five stories high that suspects, not convicted; suspects are thrown from to hit the concrete and then be left to bleed to death. Ever see one? I have. Do you really think that the Iraqis’ civil rights are worse off now than in 1990? In 1990, he would be dead that afternoon. It’s perfect, it works, they are allowed to express anger and frustration and love and hate and not be shot for it! This is not allowed in most of the Middle East. You really are way indoctrinated into the politics of hate. Let’s look at facts. Not one of our little children has been killed in our land for over 7.5 years because of the courage of Bush. Like him or not, that is the truth. Now do you even understand the Bush Iraqi strategy? This may seem really hard for you so I will type slowly. If they are going to try and kill us, I want them to try and kill my military warriors and not Suzy in my sand box and I want them to try and kill me on their land, not ours. War is an ugly thing Mr. Administrator; I don’t want my children to have to see it on their own land. Now let’s go on to democracy in the Middle East. The Middle Eastern mind thinks that the world is a theocracy. Just because you do not believe in God and have a secular government, they do not, and think that we do not either. Let me say that another way so you get it, they think that our government is run by the bible and Christians. They think all governments are based in faith to God, they teach their children that, and they think that Israeli government is run by the Jewish faith, and therefore it is only natural to have a holy war. If you would like to explain why their will never be peace in the Middle East, I will be happy to enlighten you about Isaac and Ishmael.
Now on to you personally, I am a centrist, not like you who is an extremist, and loves the game of hate. Where are you going with all this anger you have? You realize naturally that only 1/6 of America believes like you do. 2/3 could care less, and the 1/3 that is active in discussions like we are having are divided. (2/3 x ½ = 1/6) So if you want to divide and hate, what is the outcome? If we keep hating like you do, there are only three possible outcomes, 1 revolution, 2 wasting all of our resources on fighting each other ( 8 billion in the last election) or 3 total collapse. Tell me what you are working for? And if you have not studied something, or been there personally a smart person would refrain from position until the educate themselves. Want to see the source of Middle East hate: Read Genesis, Abraham and Hagar. Then come on back.
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[in reaction to #7, which had been stopped by anti spam software]
Hi, Mr Reid D. Reasor, you did not mention it here, but it can be found out by searching the Internet: you were a candidate for the Republican Party for the Senate; and apparently lost. That explains why you like to plaster your name all over the Internet. While I, who am NOT running for office, don’t. The aim of this blog is not to promote the ego of me or of anyone else.
Oh yes, as I said already, I was in the Middle East, and did studies on countries with big Islamic populations. And I did have homeless people living with me, contrary to what you presume, without knowing me.
I will not go into much of your long rant. The myth of Iraq having supposedly anything to do with 9/11 in the USA has been debunked even by the Bush administration itself, but you do not seem to know that yet. You a “centrist”? If people like you or Sarah Palin want to believe in creationism or other religious mythology, go ahread. But do not think others will believe this is a rational explanation for dinosaurs; or for politics in the Middle East or elsewhere.
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Mr. Administrator, No, I was not a republican candidate for Senate; I am a centrist and believe a lot in helping people, federalizing education and allowing abortion until there is a heartbeat. I am not about power and money like the democrats and the republicans. Did you answer my questions about your efforts to help people? I want a revolution in giving power back to the people. My candidacy is only on the internet because I do not want to waste your money. Obama and McCain spent 8 Billion on getting power. That’s enough money to provide the entire world with fresh water, and if you read my side you would see that I do not take any funds or donations, so no, I am not a politician. You really are having a hard time thinking outside of your paradigm. You want a real revolution, read my site and take power back from the rich and powerful.
But thank you, excellent, now we are talking about ideas and not hate, thank you for backing off your position of name calling. Now, will you do your homework and read about why the residents of the Middle East hate each other? It happened 6000 years ago, and it is all about a dysfunctional family. Abraham threw this son Ishmael and his mother Hagar wife out in the desert to die, then he rode away with Sarah and Isaac. Ishmael is the father of Islam, and Isaac is the father of the Jewish faith. Want peace in the Middle East, this hurt must be addressed and resolved. Why don’t you read it, in all three faiths? A good start is Genesis 15-17, even if you do not believe in God, they do.
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Mr Reid Reasor, in your first comment here you write “Thank you President Bush and Vice President Cheney”. That does not really sound like a centrist. As George W. Bush tops the lists for worst ever president of the USA in polls. And as Dick Cheney has an approval rate of just over 10%. Dick Cheney, who, in his own words, “had better things to do”, than fighting in Vietnam though he supported that war; like George W. Bush who did not fight in it either. Cheney, who did business with Saddam Hussein and then started the Iraq war, based on lies about WMD and about a supposed 9/11 connection. Cheney, who later sold nuclear components to Iran and then lobbied for war against Iran.
