OntheWilderSide

For excellent photo of the shoe statue, go: here.

To recap:

President Bush made a surprise appearance to reporters in Baghdad last month. One journalist, a man who had covered the hardships of war extensively, reacted by shouting words about justice in Arabic at President Bush, and throwing his shoes at him. While I do not condone shoe-throwing, the shoes missed and the words were important.

The journalist, Muntadhar Al-Zeidi, was clearly beaten and hurt by security guards and police at the scene. And, the Iraq courts have hid Muntadhar from public view, probably because they do not want people to see evidence of government officials’ abuse and torture of this man, who is now, essentially, a political prisoner.

The world waits for the Iraq government to allow Al-Zeidi and day in court in public view. Or, for the charges to be dismissed, in light of the war crimes committed by the ducker, and the fact that the shoes missed.

Meanwhile, in Takrit, Iraq, a statue has been created to honor Al-Zeidi’s symbolic act and his bravery.

Excerpt of AP Story:

…The sculpture also includes an ode to al-Zeidi and mentions the virtues of being “able to tell the truth out loud.”…

…On Monday, Swiss lawyer Mauro Poggia said al-Zeidi planned to seek political asylum in Switzerland, but one of al-Zeidi’s brothers denied the report….

Filed under: Anti-War, international politics, Iraq, News, US Politics Tagged: | al-Zaidi, al-Zeidi, courts, Criminal Justice, Iraq, political prisoners, President Bush, shoe, Statue