I can understand why he did what he did. Let him go free. What he did was less insulting than having to watch so many of your neighbors killed in an illegal war. If Bush pays for his crimes, maybe then we can consider a punishment for this hero.

Well, since he loves the way IRAQ was  BEFORE the mean, nasty Americans came to free people enough that they don't have to worry so much about being raped, tortured and murdered for doing even less than he did in the press conference, HE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO GO TO AN IRAQUI COURT.   Preferably  ONE THAT FOLLOWS THE JUSTICE AS METED OUT BY average, every day IRAQUIS PRIOR TO ANY AMERICAN EVER SHOWING UP OVER THERE IN 2002.  OH, THAT'S RIGHT, HE MIGHT ALREADY BE DEAD.  OHHHHHH, TOOOOOOOO BAD.

It was inappropriate for him to have thrown his shoes at President Bush and the appropriate level of response is for him to spend some jail time for it, maybe 30 to 60 days. But, there are lots of circumstances behind the event. The primary one related to him being jailed is that he appears to have been beaten up already. Since he has been beaten, I count that as punishment and thus he should now be released.

His action, though inappropriate, was never a real threat to President Bush and was highly unlikely to cause and real harm to President Bush, even if a shoe had hurt him. The event was primarily a very strong gesture of contempt towards President Bush.

He has good cause to feel anger and contempt towards President Bush. The war against Iraq was unprovoked and illegal by International Law. President Bush deliberately used lies to both the US Congress and the US citizenry in order to gain support for the illegal war against Iraq. President Bush badly managed the entire event, especially the aftermath of defeating Iraq’s military, which happened very quickly. The Lancet survey published on 11 October 2006, estimated 654,965 excess deaths related to the war, or 2.5% of the population, through the end of June 2006. This does not even begin to cover the non-lethal but serious harm to life done to other Iraqi’s during this time.

This is not to say Saddam was a good guy, because he was not. However, the actions of the US were wrong in the extreme and the costs will continue to be felt in both countries for years to come.

As for sentencing this reporter to prison time for throwing his shoes at President Bush, well, when President Bush is tried for war crimes and sentenced to prison for illegally starting war with another country, lying to congress to start a war, torturing prisoners of war in violation of the Geneva convention, illegally kidnapping people and holding them for years with any recourse to legal representation and so on and so on, then we can consider being harder on this reporter for throwing shoes at President Bush.

Bush is not the Worlds President, only Americas. He did not earn respect from the people there. He destroyed their lives.

Plus when you give the same level of respect to another Nations Leaders, like you would your own; to me it is the same as Treason.

I would never Bow or Curtsy to the Queen of England, because she is not my Queen.

Plus, GW Dummy did not even understand the level of disrespect that gesture meant or why the man was mad at him. G W'S words not mine.

What a complete disregard of what the U.S. has done and sacrificed for this country. Total ignorance. That includes so many here that think this was cute and clever. Our soldiers should risk their lives for these nutcakes????

Why does he deserve a medal? He did not defend our flag; He was to busy ducking. Watch the video and see our flag takes it like a man. God Bless America!

Up here in Canada we have an alcoholic braindead prime minister who could do with some shoe throwing but like your guy  it probably wouldn't do much good.

Since we can not hurl our expensive shoes we can string our flip flops and put it around the our beloved, arogant but shamless president's neck to honor his service of destruction .

Sure ! A medal of honor

All I have to say is we are so naive . . . 'Greeted as Liberators'?

Thousands of lives lost, torture and billions of dollars later - should we be gloating w/ pride? . . . false pride and hubris if you ask me, and it makes me sick!  Well, at least we have a breath of fresh air coming to Washington, and hopefully we will see real change to come.  Just say 'NO' to 'Premptive War', 'Shock & Awe', 'Imperial Hubris' and 'Illegal Occupation' - Don't let them pull the wool over your eyes - Don't let it happen again! - You think we would have learned to be more skeptical after Vietnam . . . as The Who once sang "Don't get fooled again!"

America, will we ever learn?     

Sadam was attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction. He had possessed them at one time and had even used them against his own people. He had rape rooms, condoned and sanctioned torture. His sons raided weddings, took the brides, raped them in front of her groom and then kill them both. The guy that threw the shoes should be punished the same way you would be punished if you attacked another country's leader. 9-11-01. No attacks here since. Bush did that. God Bless America and her president!