[By the way, that human rights today in Iraq are even worse than under Saddam Hussein, is the expressed view of the most pro Bush politician in Iraq, Allawi; of the United Nations, and of many others. Of the artists alive in Iraq in 2003 when Bush/Cheney started their war for Halliburton and other profits, 85% are now dead or refugees. I spoke to those refugee artists. You did not.]
As even many moderate Republicans have turned away from Bush/Cheney in disgust; and you still praise them; some people might even think that you were not the official Republican candidate as the party thought that having a Bush-admiring candidate was a vote loser.
I have read all of the Bible, including about Abraham, a long time ago. However, it is not a history book. Like the poems of Homer, the Norse Edda, the Indian Ramayana, and the fairy tales of the brothers Grimm also do not explain the present conflicts in the Middle East.
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“Thank you President Bush and Vice President Cheney�. That does not really sound like a centrist.
Listen to yourself, this is all one man thanking another, and you get all wound up in your anger about it. Who has an open mind?
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Mr. Administrator,
Well guys, I think that your judgment of Bush is misplaced in the horrors of our past. All I did was thank the man for keeping his word. We have been safe, for 7 1/2 years. Why do you hate Bush so?
JFK got us into Vietnam, Johnson kept us there, why not hate them? Your anger is really displaced when you think about the hundreds of thousands we killed in Vietnam because of these Democrat men. Where is your equal view of justice and judgment? And about the election, I am sorry but the US is still very conservative, look at these election results and what you see is that our ultra liberal cities such as LA, NY, Seattle, Miami and San Francisco elected Obama, and they are telling the rest of the country where to go.
[Link deleted as it does not go anywhere by now. Administrator, December 2010.]
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I do not like Obama because he is an extreme liberal who wants to authorize anyone at ant time to use a mortised vacuum hose on unborn children, and then deny them medical care when they live through the torture, and hit the floor screaming. Where is your outrage over this? I am pro human heartbeat, if you have a beating heart you live. No capital punishment, no stopping unborn hearts. DNC early.
Hate Bush, hate JFK, hate Johnson, hate, hate, which does nothing. I have fought under four presidents, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and I trust them, I trust Powel when he swore to the UN that Iraq had chemical weapons. Whom do you trust?
Keep your mind open for a few years, maybe, just maybe democracy as an experiment in the Middle East will pay off. Maybe they will start to hold their own people accountable for terror. If that was the result, I would die several times over if Iran would embrace freedom and put their own terrorist on trail.
History may show that Bush actually saved thousands of lives and billions of dollar by preventing further combat and loss of life. Is 4000 of US warrior worth a world that is better, and freer? I would do it again, and would love to go today if I could, I would be happy to die for that chance. What are you doing to make the world better?
REID REASOR
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Re #11: you were thanking Bush and Cheney for the Iraq war, opposed by most people in the USA, even quite some Republicans. It is not “anger”, but just pointing out the facts, that that war was based on lies and killed over 4,000 US soldiers, over a million Iraqi civilians, etc. etc.
As for Bush supposedly keeping his promises: in 2000, he promised “a more humble foreign policy”. Some people thought: So, under Bush, no more wars like in Yugoslavia in 1999; which cost thousands of lives. Bush broke that promise, and started wars even worse than in Yugoslavia.
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JFK did not start US military involvement in Vietnam. It had already started under Eisenhower. JFK and Johnson did escalate the war. So did Nixon, their Republican successor. Until the killings of students at Kent State and Jackson State showed that there are limits to escalating wars, even for warmongering presidents. So, Vietnam was bipartisan.
You write “I trust Powel when he swore to the UN”. Actually, Colin Powell has said later on Dutch TV and elsewhere, that he regretted his lies at the UN on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was rather naive to trust Powell then; as his own later words have confirmed.
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Re #13: “I do not like Obama because he is an extreme liberal”. I did not bring Obama into this thread; you did. Then, the majority of voters in the USA are, in your terms “extreme liberals”. As the majority voted for him. Not counting the maybe even more “extreme liberals” who voted for Nader; Ms McKinney; the candidates of the Socialist Party of America, the Socialist Equality Party, the Party of Socialism and Liberation, etc. Plus the millions of “extreme liberals” who as anarchists or something somewhat similar to that think voting is not the solution.
According to you “the US is still very conservative”, based on a map which merely shows that McCain and Palin were more popular in areas where very few people live than in cities. It seems that you would like just one person living in a patch of desert to have as many votes as all the inhabitants of a city of ten million people with similar surface to that patch of desert. Of course, that would be unjust. Democracy means one person, one vote.
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From Reid Reasor to administrator:
Great, now we are into a logical, good discussion without name calling. Wonderful! I will need time to read your assertions, think about them, do some research and see if I agree with you and then respond to them however here are some quick off the cuff answers.
