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In 2003, just before the Bushites invaded and occupied Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney assured our wary nation that the whole thing would be a cakewalk, and that George W would be a hero to the people there: “The Iraqis will throw flowers,” Dick gloated.
Well, after six years, 4,209 deaths of American soldiers, and a couple trillion of our dollars poured into Bush’s awful war, it has hardly been a cakewalk. Still, Cheney did get it partially right – the Iraqis are throwing something at George: Their shoes! It was hardly a gesture of gratitude when an Iraqi journalist hurled both of his shoes at Bush’s head, shouting: “This is a gift from the Iraqis, this is the farewell kiss, you dog!”
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Ironically, Bush’s press conference in Baghdad was part of what his staff called a “victory lap” to Iraq – a carefully orchestrated PR tour to portray the fading president as a beloved and successful war guy. Unfortunately, the orchestrators had not factored in a journalist armed with chutzpa and shoes.
In fact, though, Bush staffers knew that there is deep and widespread anger toward their man by the people of that battered country. That’s why they had to sneak him into Iraq unannounced, requiring a full-scale, secret military operation to get him from the airport to his show-and-tell press conference inside the Army’s heavily fortified “green zone.” Contrast George’s backdoor appearance with the visit made to Baghdad in March by his arch-enemy in the region, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran. The Iranian’s trip was announced weeks in advance, he traveled openly in a motorcade, and he was welcomed with a red-carpet ceremony.
This is Jim Hightower saying… Of course, Bush can get no solace back in his own country, where two-thirds of the people say his war is not worth fighting and our troops should get out, pronto.
“Bush’s Failure Tour,” http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/pr20081216, December 16, 2008.
http://icasualties.org/oif/
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home