Iraqi Hurls Shoes at Bush

Shoe-throwing a signal of intense contempt in Arab world
Posted Dec 14, 2008 2:40 PM CST

A man throws his shoes at President Bush in Baghdad.
(MSNBC)

President Bush never quite got the book thrown at him for invading Iraq, but the next closest thing happened today, CBS News reports. A correspondent for a Cairo-based Iraqi TV station hurled a pair of shoes at the outgoing president during a press conference in Baghdad, shouting, “This is a farewell kiss, dog,” Bloomberg reports.

Bush escaped the footwear attack unscathed, later quipping, “All I can report is that it is a size 10.” The assault puts Bush in questionable company; throwing shoes at someone is an Arab sign of deep disrespect, and Iraqis threw their footwear at a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein following the 2003 invasion. “It doesn’t bother me,” Bush said. “So what if he threw a shoe at me.”
(More George W. Bush stories.)

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