Bush, who was on stage with Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki, ducked both shoes as they whizzed past his head and landed with a thud against the wall behind him.



This is the end! shouted the protester, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadiya television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.

The protester was quickly bundled to the floor by security guards. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was hit in the eye with a microphone as security guards scrambled to restrain the reporter.

All I can report, Bush joked later, is a size 10.



He had visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the presidency to Democrat Barack Obama, who has pledged to end the war.

Bush wanted to highlight a drop in violence in the country and celebrate a recent U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which calls for American troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.

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

It was at that point the journalist stood up and threw a shoe. 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 Hussein with their shoes after U.S. marines toppled it to the ground after the 2003 invasion.

Bush brushed off the incident, comparing it to political protests at home. So what if I guy threw his shoe at me? he said

свернуть