Miranda--

OH, THAT'S RIGHT, HE MIGHT ALREADY BE DEAD.  OHHHHHH, TOOOOOOOO BAD.

Seriously?

Amen, I cant believe the level of ignorance I'm reading in these other posts. So because our president isn't popular, other countries citizens can attack him at will... What if this was JFK or intern molester Bill Clinton? People would be wetting their beds for action. I truly worry about America, its people grow more foolish by the day. Back in College, I started to notice common people following the advice of celebrities about politics. That's when I knew we were screwed.

Amen, I cant believe the level of ignorance I'm reading in these other posts. So because our president isn't popular, other countries citizens can attack him at will... What if this was JFK or intern molester Bill Clinton? People would be wetting their beds for action. I truly worry about America, its people grow more foolish by the day. Back in College, I started to notice common people following the advice of celebrities about politics. That's when I knew we were screwed.

Many of you are to the right and most of you to the left on the topic the war in Iraq, but I think we can all agree that Iraq is becoming a more free society, and this man throwing a shoe at the American President just adds proof. 

Let’s just say: What if?

What if this reporter were to have thrown his shoe at Saddam about 6 1/2 years ago during a press conference (which wouldn’t have happened (The press conference) and certainly not live)  he would have more than likely been whisked away if not killed on the spot and murdered and left to… (too graphic to put in writing).  The video tapes capturing this event would have been confiscated and destroyed never to see the light of day.  Those witnessing the event would have been threatened with death if they even whispered about it to anyone.  The witnesses would have been looking over there shoulders for the next few years wondering when the secret police would pull them out of bed in the middle of the night and kill them.

But today.  An Iraqi reporter, during a press conference in Iraq with an American President and Iraqi Prime Minister, decides to vent his anger at the American President by throwing his shoe at him.  All I can say is that this is a testament that democracy is the most free form of government on earth.  This man is alive and able to complain about his treatment, AND there is a system of justice in Iraq willing to investigate his complaint.

Side note for those serving or lost in war…

To all of the American families who lost friends, or loved ones in Iraq, and to the American Military members who served, or who are serving over there, I want to say thank you!  Not only for my freedom here in America, but for the freedoms that you are providing to the citizens of Iraq, and elsewhere in our troubled world.  Your mission has not been in vain.  Do not let the mass of negativity sway you, I and so many others SUPPORT YOU!

Are you retarded?  Why would you reward people for attacking anyone, especially a sitting head of state of any country.

If you only knew what the throwing of his shoe means.

Also is that any way to show America how much he appreciates the representative of our country, after we liberated him from a dictator?

What this Iraqi journalist engaged in is nothing less than public protest. He exercised the right to free speech, one of the cornerstones of Democracy, so why should he spend any time "under punishment" for this right. No harm, no foul.

If we arrested and jailed all of the protesters who exercise their rights in this country our jails couldn't hold them nor could our court system maintain the protesters' right to habeas corpus.

We celebrate the delivery of democracy to other nations, we must accept all that goes along with it. Under Saddam Hussein this poor guy would not have been in the room and if he was and threw shoes at Saddam, he would have been beheaded, no doubt or shot to death.

You're an idiot!  Regardless of your political affiliation (which is obviously liberal), you and you liberal cohorts are wishing harm on the President of this United States!  I spent over 20 years of my life defending the rights of you and many others in foriegn lands (including Iraq) now enjoy and obviously take for granted.  I fought for you to say just about anything you like, but to wish ANY harm on our President, to me, is incomprehensible.  You should be ashamed!  I'm ashamed for you.  "To those of us who fought for it, Freedom holds a flavor the protected will never know."

Im not gonna call you an idiot, but you must be a teacher... because you sould like my kid that comes home from school with much of the same attitude.  Note to you.... people like you are gonna hurt this country.  just wait and see.

I agree! I am tired of us trying to help those who only want to do us harm. Bring our troops home and the money. American's need them both now anyway.

You people need to educate yourself and stop embarrassing the majority of us. Hey, go check out the rest of the world, spend some time there and listen., maybe take some notes. Oh, that requires writing, sorry.

