Next Monday, when the journalist walks out of prison, his 10 raging seconds, which came to define his country's last six miserable years, are set to take on a new life even more dramatic than the opening act.
Across Iraq and in every corner of the Arab world, Zaidi is being feted. The 20 words or so he spat at Bush – "This is your farewell kiss, you dog. This is for the widows and orphans of Iraq" – have been immortalised, and in many cases memorised.
The Guardian
They should give the man a crown.
ReplyDeleteIf I could afford it, I'd take that man to Edward Green's. Maybe the nicest and most beautifully crafted shoes in the world..I'd have 'Dubya' engraved on the soles!
ReplyDelete"We are people who have tasted the bitterness, sorrow and agony of occupation too. What he did, he did for all the Arabs, not just the Iraqis, because Bush was the reason behind the problems of all the Arab world."
ReplyDeleteHeaven help them and future generations if too many believe that self-delusional nonsense.
It's called hyperbole, vza..Nothing unusual in the M.E...It's not a belief it's an expression of anger. Bush WAS responsible for the suffering endured with the invasion of Iraq, but I doubt they really believe he's responsible for ALL the problems of the Arab world..Time to know the people by now and how they express themselves..If you hear an Arab mother saying to her child 'stop doing this or I'll kill you' do you believe she would do it?? Those are formulae and ready made expressions that ppeople use without much thinking..My mum used to use the expression mentioned above yet she NEVER hit anyone of her children.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right, tgia. That's why I said I hope not too many believed it but don't you think the fundamentalists buy into that stuff and blame the West for all their region's ills?
ReplyDeleteThe euphoria over this guy's shoe throwing, while understandable to a certain degree, strikes me as rather sad more than anything else. And I do not think my reaction is so out of line, either. I have read articles by Arab activists and writers who were basically disgusted by the fact that it takes stuff like this and cartoons to get people riled up, but they are passive in the face of years of their own leaders oppression.
Don't worry vza, the West had nothing to do with this at all - it was their terrible leaders...
ReplyDeleteParanoia about Iranian influence in Iraq has been a staple of American commentary since 2003. But it has produced a series of perplexing contradictions, since America has chosen to systematically empower and do business with exactly those Iraqi Shiite politicians who have particularly close ties to Tehran – a tendency seen at key junctures such as the formation of the Iraqi governing council in 2003 and the drafting of the new Iraqi constitution in 2005.
ReplyDeleteHamid Karzai, Najibullah’s Ghost, and the Gold of Bactria
ReplyDeleteHey, Mara. Long time no see..
ReplyDeleteSometimes I place comments, but they disappear. I gave up after a while.
ReplyDelete<span>Sometimes I place comments, but they disappear. I gave up after a while.</span>
ReplyDelete-----------------------
This is weird! I can't see how could this happen. They fixed the system and we don't have anymore glitches. You should try again, just to check.