On December 14, 2008, Muntazer Al Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist working for Al-Baghdadia of Cairo, was frog-marched barefoot from a news conference in Baghdad after throwing his showes at President George W. Bush. He is described to be anti-American and had already been previously arrested by Amercian troops for other reasons. He was also reportedly kidnapped by Shiite militia men last year, only to be released after intervention by his employer.
The mainstream media had a field day reporting this story, how this journalist is now being viewed as a hero of sorts, and how the shoe-mania is spreading across the Muslim world. What I haven't heard from the mainstream press, however, is why this man was permitted to throw his shoes at the American president in the first place.
If it were not for the new freedom bestowed upon the Iraqi people, that Journalist would not have been able to throw his shoes in disgust at a press conference without any fatal consequences. At least he made it out of there barefoot and alive.
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