No one asked for help, iraq wasnt the safest and most democratic country to live in before but atleast it wasnt chaos like it is now.

there were no suicide bombers or deaths by the hundreds everyday before america decided to but in...

no one asked for americas help so i dont see why iraqis should thank america or even respect americans for helping.

they just made matters worse.

I totally agree.  Can you imagine what would happened had this been turned around?  Or maybe this reporter had done this to Saddam??  The protest are not just against GW, they are also against America.  I would lock the gates into America and not let any more of the American haters in.  

TO: R.A.-778297

It was not a democracy at ALL. The country was run by a Homicidal Maniac Dictator who just loved to kill people for no earthly reason other than: he could,
and left to fester he or worse his sons would have eventually obtained what he wanted and brought his fight to America.

History has shown that waiting for the fight to arrive is not the best strategy. This is why we're made to sit through history class in school. So we can learn from the mistakes of those who came before us.

—

I agree. THEY WERE JUST SHOES! 

Not like Bush was actually HURT!

Embarrassed? Definitely. But hurt? I think not.

The journalist is a shia, or as the sunnys call them "shia dogs". Under Saddam he was a slave. I guess his memory is short or he is an iranian agent.

We (not just the President) went into Iraq precisely to help create a society where mindless hate is replaced be a "live and let live" culture. By and large we were very successful.

By the way, the new Obama / Clinton administration will follow the same policies.

Audrey, You are absolutley right! You go girl. I totally agree with you and good for you that you feel the way you do about it . You set a good example of how all of us should be feeling . There would be a more peaceful world if everyone felt that way. Thankyou and God Bless you. 

Audrey, You are absolutley right . If everyone felt that same way there would be a lot more peace in the world. We sometimes have to be humble and that can be difficult. I believe that it takes a stronger american to pratice humility and that maybe they could learn something from us besides stooping to someone else's level. And carrying their hatred of us around. We have to be the bigger person right now and set a better example of what being an american is all about. Freedom Respect Unity Loyalty All the things that make up a human being. Thankyou for being that american. We should try to follow that good example. Thank You.

You know...they were shoes but what if they had explosives in them? Any threat made against a leader of a nation should have serious consequences. Why? How would you feel if our president, whether you liked him or not, died in that incident on foreign soil? It would be a huge insult to us Americans not that person! Then what would happen? We have a history of having a short fuse when being attacked. We would wage a bigger war on that nation than we already have. Any country would retaliate the same if reversed. Let the Iraqi courts deal with their own people, their own way.

So if someones beats someone else bad enough to put them in a hospital we should just let them go?  After all it was only a fist.  Come on people it is still assault no matter how you slice it.  He should be held accountable for his actions as anyone else would be held accountable, regardless of the reason why.

TO: Audrey -776598

You are right that there was little effect to his throwing the shoe, but I'll be surprised if he gets off without any punishment.

This reminds me of the poll I just took on MSNBC’s site “what should happen” to this guy, and it strikes me as a little funny.  Most people voted to let the Iraqi government handle the matter.  I just hope they are not as strict as other Moslem nations... like losing a hand for stealing, or stoned to death for cheating.

Peace

You're concerned about your  $600- $2,700 "Louboutins" being scratched by airport security?    Considering our economy and the fact that we're at war on two different fronts, that's insulting to every American.    No, we shouldn't laugh off what he did, but he threw SHOES.   Let's acknowledge, take it seriously, and move on.    Do you think a man should spend time in prison for throwing shoes?   They weren't even louboutins.  Oh, and quit using Sandra Brown's name-don't think she'd appreciate it.

Sandra, how would you feel if the US had been occupied by another country for no reason? Wouldnt you have something to say about it, well this man did.

Let him go!!

Sandra Brown.... let me give u an example, if iraq out of nowhere came to america and started bombing ur neighborhoods ur schools where ur children go to and have broken into ur house and have killed ur family for no reason, what would u do in that case?

and then u see the president of iraq standing in the same room as u and HE is the one who made the decision the led to ur family's and neighbor's and ur loved one's death, wouldnt U! throw what ever u had at him, or spit in his face, or u just want to like tear him apart?

that is my example to you people and i am sick of world leaders sitting behind desks and pointing fingers and giving commands to go kill or make suffering for people around the world, my final decision for this one poor iraqi guy is that he is not guilty of ANYTHING!

