US activists call for release, pardon of Iraq shoe-thrower

[sabra]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US activists on Monday urged Baghdad to release the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush, insisting that his gesture was meant to insult, not harm the US leader.

"This was a form of insult... If he had wanted to hurt George Bush, he would have chosen a different weapon," Medea Benjamin of the Codepink peace activism group told AFP at a rally of about a dozen people outside the Iraqi consulate in Washington.

Zaidi, 29, threw his shoes at Bush during the US president's surprise visit to Iraq on December 14, an action considered a grave insult in the Arab world.

He is due to appear in court in Baghdad on Wednesday on charges of "aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit," an offense which could see him go to jail for up to 15 years.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jyzEfqP7FGTiUx2DzH4j1KOcG__Q

[Ian David]

1. Bush is not a Head of State. We didn't elect him. n/t

[guitar man]

2. release, pardon?

hell, he should get a medal. :patriot:

[David__77]

3. A medal of courage? A banquet of honor?

I think I'd like to see an international ceremony in his honor hosted in, say, Caracas, with various heads of state and international figures honoring him for his important statement.

[cliffordu]

7. A movie deal, and a book.

The Letterman show.

[Pastiche423]

4. Zaidi did what most people in this world would love to do

He deserves our adulation!

[MMsteezycheeze]

5. I think it pisses alot of people off

that this whole shoe thing turned into an epidemic
its almost as if bush showed Iraqis that its ok to rush into someones territory and start to attack them with everything they got

but damn i wish one had hit him

[trthnd4jstc]

6. I would like it if all Iraqis had a chance to throw a shoe or two at the chimp. n/t

[lisa58]

8. Is there a petition we can sign or something?

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

9. we're just jealous we didn't think of it first