Anti-Bush Gesture Strikes a Chord

December 16, 2008

On December 14, an Iraqi reporter threw his two shoes at George W Bush during a press conference in Iraq. The man yelled, "This is a farewell kiss, you dog," and "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Within less than a day, reaction to the one action has developed into an outpouring of expression of anti-occupation sentiment. In Baghdad and across Iraq thousands of people have come out in demonstrations holding up shoes as an expression of scorn and carrying signs reading "Go out U.S.A." Protesters are demanding the release of the arrested reporter, Muntadar al-Zaidi. Some have launched shoes at U.S. military convoys as they pass.