http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=11096193&ch=4226716&src=news

 

 

 

 

 

Bush: Iraq war is not over, more work ahead

 

 

 

By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven, Ap White House Correspondent – 18 mins ago

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Play Video AP – Raw video: Iraqi journalist throws shoe at Bush

 

 

AP – In this image from APTN video, a man throws a shoe at President George W. Bush during a news conference …

 

 

BAGHDAD – On an Iraq trip shrouded in secrecy and marred by dissent, President George W. Bush on Sunday hailed progress in the war that defines his presidency and got a size-10 reminder of his unpopularity when a man hurled two shoes at him during a news conference.

 

"This is a farewell kiss, you dog!" shouted the protester in Arabic, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.

 

Bush ducked both shoes as they whizzed past his head and landed with a thud against the wall behind him.

 

"It was a size 10," Bush joked later.

 

The U.S. president visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to his successor, Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it.

 

The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence in a nation still riven by ethnic strife and to celebrate a recent U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which calls for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.

 

"The war is not over," Bush said, adding that "it is decisively on it's way to being won."

 

In many ways, the unannounced trip was a victory lap without a clear victory. Nearly 150,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq fighting a war that is intensely disliked across the globe. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died in the conflict, which has cost U.S. taxpayers $576 billion since it began five years and nine months ago.

 

Polls show most Americans believe the U.S. erred in invading Iraq in 2003. Bush ordered the nation into war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq while citing intelligence claiming the Mideast nation harbored weapons of mass destruction. The weapons were never found, the intelligence was discredited, Bush's credibility with U.S. voters plummeted and Saddam was captured and executed.

 

"There is still more work to be done," Bush said after his meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

 

It was at that point the journalist stood up and threw a shoe from about 20 feet away. Bush ducked, and it narrowly missed his head. The second shoe came quickly, and Bush ducked again while several Iraqis grabbed the man and dragged him to the floor.

 

In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam with their shoes after U.S. marines toppled it to the ground following the 2003 invasion.

 

White House press secretary Dana Perino suffered an eye injury in the news conference melee; NBC News reported she was hit in the face with a microphone. Bush brushed off the incident, comparing it to political protests at home.

 

"So what if a guy threw his shoe at me?" he said.

 

Al-Maliki, who spoke before the incident, praised postwar progress: "Today, Iraq is moving forward in every field."

 

After the news conference, the president took a 15-minute helicopter ride through dark skies over Baghdad to Camp Victory. Telling hundreds of troops he was "heading into retirement," Bush blamed Saddam for the 2003 invasion and said, "America is safer and more secure" than it was before the war.

 

For Bush, the war is the issue around which both he and the country defined his two terms in office. He saw the invasion and continuing fight as a necessary action to protect Americans and fight terrorism. Though his decision won support at first, the public now has largely decided that the U.S. needs to get out of Iraq.

 

Air Force One, the president's distinctive powder blue-and-white jetliner, landed at Baghdad International Airport in the afternoon local time after a secretive Saturday night departure from Washington. In a sign of security gains in this war zone, Bush received a formal arrival ceremony — a flourish absent in his three earlier trips.

 

Bush soon began a rapid-fire series of meetings with top Iraqi leaders.

 

He met first with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and the country's two vice presidents, Tariq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdul-Mahdi, at the ornate, marble-floored Salam Palace along the shores of the Tigris River.

 

Later, Bush's motorcade pulled out the heavily fortified Green Zone and crossed over the Tigris so he could meet al-Maliki at the prime minister's palace. A huge orange moon hung low over the horizon as Bush's was ferried quickly through the city.

 

The two leaders signed ceremonial copy of the security agreement.

 

The Bush administration and even White House critics credit last year's military buildup with the security gains in Iraq. Last month, attacks fell to the lowest monthly level since the war began in 2003.

 

Still, it's unclear what will happen when the U.S. troops leave. While violence has slowed in Iraq, attacks continue, especially in the north. At least 55 people were killed Thursday in a suicide bombing in a restaurant near Kirkuk.

 

It was Bush's last trip to the war zone before Obama takes office Jan. 20. Obama won an election largely viewed as a referendum on Bush, who has endured low approval ratings because of the war and more recently, the U.S. recession.

