flickering pictures

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia television, threw both his shoes at President Bush at a press conference in Iraq yesterday. He called Bush a “dog,” and as the shoes sailed harmlessly by Bush’s head, al-Zeidi yelled that “this is from the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.”

At first I thought this was hilarious — admit it, the image of George W. Bush dodging shoes is funny stuff. Later I took the time to think about it, and realized that a man who throws his shoes at the American president — a gesture certain to do a lot more long-term harm to the tosser than the target — is a man who feels he has nothing to lose. He screamed that he was acting on behalf of “those killed in Iraq” — all 457,000 of them, apparently, not counting the 4,525 coalition troops who have died there since 2003 — and in that light, his action goes from slapstick comedy to a desperate, angry act by a desperate, angry man. Even his weapon of choice underscores his helplessness.

Prior to this incident, Al-Zeidi, a 29-year-old Iraqi, was arrested twice by the U.S. military — both times for no apparent reason — and had his apartment ransacked by American troops as well. Does this, combined with outrage at seeing his country needlessly invaded, excuse throwing things at a foreign dignitary? Maybe not. But I do know that if an angry man whipped his shoes by you on the street in London or Los Angeles, no judge would give him much more than a slap on the wrist, and maybe a psychological evaluation. Prisoners in Iraq, however, are generally tortured before trial, and defendants often have next to no legal representation — right now, it’s not looking good for this guy.

It’s too early to tell whether the Iraqi government will make an example of him, and the CBS video above reports that he faces “years in jail,” but the one certain thing is that this incident will leave al-Zeidi far worse off than it leaves Bush. I don’t think that’s fair, and like Bush himself said after Al-Zeidi was beaten and dragged away, “So what if the guy threw his shoe at me?”

For once, I agree with him.

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