Give him the boot

Employers of the so-called journalist who threw his shoes at Bush at a press conference in Baghdad are alleging that the security personnel who arrested him broke his arm and some ribs. They should actually break his legs, so he can never wear shoes again.

Journalists, regardless of their capability (or--in case of some--their lack of it) enjoy several privileges by virtue of their profession. One of them is being able to meet the high and mighty and ask them awkward--and sometimes infuriating--questions. These privileges are based on the premise that they are just playing the role of eyes and ears for the people at large. It is implicit that they will not bring in their personal agendas--or footwear--into action when given such opportunities, whatever the anger or anguish they feel as individuals.

What Muntazer Al-Zaidi, the nutcase TV reporter, did will undermine the credibility of the whole media fraternity and deal a blow to the trust that those they get to meet repose in them. In fact, as an immediate fallout of the incident, for the press conference in Afghanistan--Bush's next stop on the tour--the scribes were asked to remove their shoes before entering the venue (thankfully, Zaidi did not throw his pants at Bush).

Bush has probably realised now that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, or civilise the savage against their will. The difference in the two civilisations that are clashing here is obvious in the reaction to the incident. While Bush kept his cool (and even his presence of mind in ducking both times) afterwards and laughed it away saying, "in case you are curious, it was a size 10", the Arab world is celebrating Al-Zaidi as a hero. America should probably leave these fighting tribes alone until they kill enough of their own--without outside help--with their MAD (mutually assured destruction) actions and create more Saddams and learn the cost of gratuitously insulting a head of state or a leader when invited in good faith (Saddam would have probably cut off some precious parts of this reporter had he been the target) .

Meanwhile, Bush is probably regretting making this last trip to Iraq before hanging up his boots.