Obama, a Democrat, has promised he will bring all U.S. combat troops back home from Iraq a little over a year into his term, as long as commanders agree a withdrawal would not endanger American personnel or Iraq's security. Obama has said the drawdown in Iraq would allow him to shift troops and bolster the U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

 

The new U.S.-Iraqi security pact, calls for all American troops to be withdrawn by the end of 2011, in two stages. The first stage begins next year, when U.S. troops pull back from Baghdad and other Iraqi cities by the end of June. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Saturday that even after that summer deadline, some U.S. troops will remain in Iraqi cities.

Journalists and staff who made the 10 1/2-hour trip to Iraq with the president agreed to tell almost no one about the plans, and the White House released false schedules detailing activities planned for Bush in Washington on Sunday.

so fucking halarious! :laugh3:

:laugh3:

 

Damn the secret service sucks.......They took forever to take that guy down....

Look, I am not a Bush supporter, but I don't want shoes thrown at the man. I think he has made some poor choices, but he will be gone in a month. Plus, if Bush goes down, we get Dick Cheney. I don't think even the most anit-Bush individuals want that ;)

Look, I am not a Bush supporter, but I don't want shoes thrown at the man. I think he has made some poor choices, but he will be gone in a month. Plus, if Bush goes down, we get Dick Cheney. I don't think even the most anit-Bush individuals want that ;)

true true, I agree, leave him alone for another month

 

 

He's just lucky this guy didn't have a gun instead

AHAHAHAHAHA! He's lucky they weren't shoe bombs.

 

On a sad side note the journalist will probably be killed or tortured for doing this.

Was it a "shoeclear" weapon??:rolleyes:

This may be an thing awful to say, but that was very cathartic to watch. And yes, definitely preferable to bullets.

This may be an thing awful to say, but that was very cathartic to watch. And yes, definitely preferable to bullets.

 

And pretty apt as well considering he's about to be "booted" out of office too!!:P

This may be an thing awful to say, but that was very cathartic to watch. And yes, definitely preferable to bullets.

 

:) No, it's not horrible. I think a lot of us have THOUGHT about this a million times. I have serious concerns about Obama (even though I voted for him), but the U.S. is ready to move in a new direction. We have some SERIOUS problems right now.

And pretty apt as well considering he's about to be "booted" out of office too!!:P

:laugh3: Congratulations- you actually made me laugh out loud for once. :laugh3::laugh3:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was epic!

I hate saying bad things about people, but I think Bush is the lamest duck ever.

:lol: Priceless.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you.

 

Damn, you guys took all the shoe, boot, and duck jokes. And the only reason I'm not coming up with something else is because I tired of jokes about the man and his wacky misadventures a whole 7 years ago.

 

Rest his poor sole. Yeah. Sole.

LMAO!!!:laugh3::laugh3::laugh3:

Not only did I find this hilarious but I also am loving the shoe-related puns. Thanks for that! :P

It wasn't a shoe to be honest. If you look carefully then you might see Bush only had a pokémon battle...

 

 

:laugh3:

Damn, you guys took all the shoe, boot, and duck jokes. And the only reason I'm not coming up with something else is because I tired of jokes about the man and his wacky misadventures a whole 7 years ago.

 

Rest his poor sole. Yeah. Sole.

 

Don't worry - heel be gone soon!!:P

It's all over the news!!!! and it's so freakin hilarious!! :laugh3::laugh3:

Awwwwww, come on

That journalist loves Bush so much that he took off his shoes & gave 'em to Bush as an early Christmas present......................:P

It wasn't a shoe to be honest. If you look carefully then you might see Bush only had a pokémon battle...

 

 

:laugh3:

 

Hahahaha :laugh3:

 

That is just brilliant :P

:laugh3::laugh3::laugh3: Damn, he missed! And how can we heel Iraq, if our Pres. won't accept Heeling either!:P I wanna bring some shoes and do that! Damn - now they'll be looking for others to try it..

(I like how Bush was expecting it - he knows he's hated, so it's like he's prepared to duck!)

 

Not that anyone here ever tried anything like that..:whistle:(like a certain someone who threw a water bottle under Dick Cheney's motorcade somewhere else..)

Damn, you guys took all the shoe, boot, and duck jokes. And the only reason I'm not coming up with something else is because I tired of jokes about the man and his wacky misadventures a whole 7 years ago.

 

Rest his poor sole. Yeah. Sole.

 

Sorry for taking the lame duck joke :(

Lame Duck Soup!:P

 

Anyhow, we must escalate the conflict. Next time, Cream Pies!:laugh3:

That's pretty sucky. He has quick reflexes, it looked like he was looking at the guy, though.

 

I'm just glad he didn't get hit in the head, that would've hurt a bit.

 

"Who throws a shoe? HONESTLY."