B.T.W. almost every1 especialy at bush's age have had a shoe thrown at them once in their life at least, so dont come and tell me a person goes to jail for throwing a frikin shoe at a dumbass

If our country were taken over by a maniacal dictator like Saddam Hussein, I think most of us would hope that a strong and well-meaning country would come here and get rid of the dictator, restore democracy and pump billions of dollars into our country to improve infrastructure, etc.  I certainly wouldn't want to throw shoes at, or "tear apart", the president of such a country.  Did the Germans throw shoes at our President or at the leaders of the Allies when Hitler and the Nazis were destroyed?

I'm so sorry your 'Louboutins,' whatever they are, got scratched in airport security.  Muntader al-Zaidi only saw his country destroyed.  He has already had his arm and several ribs broken, and faces up to two years in prison for his act.  He only did what a lot of Americans would like to do to Bush right now.

Only sick "americans".

His country was destroyed by Saddam. Ask the Kurds and the Shia (Al-Maliki was in exile running fro his life).

Iraq is the best country to live in among the arab countries. It has an "elected government". It is building democratic institutions. Shia are no longer called "shia dogs".

But, I guess, you cannot appreciate this. You probably do not even vote!

'Sandra Brown', if you are concerned with your louboutins being scratched, you should at least know that the reason they make you take off your shoes in the airport is not because they are 'dangerous', it is because they might have bombs in them. Not becuase if you throw them at someone they might loose a tooth. And if you're worried about your multi thousand dollar shoes being scratched, take a private jet. No one needs shoes that expensive; your money should go to something WORTHY, like finding a cure for cancer, not a pair of shoes that are going to get dirty anyway! And to answer your question about 'would we treat it differently', yes, we would. A grenade is VERY different from a shoe, and you should know that.

Did I say it was ok?   NO!  I said take it seriously and move on.  Get some comprehension- or glasses.

As it is not ok to attack a country for NO reason.

We attacked Iraq for no reason

So your saying its ok to subvert our nation into a war based on lies that kills hundreds of thousands of Iraquis and Americans?

Your out of your mind! Its called facsism bub!

If this happened here and the guy was Ameican, he would be getting life in prison no doubt. (and deservedly so). If Bush did not duck, he would have been hurt. For those of you who think its no big deal, why dont you stand there and I will wing a shoe in your face!!! Also  my last point which no one seems to remember- Sadaam was warned in the weeks and days leading up to the invasion that if he did not let the UN inspectors in to do what was agreed to in 1991, that the invasion would proceed. Sadamm dared us to invade and we did. If he just let us do what we had been doing for the previous 12 years NONE of this would have ever happened. This war was totally Sadaam's fault. What were supposed to do- say "OK you win- we were just bluffing"? Come on people it wasn't that long ago. Look it up!!!!

TO: linkon allen - No not o.k., not a horrendous crime, but definitely not o.k., and I'm sure he'll get some punishment.

TO:  Audrey 776598– Your remarks are partisan and to Republicans they do sound sympathetic to the reporter.  But that’s o.k., the President was not harmed in the incident and I’m sure he’s moved on.

TO: GMM 520347– Not o.k., but the case was made to Congress/ Senate and War was APPROVED.  The case was even taken to the United Nations.  NO, no WMD was found, but after publicly having to ask to go to war and attempting to get other nation’s support, why would we have found WMD.  Saddam was EVIL not stupid.

TO: bduboftexas– Why did you even post your comment.  I hope your not from Texas.

TO: rube r – Please excuse me, the word you are looking for is deceive not subvert, and its not Fascism.  The Executive Branch went to Legislative Branch and made it’s case with information that they had.  These are the checks and balances of a Democracy.  I am unable to find in any book where an authoritarian or totalitarian has checks and balances.

TO: Bryan NJ– Thank you.

"Our Savior" Obama wouldn't be that stupid, or arrogant, or illminded to wage a war against a country without just cause, or based on lies.....if Bush was sooooo concerned about human rights and the slaughtering of innocents and womens concerns why have we not attacked Saudi? or Korea? Or china? can you explain that one???

Scoobie-333401,

It does not surprise me in the least that you agree with McSamegoaway.  Liberals are conservatives in an upside down inversion gravity rack.  To much blood to the head:)

I wish the President Elect luck as well.  However, he should realize the mistakes made during the last Democratic Party Administration. Please don't bury your head in the sand or we will get our a— — smacked again. 

