As a columnist I always fret worrying myself sick: “What if I woke up one day to find there are no more issues and subjects to write about?” But then I reassure myself I needn’t worry as long as there are enterprising politicians like George W. Bush around. They give us hope — and a whole lot to write about each week — week after week.
Look what he has given us this week! And what a fitting finale this has been to eight years of beating about Bush! This week, the US president decided to pay another “surprise” visit to the country he invaded nearly six years ago. It would be Bush’s fourth and last trip to Baghdad before he turns over the reins — and two unfinished wars — to Barack Obama on Jan. 20. So there he was once again working up the charm on Iraqi politicians in Baghdad who owe their fortunes and power to him. And of course how could he have missed out on those last photo ops with the US troops at Camp Victory! What really fascinates you about Bush is his remarkable consistency in sticking to the script from which he has been faithfully reading all these years — without ever pausing to ponder for one moment the bedtime stories he’s been telling himself and his captive audience.
Standing next to the larger-than-life Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and without batting an eyelid Bush said, “the war had been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope and world peace.” Praising the bitterly contested US-Iraq pact, the president reminded the world that the agreement was “a way forward to help the Iraqi people realize the blessings of a free society!”
Blessings, huh? Only last week, in a rare moment of self-doubt, the president had told ABC’s Charles Gibson that his biggest regret was the flawed intelligence about Iraq on which the entire case for the war was built. When asked if he would have invaded Iraq if he knew Saddam didn’t have any WMD, pat came the reply: “That’s a do-over I can’t do!”
Six years of war, over a million Iraqis dead, total devastation of a country considered the cradle of civilization, not to mention the losses the US itself has suffered — nearly 4,500 troops and trillions of dollars — for a lie and we are told this war was necessary! Bush has built this impregnable wall around himself that keeps transient and trivial things like reality and facts out. It’s this wall that Iraqi journalist Muntadar Al-Zeidi from Al-Baghdadia TV was hoping to break when he lobbed his pair of shoes at the US leader.
Bush wanted this farewell visit to Iraq to be a historic one. Having bungled his first “Mission Accomplished” photo-op aboard the battleship, USS Abraham Lincoln, that proved a tad too early in the war, his minders were careful not to project the farewell visit to Baghdad as a victory rally. But that’s what it was — a victory march of sorts with the leader of the coalition of the willing claiming the “success” of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
So this visit had been historic all right — historic for the people of Iraq and the Middle East and the oppressed people everywhere.
By throwing those shoes, Al-Baghdadia reporter might have got out of line and gone too far. But like it or not by doing so he has in one powerful, defiant gesture managed to capture what the majority in the Arab-Muslim world thinks of this whole Western enterprise in Iraq! It was no surprise then that within hours of the shoe-throwing incident, Al-Zeidi became the hero and poster boy of the Muslim world with television networks endlessly debating the episode.
After initially trying to ignore and black out the embarrassing episode involving the leader of the free world, CNN was soon forced to follow the story when it realized it had captured the imagination of the whole world.
Remember the CNN that in 2003 ran and re-ran ad nauseam the footage of Saddam’s statue being dragged through Baghdad streets with the excited Iraqis taking turns to hit it with shoes. Today, it’s a different target. Clearly, history is repeating itself in Iraq. And how! A shocked New York Times has reported from Baghdad how tens of thousands of Iraqis came out on the streets with their footwear in their hands expressing solidarity with Al-Zeidi and demanding immediate US pullout from Iraq. The perceptive Times also informs its readers that “hitting someone with a shoe is considered a deep insult in the Arab world.” As I key in this, Al Jazeera Arabic has interrupted its regular transmissions to take in calls from emotional viewers around the Arab world — complimenting Al-Zeidi for his Size 10 “courage” and promising revenge to “the invaders”. Muammar Qaddafi’s Libya, Bush’s new ally, has announced a “bravery award” for the Iraqi journalist, with his daughter Aisha praising Al-Zeidi as a fighter for “human rights.” The mood on the Arab street has never been more defiant. The reckless action of a little known journalist has helped erupt a volcano of deep-seated anger and frustration in the greater Middle East that has long suffered at the hands of big powers — from illegal wars spawned on the basis of complete lies and false pretences to historical injustices that have turned into festering wounds.
This reservoir of anger had been right there, pulsating and bubbling just below the surface. The Iraqi journalist merely tapped into it. There are lessons in this for all occupiers and invaders. The Middle East’s cup of woes and patience is brimming over. The world would ignore this at its own cost. Bush wanted history to remember and record his farewell visit to Iraq and protect his so-called legacy. A little known journalist has immortalized it with his lone act of defiance. Whoever thought you could start a revolution by throwing shoes!