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ELECTION: Liberals are only 1/6 of the population. 2/3 of the US could care less what liberals, conservatives and centrists like me do. Of the 1/3 that did vote, they are spit in half. Yes, I agree that the 1/6 of our population that is liberal did elect Obama, and I am happy for it. I have an open mind about him, but I do assert that he has already broken a promise to build a centrist administration with his appointments, and his extreme position on abortion that lets cut and bleeding babies die on the floor without medical care. What I think the map shows is that our cities are hurting, they are working hard and they need help. I think that the populated cities are liberal because in their world, there is a proletariat, and a bourgeois. There in the liberal world, there is a bigger gap between rich and poor caused by greed.
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BUSH POPULARITY: You and I know that the media makes or breaks popularity. Perception is reality, the media makes perception. Bush was the most popular president in the history of the US just a few years ago. What happened? He didn’t change anything, we changed in what we wanted and perceived about him. Pulitzer himself said it best,”The people will believe what I chose to tell them to believe.” The media makes or breaks popularity, Bush is terrible at working with the media.
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THE WAR IN IRAQ: Our military is tired, our equipment if getting high mileage and we are paying more than billions in the cost. The war was popular, a few years ago. I did not know that Powel apologized, so thank you for telling me. I do not think he lied; he had no intention to deceive anyone. He got bad intelligence. Bush bet on him, and he would be a world wide hero if we did in fact find anthrax, nuclear and chemical weapons factories in Iraq. To Powel’s credit, that must been the most courageous thing to do, admit a mistake and apologize. And to Bush’s credit, he didn’t plant anything or lie about it, he didn’t blame anyone else or hang anyone out to dry. He knows it was his hit to take, and he took it.
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TERRORISM: This is a new type of war, it has no end, it has no victory point, and it has no popularity, but it is a type of war we cannot lose. Liberals need to come to grips with this after 9/11. Terrorist hate us for an unlimited number of reasons. They may think that we are a Christian dominated society, or that we are secular, or that we abort our children, or that we don’t. Hatred is from fear, hurt or frustration. The world has a lot of this, and we are an easy target to vent out hate. Our involvement in the world has changed, not by our choice, but we were plunged into a new type of warfare. If we did nothing after 9/11 I believe we would have had more attacks, a lot of them. The confessions of the terrorist at Getmo turned over their plans for attacks at water supplies, tunnels and subways. They didn’t happen, probably by the skin of our teeth and the work of our CIA. Here is the truth about our war on terrorism: It will never end, there is no measure of victory and we cannot afford to lose. It now is part of our life.
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MY SUGGESTION: Stop the shame and blame game, name calling and anger and let’s tackle some issues. Bush is gone, let’s let history judge him. How about you pick a topic and then let’s fights on?
REID REASOR
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Re #22: “Bush is gone”. Legally, that is incorrect. As Obama will only be inaugurated on 19 January. Though a “lame duck president” since at least the 2008 election, Bush has still taken “midnight” measures, harming protection of the environment, workers’ health, etc. And until 19 January, Bush might still pardon individuals of his administration, responsible for torture etc. See here.
Suppose an individual has murdered one person, maybe two persons. Or he has sexually tortured a child. “Only” one child, not more. If a district attorney would then say: “For these crimes, there is no statute of limitations. I will prosecute for this”; and a blogger would blog about that; would that be “blame game, name calling and anger”? I don’t think you would call it that.
In Abu Ghraib alone, not one, but a lot more children were tortured sexually. And no, you cannot blame that on the lone “bad apple”, Private Lynndie England. The US Senate has established the Bush administration’s responsibility for torture. Torture is a crime.
By the way, the topic of this thread is “Iraqi shoe-thrower tortured”, and I’d say that we had better stick to that and not go off subject.
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Re #21: war is between armies of countries, not against something as hard to define as “terrorism”. I repeat: the Bush administration itself has stated after the war, after lying about it before the war, that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. By the way, remember the Oklahoma City bombing? Most of the media shouting Muslim! muslim! until they found out that Christian fundamentalist Timothy McVeigh had done the bombing. And the nazi Christian Eric Robert Rudolph bombed abortion clinics.
Should that be “solved” by airplanes dropping bombs on Christian churches having nothing to do with this? I sure hope not!
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Re #20: it is Powell, not “Powel” (Guantanamo Bay is also called “Gitmo”; not “Getmo”). Powell said later on TV that he did not believe in the Iraqi WMD “evidence” at the time of his UN speech. However, the rest of the Bush administration pressured him to do that untrue speech nevertheless. See also here.
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Boy did today suck or what. I felt nothing good about anything said, and loved the poem. I also enjoyed the 1960’s prayer. Are all loberals stuck in the 60’s?
What was that?
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Hi Reid D Reasor, presumably in #26, you are commenting about the Obama inauguration, which is off topic in this thread (I have threads about it elsewhere on this blog). If you “enjoyed the 1960’s prayer”, then maybe not just “loberals” (liberals), but you as well, may be stuck in the 60’s somewhat?
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