These words belong to the man who threw his shoe at Bush

My "Flower" to Bush, the occupier

We used to be a nation in which the Arab would share with the Turkman and the Kurd and the Assyrian and the Sabean and the Yazid his daily bread. And the Shiite would pray with the Sunni in one line. And the Muslim would celebrate with the Christian the birthday of Christ, may peace be upon him. And despite the fact that we shared hunger under sanctions for more than 10 years, for more than a decade.

Our patience and our solidarity did not make us forget the oppression. Until we were invaded by the illusion of liberation that some had. (The occupation) divided one brother from another, one neighbor from another, and the son from his uncle. It turned our homes into never-ending funeral tents. And our graveyards spread into parks and roadsides. It is a plague. It is the occupation that is killing us, that is violating the houses of worship and the sanctity of our homes and that is throwing thousands daily into makeshift prisons.

I say to those who reproach me: Do you know how many broken homes that shoe that I threw had entered because of the occupation? How many times it had trodden over the blood of innocent victims? And how many times it had entered homes in which free Iraqi women and their sanctity had been violated? Maybe that shoe was the appropriate response when all values were violated.

And at the time that the Iraqi prime minister came out on satellite channels to say that he didn't sleep until he had checked in on my safety, and that I had found a bed and a blanket, even as he spoke I was being tortured with the most horrific methods: electric shocks, getting hit with cables, getting hit with metal rods, and all this in the backyard of the place where the press conference was held. And the conference was still going on and I could hear the voices of the people in it. And maybe they, too, could hear my screams and moans.

In the morning, I was left in the cold of winter, tied up after they soaked me in water at dawn. And I apologize for Mr. Maliki for keeping the truth from the people. I will speak later, giving names of the people who were involved in torturing me, and some of them were high-ranking officials in the government and in the army.

Please read all of what he has to say. He wasn't a terrorist. They threw him in a prison and tortured him for throwing the very shoe that tread over the blood of "collateral damage" and the rubble of decimated family homes at the man who sold our souls to the Devil.

This guy was brave enough to stand up for his country. I may get some flack for this, but I think its admirable what he did. I can't imagine what it would feel like if some country came into America under false pretences and occupied our land. I do not pretend for a moment to understand the fear of living in a neighborhood that is turned into a war zone. If he was really tortured, and I have little doubt that he was, then hopefully he will find some peace after the ordeals he has suffered.

Some people feel that under Obama things like torture and war would slip into the past. I am of the opinion that he will only follow the same foreign policy that America has used for quite some time now. The same that Bush used.

reply to post by Aaron_Justin


Even if he wasn't tortured it is still admirable. It's not like he threw a knife or shot a gun or lunged at him to hit him. He threw his shoe. The shoes that he had to clean the blood of his country men/women/children off of. CHILDREN!

By throwing that shoe, he might as well as been throwing the tens of thousands of dead bodies at him.

I agree with everything you said about Obama. It still amazes me that the anti-war protesters are now all but completely silent just because a "liberal" is in office. Suddenly the deaths of innocent victims is a-okay to them as long as it's perpetrated by one of their (my) own.

*sigh*

I'm finally getting a worthy amount of flags on a thread (so far) but only one poster wants to reply/add to the thread (not that I am minimalizing the one poster who has posted THANK YOU)?

I guess I'm beating a dead horse, but I thought it was interesting to see exactly what this man had to say. It was so much more than just throwing his shoes or losing control of his composure like so many of us do.

His act really had meaning to it.

reply to post by nunya13


MSM will write this off, spin it. Most americans look poorly upon this man.. But he is admirable because he made an action that he knew he would have to pay for opposed to the gutless suicide bombers.

Ever since educating myself beyond the media I have come to see things his way.

I think what he did is admirable and brave and probably represents the thoughts and feelings of millions of Iraqis. Those who jailed and punished him are probably the exception and are the puppets of the faux government there. But then again, this all pretty much was obvious and came out at the time it happened, so it isn't really a current event other than he, what, got out of prison this week?

The stuff this guy was subjected to was ridiculous - the threw a shoe, not a damned bomb.

Considering what's been going on in Iraq for the last few years, you think we'd be encouraging shoe-throwing as opposed to bomb-throwing

reply to post by nunya13


I don't think anyone can possibly condem this man for his actions. Unless, of course, somehow they don't value the rights of another human.

This man should get a medal for heroism!!I would love to shake his hand.What a very good man who was tortured by our ss troops,not surprised.They seem to like to torture people over there.I can not wait till he fingers the animals responsiable and i hope they get what they gave 10 fold.

If this man had been in the revolutionary war he'd probably be a founding father.

Excellent thread ...

Thank you all for responding...finally

It's also more than just him throwing his shoe though. It's his words that describe what has been happening to his country.

We rarely hear the opinions of the very people who live in Iraq. We here mostly from government officials, military, and people who try to act like they know what is going on over there.

I thought it interesting that he said that people used to have their differences over there, but at least they respected each other. I believe I've heard that the woman's rights have "gone down the tubes" since the start of the OCCUPATION. (I think that a more fitting term).

It also made me realize what has happened to our country since the inception of the war. We have been so divided.

Throwing his shoe was the very least he could do.

Great words from the shoe-thrower guy!

I think that they should make a bronze statue of the man!

I also like his flower analogy. We're always told how the soldiers were supposedly greeted with flowers and candy. How they were greeted as liberators.

He said, "HERE'S YOUR DAMN FLOWER A-HOLE!" *chucks shoe at the leader of the occupation*

I love it!

He should have thrown in a "LIBERATE THIS" *exposes his naked rear*

Originally posted by xmotex


Considering what's been going on in Iraq for the last few years, you think we'd be encouraging shoe-throwing as opposed to bomb-throwing

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a march on Washington and we all take off our shoes and throw it at the White House. That would be so cool. The stinkiest ones we own of course.

Just the thought got me all warm and squishy inside.

Where be all the patrioticals who hate the government???

This guy ACTUALLY stood up to FED in a real way!



it took a brass sack to do that -

Where be the freedom lovers?

[edit on 18-9-2009 by mental modulator]

Most here feel pretty much the same way about our government as this guy right?

I charge everyone here that goes to a political rally/speech to throw their shoe at them.

Many of you here go to these things, lets see if you have a set big enough to act on your words.

I got 100 dollars that says everyone that praises this guy is all talk. Each Presidential speech it will go up to 200 dollars.

reply to post by jd140


Who gives a hoot if it's all talk? We still support him. That's what matters.

A lot of us also said he was brave. Some of us may very well be not as brave as he is.

We also share his sorrow at what he has gone through. But we hope to never go through it ourselves.

reply to post by nunya13


Words never solved anything.

You are tired of our government then stop belly aching and take action. Do something about it. Don't hide in a corner cheering on those who have a set.

Put up or shut up. Honestly I am getting sick and tired of people on ATS crying "mommy mommy the guberment is bad". I see thread after thread about others standing up and all you guys do is blog about how great that person is.

I'm calling you all out. Do something about the situation you are in or shut the hell up.

I think that we should all start throwing our shoes at certain "elected" officials. This will be a non-violent and active protest against our government, meanwhile, the middle east region of the world would be smitten that we are adopting this practice.

reply to post by jd140


Dude, I have been on ATS for over a year and you are officially the first person I have EVER put on ignore.

No, you know what. I'm not going to put you on ignore. I don't like to silence opposition. But I sure as heck don't have to respond to you.

From here on out I never will.

You bring such a bad vibe everywhere you go.

Take care now.