What democratic administration are you speaking of? I'm 32 and other than Carter (when I was a baby) Clinton was the only other democrat administration and he was faced with a congress with a republican majority. So while you're talking out of the left side of your mouth you're still going to have to point to the right to lay the blame you're trying to elude to. I am neither republican or democrat as I believe all politicians are in it for themselves and those that pay to get them elected and both parties have created the mess our country (and our world) has become.

If people weren't so preoccupied with being right then maybe things could change but until everyone grows up and learns to be adult that won't happen. As to the liberal vs. conservatives comment I guess then conservatives would suffer the opposite problem? Not enough blood to the head? And should PE Obama not realize the mistakes that were made in the last three republican administrations as well? You seem to believe that liberals are your enemy (as they view you) but it's this division that allows the rich and powerful to do as they please and then make the rest of us pay for it. Everyone is so busy pointing fingers no one seems to notice they're pointing in a mirror.

this is an attack and an insult to our president. if this was to happen to another country's president or high ranking official visiting u.s. they most certainly would be dealt with in court. just because you people do not agree with what bush has done does not give anyone the right to treat our president this way. stop living in a dream world(actors) and open your eyes. there were people out there that hated us before irag. also he is not the most hated president. this is your opinion. get a life, this is the real world.

Oldie, then who (in your opinion) was the most hated president by the world?

Come on people, it was a SHOE. A friggin SHOE. Give the guy a break; he was just giving his opinion!! Why should we send him to jail? If you want to think of it as an 'attack' think of it as one man attacking another. Not a citizen attacking a president. Bush has sent thousands of Americans to Iraq to fight, sending innocent people to their deaths. A man threw his shoe to say he was pissed. And we're sending him to jail because....? This is really petty. I'll say it again. A SHOE, PEOPLE! Bush has commited dispicable crimes, and yet people demand punishment at a simple man throwing a shoe....Bush wasn't even HURT. He didn't even care! Why should we be more angry than him? Bush dodged the shoe easily, just as he's dodged all the blame for the Iraqi war. No harm, no foul, right?I am disgusted at the way this contry has been run these past 8 years. I hope that Obama can straighten out the mess Bush has caused, and God help us if he can't.

You are obviously sick.

Hurry, get some help before you hurt yourself.

You are obviously sick.

Why did you write that? Why do you accuse sarah of being "obviously sick" without citing at least one reason for your belief? Perhaps it is obvious to you that she is sick, but you ought to clarify your remarks for her and others who read your post. As it is now, you insult her and run.

TO: riverstomp - The real question here is: Do you not understand why Don stated that Sarah was "obviously sick"?  Why did you not question why Sarah believes that the President of the United States is evil?

AND you are a hypocrit for stating that Don is "obviously sick".

I hope that was clear enough for you.  Please take some time and psychoanalyze that, and I invite any reply should you decide to.

Jamie,

Do not put words in my mouth. Please quote where I said Don was sick. I quoted what he wrote to sarah, and then asked my questions. Perhaps you should re-read my post. You can psychoanalyze it if you like.

Why should I question her belief when there are Americans who agree with sarah and I already know why they believe he is evil. I may hold the same opinion of him, but whether I do or not is irrelevant. It is her opinion of Bush, plain and simple; that doesn't make her sick. If she said he was a alien from Mars, I might question her sanity.

The proper response would be to refute her argument, to prove Bush is not evil, rather than to revert to name-calling. I expected more from newsvine than insults, but I am beginning to see that it is not much different from the old MSNBC message boards, other than these boards are moderated.

Oh get a Life turkey and quit whinning....................about wmd's.

People get pies in the face and everyone thinks it is funny so why the uproar over some stinky shoes . So what if he insulted Bush he is living in a free country after all .

What really amazed me was the fact that Bush had the reflexes to duck the shoes. With any luck,(for him) he might duck a war crimes trial to.

Was it funny?  It was also pitiful that an American President has garnered so much hatred toward himself and the American people.  And if our citizens are becoming no different than those who seek are destruction, we need to look at our leader.  It is a known fact; "The bottom is only a reflection of the top".  Have you checked the economy lately?  Our "beloved President" has created nothing but poor people, caos and families mourning loved ones with the lies he has told.  Oh yeah, he also made his croonies quite rich. Get real; because of this guy we laugh to keep from crying.