"When I threw the shoe in the face of the criminal, George Bush, I wanted to express my rejection of his lies, his occupation of my country, my rejection of his killing my people."
by Jake Johnson
"This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog. This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."
Those were the words shouted in 2008 by Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi as he took off his shoes and—in an unforgettable and truly historic moment—hurled them one by one at former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Now al-Zaidi is running for Iraqi parliament in an effort to help shape the direction of the country Bush and his cronies decimated with their illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, which ultimately led to the death of more than a million Iraqis.
"When I threw the shoe in the face of the criminal, George Bush, I wanted to express my rejection of his lies, his occupation of my country, my rejection of his killing my people," al-Zaidi wrote in an op-ed for the Guardian shortly following the end of his nine-month prison sentence for "attacking" a foreign head of state. "My rejection of his plundering the wealth of my country, and destroying its infrastructure. And casting out its sons into a diaspora."
Because it never gets old—and because, as one commentator noted, it "makes for one hell of a campaign ad"—here is the video of al-Zaidi throwing his shoes at Bush:
Little is known about al-Zaidi's platform, but as Buzzfeed notes, the former journalist created the al-Zaidi Foundation, a non-profit whose expressed mission is to "find a safe atmosphere for the children who lost their parents during the American occupation on Iraq" and "convict all who contributed in Iraq’s occupation from western leaders and officials."
Here is al-Zaidi's official campaign announcement on Twitter:
بعد التوكل على الله عقدنا العزم على كنس الفاسدين
منتظر الزيدي #تحالف_سائرون 156
تسلسل 95#العراق#الانتخابات_النيابية #الانتخابات_العراقية pic.twitter.com/0rm5vF8VIf— الصحافي منتظر الزيدي (@muntazer_zaidi) April 13, 2018
Originally appeared on Commondreams.org | Photo: CBS/Screengrab
